Veronica Plante grew up homeschooled in the South Bay with an early interest in fine arts, but saw limited career options in a traditional liberal arts path. The arts, media, and entertainment pathway changed that — at 15, V began dual-enrollment animation classes at Cañada College. By 21, they were one of the youngest animators at Agora Studio, a global network serving animation studios worldwide.
V credits Digital Art and Animation faculty member Paul Naas with pushing them toward opportunities beyond the classroom, including AnimChallenge, a monthly animation challenge run with Agora that helped V sharpen skills and connect with other animators.
In early 2020, Agora brought V on as an unpaid recruiter for storyboard artists. “It gave me a lot of insight into how jobs are actually offered to artists and what they’re looking for in a showreel,” V says. That work paid off with a paid animation offer from Agora the following October, and pushed V to enroll at Animator Mentor, an online school taught by professional animators.
V’s advice to other students: there’s no single path into animation, but communication and adaptability matter most, since the work is collaborative by nature. V recommends joining communities like AnimChallenge early and consistently doing more than what’s expected to demonstrate readiness.
V also points to real barriers in the field — the time animation coursework demands can force low-income Black and Latinx students to choose between work and training. On a brighter note, V highlights that women are well-represented in animation’s high-paying production management roles, calling PMs “the glue” that holds team-based work together.
V’s story about their most recent project epitomizes all that they recommend above. The task was the opener for a commercial featuring rapping birds. V is not into rap. But you wouldn’t know it watching these birds throw down!