Behind the Frames: Pooja Inamdar’s Journey through Stories and Screens
There is a certain kind of magic that fuels childhood imaginations-pages filled with characters, VHS tapes full of hand-drawn wonder, and Saturday mornings glued to Cartoon Network. For Pooja Inamdar, that magic wasn’t just a phase; it was the beginning of a lifelong journey into animation and storytelling.
Today, Pooja is a Supervising Producer at Nickelodeon Digital Studios, where she oversees preschool content that lives online, especially on YouTube. Her career, however, is a compelling story in itself-an orbit through India’s bustling broadcast scene, the high-octane environment of Disney Hotstar, and eventually, the globally collaborative world of U.S.-based digital-first animation.
Illustrations by Pooja Inamdar
“As a kid I had to switch small libraries thrice since I exhausted the books they had for kids”
Pooja Inamdar recalls her voracious appetite for stories—an appetite that started with books and quickly spiraled into comics and animation. She devoured everything from Tintin to Tinkle, eventually sketching her favorite characters and unknowingly sowing the seeds of a future career.
A childhood filled with VHS tapes — Mr. Bean, Tom & Jerry, and holiday animation specials — added fuel to the fire.
As a 10-year-old I would read the title credits and be disappointed to not see any Indian/familiar names in it.
By her teens, animation had taken hold. “It worried my mother that I was still watching cartoons at the age of sixteen,” Pooja admits. “I would chalk up the extra screen time saying one day I am going to work in it… but of course, I had no idea how.”
Her time at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad wasn’t just formative-it was foundational.
“[NID was] pivotal in shaping not only my visual storytelling but also my approach towards handling any production hurdles.”
She recalls grueling foundation courses in shape and form, sanding thermocol models by hand. “But today when I look the shapes and forms of 3D rigs and comment on its functionality it takes me back to that course.” she says. “That course helped me understand 3D structures in the most basic way. It didn’t have to be a 3D animation software.”
NID’s emphasis on process over product also left a mark. “We were encouraged to explore different pathways… these explorations, though frustrating then, have made us confident enough to know which pathway could be more time-consuming.”
One of her early stints at Disney Hotstar was no less intense — conceptualizing fast-moving campaigns like the 2016 Olympics rollout. “It was an all-hands-on-deck situation,” she recalls. Her first approved script, “The Peck,” was inspired by her brother’s childhood and a Scriptwriting course at NID. “Pulling something from my roots to weave into a story… that was a big moment.” (Watch the ad: The Peck)
The Peck- one of Pooja’s earliest campaigns for Disney Hotstar
“Working and executing campaigns meant huddling in a room and brainstorming over various campaign ideas. Once one campaign idea was locked, we would separate into smaller groups to work on radio ads, promos, TV ads and other print media”
Pooja also helped streamline workflows at The Walt Disney Company India, where she managed broadcast and social media pipelines. “Working for a larger network with pre-established IPs comes with a larger set of regulations,” she reflects — a challenge she met with structure, precision, and creativity.
After three years in Mumbai, Pooja moved to the U.S. with no contacts and little certainty—just determination.
“Looking back, I’m not sure if it was confidence or ignorance. Probably both”
While waiting for her work permit, she joined a summer course at SVA, NYC, and quickly realized that networking was key. She became active in groups like Children’s Media Association and Women in Animation, attending events and applying to any animation-related gig she could find.
Her first break came teaching stop-motion in NYC public schools.As the pandemic hit, Pooja found herself interviewing for newer opportunities which led to a short-term role at Noggin, Nickelodeon’s learning app. “They needed someone mid-project, liked my reel, and gave me a shot.” Within months, she had produced six short-form videos—just as the pandemic began.
Stop motion and story charts from Pooja’s days of teaching at schools in NYC
Imagination Trips marked Pooja’s first remote production—launched just as the pandemic hit in early 2020. “The sound engineer was in California, I was in New Jersey, and our Supervising Producer was in Brooklyn,” she recalls. Despite the chaos, the project became a masterclass in communication and clarity.
By the end of the six episodes, Pooja had gained valuable experience—and a surprise bonus. Imagination Trips was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Children’s Program at the 48th annual Emmy Awards.
At Nickelodeon Digital Studios, she’s been instrumental in producing the Dora franchise into various YouTube formats. The magic lies in reimagining the same assets in fresh, meaningful ways. “We write to available assets; we reuse animation where we can.” she explains.
Dora Sing n Dance: Por Favor episode
Though the same core assets are used across all Dora YouTube series, each has a distinct format. Sing N’ Dance followed a classic sing-along style, Dora’s Aventuras took on a gamified quest format, and Recipe for Adventure adapted a podcast into an animated series. “That one’s my favorite as for the first time we broke down a Podcast script and tried to make it fit for animation.,” she says. Dora Fairytales reimagined classic stories with Dora and Boots as the leads.
Dora's Recipe for Adventure
Some of the biggest budget considerations are assets- making new props/assets takes time so we only make new props when it’s absolutely needed.
“As a Supervising Producer, I set a workflow and structure to the project with my producer and the project vendor.” Pooja explains. “Each project is different and has different needs and demands”. Pooja sets the pipeline in place and steps in only to troubleshoot issues.
“It’s not always about compromising creative integrity but sometimes the numbers and the amount of time needed to create something just doesn’t add up to the duration of shot."
“That being said I love to review animation cuts and provide feedback, so I keep some dedicated time during the day to review stuff.” Pooja adds.
The digital pipeline at Nickelodeon is fast and flexible. “Unlike the usual linear process, we overlap stages—Starting sound design before lighting & texture pass,” Pooja explains. “Some days, I’m reviewing an animatic for one episode, animation for another, and sound on a third—all from the same series.”
While each stage is important, I feel the animatic stage is most critical to success of a series. It also happens to be my favorite stage.
“The animatic stage is where story changes are still affordable,” Pooja says. “The script can say anything, but only in pictures do we see what’s actually doable. A well-timed animatic feels like half the battle won.”
Pooja’s work with Nick’s “Backyardigans”
Having worked in both Mumbai and New York City, Pooja has experienced the creative cultures of two of the world’s most vibrant media hubs. “NYC is like a larger-than-life version of Mumbai… but the biggest difference for me was the work culture. I work straight 8 hours in NYC with 2 breaks. In Mumbai, I would take three chai breaks and go home by 8:00 p.m. or later.”
Her toolkit includes collaborative documents, Slack channels, and a philosophy of clear articulation. “It’s all about pre-empting questions and tagging notes so teams across the world can pick up where you left off.”
Still, she finds warmth in working with Indian vendors. “There’s a sense of understanding. I can communicate in Hindi if needed, and that makes a whole lot of difference.”
Pooja’s alter ego-Pillu (meaning cub in Marathi).”I keep drawing her in different places, situations and in general in life,” she says.
Talking about newer technologies, Pooja is cautiously optimistic about AI in animation. “Most of it is still in Beta. I haven’t seen budget shifts yet. But younger professionals should be ready. AI can help reduce production redundancies—but should never replace the artist.”
Pooja’s next move? Teaching. “I’ve always been interested in teaching. I’m pursuing that while working on some new shows,” she hints.
From comics in her childhood to Emmy nominations, Pooja Inamdar’s story is one of intuition, resilience, and an unwavering love for storytelling. We thank Pooja Inamdar for her time and wish her all the very best for the future!
You can reach out to Pooja or check out updates of her latest works on the channels below:
Pooja Inamdar
