Netflix Executive Phil Rynda Talks About Career Path From Production Artist To Studio Executive
In a new episode of This is My Job, we speak with Netflix’s Creative Director of Animation, Phil Rynda, who has successfully navigated from working as an industry artist to executive positions.
We asked Rynda about why he switched his career path, what qualities an artist should have to transition into management, how he finds creative fulfillment working as an executive, and advice that he can give to other executives for improving communication with artists.
A Primetime Emmy winner, Rynda played key creative roles on some of the most popular American series of recent vintage, including serving as production designer on Disney Television Animation’s Gravity Falls and lead designer on Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time. He has also worked as a character designer on Chowder, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, The Venture Bros., and The Lego Movie.
On the executive side, prior to Netflix, Rynda worked as vice president of development at Nickelodeon, where he oversaw development on the studio’s upcoming Glitch Techs and was heavily involved with the TMNT reboot Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As creative director of Cartoon Network’s comedy shorts/pilots program, he helped develop projects that included Steven Universe, Clarence, Over the Garden Wall, We Bare Bears, and OK K.O.!
This season of This is My Job was filmed last fall at the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy.
See previous episodes in the series:
