Rock On! (Or… How To NOT Get The Gig)
Every semester at Cal Arts, no matter what subject I happened to be teaching, we would reserve an evening for my “Industry Survival Tips” seminar, covering things you typically learn “the hard way” - things you wish they taught you in school. It quickly became the most popular night of the year.
This fictitious (but not unheard of) example of a really bad cover letter became a small hit of sorts (no offense to Cal Arts students or TDs named “Rock”). 
See how many problems you can find, and we’ll review in the next day or two.
September 13th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Awww, you could’ve made up a school name.
Let’s see….
text message-type abbreviations, spelling mistakes galore (maybe he is “gradating” after all), admits to piracy, swearing, too much personal info; don’t care about his “lady’s” opinion, accuses pros of stealing his rig (”their” [sic] copying his rig) which is most likely unsubstantiated B.S., doesn’t include his work which is the most important thing in an animation application (show us, don’t tell us), sloppy ink “correction”, presumptuously includes terms for his employment.
The cover letter should be short and sweet and can be the last thing the director looks at after he or she is impressed by the reel and artwork.
September 16th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Good observations. There are more, and I’ll be covering them in the follow-up post, coming soon.