The Animator’s Friend
Episodes
TAF at the Marvels of Media Festival 2026!
27 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Last night, I transcended my human form and turned into a rd carpet correspondent for the Museum of Moving Image's Marvels of Media Festival! We spoke...
Festival Strategy with Warren Etheredge!
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
I know I said we were on a break, but I just couldn't wait to share this bonus episode on Festival Strategy! Festival programmer Warren Etheredge shar...
24.5: Punk & Grind with Santi MacLean & Joe Zappulla [PART 2]
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Continue your friend-of-the-pod/avatar/oink-oink drinking game with the final portion of my chat with filmmakers Santi MacLean and Joe Zuppulla! Don...
24: Punk & Grind with Santi MacLean & Joe Zappulla [PART 1]
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We may be in Month 2 of 2026, but Santi MacLean, Joe Zappulla, and I are still feeling the new year's energy in TAF's first ever two-part episode! R...
23: The Duck Man's Quandary with Julian Glander
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Me and the homies have been geeking over the animated feature Boys Go to Jupiter for months and months so it was a thrill to get to talk with Julian ...
22: Getting Through It with Natalia Poteryakhin
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 22 is a lucky one with director Natalia Poteryakhin, sharing anecdotes of endurance, logging off, and blind faith, bolstering her animation ca...
21: Inside Inputs with Ugo Bienvenu & Félix de Givry
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Conducted my interview with Arco creators Ugo Bienvenu and Félix de Givry to learn about their penchant for sandwiches as well as gain more insight i...
20: Anarchistic & Anti-Capitalistic with Andres Salazar
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Animator's Friend podcast has been turning into The Animator's Italian-American Friend for some time now, and 3D artist/designer Andres Salazar ha...
19: Zero Stars for Patriarchy with Tess Martin
20 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I enjoyed chatting with fellow Beatles freak Tess Martin about our other shared fixation: The Netherlands. What business does their coffee have being ...
18: Another Hobby with Danielle Goldwert
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I learned all about Danielle Goldwert's numorous hobbies and have a feeling I barely scratched the surface! Stop-motion animation is just one of her m...
17: The Mastermind Mosquito with Simeon Kondev
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Between moments of being outsmarted by a mosquito, hear Simeon Kondev expose the metal-head within. Simeon is a Bulgarian-American animator whose late...
16: Croissant Cafe Club with Loick Du Plessis D'Argentre & Simin He
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Preempting their Student Academy Award win for their student film The Shyness of Trees, listen to Loick Du Plessis D'Argentre, Simin He, and me giggle...
15: Under the Pergola with Amanda Bonaiuto
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You can find Amanda, me, and her dog Bacca under the pergola, discussing our shared provenance which includes italianess, shyness, and punkness. Her...
14: Ourselves but Hotter with Lena Greene
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you need a bar recommendation, enjoy Lena's encyclopedic knowledge of cool karaoke bars, including the ones that exist only in her mind. Throats Ka...
TAF at the Ottawa International Animation Festival 2025!
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Animator's Friend is live-to-tape at the The Animator's Picnic! As part of the 2025 Ottawa International Animation Festival (aka my favorite fes...
13: Made in New York with Signe Baumane & Debra Solomon
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In anticipation of the Made in New York: Best of NYC Indie Animation showcase and panel at Metrograph this Saturday (9/13/25, 5pm), I had the opportun...
12: Manifesting Bugs with Nayon Cho
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nayon and I met on a grueling hike in the French alps after a revelrous week at Annecy International Animation Festival, bonding us in a unique way. ...
TAF at the Hudson Valley Film Festival 2025!
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're at the drive-in this week for the Hudson Valley Film Festival's 10th Anniversary! There's no doubt how much this fest loves animation, and the...
11: Perpetually Figuring It Out with Tala Rae Schlossberg
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tala really knows what it means to live life creatively! She blurs the boundaries between her art practice and personal life to lead an existence that...
10: Cockroach Conversations with Cynthia Chu
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cynthia and I are passionate about being able to communicate with cockroaches one day, but for now, we'll have to settle on talking to eachother. List...
TAF at the Annecy International Animation Festival 2025!
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We are live-to-tape at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Festival! Take a pew with me and my friend Barnaby Catterall (who I met at Annecy 8 y...
TAF at Animafest Zagreb 2025!
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the interest of making new friends while attending Animafest Zagreb this year, I hung out at the festival picnic to record some impromptu conversat...
9: The Sid Defense with Michael Dondero & Shengnan Dong
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Listen to my chat with my two favorite Annecy Achievers Michael Dondero and Shengnan Dong, whose film Nostril has been programmed into Annecy Internat...
8: Belonging to the City Instantly with Brent Sievers
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two episodes in one month!? Don't get used to it!... yet. Brent Sievers was in NYC a few weeks ago to receive a Webby for his show The Land of Boggs, ...
7: Starting Animation Beef with Jasper Lin
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Animator's Friend reaches Unc Status by having Jasper Lin on the show. In our chat, Jasper does everything in his power to get us both canceled by...
6: That's What's Up with Nicole Otaola
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sit poolside with me and Nicole Otaola as we discuss pauses, pivots, persistence, politics, and Jurassic Park. Nicole is an artist and filmmaker cur...
5: Balance with Anne Beal
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I think the theme of my chat with Anne is BALANCE: the balance between creative desires; improvisation and planning; nature and opportunity; perfectio...
4: Stretching & Narcissism with John Morena
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month, I made a new friend! John Morena joined me to talk all the most taboo topics: religion, and the tristate pizza wars. Morena is a Bronx-bor...
3: rhcp summer with Josh Pilch
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month, The Animator's Friend is joined by the self-proclaimed Animator's Friend's Friend Josh Pilch. Josh is an animator at Augenblick Studios an...
2: Some Joy with Lisa LaBracio
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Animator's Friend is hosted by India Lombardi-Bello, an animation educator at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. In this new podcast, Ind...
1: Visual Vomit with Kristie Kish
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the inaugural episode of "The Animator's Friend," hosted by India Lombardi Bello, an animation educator at the School of Visual Arts in New...