Winner 2 – Andrew Philips
INTERGALACTIC ICE CREAM
We had our second winner pow-wow with the creator of Intergalactic ice Cream, Mr. Andrw Philips.
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Tell us more about yourself
I’m a writer based in Cape Town, currently writing and co-directing on a South African show called Supa Strikas. I’ve also written shorts and
upcoming episodes for shows on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, and I’m kind of addicted to developing animated series projects in my free time. As a husband and recent father, I probably look like a grown-up, but I still appreciate a well-crafted fart joke. Always will.
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How did you get into animation?
Kind of by accident. Though I loved to draw, I was never the kid who dreamed of being an animator. Instead, I studied Film and English literature and ended up teaching for about 10 years. Until one day, prompted by a friend, I entered the Disney/Triggerfish writing contest and discovered that I LOVE writing for animation. I didn’t win, but I got selected as a finalist, met a bunch of awesome people, learned a lot, and used that as a springboard into writing scripts for animated things.
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What schools can one look into?
I’m not an animator, so I don’t know much about that, but the Animation School in Cape Town seems pretty amazing. I’ve worked with a couple of stellar graduates from that place. And they’ve produced some killer student films. One of them won a prize at FUPiTOONS this year.
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How did you draw inspiration for this project?
It’s really just a combination of the stuff I love (absurd comedy, space adventure, weaponized ice cream) and my experience growing up as a perpetual new kid who found his tribe among the misfits and outsiders where humor wasn’t just a coping mechanism, it was how we built a life-long friendship.
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Africa is starting to gain momentum with both content in games and animation, where do you see us in the next decade?
I don’t know, but I’m inspired by the young reckless creatives who aren’t complaining or waiting around for permission – the ones who just make awesome stuff and get it to an audience. The future belongs to them.
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Do current trends influence your scripts?
Yes, for sure. I’m all about that lit fam Snapchat. That’ll never get old! For real though, if by “current trends” you mean pop culture (rather than political or socioeconomic trends), I’m definitely influenced by it in more ways than I’m even aware of simply because pop culture is pervasive and woven into the fabric of my experience as a human living in the world. In that sense, it definitely filters down into what I write. That said, I try not to respond to it directly or consciously shoehorn it into a script. If my entire story hinges on being relevant to the current moment, it’ll be irrelevant to the next one – which isn’t ideal when you consider the average animated episode takes about nine months to produce. That pop-cultural reference might’ve sounded dope as a lit fam dab when I wrote it, but it might be painfully cringed by the time it reaches viewers a year later.
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Any last words to young animators?
I’m no authority, but for what it’s worth… Find people you love to work with and make stuff! Make lots of different things. If you cling to one pet project, it can become a dead weight that holds you back from creating the one that could be your big break. Don’t be afraid to share your stuff early and often. Take on criticism. Fail. Iterate. And repeat. It’s the only way to get better. Also, enter loads of competitions like the Cartoon Network Creative Lab. Contests offer focus and a deadline: two things usually help me kick into gear.
