# Career Agent: Riley Torres, Character Animator (Freelance and Job Search)

> A personal learning plan I built to bridge the gap between my current skills and a goal with two
> sides: a steady freelance animation practice AND a junior or staff animation job. I am running
> both tracks at once. This is my agent. I run it, I update it, and I keep it after the course. Each
> AI chat starts fresh, so this file is the spine I drive.

*One of three real Render personas used as worked examples in this module. The others are Maya Chen,
an aspiring junior brand designer running a full job search, and Nina Okafor, a photographer
building a freelance business.*

---

## Profile

- **Name:** Riley Torres
- **Program:** Animation and Time-Based Media, AAS (graduating this semester) at Glendale Community
  College
- **Dream path (two tracks at once):** Grow a steady freelance animation practice with 3 to 4
  repeat clients, indie game studios and animation production companies needing character work and
  sprite animation, AND land a junior or staff animator role on a studio or in-house team. I am
  splitting my effort roughly 50/50 between building the freelance practice and running an active
  job search, because both paths reward the same craft and the same portfolio.
- **Where I am today:** Strong in 2D character animation. I work in Adobe Animate, After Effects,
  Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, and Aseprite. I deliver game-ready sprite sheets, frame-by-frame
  character work, turnarounds, expression packs, and character design. I have already shipped
  animation for two games and I have three live client relationships, including a retainer in
  negotiation. Where I freeze up: the business side and one technical skill. I cannot do cut-out
  rigging yet, and I have been improvising contracts and pricing instead of running them like a
  professional. On the job-search side, I have never run a real studio interview or built a
  job-ready demo reel cut for hiring managers rather than clients.
- **Time I can commit:** About 4 hours a week on getting and managing clients and on the job search,
  plus roughly 6 hours learning. Most of my week is already real client work, so learning has to be
  efficient.
- **How I learn best:** A focused course module or tutorial, then I apply it immediately on a real
  client deliverable or a personal piece I can release publicly.

## The goal I am closing the gap to

A 50/50 goal with two tracks that feed each other:

- **Track A, freelance practice:** a remote freelance animator anchored by indie game studios and
  animation production companies, with steady repeat clients and at least one retainer.
- **Track B, job search:** a **junior or staff animator** role on a studio or in-house team, the
  kind of posting that wants game-ready character work, a strong reel, and the ability to take
  direction in a pipeline.

From my own goals, the client work in my job log, and the junior and staff animator postings I am
tracking, this combined goal asks for:

- Game-ready character animation: idle, walk, run, jump, attack, and death cycles as clean sprite
  sheets, engine-ready
- Cut-out rigging so I can take on faster, higher-value work, raise my freelance rate from $35 to
  $55/hr, and meet the rigging line that staff postings list
- Turnaround sheets and expression packs for animation production pipelines
- Professional client handling: scoped contracts, clear revision rounds, pricing, and onboarding
  (the freelance side)
- A demo reel and case studies that work for BOTH a client pitch and a hiring manager, plus comfort
  in a studio interview (the job-search side)
- Retainer relationships for predictable income, and an inbound pipeline plus a warm network that
  surfaces both clients and job leads

## The gaps, in my own words

1. I cannot do cut-out rigging yet. This is the technical skill that lets me work faster, justify the
   jump from $35 to $55 an hour on the freelance side, and meet the rigging requirement on staff
   postings. It is my single highest-leverage gap on both tracks.
2. My contracts and onboarding are improvised. I once did unpaid extra revisions because I had no
   written scope. I need real revision-round language and a repeatable onboarding flow for the
   freelance track.
3. My pricing and negotiation are guesswork. I am negotiating my first retainer right now and I am
   not confident I am pricing it well, and I have never negotiated a job offer either.
4. I have no inbound pipeline and no real job-search rhythm. Every client so far came from Twitter
   callouts or referrals, and I have not been applying to studio postings at all. I need work that
   markets me while I sleep, like a public sprite pack and case studies, plus a reel and interview
   prep that work for hiring managers, not just clients.

---

## My self-built syllabus

Five modules, sized to fit around real client work. Every module has skills to own, vocabulary to
own, real resources, and one applied task that becomes a portfolio or pipeline piece.

### Module 1: Cut-Out Rigging (the rate-raising skill)

**Skills to own:** building a cut-out rig, bone and deformer setup, parenting body parts, animating
a walk cycle on a rig, blending rigged motion with frame-by-frame.

**Vocabulary to own:** rig, bone deformer, peg, cut-out animation, inverse kinematics, master
controller, pivot, hierarchy, puppet pin.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- *Toon Boom Harmony* official Learning Hub, free (start with the Bone Deformer series): https://learn.toonboom.com/
- *Character Animation for Games* on Coursera, free to audit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/character-animation-games
- After Effects Puppet Pin tutorials from Adobe (free): https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/animating-puppet-tool.html

**Applied task:** Rig an existing character in Toon Boom Harmony and animate a clean walk cycle plus
one simple action. Add it to my demo reel. This is the proof that justifies a $55/hr rate and opens
faster, higher-value jobs.

---

### Module 2: Game-Ready Sprite Pipelines (sharpen my core craft)

**Skills to own:** building a full state set (idle, run, jump, attack, death), looping cleanly,
exporting labeled PNG sprite sheets at 2x with transparent backgrounds, working to an engine spec.

**Vocabulary to own:** sprite sheet, state, loop point, frame budget, 2x resolution, transparent
alpha, slicing, anchor, Unity-ready, in-betweens.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- *Bloop Animation* free Game Animation playlist on YouTube: https://www.bloopanimation.com/
- *Aseprite* official docs and tutorials for pixel and sprite work: https://www.aseprite.org/docs/
- itch.io devlogs and free sprite asset breakdowns to study real game pipelines: https://itch.io/game-assets/free

**Applied task:** Design and animate an original character, “Vesper,” with a full state set (idle,
walk, run, jump, attack, death) and release it free on itch.io with a short process write-up. This
demonstrates the full pipeline and gives me community visibility at the same time.

---

### Module 3: Contracts, Scope, and Onboarding (stop improvising the business)

**Skills to own:** writing a scope of work, setting revision rounds in writing, a kill-fee clause,
a simple onboarding checklist, invoicing.

**Vocabulary to own:** scope of work, deliverable, revision round, kill fee, net-30, retainer,
overage rate, statement of work, milestone.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- *Entrepreneurship and Freelancing* (University of Maryland) on Coursera, free to audit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/entrepreneurship-freelancing
- AIGA Standard Form of Agreement and freelance contract guidance (free): https://www.aiga.org/resources
- Freelancers Union free contract creator and resources: https://www.freelancersunion.org/resources/

**Applied task:** Write my own reusable contract template with two revision rounds per deliverable
and a kill-fee clause, plus a one-page onboarding checklist. Use it to finalize the Hollow Echo
retainer this week. This is the document that protects every future project.

---

### Module 4: Pricing, Negotiation, and Self-Promotion (both tracks)

**Skills to own:** pricing flat packages vs hourly, calculating an effective rate, negotiating a
retainer, positioning myself, building an inbound pipeline, and reading a job offer so I can
negotiate it the same way I negotiate a freelance rate.

**Vocabulary to own:** effective hourly rate, flat-rate package, retainer base, overage, value
pricing, positioning, niche, inbound, callout, salary band, total compensation.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- *Freelancing in the Age of AI* (Google) on Coursera, free to audit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/freelancing-ai
- *The Animation Career Review* freelance and rate data (free): https://www.animationcareerreview.com/
- The Futur free pricing and positioning content (free): https://thefutur.com/

**Applied task:** Calculate the effective hourly rate on each current client, write a one-paragraph
positioning statement (“I make characters feel alive in the first frame, built for indie game
pipelines”) that works on both a services page and a resume summary, and publish a clear
services-and-rates page on my portfolio site at the new $45 to $55 range. Then look up the typical
salary band for a junior animator so I know my number before any interview. This turns both pricing
and offer talk from guesswork into a deliberate strategy.

---

### Module 5: Reel, Case Studies, Interview Prep, and Pipeline (both tracks)

**Skills to own:** cutting a demo reel that works for both a client pitch and a hiring manager,
writing a case study, releasing public work that markets me, prepping for a studio interview, and
following up with my network on a rhythm for both clients and job leads.

**Vocabulary to own:** demo reel, hook, range, case study, process write-up, devlog, retainer
anchor, warm follow-up, pipeline, STAR answer, portfolio review, applicant tracking.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- Behance and Vimeo animation galleries to study strong reels: https://www.behance.net/galleries/motion
- Free music for reel cuts: https://freemusicarchive.org/
- itch.io and game dev community for releasing and promoting work (free)
- Women in Animation portfolio and mentorship resources, useful for both client and studio paths: https://womeninanimation.org/

**Applied task:** Cut a 60 to 90 second demo reel from the Pinecone Games, Hollow Echo, and Studio
Yonder work, plus a process clip, edited so it reads for both a client pitch and a studio hiring
manager. Write one full Pinecone Games case study (brief, process, WIP frames, final sheets) on my
portfolio, and write two STAR answers for studio interviews: one about a project I am proud of and
one about taking hard feedback. Then activate my network tracker on both tracks: follow up with
Marcus Webb for a freelance-roster conversation, with Tanya Bright on her Q3 RPG project, and apply
to two junior or staff animator postings this week.

---

## Self-assessment checklist

I am ready to run both tracks with confidence, a steady freelance practice and an active job search,
when I can honestly check all of these.

**Cut-out rigging**
- [ ] I can build a cut-out rig and animate a clean walk cycle on it.
- [ ] I have at least one rigged demo on my reel.

**Game-ready sprite pipelines**
- [ ] I can deliver a full state set as labeled, engine-ready sprite sheets.
- [ ] I have released one original character pack publicly.

**Contracts and onboarding**
- [ ] I have a reusable contract with revision rounds and a kill-fee clause.
- [ ] I have a one-page onboarding checklist I use on every new client.

**Pricing and self-promotion**
- [ ] I know my effective hourly rate on every active client.
- [ ] I have a clear positioning statement and a published services-and-rates page.

**Reel, case studies, interview prep, and pipeline**
- [ ] I have a 60 to 90 second demo reel that works for both a client pitch and a hiring manager.
- [ ] I have at least one full case study published.
- [ ] I have two STAR answers ready for a studio interview.
- [ ] I have followed up with at least two people from my network tracker this month, and applied
      to at least one junior or staff animator posting.

---

## How I run and improve this agent

Each AI chat starts fresh and remembers nothing, so this file is the part that carries my context.
When I sit down to work I paste this file into Claude (or another AI tool) and say what I want help
with this week. For example:

> Here is my career agent file. I am negotiating the Hollow Echo retainer, I just finished the
> rigging module, and I want to apply to two studio postings this week too. Look at where I am,
> balance my freelance track and my job search, suggest the most useful next step on each, and give
> me a focused plan for my 4 client-and-search hours and 6 learning hours this week.

Then I update this file: check off what I finished, add links to the work I made, clients I landed,
and jobs I applied to, shrink the gaps as they close, and add new ones as my practice and my search
grow. The agent is never “done.” It grows up with me, the same way my client roster and my reel do.

*Last updated: I keep this date current every time I revise. This is my plan, and I own it.*