Autonomous Animator

By Martin Grebing

The Joy of Working for Yourself

I’ve never been a big fan of coloring inside the lines. Well, maybe a little at first — but once I figured out all the angles, creating my own lines became paramount.

I’m here to tell you how great being your own boss and working for yourself is, but I’m also here to tell you it’s not all roses. Going out on your own can be a harrowing experience. In the beginning, you will more than likely fail more than you succeed. There’s a good chance you will be late with rent, your car payments, student loans, and a host of other bills more than a few times. You may not know when or where your next meal will appear. You may have to beg and borrow from everyone you know.

The struggle to become your own boss is more than just a collection of harsh learning lessons, it’s a rite of passage. However, if you feel this is your true calling and you can persist against a world that seems hell-bent on the demise of all who dare buck the system, the rewards can be exponentially sweeter. But be warned, once you’ve tasted the sweet life, there’s no turning back.

Once you achieve a certain level of success, or practically any level of success from working for self, the mere thought of returning to the 9-to-5 grind under the thumb of an overbearing boss will forevermore send nauseous shivers straight to your gut.

Before digging too deep, let’s take a look at exactly what being independent means from a dictionary perspective: 1) Not relying on others for aid or support. 2) Not being under the rule or control of another. These definitions could apply to those that are independently wealthy and don’t need or want to work. They could also loosely apply to the unemployed or even a wandering monk who travels through the Old West armed only with his spiritual training and skill in martial arts. But for the sake of this article, let’s focus on the independent animator, artist or creative small business owner/operator who is not tied down by the confines of a standard jobby-job.

Working for self means having the power to choose lifestyle first. How much money do you want to make? How many hours per week do you want to work? Would you want to take this Tuesday off ? How about next month? Want to sleep until noon because you were up late last night checking out a DJ without needing to call into work, pretending to be sick? Not a problem! As long as you have all your responsibilities taken care of in advance so everything runs smoothly while you’re on siesta, the sky’s the limit.

The World = Your Oyster!

Working for yourself also means you can work anywhere you want. How would you like to make $1,000 a day from your home studio, never needing to change out of your pajamas while a movie marathon of your favorite films plays in the background? I don’t know about you, but for me that sounds a lot like heaven. What about taking your laptop and umbrella to the beach, sipping on fruity drinks under the sun, hearing the waves crash against the sand and seagulls caw while animating a character for a local advertising agency? Or how about taking a sabbatical to New Zealand

because you want a change of scenery for a few months while you work on upcoming projects? As working remotely has become quite the norm, you can practically work anywhere in the world and deliver your content to practically any other place in the world, and your clients might not even know the difference. And even if they did, they probably wouldn’t care. Working for yourself makes your calendar elastic, causing days of the week to lose their meaning in the traditional work-sense. Highs and lows are not dictated by the day of the week, but rather what goals are accomplished, how much fun you have being your own boss and how many times you thank the stars for not being a member of the Miserable Monday Club. Working for yourself means unlimited earnings potential. This one deserves repeating: unlimited earnings potential! Chances are, Indie Stars: Artists such as Alberto Mielgo (Windshield Wiper), Joanna Quinn (Affairs of the Art; photo: M. Rojas) and Bill Plympton (Demi’s Panic, Guard Dog) have been able to juggle personal, indie animated you’re already an overprojects with commercial fare throughout their amazing careers. achiever and make no qualms about working 80+ hours in a week, so why not do it for yourself, while moving toward your own dreams? Want to make $10k this week? There’s nothing holding you back, it’s all up to you to find the clients and projects to make it happen. Working for yourself certainly has its challenges and is definitely not for everyone, but for those that dare to tread this path, the rewards can be things of legend. Working for yourself is more than just doing your own thing, more than having unlimited earnings potential and more than being able to call your own shots. To those of us who are able to achieve it, working for yourself is essentially freedom. ◆

Martin Grebing is the president of Funnybone Animation Studios. He can be reached at funnyboneanimation.com.

Sorcerers’ Apprentice

Gege Akutami’s esoteric creation Jujutsu Kasien takes the world by storm. By Charles Solomon

Gege Akutami’s 2018 manga Jujutsu Kaisen and its animated TV series and feature film adaptation have become quite a global phenomenon. Released at the end of December, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 overtook Evangelion 3.0+1.0 as the top-grossing film of 2021 in Japan — but most of its run took place in 2022, so it’s currently the biggest hit of two years. U.S. anime producer and distributor Crunchyroll reports that the Jujutsu Kaisen TV series is so popular, it’s been dubbed into English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German, and subtitled in nine additional languages, including Arabic, Italian and French. The 24-episode TV series, which is produced by MAPPA and directed by Sunghoo Park, began its run in Japan in October 2020.

Meanwhile, the manga has sold more than 60 million books worldwide; the English translation has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. John Bae, Weekly Shonen Jump editor for at Viz, comments, “To be honest, Jujutsu Kaisen’s popularity blindsided me a bit … I kept thinking it’s too edgy and filled with too many esoteric references … Boy oh boy, was I wrong! Its popularity just exploded. It’s exciting, thought-provoking and, to me, one of the most unique and original manga series out right now.”

The story centers on Sugisawa High student Yuji Itadori, who possesses extraordinary physical strength and speed. Just before he dies, the grandfather who raised him tells Itadori, “You’re a strong kid, so help people. It doesn’t have to be all the time. Just whenever you can. You may feel lost. Don’t expect gratitude, Just help them.”

In Akutami’s world, negative human emotions produce a vile energy that generates “Curses,” supernatural monsters that account for more than 10,000 deaths a year. Two of Itadori’s friends in the

Occult Research Club break the seal on an extremely powerful cursed object — the severed finger of the formidable demon Sukuna. To prevent his classmates from being killed by the monsters it attracts, Itadori ingests the finger. He’s following his grandfather’s admonition, although probably not in the way the old man intended.

His rash action saves his friends, but poses serious problems for Jujutsu High student Megumi Fushiguro and teacher Satoru Gojo, who battle the Curses. If Sukuna took permanent control of Itadori’s body, he could wreak terrible destruction on the world. As it is, he can only control the teen for a few seconds at a time. The “higher-ups” have decided that instead of executing him immediately (thereby destroying the malevolent power of the

finger), they’ll send Itadori to Jujutsu High School. He’ll learn to combat curses and grow strong enough to consume all Sukuna’s digits. Then they’ll execute him. Itadori isn’t exactly the sharpest katana in the armory. He’s not driven by the deep need to help others that motivates Deku in My Hero Academia. Nor has a personal tragedy led him to dedicate his life to preventing others from suffering, as Tanjiro does in Demon Slayer. But like Tanjiro and Deku, Itadori begins a program of rigorous, violent training to control his latent powers. The initial manga and first season of the anime focus on his first year at Jujutsu High. In addition to Gojo and Fushiguru, Itadori interacts with three senpai (upperclassmen): genial Panda, brittle Maki Zenin and Toga Unumaki, whose powers limit his vocabulary to fillings for onigiri (rice balls).

Fight scenes are not Akutami’s strongest suit as a manga artist: The pages are so dark, it can be difficult to follow the action. But he has a flair for creating creepy, bizarre monsters that translate well onto the screen. The Jujutsu Kaisen manga and TV series offer an always popular hero’s journey that blends combat, friendship, supernatural foes, training and slapstick comedy, filtered through Akutami’s offbeat sensibility. Itadori doesn’t appear in Jujutsu Kaisen 0. The feature is a prequel that

‘Jujutsu Kaisen offers an always popular hero’s takes place a year earlier, and journey that blends combat, friendship, focuses on nervous, morose supernatural foes, training and slapstick comedy, student Yuta Okkotsu, who meets younger versions of filtered through Akutami’s offbeat sensibility.’ Panda, Maki and Toga. His absence hasn’t bothered the franchise’s fans on both sides of the Pacific. But those fans are still eagerly awaiting Itadori’s return in Season Two of the broadcast series, slated for release in 2023. By the way, it should be noted the true identity of Akutami is shrouded in a cloud of mystery. “Gege Akutami” is only a pen name. The author’s notes left at the end of Kaisen chapters are often accompanied by a one-eyed cat avatar. The gender and sexual identity of the artist is also an enigma. While Akutami is referred to using he/him pronouns, their gender has never been officially confirmed. It all adds to the special mystique and growing popularity of this creative band of sorcerers. ◆

The first season of Jujutsu Kaisen can be streamed on Crunchyroll. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was released in select U.S theaters in March.

We spend a day in Brooklyn with the amazing John Hodgman, co-creator of the awesome animated show Dicktown (FX/Hulu).

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I slept all night holding the camera in front of my face so I could capture the very moment I opened my left eye for you.

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I work in an office not far from my home. Using this picture, you could probably track me down. Please don’t do this.

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My office is on the second floor of this building. This is the whole of my cardio these days.

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Every morning I start by tidying up my desk in case a magazine wants to take a picture of it. On the right are some boxes and wires that I use to record my podcast, Judge John Hodgman.

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I always like to check in on the miniature version of me that I keep trapped in a plastic box.

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My co-creator and co-star of Dicktown is Mr. David Rees. This poster, though, refers to a time when he made his money as an artisanal pencil sharpener. True story.

Here I am taking a break to hang out with my son. Sike! That is not me. That is cartoon me, a.k.a. John Hunchman, Former Boy Detective. And that’s not my son, but Lance, the famous juvenile delinquent played by Griffin Newman

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Lunch time! Don’t worry, I did not eat this cake of uncooked ramen noodles. I threw it away. These days I just like sipping the broth.

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Also in my office I have this wonderful birthday present that was sent to me by my friend Ken Plume. It commemorates my role as eccentric millionaire/duck John D. Rockerduck on Disney’s DuckTales.

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I have ordered a private subway car to take me from Park Slope to Carroll Gardens for my drinks date. It’s a little extra money, but it’s worth it. My drink with my editor was fun. But honestly the best part of the night was coming home to realize that our son is watching The Godfather Part II. What a long movie! It’s also good. I really miss Bruno Kirby. After this I went to bed! Thank you for spending the day with me. ◆