FSTVS - The Executive Sessions

“Handcuffs are off... if we take our handcuffs off.” Carl Reed’s career began with a mix of curiosity, creativity and practical problem-solving. Although he expected to become a scientist, comics and animation became a way to earn money after his father died. At 15, he put together an art portfolio and found comic-book work. He later helped build a small creative agency, then moved to Los Angeles to gain broadcast animation experience. He learned across disciplines, from character design and background painting to game development, often teaching himself new tools to meet a project’s needs. Carl went on to co-found Lion Forge, which grew into a major Black-owned comics publisher and animation studio. A defining part of its work was bringing underrepresented voices to the screen. He points to Hair Love as an example of a story that connected with audiences and earned major awards, while also describing the repeated challenge of having to prove that projects centred on Black characters could succeed. That experience helped shape his next venture, Composition Media. Carl wants the studio to create and bring its own work to audiences, with more control over the ideas, production process and intellectual property. He sees efficient production pipelines as essential, especially as the media business changes and development funding becomes harder to secure. Reed views AI as another major shift in animation, comparable to the industry’s move from paper to digital tools. He acknowledges job concerns and legal questions, but argues that new technology can give creators more ways to experiment and make ambitious work while stressing that better tools do not automatically produce better films: craft and professional experience still matter. The larger challenge is figuring out how audiences will discover new work and how creators can earn a sustainable living from it. Amazingly, given his work ethic, Carl makes sure he has time for his family, including basketball tournaments with his son and origami with his daughter. Looking ahead, he expects animation technology to keep improving, while the industry’s harder problems will be distribution, discoverability and the economics that allow creative work to continue.

“I had some very, very unglamorous jobs. Like, I was animating carrots.” Jean-Philippe “J.P.” Vine joins the Julian to trace a career he describes as “completely haphazard and just kind of following my nose.” JP studied theatre design at Central Saint Martins, drawn in by a GCSE drama project — a model First World War trench with working practical lights — and a childhood of model railways and French comics. Theatre proved hard to make a living from, and after work for the RSC and the Bristol Old Vic he was rejected by Aardman as a model maker for “not being technical enough,” finally getting in as a set dresser on Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Watching the animators, he realised they were “having the most fun,” took a training puppet home and taught himself to animate from Richard Williams’ book — enough to earn shots in the film. A storyboard test for Shaun the Sheep changed everything. Its non-verbal, hundred-shot economy became, he says, his film school, and boarding — “writing and directing and acting and drawing and designing all together” — became his craft. After four years at Aardman, spells in Jerusalem and one Pixar rejection, he was invited to reapply, threw a portfolio together in four days while teaching in Florence, and joined Pixar in 2012 on Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur and Cars 3. He left Pixar to co-direct Locksmith Animation’s first feature, Ron’s Gone Wrong, uprooting three children from California to do it — and learned on that film the limits of pretending to know everything. His short Cardboard, about pigs in a Nevada trailer park, grew out of a family road trip and years of idle doodles; it was BAFTA-nominated and Oscar-shortlisted. Now Creative Director at Dream Games Animation, building a London studio from zero, he insists specificity of voice — Bluey, Pingu, Nick Park — is what reaches an audience.

"I learned most of my leadership skills from Kermit the Frog." Emmet O'Neil, CEO of StoryToys, is living proof that the most chaotic CVs often hide the most deliberate and creative minds. Uprooted from Dublin to rural Cork at age six, he channelled that childhood trauma straight into creativity — a habit that's never left him. A career as an illustrator was derailed by a rare degenerative eye condition, which, combined with a newborn on the way, pushed him reluctantly into management. What followed was a decade of digital transformation work across film, advertising and publishing before landing at StoryToys, where he took over from his own brother as CEO. His leadership philosophy? Largely borrowed from Kermit the Frog. His stance on AI? Cautiously optimistic — he's waiting for the hype bubble to burst before the genuinely useful tools emerge. His biggest bugbear? The myth that creatives can't do business, which he believes has enabled the exploitation of creative talent for centuries. Oh, and he's an award-winning pumpkin carver. LinkedIn will confirm.

Today's guest, Olexa Hewryk, is Vice President and Head of Animation at Sesame Workshop. Starting his career as an animator, he has since directed, produced, and now oversees a broad portfolio of animated content — from Sesame Street itself to YouTube originals and Roblox activations. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, he's the recipient of four Daytime Emmy Awards and has shaped shows including Esme & Roy and Little Einsteins. Olexa's journey is rooted in a childhood love of cartoons at his grandparents' house and children's books (Curious George being his first obsession). At RISD he switched from illustration to animation after a winter session course revealed that animation combined everything he loved — children's books, theatre, and set design. A formative post-grad year in Kraków, Poland immersed him in Eastern European animation, whose slower storytelling pacing and dark absurdist humour has quietly influenced his work ever since. He speaks passionately about why preschool content matters and about Sesame Workshop's non-negotiable commitment to curriculum-driven content: "our goal is to create content that helps children become smarter, stronger and kinder." He's candid about AI, describing himself as personally curious but emphatic that it plays no part in current Workshop productions. "If kids are not enjoying the content, the curriculum is ineffectual."

“One minute you’re making cartoons in Kilkenny, the next you’re chatting with Quentin Tarantino over champagne.” This week on the podcast, we’re joined by Paul Young of Cartoon Saloon — producer, director, co-founder, accidental salesman, and possibly the only man in animation whose career began with Greek beach caricatures and illegal late-night sandwich sales. Paul chats to Julian about building Cartoon Saloon from a scrappy Kilkenny startup into one of the most admired studios in the world, why some of the best industry deals happen after midnight, and how a studio can still make world-class animation while letting people go home at 5pm. It’s a funny, honest and quietly inspiring conversation about creativity, persistence, and making beautiful 2D films in a 3D world. Perfect listening for anyone recovering from Animation Dingle this weekend — or anyone who’s ever wondered how sandwiches, cartoons, Oscar nominations and beatboxing somehow end up in the same career. With immense thanks to Paul for his time and candidness and, as always, to the fantastic Julian Scott for hosting and the rock that is Janet Balmforth at Liberi Consulting.

"You've got to be a bit obsessed with it." This episode's guest is a dynast of the animation world; a man who started out at age 4 as the voice of Tiny Tim in an animated Christmas Carol but then threw it all away and ran off to Oxford University to become a lawyer! But the spell had been cast and in 1987 he found himself back in the industry and working on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He then went on, ironically given his career path, to work at Disney/MGM in Florida to work on ‘Roller Coaster Rabbit. But then the dark side took him again and back to law and the House of Commons he went, only to return triumphantly once more to Warner Brothers Animation and this time he stayed, going on to work at many of the big studios and some huge films such as The Lion King, The Iron Giant, the last three Harry Potter films, and The Chronicles of Narnia. Since then he has split his time between education at Escape Studios and continuing to work on animated projects. Julians guest today is Alex Williams.

“The death of Optimus Prime had a big impact” This week's guest is Alexi Wheeler. Maybe best known for his time as VP Production Development at Nickelodeon where he launched International Shorts Program which was, as Alexi states, “a strong avenue for incredible work and lasting relationships,” pairing, as it did, emerging creators with studios ready to bring fresh ideas to life, or perhaps his role as as Head of Animated Series for Netflix EMEA during its explosive expansion into kids’ animation - what he describes as “the rocket ship trajectory”, where creativity could come from anywhere. His team commissioned a lot in a short period, helping define Netflix’s global kids and family slate at the time. Now running his own production development studio, Wheel In Motion in collaboration with SuperProd, Alexi is once again getting hands on with the creative process. We hope you enjoy this fun and funny episode and encourage you to share the podcast with your friends, family, colleagues and pets. As always, our eternal gratitude to Janet Balmforth at Liberi Consulting and host extraordinaire, Julian Scott.

"A special BAFTA Award for a 25 year legacy in children's media and the social and cultural impact." Ladies and gentlemen, as a special early Christmas present for you all, I give you Tom Box, Adam Shaw, and Oli Hyatt MBE, of Blue Zoo Animation Studio. While I am sure Tom, Adam, and Oli would be the first to acknowledge that everyone who has passed through the doors of Blue Zoo over the first 25 years has played a part in where they are now, we only had room for the 3 of them, so everyone else will have to wait. This is a hugely entertaining discourse about the journey of the studio and the chaps themselves, from their earliest days at Bournemouth University and bringing the company into existence, very much like a student band being formed, through the sometimes tough learning experiences along the way, to yesterday's wonderful recognition by BAFTA of all that they have achieved as a studio and as individuals. You don't need any more set up from me, just grab a glass of something Christmassy, sit back, and enjoy this extra special episode with some exceptional humans. As always, we cannot make this podcast without Janet Balmforth at Liberi Consulting and the hosting duties of the erudite and well classy, Julian Scott. Thank you both.

“Sometimes the detours are where you learn the most and that are the most exciting parts of your life.” A truer word was rarely spoken, especially when it comes to career journey's in the media industry. And the journey of today's guest, Denitsa Yordanova, is nothing if not filled with exiting detours. From studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematical Economics and International Relations at Colgate University and then an MBA from Stanford Business School in the US, you might be fooled into thinking Denitsa was life in pure finance but after internships at Merril Lynch, Bloomberg, and then Cinepolis in Mexico, an opportunity at Guardian Media Group in London arose and Denitsa moved continents and industries! After a stint at Endemol Shine, where she bridged the gap between commercial and creative, and another Master's Degree, this time in Media, Programming and Curating Film, Denitsa found a home at the British Film Institute as UK Global Screen Fund and International Funds. Quite the journey and, as you will hear, quite the woman! With my thanks as always to Denitsa for her time, Julian Scott for hosting and Janet Balmforth for making the whole thing possible and kicking me when I need it. And to you, for tuning in. Please remember to subscribe for all new episodes as they drop and recommend to friends. If you'd like details of how you can sponsor the podcast, drop me a line at [email protected]

"That truth shines through. That honesty shines through. And that's what animation is." In a special 'timely' edition this week Julian speaks to Dr Steve Henderson, CEO, Director and Co-Founder of The Manchester Animation Festival. We've dragged Steve away from his computer at the most crucial time of year for him, just a few days out from the start of this year's festival. And boy is it worth it! Not only do we get the origin story of MAF itself but also Doctor Steve, the man. And then as a bonus we also get the origin story of Skwigly Magazine! What an episode. Steve talks about trying to get the work life balance right and how his family and personal life are so intrinsically linked, it's hard to see the difference at times. Julian asks about Steve's thoughts on AI (trigger warning, he doesn't hold back) and how he and his wife and co-Director of the festival, Jen Hall, make decisions on curating the films that are shown and the panels that are staged. Fascinating stuff from a fascinating man. For more info and tickets (still available!) on MAF, which starts on Sunday 9th November, go to manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk For more on Skwigly Animation Magazine, so to skwigly.co.uk And for details of NORTHWESTIVUS on the evening of Wednesday 12th November alongside MAF, go to fstvs.net/events/northwestivus-2/ With eternal gratitude, as always, to Janet Balmforth at libericonsulting.com/ and Julian Scott for wonderful hosting duties linkedin.com/in/julian-scott-b363405/