On getting fired

So I got fired from Netflix a few weeks ago. The show I’d been working on for the past year was unceremoniously canceled without warning and the entire crew was let go. It was a shock but not a surprise.

When you’ve been in the cartoon business awhile, you learn to take this sort of thing in stride. I started texting contacts at other studios immediately and got a few meetings set up. Two weeks later, I started a new gig at Warner Bros Animation working on a fun project with good friends.

If you’re a couple decades into your career, losing a gig is nothing new. Projects get cancelled. Studios close down. Seen it many times. Because of this reality, I’ve learned to prepare for these uncertainties. Here are a few things that have helped me to do that:

Setting up an emergency fund.

Ideally, you want 6 months of living expenses saved up to last you in case of layoffs.

Setting aside that amount of cash seems daunting when you first start but you’d be surprised how fast it adds up if you consistently save a portion of each paycheck. A couple books that helped me get in this mind set are “The Richest Man in Babylon” and “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. Highly recommended.

An emergency fund is also nice to have as F-You money if you want to quit a job you hate. I don’t recommend making a habit of suddenly quitting jobs, but it’s good to know you have the option whenever you need it.

Making as many friends as possible.

It’s easy to cloister yourself away at your desk when you draw pictures for a living, but if you aren’t meeting new people then you won’t develop a network of colleagues who can help you when you need it most. Go to lunches and parties as much as possible. Opportunities come from conversations and the more you have, the better your chances of learning about new jobs before they’re even announced.

Developing a reputation for being dependable and competent.

A long time colleague said it well:

“Do good work and don’t be an asshole. It’s not that hard.”

Nothing will kill a career quicker than a bad reputation. Once it’s tarnished, it’s very hard to fix. Guard your reputation as if your career depends on it because it does.

Learning new skills before others do.

Can’t over stress how important this one is. Your learning doesn’t end once you’re out of school. The business is in a perpetual state of change with new technology reinventing the studio pipeline every few years. Layouts used to be done on paper with pencil. Then Photoshop did away with that. Then 3D modeling became a major part of the BG design workflow. Now VR sculpting is becoming popular. Time to learn something new.

Keeping things in perspective.

I was let go from my first paid freelance gig at a small ad agency right out of art school. Because of my inexperience, I made some mistakes that cost the company some time and money. It wasn’t personal. I simply couldn’t deliver what they needed at the time. But as a kid just starting my career, I felt like I didn’t measure up. After I got canned, the creative director had a talk with me. This was over 30 years ago, so I don’t remember her exact words, but her essential message stuck with me and it’s this:

“Getting fired from a job sucks, but it’s not your career and it’s not your life.”

If you’re just a kid starting out, understand that you’re going to screw up a lot because you just don’t know enough yet. It’s ok.

The good news is, because you’re young, you’ve got time to learn and improve. There’s also a lot less to lose at this stage of the game, unlike someone decades into their career with a family to support.

Getting fired does indeed suck, but if you are prepared for when it happens (and it will), then you’ll be able to keep things in perspective. It’s just a job and there will be better opportunities soon enough.

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Till next time,

Chris

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P.S. Questions, comments and any other feedback are always welcome so let me know if you want to share any thoughts regarding this newsletter.

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