Animation like most film making lends itself more to collaborations of artists rather than to a single artist. Painting or sculpting are more personal and usually not collaborative efforts, but animation requires such a diverse set of skills and talents so that it really begs for people to seek out partners to work together on projects. I have written about this subject previously and if you are interested you can read my thoughts HERE.
People often feel that because they live someplace where they don’t have access to meeting people in person than they are not going to be able to develop collaborative relationships. From personal experience I can tell you that in todays world, distant relationships and collaborations not only work, but they can often be superior just because they open the pool of potential partners to a much larger selection of talent and personalities.
Often there is a reluctance to enter into these type of relationships because of a variety of reasons. Perhaps you feel you don’t have enough experience to offer, or you are afraid of rejection if you approach someone with a proposal. You have to be prepare to be rejected but that’s part of the price you pay for the opportunity. When a collaborative partnership works it is great and well worth the effort. Just understand that it may take several attempts to find the right partners, and be prepared to work at developing these relationships as they require effort. And don’t give up if at first you aren’t successful. -JK