The Animator’s Friend
India Lombardi-Bello 35 episodes Nov 6, 2026
The Animator’s Friend is a podcast hosted by India Lombardi-Bello, an animation educator at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Each episode features a 24-question interview with an animator, inspired by the 24 frames per second of animation. The show aims to let animators talk about themselves outside the context of their work, creating lighthearted and unexpected conversations.
Episodes
31: Eating Candy in the Woods with Stephen P. Neary
Whether it's foraging for mushrooms or eating candy in the woods, Living with a Visionary director Stephen P. Neary draws his creativity from life's quiet moments.
Narrated by Academy Award nominee James Cromwell (Babe, L.A Confidential), and based on John Matthias’ memoir first published in The New Yorker, Living with a Visionary is a soulful, bittersweet reflection on John’s fifty-year marria
TAF at Woodstock Film Festival 2026!
In between leaf peeping sessions, I attended the Woodstock Film Festival as a filmmaker and podcaster. I spoke with some of the many talented filmmakers selected this year including Marcy Page, Astrid McGraw, Alexandra Lukina, Candy Kugel, Stella Amarante Salvadego, Ashley Gerst, Elliot Lobell, John Quinn, and Xinhui Ma. This episode has video, so watch on YouTube and Spotify!
Get your hands on
TAF at the Ottawa International Animation Festival 2026!
Ash Suh, animator, songwriter, and jewelry maker joins me, podcaster and 5D animator in making new friends at Ottawa International Animation Festival's annual Animator's Picnic! We Americans are coming around to the Canadian way of life and find taxes to be very sexy. Hear what gets our fellow animators engines revving within.
Links to points of discussion:
Ottawa International Animation Festi
30: The Largest Collection of Little Guys with Luca Depardon
Luca joins the podcast to offer his insight on bug fandom being the foremost expert in the field.
Luca Ogawa Depardon is an animator and illustrator from NYC. His animations are playful fusions of traditional and experimental animation techniques, daydreams, inventive editing, and funky characters. His films have been featured internationally at places such as the New Chintose Airport Animation F
Hudson Valley Film Festival Rising Student Award-Winner Jessica Rizk!
Jessica Rizk's film Cracked has us clutching our t*tties for dear life! You can see her film on Thursday, August 20th at the Hudson Valley Film Festival in Warwick, NY; a stone's throw from NYC! Watch on YouTube and Spotify, listen everywhere else!
Links to points of discussion (will update soon!):
Hudson Valley Film Festival's website
Hudson Valley Film Festival on Instagram
Kristie Kish's websi
Hudson Valley Film Festival Nectar of the Projector Award-Winner Sofía Arbaiza Martínez!
Sofía preserves important family history in her film Ingrato Sureño Invasor. You can see their film on Wednesday, August 19th at the Hudson Valley Film Festival in Warwick, NY; a stone's throw from NYC! Watch on YouTube and Spotify, listen everywhere else!
Links to points of discussion (will update soon!):
Hudson Valley Film Festival's website
Hudson Valley Film Festival on Instagram
Kristie Kish
Hudson Valley Film Fest Indie Shoestring Award-Winner Alex Greenblatt!
We had so much fun talking to Alex Greenblatt that we barely got to ask him about his film Four Days of Exams! You can see his film on Thursday, August 20th at the Hudson Valley Film Festival in Warwick, NY; a stone's throw from NYC! Watch on YouTube and Spotify, listen everywhere else!
Links to points of discussion:
Alex's website
Alex's Instagram
Hudson Valley Film Festival's website
Hudson Val
Hudson Valley Film Fest Out of this World Award-Winner Mira Seeba!
All week, Kristie Kish and I are speaking with Hudson Valley Film Fest (HVFF) award winners, starting with Mira Seeba! Kristie and I present the Out of this World Award to Mira's film HEAVEN'S ESCAPE for deeply original filmmaking that literally takes us out of our earthly plane. You can see her film on Wednesday, August 19th at the HVFF in Warwick, NY; a stone's throw from NYC! Watch on YouTube
101 Dalmatians with Josh Pilch!
The Animator's Friend's Friend Josh Pilch and I revisit 101 Dalmatians, which is screening on 35mm at Metrograph now! We're talkin Ub, Xerox, and somehow, as usual with Josh, Anthony Kiedis.
Get your ticket for the final screening of 101 Dalmatians Sunday, July 26th at 11:10am
Enjoy Josh's work on City Island U.S.A. and Beach Buggy Adventures!
Links to points of discussion (will update soon!):
J
29: Put the Rotton Tomatoes Down with David De La Fuente
My many attempts to discuss the Real Housewives on this podcast finally pay off with fellow expert David De La Fuente!
David De La Fuente is an animation artist with interests in the moving image, semiotics, and graphic design. His work has explored themes of queerness, the aesthetic experience, and romanticism. His films have shown in the Annecy International Animation Festival, Slamdance Film
28: Good Egg with John Michael Boling & Jason Coombs
While Bouchra's on its world tour, I got to meet creative producers John Michael Boling and Jason Coombs who enlightened me as to why Funko Pops are a scourge on our society. See Bouchra at Metrograph through to July 2nd or catch it in a city near you soon!
Wrestling with writer’s block for her first film, Bouchra, a queer Moroccan jackal living in NYC, starts having difficult yet overdue phon
27: Beauty Marks with Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma
Pilar and I contemplate Minnie Mouse's wikiFeet rating.
Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma is a Spanish-American animator, filmmaker, and multidisciplinary artist from New York City. They received a BFA in Film/Animation/Video from the Rhode Island School of Design and are currently based in Brooklyn.
Her practice encompasses both digital and traditional techniques, typically using an interplay of t
26: Bring Back Pangea with Marcelese Cooper
In true TAF fashion, me and Marcelese Cooper talk about bugs.
Marcelese Cooper is an artist and educator originally from Santa Clarita, California, and has practiced throughout the Midwest and the South for nearly a decade. Influenced by their experiences as a young, black, queer individual, Cooper explores themes of identity, community, and the black/brown narrative through mediums like animat
25: Earthwalking with Andy & Carolyn London
From oatmeal to the occult, the London's give equal attention to their pastimes. They even begrudgingly give equal attention to their dislikes as well which include Long Island and the discomfort of growing up. These are featured predominently in their most recent film 1981, where the mullets are long, the metal is heavy, and 14-year-old Douglas gets a birthday surprise that will change his lif
TAF at the Marvels of Media Festival 2026!
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 with festival participants and organizers Dani Bowman, Jackson Tucker-Meyer, Josh Sapan, Susanna Hunt, Steven Fraser, Steph Prizhitomsky, Bob Clark, Miranda Lee, and Maxwell Scheller. The festival runs all weekend long, see details here: https://mov
Festival Strategy with Warren Etheredge!
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 shares how to get the most out of your film's festival run including insights into timeline, assessment, contact, assets, and budget. This episode will be here for you whenever you have a film ready to take out on the road! Listen, take notes, and get 75
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24.5: Punk & Grind with Santi MacLean & Joe Zappulla [PART 2]
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't sleep on Doomscrolling and the whole Fun pet namez series!
A young man talks himself through a panic attack. In Doomscrolling, Santi MacLean layers multimedia documents and data moshes on top of a vulnerable outcry. With bulging eyes and spaghetti-
![24: Punk & Grind with Santi MacLean & Joe Zappulla [PART 1]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog19699429/Square_Post_SJ86l2y.jpg){kind=logo}
24: Punk & Grind with Santi MacLean & Joe Zappulla [PART 1]
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! Relive the feelings of optimism that January 2nd gifted as your resolutions start to lose meaning, like the thumbs-up react on that text message you sent.
A young man talks himself through a panic attack. In Doomscrolling, Santi MacLean layers multimed
23: The Duck Man's Quandary with Julian Glander
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 Glander about it, but mostly we tried to drum up some animation-world drama.
A teenager in suburban Florida desperately hustles to make $5,000 in this dreamy and surreal animated coming-of-age story. Stream Boys Go to Jupiter on Amazon Prime!
Watch ou
22: Getting Through It with Natalia Poteryakhin
Episode 22 is a lucky one with director Natalia Poteryakhin, sharing anecdotes of endurance, logging off, and blind faith, all bolstering her animation career. Further blessing this episode is the appearance of non-human guest Zoe Lombardi-Bello.
Watch on video on Youtube or Spotify!
Sunny Side Down is a sci-fi parody series where existential dread is served hot with a side of 90’s nostalgia. Jus
21: Human Timings with Ugo Bienvenu & Félix de Givry
Conducted my interview with Arco creators Ugo Bienvenu and Félix de Givry ~on twos~ to learn about their penchant for sandwiches as well as gain more insight into the driving forces of their beautiful film. Experience the podcast with video for a change! I prefer you watch on YouTube B) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHBrnoduxTs
A magical and beautifully animated journey through time, Arco is a d
20: Anarchistic & Anti-Capitalistic with Andres Salazar
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 has made matters worse by getting your host's spaghetti in a knot with some hot takes on Italian cuisine.
Andres is a Colombian-American designer and 3D artist based in Astoria, New York. His work explores the magic in the mundane, blending photorealis
19: Zero Stars for Patriarchy with Tess Martin
I enjoyed chatting with fellow Beatles freak Tess Martin about our other shared fixation: The Netherlands. What business does their coffee have being so good? How easy is it to be a working artist there? Is the countryside really like those old Dutch paintings? Find out within.
Tess Martin is a film and visual artist based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She brings her perspective as someone who wa
18: Another Hobby with Danielle Goldwert
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 many interests, which she executes perfectly in her film waterlogged. Hear about how Danielle's creative interests and doctorate research converge.
In waterlogged, a climate scholar confronts the haunting reality of his research as surreal environment
17: The Mastermind Mosquito with Simeon Kondev
Between moments of being outsmarted by a mosquito, hear Simeon Kondev expose the metal-head within.
Simeon is a Bulgarian-American animator whose latest cartoon Society Animals deserves your follow on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Get your hands on a Camp Snap Camera for $5 off by using my link! https://www.campsnapphoto.com/INDIALOMBARDIBELLO
Links to points of discussion:
The Animator's Frien
16: Croissant Cafe Club with Loick Du Plessis D'Argentre & Simin He
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 over unexpected animation crushes, rats, and French cliches.
In the film, Hélène, 40 years old, comes to visit her aging mother in the french countryside. But her mother isn't being her usual self. She seems to have formed a strange bond with the pl
15: Under the Pergola with Amanda Bonaiuto
You can find Amanda, me, and her dog Bacca under the pergola, discussing our shared provenance which includes italianess, shyness, and punkness. Her film Confetti is available online for the first time through Director's Notes and her and fellow animator James Thacher have just started their own studio called Magician with a screening coming up at Ridgewood Community Cinema on 11/2/25 at 7pm.
Am
14: Ourselves but Hotter with Lena Greene
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 Karaoke Bar is the setting of her latest short film Tuna Tartare, which challenges you to be yourself but hotter.
Set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, Tuna Tartare is a trashy, karaoke musical about an expired can of tuna fish and her BFF Susan (a fake
TAF at the Ottawa International Animation Festival 2025!
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 festival)! After meeting her for the first time at the last OIAF, I asked my fellow media pass girlie Sarah Schmidt of Malt Adult to join me to talk to the good people at The Animator's Picnic! In true TAF-fashion, we talked a little shit, swooned over
13: Made in New York with Signe Baumane & Debra Solomon
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 opportunity to speak with Signe Baumane and Debra Solomon about the screening, making it in NYC, and 417 Hz YouTube videos.
Just as New York has long been the capital of America’s artistically ambitious “Second Cinema,” a scrappy foil to the Los Angelino ind
12: Manifesting Bugs with Nayon Cho
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. I can say for myself, she saw my most bratty, unvarnished self within only hours of meeting, which I can't say for most people! Hear us reminisce.
Nayon Cho is an animation director and artist born in Seoul, based in New York. She uses a technique wh
TAF at the Hudson Valley Film Festival 2025!
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 they invited me and my friend Kristie Kish to interview selected animators including Ryan Castrillo, Michael McGoldrick, John Quinn, Zac Max, and friends of the pod Arnesh Kundu, Michael Dondero, and Shengnan Dong. We were also honored to be part of Lau
11: Perpetually Figuring It Out with Tala Rae Schlossberg
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 feels like a work of art in and of itself. You can experience this rapturous reality by attending one of her many retreats, workshops, and community events! Join her orbit: @talaschlossberg.
Tala Rae Schlossberg is an American experimental artist kn
10: Cockroach Conversations with Cynthia Chu
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 Cl
TAF at the Annecy International Animation Festival 2025!
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 discus
TAF at Animafest Zagreb 2025!
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, a
9: The Sid Defense with Michael Dondero & Shengnan Dong
Listen to my chat with my two favorite Annecy Achievers Michael Dondero and Shengnan Dong, whose film Nostril has been programmed into Annecy International Animation Festivals 2025's WTF Block! If you are going to Annecy, book your ticket for one of the WTF blocks ASAP or rush day of!
Links to points of discussion:
Nostril's website
Michael Dondero's website
Michael Dondero's Instagram
Shengna
8: Belonging to the City Instantly with Brent Sievers
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, becoming the podcast's first Angelino; allaying any blind East Coast/West Coast allegiances with his holistic perspective on the bites, the vibes, and the views.
Links to points of discussion:
Land of Boggs on Instagram
Brent's Instagram
The Divide
7: Starting Animation Beef with Jasper Lin
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 crowning me the Joe Rogan of Animation, starting animation beef with Oscar winners, and attempting to settle multiple disputes with me on mic.
Jasper is an animator, computer artist, and educator. His work ranges from narrative short films to exper
6: That's What's Up with Nicole Otaola
Sit poolside with me and Nicole Otaola as we discuss pauses, pivots, persistence, politics, and Jurassic Park.
Nicole is an artist and filmmaker currently based in Miami, FL. She is a recent graduate of the BFA Animation Program at the School of Visual Arts. She is an animation generalist, previously at Augenblick Studios - clients including PBS, Netflix, Irony Point, G-Fuel, Toei Animation, an
5: Balance with Anne Beal
I think the theme of my chat with Anne is BALANCE: the balance between creative desires; improvisation and planning; nature and opportunity; perfection and imperfection; Alice in Wonderland and Scar; the artist and the critic. The deep sea angler fish serves as a sublime enactment of this search for harmony.
Anne Beal is an award-winning animation filmmaker and multimedia artist whose work merges
4: Stretching & Narcissism with John Morena
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-born animator and art director, currently living in Brooklyn. His films have been selected by such prestigious festivals Annecy, Ottawa, Hiroshima, Anima Mundi, Animafest Zagreb, and the International Children's Festival. He is currently working on an
3: rhcp summer with Josh Pilch
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 and has worked on such projects as City Island and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. He has his own improv podcast Big Town Improv which can be found on all major podcast platforms. This lively conversation leaves listeners wondering... is Josh brat? Is Jo
2: Some Joy with Lisa LaBracio
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, 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.
In this episode, Ind
1: Visual Vomit with Kristie Kish
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 York City. In this new podcast, 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 unexpecte
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