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The Beginning

After starting his own animation company, Eric Miller wanted to find an animation group to continue to grow his professional relationships. He searched for a group which included everyone involved in the animation process from producers, directors, artists, animators, voice actors, composers, editors, and more. Unable to find a group like this, Eric decided to start his own networking group called the Society of Creative Professionals.

The First Animation Social

On Tuesday, July 21, 2015 we held our first social at Story Tavern in Burbank, CA. We had a great turnout, and the Society was officially born.”

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Ups & Downs

Most of 2016 the attendance to the socials were around 10-30 people each month, but towards the end of the year the attendance was less then 10 people each month. Some of the socials only had 3 people who showed up.”

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A little Help

Early in 2017 the attendance to the monthly mixers continued to be low. Eric started to wonder if it was worth continuing to plan them each month if there was no interest. By May the attendance started to pick up again, and things started to look promising for the group. Eric also recruited Mary Lou Dorgalli to help find venues for the monthly socials. Mary Lou was the one who found the Crystal View Lounge in the Holiday Inn which became one of the main venues for our monthly socials.”

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Growth

In March of 2018 we had our largest attendance for a social with over 100 people, and we saw continued high attendance the months after. Our monthly socials were growing to a point it was difficult finding venues large enough to hold the event. We started to stick to a few larger venues instead of always going to different venues as we once did.

Becoming a Membership Group

As our socials continued to grow Eric started looking for ways of making the group more than just a networking group which meets once a month. He wanted to be able to offer more to the animation community. Offering a paid membership would allow anyone interested to get more out of the group to do so while also keeping the core of the group free to everyone. The membership dues would also help reduce Eric’s personal financial costs to run the society while also allowing the group to do more.
On July 31, 2018 at The Creators Society’s monthly social, which was also the 3 year anniversary celebration, Eric announced the Society would be offering a payed membership for anyone looking to get more out of the society.

The First Elections

As The Creators Society’s membership started to grow it was important to get more help planning member events a programs. Eric would serve as the first president of The Creators Society. Since the society was made up of people working in so many different disciplines in the animation field it was important to have events for everyone. 8 Branches were created based on the type of skills and interests each member had(Production, Development, Distribution, Visual Effects, Technology, Voice Actors, Editorial & Sound, and Associates). At the end of 2018 we help elections where each Branch elected a Chief who would be responsible for leading the Branch’s efforts in planning events and programs. There was also elections for 5 committee chair positions(Events, Member Benefits, Careers, Membership, and Communications).”

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Orlando’s Animation Social

While the Los Angeles monthly socials continued to grow, 3 members in Orlando Florida wanted to start an Orlando Chapter. June 19, 2019 members Heather Worley, David Andrade, and Pam Darley held the first Creators Society Orlando Animation Social.”

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Great Start to 2020

At the beginning of 2020 it looked to be a big year for the Creators Society. Our monthly socials were getting around 100 to 150 people in attendance each month. We had a great leadership team in place ready to put on some amazing events.

Pandemic

Our last in-person social before the shutdown was on Feb. 26, 2020. It was held at the Burbank Pub with 106 people in attendance. As COVID-19 was spreading we thought it be best to make sure we play it safe. We wanted to keep the momentum we had, so we immediately started having our monthly socials on Zoom the next month. While these socials were not the same they were special in their own way. It allowed us to meet with people all over the country, and not just those in driving distance to our Los Angeles socials.”

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Creators Society Animation Podcast

In the beginning of 2021 we launched The Creators Society Animation Podcast. Our host Michael Wakelam had conversations with professionals in the industry to learn about their journey in animation.

Career Center & Job Board

In February of 2021 we launched our long anticipated Career Center and Job Board. This gave both our members and the animation community a targeted job board to find their next position.

Creators Society+ Platform

In December of 2021, we launched the Creators Society+ Platform. Prior to the new platform, we used multiple web applications to run the Creators Society. Creating our own platform allowed us to bring everything into one platform and allowed us to add any features we wanted. This allowed us to have an internal job board, a mentorship program, and a dedicated social network for our community.”