Issue #115 | September 6th, 2026
Hey Reader 👋
I've got two modes. That's it. My whole life splits into two.
Production mode. I make stuff.
Learning mode. I read, I watch, I absorb. Completely passive. Just witnessing things and letting them turn over in my head for months.
And they balance each other out.
When I'm on vacation I go full learning mode. Off mode. And that's where every single idea comes from. Every one.
Here's what I see a lot of people doing… trying to find ideas while they're in action mode. Head down, running, producing. And then wondering why nothing good comes out.
It's hard to decide where you're going while you're already sprinting.
Better to pull over. Look at the map. Then decide.
You can't do both at the same time.
I've been stuck in production mode for months
Clients. Freelance. Deadlines stacked on deadlines. It got a little crazy.
And this week I finally stepped back from something.
I closed the paid Skool community.
Not deleted. Closed. The subscription is off. Everyone who's in there stays in there, keeps full access to all the content, and pays nothing from now on.
Because here's the honest version… the community for freelancers is a great idea. I just didn't have the hours to give it what it deserved. And a community you're only half showing up to is worse than no community at all.
So it's on standby for the rest of the year. When it comes back, it comes back full throttle. That's the next real step for Animator NOW.
Why teaching freelancing? Good f&#"question 🤣
I've watched a couple of friends drop out of the animation industry these last few months. Couldn't find work. Ran out of money. Switched careers before they ever really tried freelancing.
Some people genuinely aren't built for it. That's fine. Not everyone wants the entrepreneur thing.
But some of them did want it. They just had no idea where to start.
I've got 25 years of this. And honestly? It's insane to me that this is the thing people want to learn from me. I always assumed I'd teach animation. Or guitar. Music. The stuff I love doing every day.
Freelancing was never a subject. It was just… how I pay for my life.
Then I kept getting asked. Over and over.
Because most people have no clue how to price a job. How to say no when a client comes back with revision number nine. How to present themselves. How to quote a big project without guessing. How to run a team of five people. How to build a pipeline so a two-week job doesn't eat two months.
In short: How to build a solo of one.
I learned all of it by screwing it up. Repeatedly. For decades. And it compounded into something that now just feels like breathing.
That's why I still believe community plus courses inside the community is the right format. Especially now. In the middle of this AI flood, I think people are going to crave human connection more, not less. Even through a screen.
So if you're even remotely interested in strating to freelance OR if you are a freelance that is tired of having highs and lows in your activity (you know what I'm talking about 😊) go subscribe to that list below.
Because what I'll launch is going to help you to FINALLY stop that freaking vicious cycle of having work and money to panick attack on how to paye the next 2 months of rent.
I know it. I've been there for way too long.
👉 So some subscribe to this: Freelancing for Animators
Also, if you've never used Skool, go look at it. There are hundreds of free communities on there. It's not the prettiest platform and that's deliberate. Everything is stripped down so you actually talk to people instead of learning an interface.
Alex Hormozi is a big investor in it, which tells you something.
And if you're good at pretty much anything and you like sharing it… crochet, woodwork, cooking whatever it is… a Skool community might be exactly the thing you've been looking for.
Meanwhile, Citron
One, two, sometimes three sales a day.
With zero marketing.
I have a full marketing plan written. Media plan too. Both sitting there untouched because I've got deadlines I actually have to hit. It's just waiting on me to greenlight it.
And I'll say the quiet part out loud… waking up to money you didn't lift a finger for is the best feeling in this business. 😊
Alright. Let's get into this week's issue. 🔥
The Spotlight
A perfectly normal day in the park. Some perfectly normal ducks.
That's it. That's the setup.
DUCKS, by AJ Jefferies. Four minutes and forty-five seconds. And it's the most fun I've had watching a short in a while.
Here's the thing… this is not the usual film I'd go for. Honestly? It looks like something one of the students I used to supervise would make. It has that energy. And I mean that as a compliment, because within about thirty seconds you understand exactly why it works.
It doesn't remind you of anything visually. But the tension reminds you of The Birds of Hitchcok.
No limits, and he knows it
I love films where you can feel there's no ceiling. Where the world on screen is basically telling you: I can do whatever the fuck I want with these ducks, and I'm not going to stop there, I'm going to push it way further than you're ready for.
So you sit back and go… okay. Let's see where you take this.
And then you're on the train. Watching someone go completely, joyfully insane with ducks.
So many small details. So many laughs. So many scenes that come within about two seconds of turning into a horror movie and then pull back.
The absurdity of it is just insane.
The craft underneath the joke
The composition is deeply satisfying. Every asset is rounded, the modeling is smooth, bevels everywhere, no sharp edge on anything. It's very much what's trending right now, simple shapes and soft forms, and it's executed beautifully. A couple of shots even had me thinking Wes Anderson.
The tension building in this film is exquisite. You see something wrong. Or something slightly off. Something that shouldn't be there. And then he leaves you sitting in it. It doesn't pay off fast. It builds, and it turns into real fear sometimes, before it lets you laugh again.
That's comedy timing at a level most people never get near.
One honest caveat
You have to sign up for this kind of humour.
Absurd, out of control, a bit grotesque. If that's not your thing, you're going to watch this and think it's just silly.
But if it is your jam, you'll recognise immediately how masterful the comedy construction is.
Ducks. Go watch it. 🦆
🎬 Credits
Director: AJ Jefferies
Written, Designed and Animated by: AJ Jefferies
Music and Sound Design: Megalithic Sound
Studio: moonjam
The Job Fair
- Storyboard Artist - Limestone Animation · Remote (Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
Contract boarding on an unannounced book-based animated series, short-form digital first with a long-form series planned off the same property. It is 2D Toon Boom Harmony with a stylized, cinematic, anime-influenced direction, and assignments run around 4.5 minutes of finished screen time each. They are asking for action, suspense and supernatural staging, and the listing publishes the rate at $4,500 per month.
Posted: September 1, 2026.
- Senior Motion Designer - Landor · London, UK (Hybrid)
Landor wants a resident 3D specialist to own motion across every brand in the house, from client work through pitch. The stack is Houdini and Cinema 4D with Maya or 3ds Max acceptable, plus heavy After Effects, and they are explicit about particle sims, fluid dynamics and complex material rendering. You run your own projects end to end and sit in front of clients, so this is a senior seat rather than a pair of hands.
Posted: August 31, 2026.
- 3D Generalist - Explico · Detroit or Denver, USA (Hybrid)
Explico is an employee-owned forensic engineering firm, and this is animation work in a place most animators never think to look. You build visualizations that help engineers analyze accidents and then explain them to a jury, working in Blender across modeling, lighting, animation and render. Salary is published at $80,000. Worth knowing before you apply: the work involves imagery depicting accidents, injuries and fatalities.
Posted: September 3, 2026.
The Random Stuff
🎨 Ben Marriott — The Best Motion Design & Animation of 2026 (So Far…)
I don't watch a lot of motion design on YouTube. My feed just isn't filled with that stuff.
But Ben Marriott is the exception.
He's one of the most creative motion designers and animators working right now, and what he does is bring traditional animation back into motion design and build an entire world out of it. Impeccable taste in design. Genuinely incredible mastery of motion, of animation, of After Effects.
This one is his roundup of the best motion design and animation of 2026 so far… because obviously the year isn't done yet.
Here's what watching this does to me… it makes the creativity feel infinite. Like there's no bottom to this thing. And it feels really good to live in this field and in these times.
If you're in a flat week, watch it. That's the fix.
🛠️ CleanShot X 5.0
If you're on Mac and you grab screenshots or record your screen, you already know the built-in tools are… fine. CleanShot X is probably the best one out there, and it just got an insane update.
Version 5 brings a whole editing interface right inside the app. You make your capture, and it automatically zooms to wherever your mouse is. You can add your camera. Animate things. All of it is just sitting there.
It's not OBS. You can't do as much. But it's so much more user friendly and so much easier to actually use.
There's one thing in there I really love… you screenshot a web page, you click, and it scrolls the content for you while it captures. Completely insane. 👀
I haven't tried 5.0 yet but I'm definitely putting it to work on a Citron tutorial that's coming.
And yeah, I paid for this one. It's one of those apps I'm genuinely glad I paid for.
🍿 The Gentlemen — Season 2
Season 2 landed on Netflix Thursday, and gosh, I couldn't resist.
You know how when someone asks you for a show to watch, a few names come out of your mouth immediately? Ozark. Breaking Bad. Narcos.
The Gentlemen went straight to the top of that list.
Created by Guy Ritchie, and every single thing in it is wonderful. The rhythm, the casting, the writing, the way it looks. It's Ritchie doing exactly what Ritchie does best, stretched out over a full season.
If you're into this kind of thing, you're not going to regret it.
Go watch it.
Like what you're reading? Don't keep it to yourself.
Forward this to one person who'd love it.
That's how we grow this thing. One animator at a time. 🥰
Philippe Duvin
Founder, Animator NOW
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