The Toon Room Podcast

🎧 Episode 10 - Generate your Happiness - Fraser MacLean

For this episode, I sat down with Fraser MacLean — layout artist, animation historian, and author of Setting the Scene— whose career spans from Who Framed Roger Rabbit to Disney’s Tarzan and beyond. But this conversation isn’t just about credits. It’s about craft. About perspective. And about protecting knowledge that risks being forgotten. We talk about: ✨ The Myth of “2D” Fraser challenges the idea that traditional animation is flat. From multiplane cameras to deep canvas innovations, he breaks down why classic hand-drawn animation is aggressively three-dimensional — and why that matters. 🎬 Why Layout Holds the Purse Strings Layout isn’t decoration. It’s structural. It determines cost, efficiency, staging, depth, and emotional clarity. Fraser explains why removing layout from a pipeline isn’t saving money — it’s misunderstanding how films are actually built. 🎨 Falling in Love with Drawing From growing up in Scotland to discovering Fantasia on the big screen, Fraser shares the formative moments that shaped his artistic path — including being told repeatedly at art school that his drawing was “outdated” and irrelevant. 🚪 Knocking on Disney’s Door After being ignored by studios, Fraser physically tracked down Disney’s production office during Roger Rabbit, demanded a phone number, and ended up being hired because of the very life drawings his tutors dismissed. 💻 Technology Is a Tool — Not a Savior From radar mechanics in WWII to the digital revolution in animation, Fraser reflects on how technology changes pipelines — but not the fundamentals of visual storytelling. 📚 Why He Wrote the Book Setting the Scene isn’t nostalgia. It’s documentation. It’s about preserving knowledge of staging, perspective, and spatial storytelling before it disappears from modern pipelines. This episode is a masterclass in thinking — about depth, about discipline, and about the invisible architecture behind great animation. 🎧 Listen now — and if you want to join these conversations live, with animators and storytellers from around the world, come hang out with us inside The Toon Room: 👉 thetoonroom.com

🎙️ Episode 9 - Be Kooky. Be Yourself. Be Weird. - Justine Bannister

For this episode, I sat down with Justine Bannister — someone I’ve often described as the quiet connector of the animation world. A generous industry matchmaker, strategist, and long-time advocate for creative collaboration, Justine has spent decades helping projects and people find each other. We talk about: ✨ Finding Your Way (Without a Master Plan) Justine didn’t set out to work in animation. From European studies to journalism, distribution, Disney, and eventually launching her own consultancy — her path reflects what so many creative careers really look like: unexpected turns, curiosity, and timing. 🌍 Global Perspective From the UK to France, Argentina to international markets, Justine shares how working across cultures shaped her understanding of storytelling, partnerships, and how this industry actually functions behind the scenes. 🤝 The Art of Connecting People Some people instinctively see how projects and personalities align. Justine explains how decades of experience sharpened that instinct — and why relationships remain the real currency of animation. 🎬 Distribution, Development & the Bigger Picture We dig into how projects move from idea to screen, what creators often underestimate about markets like Annecy or MIP, and why preparation and positioning matter just as much as passion. 💛 Creating Safe Spaces in a Noisy Industry Justine reflects on why spaces like The Toon Room matter right now — places where conversations are honest, not performative, and where barriers to entry are lower than they’ve traditionally been. This episode is a reminder that animation careers don’t follow straight lines — and that sometimes the most powerful role in the room isn’t the loudest one, but the one quietly connecting the dots. 🎧 Listen now — and if you want to join these conversations live, with animators and storytellers from around the world, come hang out with us inside The Toon Room: 👉 thetoonroom.com

🎧 Episode 8 - Be Everywhere. Do Everything. - Josh Fisher

For this episode, I sat down with Josh Fisher — award-winning producer, development executive, network insider, and now strategic advisor helping creators shape and position their IP for today’s market. Josh has worked across independent studios, major networks, and global brands — developing series, launching franchises, and sitting on both sides of the table.  We talk about: ✨ Finding the Right Lane From New Jersey to college radio, from Disney World to freelance TV, Josh didn’t start in animation — and he didn’t follow a straight line. His story is a reminder that most careers in this industry are built through pivots, not plans. 🎬 From Production to Development After starting on the production side, Josh fought his way into development — discovering that shaping stories, building worlds, and helping creators refine ideas was where he truly belonged. 📺 Inside the Network Machine As a young executive at Fox Family (later Disney), Josh helped develop and oversee major series — including Totally Spies. He shares what it means to carry creative responsibility inside a corporate structure — and how to navigate leverage, politics, and partnership. 🚀 Independent Studio Hustle At Mike Young Productions (later Moonscoop), Josh moved back into a more entrepreneurial space — writing bibles, shaping pilots, polishing scripts, doing whatever needed to be done to get shows made. The creative rewards — and the structural realities — were very different. 🌍 Early Digital Thinking Long before “transmedia strategy” became a buzzword, Josh launched an online game world on the side — a move that reshaped his career and positioned him at the intersection of digital, linear, and brand-building. 💡 Seeing the Whole Ecosystem Having been a studio executive, a network buyer, a startup founder, and now an advisor — Josh understands how ideas move through the system. And that perspective is what he now brings to creators trying to navigate it. This episode is a deep dive into career evolution — and what happens when you combine creative instinct with strategic awareness. 🎧 Listen now — and if you want to join these conversations live, with animators and storytellers from around the world, come hang out with us inside The Toon Room: 👉 thetoonroom.com

🎙️ Episode 7 - Find What Makes You Happiest - Ken Faier

For this episode, I sat down with Ken Faier, founder of Epic Story Media and one of the original architects behind Kidscreen magazine — a platform that helped shape and connect the global kids and animation industry. We talk about: ✨ No Master Plan Ken didn’t set out to work in animation. From growing up in Montreal to studying business, to landing an unexpected opportunity in publishing — his path into the kids and animation world was built on curiosity, timing, and saying yes to opportunity. 🚀 Building Community Before It Was a Buzzword Through the launch of Kidscreen in the mid-90s, Ken helped create a global voice for the children’s entertainment industry — connecting producers, broadcasters, distributors, and brand builders long before “ecosystem” became a common term. 🤝 Creative + Business Alignment Ken reflects on the importance of respecting creators while understanding the commercial realities of the industry. The tension between operational management and creative partnership shaped many of his career decisions — and ultimately led him toward more entrepreneurial paths. 🎯 Knowing When to Move On From publishing to distribution to launching Epic Story Media, Ken shares how recognizing frustration — and acting before it calcifies — has been key to sustaining both joy and momentum in his career. 💡 Why the Kids Industry Is Different There’s a particular complexity to children’s entertainment — spanning production, licensing, gaming, consumer products, and global distribution. Ken explains why that interconnectedness has kept him engaged for decades. This episode is a reminder that careers in animation and kids media are rarely linear — and that sometimes the most impactful journeys begin with a simple phone call you almost didn’t answer. 🎧 Listen now — and if you want to be part of these conversations live, join animators, storytellers, and industry veterans from around the world inside The Toon Room: 👉 thetoonroom.com

🎧 Episode 6 - Outsource the Sweat - Alan Keane

For Episode 6, I sat down with Alan Keane — writer, script editor, producer and long-time animation storyteller — for a deeply human conversation about creativity, resilience, and what it actually takes to build a life in animation over decades. Rather than dissecting industry trends or chasing headlines, this episode stays focused on the person behind the work: the detours, the failures, and the reasons we keep showing up even when things don’t go to plan. We talk about Alan’s journey from comics and psychology to screenwriting, UCLA, BBC productions, and ultimately finding a creative home in animation — and what that path taught him along the way. We talk about: ✨ Why Personal Stories Matter More Than Industry Noise Every career path is different — and that’s exactly where the real lessons live. ✍️ Writing Is Rewriting Why getting something imperfect on the page is the hardest — and most important — step. 🧠 Psychology, Empathy & Story How understanding people feeds better characters, stronger scripts, and clearer emotional beats. 🎬 Why Animation Is a Collaborative Artform Scripts as blueprints, not final answers — and how leaving room for others makes the work better. 💥 Resilience Over Talent Why surviving rejection, adapting to change, and staying curious matters just as much as skill. 🎨 Protecting the Magic From production to leadership — why the real job is creating space for artists to do their best work. ⸻ 🎧 Listen now — and if you want to join these conversations live, with animators and storytellers from around the world, come hang out with us inside The Toon Room: 👉 thetoonroom.com