Black artists remain woefully underrepresented in the animation industry. That’s why Waymond Singleton co-created Black N’ Animated, a podcast that aims to increase visibility for black creatives.
Throughout his career, the storyboard artist for Disney Television has found himself in rare company as one of just a handful of black animation artists. In fact, it was during a fish out of water moment that the seeds of Black N’ Animated were first sown.
After a Cartoon Network mixer in 2017, Singleton found himself and a handful of other black industry professionals quite literally on the outside looking in.
“There was a group of people hanging outside and we realized that we were all black,” he says. “It was a circle of black people standing outside this restaurant watching a bunch of white creatives hanging out and talking to each other inside. And we were like, ‘This is a weird metaphor for the animation industry.’ So we started the podcast because we wanted to highlight black creatives and let students and [prospective animators] know we’re here.”
With co-host Breana Williams, Singleton interviews black creative professionals about their experiences navigating the industry.
“My hope is to see more inclusive hiring practices and fewer microaggressions. And continuing to see studios hire and bring in more diverse talent and give black creatives a chance.”—Waymond Singleton
“I really love talking to folks about their careers and their paths into animation,” he says. “In college, we learned about black creatives within the industry. We heard about guys like Floyd Norman or Bruce W. Smith but rarely did we hear about anyone else. My first job in animation, I was the only black person on the team and yet the stories that were being told were very black-focused. It made me question myself like, ‘Am I here because I’m talented or because I check a box?’ Even when I am in spaces where I’m one of a handful, it’s very exciting and uplifting.”
Despite knowing what he wanted to do from a young age, Singleton’s own career journey was fraught with difficulty. “Growing up, I loved cartoons, drawing and making comics,” he says. “In high school I wanted to be a comic book artist and as I considered a career in art, I realized animation was viable.”
Upon graduating from Savannah College of Art & Design in 2014, the Bronx native moved back home to New York where the animation industry caters mostly to commercial work. He landed an internship, and later a job as a production assistant, at Brooklyn’s Augenblick Studios, but found trouble finding more cartoon animation work. “It was tough to get into [the industry],” he says. “I remember having an awful time. I realized I wanted to go into storyboarding and do less 2D animation work so I moved to Los Angeles in 2017 and started working as a storyboard artist.”
He got his first storyboarding job at Oddbot Studios on the show Corn & Peg. “Oddbot tends to give that first chance to creatives that have potential, so that was my in,” Singleton says. From there he moved onto the Nickelodeon show Santiago of the Seas before joining Disney Television in January on the series The Ghost and Molly McGee.
Since launching Black N’ Animated in 2018, Williams and Singleton have recorded more than 40 episodes interviewing dozens of black creatives as well as discussing topics from political allegory in anime to the Censored Eleven, a series of racist Warner Bros. cartoons.
“I really enjoy the episodes where it’s just me and Bre talking about some perspective or aspect of animation,” he says. “Because we get to sit down and watch a movie and talk about how it influenced us, the aesthetic and a little bit of production history.”
Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to go remote, balancing work duties with the demands of the podcast has been “super tough,” Singleton says. Throughout the day he juggles his podcast duties with his storyboarding work.
“My mind is not that organized,” he adds. “So it’s a lot of trying to set a schedule for myself. It’s been teaching me more rigid time management.”
The podcast, which has grown to include an advocacy group and organization, wrapped its third season in August, months after mounting tensions erupted into nationwide protests against systemic racism. In the animation industry, a wave of white actors stepped down from roles voicing nonwhite characters, prompting Black N’ Animated to release an open letter outlining actionable steps for the industry to take to support the black animators among its ranks.
“Because of the Black Lives Matter movement, a spotlight has been put onto our organization and our podcast and suddenly people are noticing,” says Singleton. “Which is great, but it’s also this double-edged sword because so much pain has had to occur in order for black people to be taken seriously. But at the same time, we have to be able to make good out of the bad.”
As the animation industry continues to wrestle with implementing and improving upon diversity and representation both onscreen and behind the scenes, Singleton says he just hopes Black N’ Animated can contribute to creating widespread change. “I hope to achieve more inclusivity in the animation industry,” he says. “My hope is to see more inclusive hiring practices and fewer microaggressions. And continuing to see studios hire and bring in more diverse talent and give black creatives a chance.”