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 multimedia documents and data moshes on top of a vulnerable outcry. With bulging eyes and spaghetti-like green hair, the young man speaks in the form of a 3D-animated figure. In a high pitch voice, the character extrapolates on recent feelings of self-hatred and general aimlessness, due to financial pressures and up-keeping physical and intellectual standards while encountering romantic hook-ups. Micro-aggressions stretch the narrator’s mental bandwidth into oblivion and his cryptic self-recorded videos, along with other digital images, disintegrate into the next. While the outside world and its tactile elements offer moments of calmness, only so much can heal until the state of reality hits yet again. MacLean’s film moves quickly but packs a final punch, capturing the overwhelming influx of textures and feelings siphoned into a young person’s feed, and mind, today.

Get your hands on a Camp Snap Camera for $5 off by using my link! https://www.campsnapphoto.com/INDIALOMBARDIBELLO

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Links to points of discussion:

• The Animator's Animations
• Santi MacLean's website
• Santi's Instagram
• Joe Zappulla's Instagram
• Fun pet namez on Instagram
• NoBudge
• The Animator's Friend on Instagram
• Julian Glander on TAF
• The Animator's Playlist
• Bakeri - BK
• The Animator's Favorites
• Brooklyn Public Library

The Animator's Friend is hosted by India Lombardi-Bello, an educator based in New York City. In this series, 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 personal, lighthearted, and unexpected conversation.

Credits:

• Recorded, produced, and edited by India Lombardi-Bello
• Digital marketing assistance from Arnesh Kundu
• Music by Cloutmeyer
• Design by Sawyer Rippon
• Special thanks: Talia Frank-Stemple, Michael Dondero, Kristie Kish, Malt Adult, my mom and dad.
• All opinions belong to the guests and do not represent any other individual or entity.

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 our chat on YouTube or Spotify!

Get your hands on a Camp Snap Camera for $5 off by using my link! https://www.campsnapphoto.com/INDIALOMBARDIBELLO

Host your podcast on Podbean, one month free trial! https://www.podbean.com/theanimatorsfriend

Do businessy things on Podbean, one month free trial! https://www.podbean.com/pro/theanimatorsfriend

Advertise on Podbean! https://sponsorship.podbean.com/theanimatorsfriend

Links to points of discussion:

• Julian Glander's website
• Julian Glander's Instagram
• The Animator's Animations
• The Animator's Playlist
• Pigeon Bagels - PA
• The Animator's Favorites
• Buddhist Gumby tshirt from JustinsShirtStore on Etsy
• TAF At Ottawa International Animation Festival!
• Tubulus Plasticus by YOON
• Five Points Bakery - PA
• The Animator's Friend on Instagram

The Animator's Friend is hosted by India Lombardi-Bello, an animation educator based in New York City. In this series, 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 personal, lighthearted, and unexpected conversation.

Credits:

• Recorded, produced, and edited by India Lombardi-Bello
• Digital marketing assistance from Arnesh Kundu
• Music by Cloutmeyer
• Design by Sawyer Rippon
• Special thanks: Kaila Hier; my mom and dad; Kristie Kish; Michael Dondero
• All opinions belong to the guests and do not represent any other individual or entity.