The Atlanta Journal and Constitution 

June 4, 2000, Sunday, Home Edition 

SECTION: Job Guide; Pg. 3R 

LENGTH: 457 words 

HEADLINE: Why I love my job: Sean Akins; 
JOBS: SHOP TALK 

BYLINE: Sean Akins, For the Journal-Constitution 

SOURCE: AJC 

BODY: 
Creative director, "Toonami" cartoon show 
Cartoon Network 
Atlanta 
AGE: 29 

SALARY: Typically, creative directors in television programming earn annual 
salaries well into the six-figure range. 

WHAT I DO: I make a franchise show. A franchise show involves taking several 
properties --- in this case four 30-minute action cartoons --- and creating a 
show. "Toonami" is the name of the franchise, which includes " Dragonball Z," 
"Gundam Wing" and others. These are anime, animated shows that originated from 
Japan. Our franchise involves a lot of 3-D animation of characters I helped 
create. I created "Toonami's" virtual host, Tom. He introduces all the cartoons 
we show, and I help decide what cartoons we actually run. We also create 
original music and make a bunch of television spots with it. To get anime on the 
air and in children's programming when most people said it wouldn't work was a 
monumental step in my life. 

HOW I GOT STARTED: I started working in Turner Broadcasting in the mailroom in 
1989. From there, I did internships and worked hard to meet all the people 
involved in the same sort of things that I was interested in doing. I did 
internships in sports, Headline News, TNT and TBS. I then got a job at TNT as a 
production assistant and worked my way through the ranks. 


BEST PART OF MY JOB: I work with a group of phenomenally talented people. We 
made this thing basically out of nothing. Over the summer, we're going to Japan 
to talk to the production studios there about animation and the licensing of new 
properties as well as the joint production of (cartoon) titles in the future. 

MOST CHALLENGING PART: Trying to keep everything looking good. When we started 
out, it was just me and another guy producing television spots, so it was pretty 
easy. Now that the scope of the project has increased, there's so much more 
stuff that needs to be done and so much to be delegated. Trying to keep it all 
together and still make it look cool is the tough part. 


FAVORITE CARTOON: When I was little, I went through the whole gamut of cartoons: 
"Bugs Bunny," "Daffy Duck." When I was a little older, I got into the action 
cartoons such as "Voltron," "Robotech" and "The Thunder Cats." These days, I'm 
big into "Toonami." I really like "Dragonball Z" and "Gundam Wing." We're going 
to start showing a new show called "Outlaw Star," which I really like. 

ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE: If they're trying to get into the television business in 
Atlanta, they need to work hard and go confidently in the direction of their 
dreams. 

WHAT KEEPS ME GOING: All this other stuff aside, my single goal in life is to 
continue to make beautiful things, and if I can do that, I'll be satisfied. 

GRAPHIC: Photo 
Doing internships and working his way up the ladder has paid off for Sean Akins, 
who started in the Turner Broadcasting mailroom 11 years ago. He worked in 
several areas until he found his present niche./ BRANT SANDERLIN  / Staff 
Photo 
Sean Akins / BRANT SANDERLIN / Staff (Teaser)