It seems odd to talk about rejections, but they came up in a friend's blog. I had two very nice rejections in the past couple months. One from Cartoon Network, and the other from Pixar. Rejections don't have to be horrible. Quite often it's the person at the receiving end of the rejection that blows them out of proportion. So I'd like to take a moment to talk about them.
I'm really amazed at Cartoon Network's politeness. I was called up and told that they'd gone with another artist (usually the case as I'm rather green in the industry) but that they felt awful about throwing away my portfolio. I told them that I didn't mind, as I had moved, and picking it up wasn't much of an option at the moment. But they insisted.
"I don't like to throw out the good ones..."
I stopped for a moment. Did she say what I think she said? She did. The lady on the phone then persuaded me to hand over my current address and I thanked her for her time. You know, you can get a rejection, and yes, rejection sucks, but that gave me warm fuzzies. My folio arrived in the mail a few days later. So cheers Cartoon Network! You guys are awesome :)
Second was my rejection from Pixar. They had a story position open a few months ago, and I sent up my portfolio. Now, with large studios, sometimes you never get a call back. You never get an email or a letter. It's simply understood that not hearing back means you didn't get the job. That said, it was nice to hear from them, even if it was a simple email to say, "We're impressed but we got someone else."
Rejections are far from the end of the world, and sometimes, getting a rejection can also be a positive thing. It's always good to read inbetween the lines. I'm proud of my collection of rejection letters. It keeps me grounded.
