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. Listen to us in our middle-of-the-night post-lasagna daze, spiraling over roller-coasters, ghosts, and crystals.

Cynthia Chu is a 2D illustrator and cel animator originally from NYC. Her style goes between painterly and moody to silly and simple. Past Clients include Nickelodeon, SONY, Girl Rising, STARZ, MTV, and Court TV. She is available for freelance Color Design, BG Paint, and 2D Cel Animation.

Links to points of discussion:

• Cynthia's Instagram
• Cynthia's illustration portfolio
• TAF at Annecy with Barnaby Catterall
• The Animator's Friend on Instagram
• The Animator's Favorites
• Annecy International Animation Festival
• Ottawa International Animation Festival
• Anne Beal on The Animator's Friend
• The Animator's Animations
• The Animator's Playlist

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 series, India creates a platform where animators get to talk about themselves outside the context of their work. A questionnaire format, inspired by the 24 frames per second of animation, allows for lighthearted and unexpected conversation.

Credits:

• Recorded and edited by India Lombardi-Bello
• Produced in part with facilities provided by SVA MFA Computer Arts
• Music by Cloutmeyer
• Design and branding by Sawyer Rippon
• Special thanks to Barnaby Catterall, Lisa Lombardi-Bello and Mick Bello, and AJ Lawrence

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 years ago!) as we chat with Animation Talent Picnic attendees about how well they tan, what animal would play them in a Better Man type biopic of their life, and what they have or have not yet seen at the festival this year.

Links to points of discussion:

• Barnaby's website
• Barnaby's Instagram
• Annecy International Animation Festival
• Arco
• Layer Explorer podcast on Youtube
• The Animator's Animations
• Alberto Allegri Rodriguez's website
• Alberto Allegri Rogdriguez's Instagram
• Potlems on Short of the Week
• Mikkel Mainz on Instagram
• Sun Creature Studio
• Skjaldborn Studios
• Tales of Alethrion on Youtube
• ChaO
• Dragon Striker
• Hoj
• Kfir Ben-Dov's website
• Lee-Yam Naaman's website
• Lee-Yam Naaman's Instagram
• Mononoke The Movie
• The Animation Workshop
• Pedro Martins Twitch
• Hlin on Instagram
• Melissa Raymond Lund's website
• Royal College of Art Animation MA
• The Animator's Favorites
• The Animator's Friend on Instagram

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 series, India creates a platform where animators get to talk about themselves outside the context of their work. A questionnaire format, inspired by the 24 frames per second of animation, allows for lighthearted and unexpected conversation.

Credits:

• Recorded and edited by India Lombardi-Bello
• Co-host Barnaby Catterall
• Produced in part with facilities provided by SVA MFA Computer Arts
• Travel support provided by Annecy International Animation Festival and SVA MFA Computer Arts
• Music by Cloutmeyer
• Design by Sawyer Rippon
• Special thanks to Cynthia Chu; Brent Sievers; Ash Suh; Tracy Liu; my mom and dad Lisa Lombardi-Bello and Mick Bello; Barnaby's mom and dad; Darren Santa Maria.

In the interest of making new friends while attending Animafest Zagreb this year, I hung out at the festival picnic to record some impromptu conversations. This feels especially meaningful since Animafest is where I got the idea for the podcast this time last year! I was graciously joined by Sawyer Rippon, designer of the TAF logo, to chat with some new buds about Animafest's programming, frogs, and the beauty of the animation community with guests.

Links to points of discussion:

• Sawyer's website
• Sawyer's Instagram
• Animafest Zagreb
• Bratislava Academy of Performing Arts
• Alina Koroleva's website
• Alina Koroleva's Instagram
• Estonian Academy of Arts
• Power Rangers Time Force on Tubi
• Yiyang Sun's website
• Yiyang Sun's Instagram
• @rs92221 on Instagram
• A Night at the Rest Area by Saki Muramoto trailer
• Ode to Perfume by Maxim Litvinov trailer
• Rise & Shine
• Animateka International Animation Festival
• Kaboom Animation Festival
• The Animator's Animations
• The Animator's Favorites
• The Animator's Friend on Instagram

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 series, India creates a platform where animators get to talk about themselves outside the context of their work. A questionnaire format, inspired by the 24 frames per second of animation, allows for lighthearted and unexpected conversation.

Credits:

• Recorded and edited by India Lombardi-Bello
• Co-host Sawyer Rippon
• Produced in part with facilities provided by SVA MFA Computer Arts
• Travel support provided by Animafest Zagreb and SVA MFA Computer Arts
• Music by Cloutmeyer
• Design by Sawyer Rippon
• Special thanks to Ash Suh for talking about recording at animation festivals with me; either Britt Raes or Tracy Liu for talking about recording specifically at the festival picnics with me; my mom and dad Lisa Lombardi-Bello and Mick Bello; Darren Santa Maria.