Drawing Inspiration: How Producer Shannon Prynoski Became a Force in Animation

SHANNON PRYNOSKI is the Co-Founder of Titmouse, the award-winning animation studio behind Big Mouth, The Legend of Vox Machina, Star Trek: Lower Decks, The Midnight Gospel, & Scavengers Reign.

What inspired you to pursue animation and become a producer?

My father was a painter and sculptor, and I was a painter myself. After film school, I worked as a PA on film sets but found it daunting.

At the time, I was dating Chris, who’s now my husband. We had both graduated from the School of Visual Arts in NYC, and he was working on Beavis and Butt-Head at MTV. I saw him having fun making cartoons, and I realized I wanted to do that too.

Chris connected me with some friends who needed help creating their short films, so I worked for free to learn the software.

I quickly realized that I loved how team-oriented animation was, and I was good at the production side — managing schedules and organizing projects.

So, Chris and I started working together. He’d direct, and I’d produce. People liked us as a duo, and we ended up working on shows for MTV, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim, and eventually creating our own animation studio. I learned a lot along the way.

When we got a big contract, instead of hiring a lawyer for $500 an hour, I decided to read it myself and learn. That’s how I got into animation, and I’m so glad I did. I’ve been so happy ever since!

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I’d say: Believe in yourself more. Also, it’s okay to say “I don’t know.”

If you admit you don’t know something and show that you’re eager to learn, that’s when real growth happens.

There were moments when I was in situations I didn’t fully understand, like when we got audited. It was scary, but instead of panicking, I invited the auditors in, made them coffee, and asked, “What am I doing wrong? What does this audit mean?”

Everyone around me was terrified, but I saw it as a learning experience.

That’s something I’d tell my younger self: Everything is new. Everything is hard. But the hard stuff is where you learn the most. Mistakes are a good thing because they help you grow.

How do you get Titmouse’s projects made and sold?

For a lot of the shows we do, we already know the creators. For Legend of Vox Machina, the creators pitched the idea to many studios, but everyone turned it down.

So, we decided to make our own little trailer with them and set up a Kickstarter, and it ended up raising millions of dollars. Suddenly, Amazon and Netflix were both interested. Sometimes, you have to invest in yourself first!

We don’t always own the shows we work on. Big Mouth is owned by Brutus Pink, a company founded by Jen Flackett and her husband. They pitched it to Netflix, and once Netflix said yes, they needed to find a studio to make it. They came to us after talking to a few studios, because they liked us.

Lately, we’ve been doing more work-for-hire, but eventually, we want to make and publish our own projects. Fortunately, we’ve built a strong reputation, and Netflix signed a deal guaranteeing us a certain number of projects. Some are shows they bring to us, and others are ones we pitch, often in collaboration with different artists.

At the end of the day, a big part of this business is relationships. My husband and I have always approached things in a down-to-earth way. We’re not the stereotypical executives in suits.

I remember meeting people who were surprised I was the owner because I was wearing a hoodie! But once they worked with us, they realized it’s not about appearances. It’s about making great shows.

What does your team’s creative process look like?

Oh, that’s the fun part!

Antonio, our creative director, comes up with a bunch of ideas and style frames. We also go online to look at artists whose styles we like, and sometimes we hire them to create style frames based on what we envision.

A lot of times, we call it a mood board. Do we want it to look like Adventure Time? Or Beavis and Butt-Head? Or maybe Legend of Vox Machina?

If a show is brought to us and the creators don’t have a clear vision yet, we’ll present them with different styles to choose from. It’s a really fun process — figuring out what the characters look like, what the backgrounds and environments should be, and creating a style guide.

Even when pitching a show, we usually create a style guide or a key image to illustrate what the show should look like. For Among Us, the style was already well-known, so our challenge was figuring out how to animate it. The characters don’t talk or move their mouths, so that was an interesting challenge, but a really fun one!

You’re the President of the Titmouse Foundation, which awards scholarships to underrepresented artists. What changes would you like to see in the animation industry to support women in leadership?

I think getting more women into leadership roles — like art director, supervising director, and director positions — is really important. It’s also expensive to go to school, so we want to remove financial barriers and help people afford to go to school for animation.

I want everyone to have access to jobs in this industry. So, we’re helping artists build strong portfolios for entry-level positions and guiding them as they move up in the industry.

Recently, we launched a program called Future Art Directors. We brought in a lot of women who want to be art directors, and they got to take a course with Arthur Loftis, the art director for The Legend of Vox Machina.

He walked them through what an art director does each week, and it was an incredible experience. They all still want to be art directors, which is great!

How do you maintain your personal well-being and work-life balance?

That’s a tough one. In the early days of my career, I worked long hours. I was constantly on the go, working with artists, meeting with executives, and going over projects. It was exciting and fun.

But as I’ve grown older, I recognize the need for rest. I go to bed at a reasonable hour, watch TV, and make time for myself. I also have a son, so I focus a lot of my time on him.

My role has also changed. I don’t do as much hands-on production anymore. I’m more focused on high-level executive oversight, which has made it easier to disconnect when I need to.

One thing that really helps me stay balanced is keeping a checklist. I write out everything I need to do and plan out my schedule, including lunch breaks and even time to walk the dog.

What project has been most creatively fulfilling for you?

I would say Moonbeam City on Comedy Central with Rob Lowe. It was such a fun show because it had that Duran Duran aesthetic. We kind of mimicked the Patrick Nagel style! I loved working on it, and it was the last project I truly produced.

I’m also incredibly proud of Niko and the Sword of Light. It ended up winning an Emmy, which was such a shock because no one initially wanted to pick it up. We couldn’t believe it!

I absolutely love what we’ve done with Star Trek: Lower Decks. I’m really proud of it because we managed to keep the essence of Star Trek while making it funny. That one is definitely one of my proudest projects.

And then there’s Big Mouth. I’m proud of that show because of its message about puberty and how challenging that stage of life can be. I think I’m going to appreciate it even more now that I plan to watch it with my son. He’s 12, so I think it’ll be a great way for us to connect.

Resources:

Titmouse Foundation: https://www.titmousefoundation.org/