Jourdan Barnett

Jourdan Barnett

Chair of Creators Society Diversity Committee and Animator

The subject of this week’s Spotlight is none other than the Chair of the Creators Society Diversity Committee himself, Jourdan Barnett.

Jourdan attended Columbia College in Chicago where he studied writing and producing for television. After graduating in 2015, he started doing freelance work as a character illustrator. He founded his own Youtube Channel, Madtownstudios, where he uploads his original animation projects. 

Currently, he is looking into becoming a production assistant, but his second choice would be to work as a character designer. After school, he attended an internship called “Writing for Comedy” which helped him to further develop his craft and voice.

“In five years, my plan is to be working with a studio, while expanding my own brand with Madtownstudios.”

Madtownstudios

Outside of school and work, Jourdan enjoys exercise and movies, but what he really likes to do with his free time is relax with a cup of coffee as he sketches.

The most recent movie to inspire Jourdan was the holiday classic, It’s A Wonderful Life. As he put it “I think it’s universal... about going through life and knowing that bad things happen but also good things. It’s important to know those good things and the people around you who support you, and if you didn’t exist, things could have been different and worse for your loved ones. It’s good to know that you have a purpose.”

Jourdan found out about the Creators Society while attending CTN in 2019. He was referred to us by another member, but it wasn’t for a few months before he spoke with our president, Eric Miller. He learned that Eric was looking for help with the Diversity Committee. When approached with the opportunity to chair the committee, Jourdan’s first response was “is there a manual?” There wasn’t one, but it was still a challenge he was willing to undertake. “I admit I wasn’t quite prepared for it, but it’s important to challenge yourself.” And while we won’t say anything here, he teases some big plans for the Diversity committtee in the near future.

Madtownstudios

When asked what his best piece of advice would be, Jourdan said: 

“If there is anything out there that is able to help you or give you the tools you need to succeed, I say take them. Especially if you are in college or school. Do as much as possible to help YOU. While courses will teach you skills, it’s up to you to further yourself. Draw as much as possible, write as much as possible, make your own stuff. You have the power in your hands to make stuff happen. Get started and show the world what you can do.”

To follow Jourdan’s work, you can subscribe to his Youtube Channel at Mad Town Studios:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDLBVyDrupSPMRy7lX0Ivug

He also put out a short film called “Odd Jobs The Animated Short”: