Tag: Storytelling
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Beyond the Boom: What the Streaming Era Taught Us About Animation
The streaming surge reshaped animation—for better and worse. Here’s what we learned, what’s shifting, and where the future of storytelling goes from here. Most people think the streaming boom during the COVID years was about opportunity alone. In truth, it was also a stress test. It revealed how fragile pipelines could be, how quickly artists…
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Animation Production: Another Form of Storytelling
When people hear the word storytelling, they usually picture writers, artists, or directors—the folks inventing characters, crafting dialogue, or designing the worlds we fall in love with on screen. But after years working in animation, I’ve come to believe something that might surprise people: production itself is another kind of storytelling. It’s not about writing…
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The Art of the Pivot: How Storytellers Stay Nimble in Fast-Changing Worlds
Change used to be something we planned for.Now, it’s the environment we live inside. In creative industries — and storytelling itself — the ability to pivot is no longer optional.It’s essential.And storytellers, perhaps more than anyone, have been preparing for it all along. Every strong narrative bends.Characters adapt.Worlds shift.Vision evolves. The best stories — and…
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Creative Resilience: How Storytelling Teaches Us to Navigate Change
Maybe you’ve felt it too: the sense that change isn’t just seasonal anymore — it’s become the very air we breathe. In a world that shifts beneath our feet, resilience isn’t just a survival skill; it’s a creative one. The best of stories all model resilience: characters face obstacles, reframe their challenges, and emerge changed…
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Why We Return to Fairy Tales (Even When We Outgrow Them)
When I was little, I didn’t just read fairy tales—I lived in them. I wandered through the woods behind our house imagining they were enchanted. I knew where the bears might roam (beyond the bend in the path) and which direction led to witches or wolves (to the left at the fork). I wondered if…
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The Role of Empathy in Storytelling
(Or, Why I Used to Cry in the Children’s Section of the Bookstore) Before my animation career, I worked in bookstores—first as a researcher, then a lead, and eventually, a children’s book expert. Technically, I sold so many children’s and teen books they stopped rotating my shifts. Even when it was slow, I was asked…
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How Storytelling Helps Me Find Comfort, Process Uncertainty, and Believe in What Comes Next
There are days when the world feels unrelenting. The headlines blur together—climate disasters, politics, violence, uncertainty stacked on uncertainty—and the sense of helplessness creeps in before we can stop it. Even on quiet days, it’s there, humming under the surface. That low-level heaviness. That ache of trying to keep up, stay informed, be “on” all…
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The Power of Narrative: Why We’re Wired for Story
There was a time in my life when I was surrounded by stories—shelving them, recommending them, researching them, watching them fly off the shelves. From 2001 to 2009, I worked in bookstores in various roles—researcher, children’s expert, section lead—and in that time, I was able to wander through thousands of narratives, exploring at my own…
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From Chaos to Magic: The Joy of Creative Collaboration
Some people thrive in order. I thrive in a little chaos—the creative kind. Not the panic kind, or the deadline-is-burning kind, but the kind of chaos that happens when brilliant, wildly different minds collide to make something bigger than any one of us could imagine alone. In creative teams, things rarely go according to plan—and…
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How to Handle Creative Feedback Without Taking It Personally
Let’s be real: creative feedback can sting. Even when it’s kind and constructive, hearing that something needs to change—especially after you’ve poured time and heart into it—can feel personal. It’s hard not to take it that way sometimes. But I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that feedback, when done well, isn’t meant to tear you…
Christy Heyob | Building Worlds, Stories & Creative Teams 