In conversation with animator Poppy Marlow

Breaking into the animation industry is rarely straightforward, and for many artists, it’s a path paved with uncertainty, persistence, and a touch of serendipity. Poppy Marlow’s story is no different – but it’s also a powerful testament to curiosity, determination, and versatility. Her journey captures the reality of what it takes to carve out a career in a competitive, ever-evolving field.

Our London Head of School, Dr Amrinder Singh Romana, sat down with Poppy to discuss her career path, the skills that have kept her in demand, and her advice for students hoping to break into the world of animation.

Amrinder: Tell us about how you got into animation and what your journey was to your career as it stands now.

Poppy: I remember being 10 years old, watching Happy Feet at the cinema, and there’s this shot where the camera pans over the earth. I remember thinking, “I’m going to make films when I’m older.” That’s it – Happy Feet.

Much later, I was on a university open day. I was supposed to go in computer science, but I walked into computer animation and visual effects by accident. That’s when I decided to forego my path in programming and took the computer animation and VFX degree instead.

I soon realised I could do more than animation, as I could also programme. After I graduated, I interviewed with Animal Logic in Sydney but COVID hit, so I was unemployed for about 6 months before MPC Film reached out.

A: Reflecting on your education and your early experiences in the industry, what aspects of your training do you feel were most valuable for your career?

P: I’d say the more generalist aspects are what’s kept me in a job. I can bring things from design to render, I can programme in three different languages, and I’ve worked on VR games as well. Being a ‘Jack of all trades’ has kept me employed and let me buy a house at 26.

A: I think a lot of institutions are still stuck thinking that you need to be this very specific thing for a very specific purpose.

P: A lot of pure animators I know are better animators than me, but I know people that have been unemployed for years because all they do is animate. There’s stiff competition.

I have a lot more options open to me because I have other skills. Even if your role is just animation, having other skills always makes you more valuable.

A: Do you see that as something that makes you more valuable, because you can work across departments more effectively?

P: If you’re hired as an animator, they want you to be a good animator, but a company will find it attractive if you can do more.

If you were going to work for a company like ILM, they would want you as a pure animator, because they already have people that do the other stuff, whereas, if you’re working for a small company, the more you can do the better.

A: When you look at an animation course now, do you think it should be something that evolves as it progresses to best prepare students for industry?

P: On a pure animation course, it can be quite tempting to start bringing in loads of technology and tools that are trending, but the fundamentals are what’s most important.

If you learn how to animate using tools, it might set you back. If you know how to work in the industry standard programmes, then you’re pretty much set. If you get tools, they can streamline your process but you should still be able to do your job without them.

I’d also recommend teaching students how to animate on twos. Ever since Spiderverse came out, it’s the industry has been going nuts for twos.

A: If you were to give students specific advice about technical, artistic, and soft skills, what do you think a student should be focusing on during their education?

P: I have seen a lot of people broken by the feedback they’ve received.

Rule of thumb: If anybody above you is telling you about your work, whether you agree or not, the answer is always, ‘Okay’, then you write it down. Don’t argue back.

It’s important to cultivate the ability to separate the art from yourself and accept that criticism is not a reflection of you. They are looking objectively at your work. It’s not a slight on you – it’s about the final output.

A: Is that a case of not being precious of your work and understanding the pipeline?

P: I remember one of my lecturers was making something incredible on Z-Brush. At the end of the lecture, he closed without saving. ‘Why would you do that?’, we all asked. He just shrugged and said, ‘I can do it again.’ He wasn’t precious about his work. That really resonated with me.

A: Do you get a lot of from working in collaboration with other creative teams?

P: Smaller studios tend to be more collaborative, whereas the big ones can be quite siloed. Usually, there are coordinators who handle communications between departments. It’s not like you couldn’t talk to other departments if you wanted to, but that’s the coordinator’s job.

A: It’s interesting to know that that’s the case for smaller companies, which is where a lot of the students will find themselves at first – that or freelancing.

P: I found it easier to score freelance gigs after I had proven professional experience. As a new graduate, I applied as much as I could to get that proven experience. A lot of people at uni went straight into freelancing but most of those people are not working in the industry now.

A: When you think about the animation industry, how do you see it changing over the next 5 to 10 years?

P: It depends on how AI technology is used. If they brought AI into Maya, for example, where you set your poses and then the AI does the rest, that would be great. I’m sure they’ll be able to do that eventually.

Generative AI, I don’t like at all. There are already AI animated videos and they’re terrible; things don’t move correctly to the trained eye. The thing is that shareholders aren’t trained eyes, but they are the people who make or break a project.

I think that highlights the need for students to be able to spot flaws in AI-generated images and handle cleanup with a clear understanding of what they’re fixing, not just rely on prompt generators.

A: We’re getting a lot of the same kind of generic coming out now which are just regurgitated or made live action. Do you think we’ll start to see more interesting storytelling and narratives emerging?

P: The problem is the giants that are doing all the remakes. I should know – I’ve worked on God knows how many! They’re doing these regurgitations because it’s safe.

Two Pixar films came out in 2022: Turning Red and Lightyear. Turning Red was Pixar’s first female-directed, mostly female-created film. It was fantastic, but it went straight to streaming. At the same time, Lightyear had big names, big actors, big ad team push in cinemas, but it was terrible.

That’s my point – interesting stories are being made but they’re being overshadowed by remakes and sequels.

I don’t think humanity’s lost any creativity. If anything, I think it’s probably more creative than it ever has been. There’s just so much that gets lost in the noise.

A: What areas in animation are you seeing as good opportunities for recent grads? What about AI — could it become something useful, like when Photoshop first came out and all the graphic designers freaked out?

P: Rigging. I’d say that’s a big opportunity.

And as much as AI is scary, it’s smart to learn how to use it. I used ChatGPT to teach myself how to use cases in programming – so it can act as a teacher. I do think you’d be foolish not to keep up with technology in this industry.

Unreal Engine is becoming big. Unreal has live rendering so, when you play the scene, you can see it with more or less the full lighting setup.

A: What would you say makes a good portfolio?

P: Variety is something to consider when putting together your portfolio, both in terms of style and technique.

Some companies are looking for something specific. I have a job coming up where they were looking specifically for somebody to animate on twos and I’d worked on Dog Man and a Lego film, so having a range in your portfolio is pretty valuable.

A: What, in your opinion, makes good student reel?

P: A good reel has got to be a little different. If I was hiring and a reel started off with a Malcolm rig on a plain background, I’d turn it off immediately. Eugene [Riecansky] from Pixar said the same thing: you’ve got to do something different.

A: How important is networking building? I think students sometimes find that a challenge.

P: Go to animation festivals. There are people that go to those festivals to network; you might meet people that are interested if you go about it right.

A lot of the time, once you’ve got a job, you make connections. This job that I’ve got coming up at Wild Child is through recommendations from Blue Zoo. Once I worked with Blue Zoo, they knew me, so when they were looking for talent again for Lego, they knew where to find me.

I got into the industry without a network, so it is possible. I was very lucky. I got onto this technical academy course with a group of about thirty, of which they picked three of us and I happened to be one of those three.

A: You say you were lucky, but maybe it’s because you’ve put yourself in the mix that you’ve got the opportunity, whereas somebody who doesn’t put themselves out won’t.

P: I applied to MPC in my second year of university. I got rejected, but they kept me on file for two years. Then, they sent me an email letting me know that they had this academy course. I had to quit my job to do the course, which was completely free, with the potential for a job at MPC at the end.

One of the supervisors on the course just happened to have gone to the same university as me. I really hammered that fact home. A week after the course ended, I messaged the supervisor on LinkedIn asking if there was any news. He responded with, “I’ll see what I can do,” with a winky face.

I wouldn’t have gotten in if I hadn’t put myself out there. When you see an opportunity, jump on it.

A: Do you think it’s important to keep entering different competitions or challenges, so you’re constantly getting feedback and critique on your work and evolving as a result?

P: Get as much feedback as you can. You can message animators on LinkedIn and offer them £20 to review your reel. It’s a common thing. If you know them personally, they’re more likely to do it for free., but you can offer to pay for feedback.

With the 11 Second Club, you don’t get feedback unless you win. But I think is good practise. When I entered, I got a supervisor from ILM to review my entry, which went on to win.

A: What’s been one of the biggest challenges that you’ve faced and how have you overcome that in your career?

P: The biggest challenge is getting to grips with the fact that it’s not stable work but being okay with it.

Being laid off in a foreign country was also hard. But, had that not happened, I wouldn’t have had the chance to work on other projects. Moving from job to job has allowed me to stay in the industry.

A: We don’t talk enough about that in the industry, that need for resilience.

P: Jordan Spinks said that if you’re going into this industry expecting money, you’re in the wrong industry. That’s not necessarily true. I wouldn’t say you’re earning big money, but it’s not bad money if you can stay employed.

If you want to move around the world, then a career in animation is fantastic. Companies will sponsor you to live and work abroad. It’s an invaluable experience that makes you grow as a person, but you have to want that.

A: What’s the most fulfilling part of working in animation and how do you maintain creativity and inspiration over time?

P: Seeing my name in credits was really special to me. It’s gratifying to know that I decided what happened in one part of a Disney film. My hard work is in that film forever.

I wouldn’t still be in this industry if I didn’t love it. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.

A: If you could give one piece of advice to animation students, what would that be?

P: Keep trying.

I was pretty determined to be an animator or die trying.

It’s a case of putting in a lot of work and getting really good. If you can open Maya and create something of a similar standard to that which you see in a film, you will get a job eventually.

For most people, it takes up to a year to get into the industry. If it’s been six months and you haven’t had a bite yet, that’s not a bad thing. I’m pretty sure that I applied to over 200 jobs before I got MPC. If you keep applying, eventually someone’s going to bite.

Poppy’s story highlights what so many early-career animators need to hear: that talent is just one piece of the puzzle. Resilience, adaptability, and an open-minded approach to learning can be just as important, especially in a fast-moving industry shaped by shifting technologies and fierce competition. Poppy’s message is clear: keep going. Keep applying. Keep creating. The opportunity you’re hoping for might just be one application away.

Want to follow in Poppy’s footsteps?

Check out our BA (Hons) Animation degree or join us for an Open Day to find out more