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  • 24.5: Punk & Grind with Santi MacLean & Joe Zappulla [PART 2]

    24.5: Punk & Grind with Santi MacLean & Joe Zappulla [PART 2]
    Feb 23 2026
    Continue your friend-of-the-pod/avatar/oink-oink drinking game with the final portion of my chat with filmmakers Santi MacLean and Joe Zuppulla! Don't sleep on Doomscrolling and the whole Fun pet namez series! 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 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: The Animator's AnimationsSanti MacLean's websiteSanti's InstagramJoe Zappulla's InstagramFun pet namez on InstagramNoBudgePurhcase College - NYSUNY Oneonta - NYThe Animator's Playlist on Apple Music and SpotifyThe Rizzler on InstagramThe Animator's FavoritesBrooklyn Public LibraryThe SweatboxLouvre Museum - FranceJulian Glander on TAFArt Sqool by Julian GlanderSilvia's Kitchen on InstagramL&B Spumoni Gardens - NYCThe Animator's Friend on Instagram 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-BelloDigital marketing assistance from Arnesh KunduMusic by CloutmeyerDesign by Sawyer RipponSpecial thanks: Talia Frank-Stemple, Ash Suh, and my mom and dadAll opinions belong to the guests and do not represent any other individual or entity
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    1 Std. und 50 Min.
  • 24: Punk & Grind with Santi MacLean & Joe Zappulla [PART 1]

    24: Punk & Grind with Santi MacLean & Joe Zappulla [PART 1]
    Feb 16 2026

    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

    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:

    • 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.
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    1 Std. und 30 Min.
  • 23: The Duck Man's Quandary with Julian Glander

    23: The Duck Man's Quandary with Julian Glander
    Feb 2 2026

    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.
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    1 Std. und 42 Min.
  • 22: Getting Through It with Natalia Poteryakhin

    22: Getting Through It with Natalia Poteryakhin
    Jan 20 2026
    Episode 22 is a lucky one with director Natalia Poteryakhin, sharing anecdotes of endurance, logging off, and blind faith, all bolstering her animation career. Further blessing this episode is the appearance of non-human guest Zoe Lombardi-Bello. Watch on video on Youtube or Spotify! Sunny Side Down is a sci-fi parody series where existential dread is served hot with a side of 90’s nostalgia. Just beyond the event horizon of a supermassive black hole floats a tiny diner, frozen in time. Every super short episode drops in on whichever weird alien just got pulled into the black hole’s grasp, cutting between their arrival and off-the-wall conversations with the diner’s cryptic cook, Yabba, about what actually lies beyond. There is no way back. You either stay at the diner forever, or risk passing through the hole. Think Spaceballs-level absurdity meets Cheers-style diner regulars, filtered through a radical 90’s sci-fi lens. Expect visual gags, fast setups, and parody riffs on classics like Men in Black, Terminator 2, The Matrix, Starship Troopers, and Contact. This is not hard sci-fi. Physics is optional. Absurdity is mandatory. At the center of it all is Nat, a human waitress and accidental astrophysics prodigy stranded at the diner after a light travel experiment went wrong. She is stubborn, brilliant, snarky, and desperate enough to believe she can build a machine strong enough to escape a black hole. While serving coffee and dodging alien drama, she secretly hoards space junk to engineer her way home to Earth. Running the diner is Yabba, an ancient, chainsmoking, four-armed mentor who has kept this place running for millennia. She is tired. She wants to retire. But her only option is the black hole itself, and she will not go unless someone is ready to take over the diner. Sunny Side Down is not a kids show. Things do not have neat morals. Good behavior is not rewarded. It leans into existential dread, the horror of living in the shadow of a black hole, and the strange comfort of routine in a place you cannot leave. It is purgatory with pancakes. Get your hands on a Camp Snap Camera for $5 off by using my link! https://www.campsnapphoto.com/INDIALOMBARDIBELLO Links to points of discussion: Sunny Side DownNatalia's websiteNatalia's InstagramThe Animator's AnimationsMAKE Originals on YouTubeNice Moves - MNCreator on YouTubeTess Martin on TAFThe Animator's PlaylistAnne Beal on TAFHellavisionThe Animator's FavoritesEmory Allen's websiteAnatola Howard's websiteNicole Otaola on TAFThe 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-BelloBooking assistance from Chris Hollis & Amy StemanDigital marketing assistance from Arnesh KunduMusic by CloutmeyerDesign by Sawyer RipponSpecial thanks: my mom and dad; Kristie Kish; Michael Dondero; Barnaby CatterallAll opinions belong to the guests and do not represent any other individual or entity.
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    1 Std. und 34 Min.
  • 21: Human Timings with Ugo Bienvenu & Félix de Givry

    21: Human Timings with Ugo Bienvenu & Félix de Givry
    Jan 12 2026

    Conducted my interview with Arco creators Ugo Bienvenu and Félix de Givry ~on twos~ to learn about their penchant for sandwiches as well as gain more insight into the driving forces of their beautiful film. Experience the podcast with video for a change! I prefer you watch on YouTube B) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHBrnoduxTs

    A magical and beautifully animated journey through time, Arco is a dazzling adventure about a 10-year-old boy from a peaceful, distant future who accidentally travels back to the year 2075 and discovers a world in peril. As Arco develops a charming and touching friendship with young girl named Iris, they band together and along with her trusted robot caretaker Mikki, set out on a quest to get Arco home, while the two children may also be the only ones who can save our planet. A wondrous odyssey filled with hope and optimism for our future, Arco is an enchanting fable from breakout filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu, produced by Remembers’ Bienvenu and Felix de Givry, and mountainA’s Natalie Portman and Sophie Mas.

    Oscar voting opens today, so if you are a member of the Academy, I hope you will consider Arco as you cast your ballot.

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

    Links to points of discussion:

    • Arco
    • Ugo Bienvenu on Instagram
    • Félix de Givry on IMDB
    • "Voyage Cromatique" at Metrograph - NYC
    • The Animator's Animations
    • TAF at Annecy 2025
    • Remembers Studio
    • Barnaby Catterall's website
    • The Animator's Favorites
    • CalArts
    • The Animator's Playlist
    • 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
    • Booking assistance from Cori Futrovsky and Kaila Hier
    • Digital marketing assistance from Arnesh Kundu
    • Music by Cloutmeyer
    • Design by Sawyer Rippon
    • Special thanks: my mom and dad; Nikolas Fortune Hagen; Michael Dondero; Ash Suh
    • All opinions expressed by host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of anyone else or any entity
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    1 Std. und 10 Min.
  • 20: Anarchistic & Anti-Capitalistic with Andres Salazar

    20: Anarchistic & Anti-Capitalistic with Andres Salazar
    Jan 8 2026

    The Animator's Friend podcast has been turning into The Animator's Italian-American Friend for some time now, and 3D artist/designer Andres Salazar has made matters worse by getting your host's spaghetti in a knot with some hot takes on Italian cuisine.

    Andres is a Colombian-American designer and 3D artist based in Astoria, New York. His work explores the magic in the mundane, blending photorealistic 3D creations with surrealist visuals to spotlight the beauty of quotidian spaces. He is drawn to procedural software like Houdini and inspired by 20th-century design movements. He lives at the junction of visual effects and design.

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

    Links to points of discussion:

    • Andres Salazar's website
    • Andres Salazar's Instagram
    • Josh Pilch's RHCP parody song
    • Josh Pilch on TAF
    • DCOY Studios
    • Camp Snap website
    • Michael Dondero on TAF
    • The Animator's Playlist
    • The Animator's Favorites
    • Beacon's Closet
    • Crossroads Trading
    • Massawa - NYC
    • Spicy Village - NYC
    • TikTok of guys trying out new cuisines in NYC
    • Chris Rutledge's website
    • Ehsan Parizi on Instagram
    • Joseph Toreki's website
    • XK Studio
    • Future Deluxe Studio
    • Papel de Punto
    • Jasper Lin on TAF
    • Wenyi Zhang's website
    • The Animator's Animations
    • Ars Electronica - Austria
    • Brand New School
    • Jimena Martinez's website
    • 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 Josh Pilch (the song is parody and should be enjoyed as such) and Cloutmeyer
    • Design by Sawyer Rippon
    • Special thanks: Andres & Jimena for hosting me; my mom & dad; Darren Santa Maria; Malt Adult
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    1 Std. und 42 Min.
  • 19: Zero Stars for Patriarchy with Tess Martin

    19: Zero Stars for Patriarchy with Tess Martin
    Dec 20 2025
    I enjoyed chatting with fellow Beatles freak Tess Martin about our other shared fixation: The Netherlands. What business does their coffee have being so good? How easy is it to be a working artist there? Is the countryside really like those old Dutch paintings? Find out within. Tess Martin is a film and visual artist based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She brings her perspective as someone who was raised between cultures to exploring themes of belonging, identity and connection. Her short films, videos and installations address our vulnerability: in relation to nature, the onslaught of time and the precariousness of memory. Tess has both a classical fine art and an animation background and these come together in her work: she pushes the conceptual potential of hand-made animation and the narrative potential of site-specific pieces. How Now, House? investigates our yearning to leave traces behind through the prism of one house in Rotterdam. Using archives, personal memories and the philosophy of time, the film questions whether a space can ever really belong to one person, or time period, at all. How Now, House? will be screened at the upcoming London Short Film Festival, Jan 23-Feb 1, 2026. Get your hands on a Camp Snap Camera for $5 off by using my link! https://www.campsnapphoto.com/INDIALOMBARDIBELLO Links to points of discussion: Tess Martin's websiteTess Martin's InstagramThe Holidays at MetrographThe Animator's Friend on InstagramCamp Snap websiteAnimator's Picnic - NYCHow Now, House?1976: Search for LifeThe Animator's AnimationsScience New Wave Festival - NYCAlice Saey's websiteNienke Deutz's websiteKaboom Animation FestivalThe Animator's PlaylistRevolution in the Head by Ian MacDonaldThe Animator's FavoritesLeon & Cocina's websiteAnifilm - Czech RepublicAnimafest Zagreb - CroatiaAnnecy International Animation Festival - FranceArchitecture Film Festival Rotterdam - NetherlandsInternational Film Fest Rotterdam - NetherlandsTurku Animated Film Festival - FinlandAnimateka - SloveniaKristie Kish's websiteBrooklyn Public LibrarySt. Joost School of Art & Design - NetherlandsDok Leipzig - GermanyLondon Short Film Festival - UK 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-BelloBooking assistance from Beth QuittmanDigital marketing assistance from Arnesh KunduMusic by CloutmeyerDesign by Sawyer RipponI thanked an overwhelming amount of people in the recording, so here I'll just thank these linkable entities: Mother's Milk, Commodore II, and Malt Adult.
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    1 Std. und 30 Min.
  • 18: Another Hobby with Danielle Goldwert

    18: Another Hobby with Danielle Goldwert
    Dec 3 2025

    I learned all about Danielle Goldwert's numorous hobbies and have a feeling I barely scratched the surface! Stop-motion animation is just one of her many interests, which she executes perfectly in her film waterlogged. Hear about how Danielle's creative interests and doctorate research converge.

    In waterlogged, a climate scholar confronts the haunting reality of his research as surreal environmental catastrophes unfold around him, blurring the line between his personal despair and the global human experience. The story explores the psychological toll of inaction, asking whether hope can be found amid the rising tides of collective negligence.

    Danielle is a Ph.D. student in social psychology at NYU, and a member of the Center for Conflict and Cooperation at NYU and the Climate Cognition Lab at Stanford. Her research program integrates social psychological theory with large-scale behavioral science methods to identify, test, and translate effective strategies for motivating collective action on climate change. She addresses a core challenge in social psychology: how to change beliefs and behaviors in politically polarized, emotionally charged, and globally diverse contexts. In her work as an artist, she primarily use portraiture to explore the human condition and my own experiences, while also extending her artistic pursuits into filmmaking.

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

    Links to points of discussion:

    • Danielle Goldwert's website
    • waterlogged's website
    • dgoldwert on Instagram
    • Hudson Valley Film Fest's website
    • Hudson Valley Film Fest on Instagram
    • Hudson Valley Film Fest on FilmFreeway
    • TAF at the Hudson Valley Film Fest
    • TAF Interview with Kristie Kish
    • The Animator's Playlist
    • Akaine Kramarik
    • The Animator's Favorites
    • RiverRun International Film Festival
    • Tribeca Film Festival
    • TIFF
    • Indie Shorts Awards
    • The People's Union Economic Blackouts
    • The Animator's Friend on Instagram
    • The Animator's Animations

    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
    • Microphones provided by SVA MFA Computer arts
    • Special thanks to Darren Santa Maria; my mom and dad; Michael Dondero; Kristie Kish; Nayon Cho; Hudson Valley Film Fest
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    1 Std. und 19 Min.