For students, job seekers and freelancers
Why didn’t they reply?
An honest guide to contacting a creative studio, building a showreel that gets you hired, and getting noticed. We read every message we get, and we see the same hurdles every week. They’re all fixable, once someone tells you what they are.
Why we wrote this
We’ve noticed a trend.
Every month, and often every week, another young applicant gets in touch looking for a job, a role or a way to get their foot in the door. And nine times out of ten, their email does them no justice. Honestly, they’re lucky to get a reply, and that’s most likely why so many of them don’t.
Either the colleges and universities they’ve studied at aren’t teaching them how to communicate with a business, or that advice is being ignored. Either way, talented people are being overlooked for reasons that are easy to fix.
Communication is a big part of any job. If you can’t explain what you do in an email, that tells an employer a lot. So here’s what we wish every applicant knew.
Part 1 · Contacting a studio
Six things that get a reply.
Studios are busy, and the people reading your message are usually also making the work. Make it easy for them to say yes.
Use a name
Find out who you’re writing to. “Dear Sir/Madam” tells us you’ve sent the same email to fifty studios.
Say who you are in a line
Name, what you do or study, and where you’re based. That’s all we need to start.
Show, don’t tell
A link to your work matters more than anything you write about yourself. Put it near the top.
Make one clear ask
Work experience in March? Feedback on your reel? A chat about junior roles? Say exactly what you’d like.
Show you’ve looked at us
Mention a project of ours you liked and why. One genuine sentence beats a paragraph of flattery.
Keep it short
A good first email fits on a phone screen. You can tell us more once we’re talking.
Spot the difference
Two emails. One gets a reply.
✕ Easy to skip
Subject: (no subject)
Dear Sir/Madam,
i am looking for a job in animation do you have any vacancys. I have attached my CV and portfolio (48MB). Please get back to me asap.
Thanks
- No subject, no name, no idea which studio it was meant for
- No link to work, and an attachment too big to open on a phone
- “Any vacancies?” gives us nothing to say yes to
- Spelling slips, in a message to a communication company
✓ Easy to say yes to
Subject: Work experience request: 2D animation student, Stoke
Hi Daniel,
I’m Sam, a second-year animation student at Staffordshire University. I loved your Hadley globe film. The way the profiles build the world is the kind of 3D work I’m practising now.
Could I join you for a two-day work experience placement in March? My one-minute showreel is here: samsmith.art/reel
Thanks for reading,
Sam Smith · 07700 900000
- A clear subject line we can find again
- A real name, and proof they’ve looked at our work
- One clear ask, with dates
- A short reel, one click away, that opens on any device
Sam is an example, not a real applicant.
The honest answers
Why your email probably wasn’t answered.
Tap a reason to see the fix.
It looked like a mass email
The fix: use the person’s name and the studio’s name, and check you haven’t left another company’s name in by mistake. It happens more than you’d think.
There was no work to look at
The fix: put a link to your portfolio or showreel in the first few lines. We’ll decide from the work, so lead with it.
The link didn’t work
The fix: shared drives that ask for permission, expired transfer links and huge attachments all stop us at the first click. Use a public link and test it in a private browser window before you send.
We couldn’t tell what you wanted
The fix: end with one clear question we can answer, such as dates for work experience, or whether we’re open to junior applications.
It was far too long, or far too short
The fix: aim for three short paragraphs: who you are, why us, and what you’re asking. Around 100 to 150 words is plenty.
The writing let it down
The fix: check spelling and grammar, use capital letters, and use a sensible email address. We’re a communication company, so we notice how you communicate.
You asked for something we don’t offer
The fix: read the studio’s website first. For example, we rarely use freelancers, and we don’t fund unfunded TV or film ideas. A quick look saves you a wasted email.
We were busy, and it slipped
The fix: it’s not always about you. If you’ve not heard back after about two weeks, send one short, friendly follow-up in the same email thread. One follow-up is keen; five is too many.
Part 2 · Your showreel
The biggest problem? The showreel.
Most applicants, especially straight out of university, don’t have the right work on their reel.
Many graduates assume that the work they made to meet their course briefs will be enough to get them a job. In our experience, it often isn’t.
University work is very often half finished, incomplete, and spread across lots of different job roles. So we’re sent reels with a bit of animation, a bit of rigging, a bit of concept art, a bit of lighting and a bit of rendering, and most of it isn’t very good. What comes across is someone who doesn’t know what they have to offer.
And a reel that’s just a rehash of your university projects can look like you couldn’t be bothered to make something new that brings all your skills together. That’s not the impression you want to give.
✕ The “everything I did at uni” reel
What we see: “I’m not sure what I’m good at.”
✓ A focused animator’s reel
What we see: “I know exactly what I bring.”
Pick one or two skills
Decide what you want to be hired for, and make every second of your reel show that. Employers aren’t looking for the whole package. They’re looking for someone who really understands one or two things.
Make new, finished work
When you’ve finished studying, find live briefs or set your own, and make something complete and high quality that shows your best animation, your best rendering, or whatever you want to be known for.
Animators: keep it simple
You don’t need anything rendered. Send walk cycles, run cycles and lip sync tests. Just make sure every one is the very best you can do.
Show your working
Tell us exactly what we’re looking at.
A pretty picture on its own tells us very little. We want to see that you understand the technical side of your craft.
Example: a modelling shot that answers our questions before we ask them.
Modellers
Don’t just show a rendered image and say “this is a model I made”. Show the wireframe, and tell us the poly count and how the topology is built. Those are the first things we’ll want to know, and without them, a render is no use to us.
Group projects
If your reel includes a group film, be very clear about which parts you did. When a long list of names rolls at the end, we know you didn’t make it all, so tell us up front what you did and where your strengths are. A simple caption on screen, like “My role: character animation, shots 3 to 7”, is enough.
Everyone
Label every shot with what you did and the software you used. If we have to guess, we’ll usually move on.
The part most people miss
Don’t let graduation be the first we hear of you.
If you’re studying animation at Staffordshire University, or anywhere near Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, we notice who gets in touch while they’re studying. Too often, someone spends three years on an animation course just down the road and never asks for work experience, never asks a question, and never asks for feedback on their reel. The first time we hear from them is when they’ve left and need a job.
That first email is usually “here’s my CV, here’s my reel, can you give me a job?” It’s all about what you need. But the industry doesn’t really work like that. It works on relationships: knowing people, and opening the door while you’re still studying, so that when you graduate, studios already know who you are, have seen your work, and maybe even helped you improve it.
Reaching out early shows passion, hunger, and that you’re thinking about where you want to end up.
- First yearSay hello
Introduce yourself to your local studios. Ask a question, or ask about work experience.
- Second yearAsk for feedback
Share a piece you’re working on and ask what would make it stronger. Then act on it.
- Final yearShare your reel early
Send a draft reel before you graduate and ask what’s missing. Show how you’ve improved.
- GraduationThey already know you
Your application isn’t a cold email. It’s the next chapter of a conversation.
Part 3 · Applying for work
More reasons applicants get overlooked.
These are the things we see most often when we review applications. Each one is fixable in an afternoon.
Your best work is buried
Put your strongest piece first and keep the reel short, around a minute. We might only watch the opening seconds, so make them count.
It looks like everyone else’s
Tutorial projects are a great way to learn, but we’ve seen them many times. Add your own idea, character or twist.
We only see the finished piece
Show your process too: sketches, storyboards, breakdowns. It tells us how you think, not just what you made.
Nothing about how you work with people
Studios are teams. Mention collaborative projects, taking feedback, or a part-time job where you dealt with customers.
It isn’t tailored to us
Tell us why you want to work here, and show work that fits what we make. A few minutes of research shows.
The instructions weren’t followed
If we ask for a cover letter and examples of your work, send exactly that. It’s the first test of how you’ll work on a brief.
Your public profile works against you
We may look you up. Make sure your public social media is something you’d be happy for an employer to see.
One no, and you gave up
Timing is everything. A polite update months later, with new work, is often how people get remembered.
Before you hit send
Your checklist.
Tick them off as you go. When they’re all done, you’re ready.
Applying to us?
Work experience at Carse & Waterman.
- Two dayswith our team, 10am to 4pm, at our studio in Stoke-on-Trent
- Book aheadplacements usually fill two to three months in advance
- Send usa short cover letter, examples of your creative work, and the dates that suit you
- Portfolio firstyour work matters far more to us than a CV, which you don’t need to send
