Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam New.
Adam, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I originally studied architecture at Clemson all the way back in the mid-2000s. When I graduated in 2008, I had an opportunity to go work in Shanghai. It was exciting and a great learning experience, but after 2 years, I was ready to return to the US and pursue a graduate degree at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. I was about halfway through when I had the jarring realization that architecture was actually not what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. I still completed my graduate degree, spending the remainder of my time exploring as many other avenues as possible to see what direction I might want to move in.
During this period, I took a class on animation for architecture that had a huge influence on me. The teachers both worked at Blue Sky, and I reached out to see if there was any way I could get a job there. It took a while, but a few months after I graduated, they called and said they were looking for people. I got hired on in a contract position to help prep files for the film Rio 2. It was an amazing opportunity and very exciting to be surrounded by so many creative and talented people. Unfortunately, after four months, the film was just about wrapped and moving into postproduction, and the contract was up.
I moved on to a small studio in Manhattan called Tronic. I was there for a few months before the owner closed up the shop and moved back to Pittsburgh. From there, I freelanced for a few months until I ended up with another full-time position at Brooklyn Digital Foundry. I was eager to develop my skills in animation and BDF was my chance to do that. We produced countless arch viz animations for clients all over the world, always trying to push them creatively with varying degrees of success. I was there for 3 years, during which I learned and grew a great deal as an artist, especially with the guidance and input from my boss, John Szot, and coworker, Seiji Anderson. But ultimately, I began to feel that I needed to leave New York and return to the south.
I packed everything I had into a car and drove down to Atlanta, drawn by the fact that my brother lived there and by the possibility of finding a way into the rapidly growing Atlanta film industry. I spent the first few months in Atlanta attempting to write a novel (an attempt which went quite badly, to no one’s surprise) and taking acting classes. After that I began to freelance again, working out of my brother’s Decatur law office, before ending up in another full-time position doing Visual Media at Jacobs.
I was at Jacobs for four years, including through the pandemic, before I once again began to feel the itch to pursue something more creative. I left Jacobs and searched out opportunities for a bit. My partner at the time connected me with someone from the Atlanta Opera. I started with some initial editing and moti0n tasks and helped to film a few of their shows. I was working contract to contract at this time, and although I really enjoyed the work and the atmosphere of the opera, I was finding my finances getting stretched thin and still felt the itch to find my way toward animation. I began applying for other jobs and ultimately ended up at a motion graphics position with CNN, which is where I am today.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has certainly not been a smooth road. Although, in many ways, the architecture background has certainly served me well, it’s often left me feeling like I’m playing catch-up in a very competitive industry where I don’t have the specific education and experiences that many others do. I’ve been mostly self-taught or learning on the job, which is very valuable but can also be stressful. I’ve also often struggled with mental health and financial stresses, though I am very lucky to have a strong support network that has kept me going through it all.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At the moment, I am focused on motion design. I’ve been exploring animation in general for a long time, trying to find where I might fit into the pipeline, and that seems to be a role that has fit me well. It’s always exciting when you get to see something you’ve worked on in front of other people. When I worked at the Opera, I got to do a teaser for their upcoming season, and seeing that on the screens before every performance really made me feel like I was a part of the show.
I suppose you’d have to ask someone else what sets me apart, but I like to think it’s my ability to deftly mix design, animation, writing, and music together to create compelling pieces. I also feel I have something of a unique design aesthetic, heavily influenced by my love for all things sci-fi, that has served me well.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Ooof, this is always so hard to say. Obviously, in such a tech-focused industry, there is always the need to deal with constant change and evolution. Both in the tools we use and, in the tastes and trends that are dominant. There is definitely a general push towards more real-time work, and I anticipate Unreal Engine playing a bigger role in motion graphics pipelines as things go forward. And, of course, there is the gigantic question mark of AI that looms over everything. I think we’re all still kind of uncertain just how that is going to change things and what that might mean for the way we do creative work in the future. For now, I feel most of us are eyeing it somewhat suspiciously, but it’ll likely be something we cannot ignore forever.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://anewmotion.com/
- Instagram: @whatbeastslouches
