#29 - Fatma Rikabi Sukari: From Adverse Conditions in Animation to a Meaningful Path in VFX

Fatma Rikabi Sukari is an animation artist and VFX production coordinator based in London, currently employed with Scanline VFX. Half Romanian, half Syrian, Fatma grew up in these two countries and developed an interest in animation from a young age. They learned animation in order to study it at a university in London, which they successfully completed. However, they encountered some challenges along the way, such as the effects of a global pandemic and a hand injury that prohibited them from pursuing animation as a career. As a result, they switched to production and landed a position as a production assistant at Scanline VFX, one of the leading VFX companies that was acquired by Netflix. They also have experience working as a production coordinator where they have been collaborating with different departments, keeping projects organised and making sure everything runs smoothly. Despite the hand injury, their passion for animation hasn't diminished and their ultimate goal is to become an animation producer. Last but not least, Fatma discusses their experience at the Annecy festival, the largest annual animation event in France. Listen to this episode to get a deep dive into animation, learn about the Hollywood productions Fatma worked on and be motivated by their unwavering spirit in the face of adversity. 

Connect with Fatma:

• https://linktr.ee/xcisinix2000

Topics:

• Introduction
• Background
• University
• University projects
• Hand injury
• Final year project
• Stop motion animation
• Getting into the industry 
• Advice
• Working as a VFX PA
• Favourite films
• Animation

Quotes:

“Then by the end of high school, I really wanted to come to uni in the UK and I started drawing continuously which was a big mistake. It overloaded my wrist a lot and I remember one of the mornings when I just woke up I couldn't move it. It was such a pain, like if I had needles in my wrist and hand.”

“As a production assistant, I really like that I'm very close to the artists and enjoy talking to them. When I was a PA in the department, I would sometimes just call them and talk for 20 minutes. I think working from home, it becomes depressive on both sides because you're very much alone. So I just enjoyed talking to them and seeing how everyone is doing.”

“I remember there are some old interviews and documentaries about how they did it and you can see how all the artists thought about it. For example, they were like, okay, this is not working here so let's take out this scene. You know, they actually enjoyed working on it. That for me is what I want people to enjoy what they are working on and don't want them to be dead by the end.”

“It was just remembering that I came to the UK thinking, okay, big job, a lot of depth. I needed to know it was worth it. And just thinking that I really put a lot of effort into getting all the skills, the amount of work and so many sleepless nights to learn the skills I'm doing now. So I had to continue. It just felt like there is no way I'm going to just stop here.”

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