2D Animator Needed for D&D Actual Play Viral Shorts — Paid Pilot + Long-Term Partner

We are a Dungeons & Dragons actual-play group looking for a 2D animation partner to help turn funny, emotional, and character-driven table moments into short animated clips for social media. We would like to see your portfolio We are looking for a style and pacing similar to viral TTRPG/D&D animated clips: expressive characters, strong comedic timing, limited but polished animation, exaggerated reactions, clean lip-sync or mouth-shape timing, quick cuts, simple backgrounds, captions, and meme-friendly moments. Important: we are not looking to copy another creator’s characters, artwork, or exact designs. We want original character designs and animation for our group, with the reference used only for pacing, energy, humor, and short-form storytelling. This will begin as a paid test project, with the goal of finding a long-term animation partner for recurring clips. Initial Paid Pilot Total runtime: approximately 6 minutes 34 seconds Priority pilot clips: Mackie Outro, Wake Up, Umbrella Quest — approximately 1 minute 33 seconds total Style / Creative Direction We are looking for: * Expressive 2D character animation * Strong comedy timing and reaction shots * Limited animation that still feels lively and intentional * Character-focused staging rather than complex backgrounds * Fast social-media pacing * Captions/subtitles that support the humor * Occasional simple effects, props, or background gags * A format suitable for YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels, and X/Twitter We are open to different production methods, including: * Hand-drawn 2D animation * Rigged/cutout animation * Animated animatic style * Hybrid storyboard/limited animation approach * After Effects, Toon Boom, Clip Studio, Adobe Animate, Blender Grease Pencil, or similar workflows Deliverables For each finished clip, we would like: * Final rendered video in 9:16 vertical format, 1080x1920 * Version with captions/subtitles * Clean audio timing matched to the source clip * Basic sound polish if needed * Thumbnail/still frame for social posting * Project/source files preferred, but please state whether they are included * Optional: 16:9 or 1:1 versions if you offer repurposing Assets We Can Provide We can provide: * Source video/audio with timestamps * Character descriptions * Character reference images, if available * Notes on each character’s personality * Context for the joke or scene * Any recurring logos, fonts, or campaign branding * Review notes during storyboard/animatic stage Preferred Workflow Please describe your workflow, but we expect something like: 1. Clip review and timing notes 2. Rough visual concept / character approach 3. Storyboard or animatic 4. Rough animation pass 5. Review round 6. Final animation, captions, and export Please include how many revision rounds are included in your quote. Upwork recommends defining deliverables, visual style, milestones, revision rounds, and storyboard/animatic approval points clearly in animation jobs, so we want to keep this organized from the beginning. We are also requesting quotes for the full 8-clip batch. Please include a per-clip quote and a full-batch quote. We understand cost will vary depending on whether you recommend a simple animated animatic, limited 2D animation, or more polished custom character animation. Ideal Candidate You are a good fit if you: * Have experience with 2D animation, animated shorts, comedy clips, or YouTube/TikTok/Reels content * Understand tabletop RPG humor, improv, or character-driven comedy * Can make dialogue-heavy scenes visually interesting * Are comfortable animating recurring characters over time * Can help us develop a repeatable visual style for future clips * Communicate clearly and can price work by clip or by finished minute Please Include in Your Proposal Long-Term Potential If the pilot goes well, we are looking for an ongoing animation partner for recurring clips from our D&D episodes. We would like to build a consistent short-form animation style and potentially release these on a regular schedule.