Alumni Spotlight: Rob Hoegee
Film & Media Arts alum Rob Hoegee (B.F.A. '93) built a career in animation as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner, bringing collaborative storytelling to life across acclaimed series.
Rob Hoegee (B.F.A. ’93) is this week’s featured alum in our new Alumni Spotlight series for the This Week at Meadows e-newsletter. Each week, a different Meadows alum will be highlighted for their accomplishments post-graduation.
Students in Meadows’ Division of Film & Media Arts are encouraged to explore storytelling across mediums while developing both creative and collaborative skills. Film alum Rob Hoegee has built a successful career as a writer, executive producer and showrunner in animation, leading acclaimed projects including Stillwater and Frog and Toad.
He credits his time at Meadows with instilling both a passion for creating work and the collaborative mindset that continues to define his career. The hands-on environment helped Hoegee develop both his artistic voice and his work ethic.
“I took every opportunity I had to create things: short films, experimental videos, screenplays, and even a decent body of work as a studio art minor,” he explains. “The habit of ‘making things’ was already well established by the time I graduated.”
While Hoegee initially envisioned a future as a cinematographer, his time at Meadows revealed a broader interest in storytelling and leadership. He discovered a passion for producing, which ultimately led him to pursue graduate studies in UCLA’s Independent Producers Program.
Following graduate school, Hoegee’s career evolved into writing and producing for animation, where he found the perfect intersection of creativity and collaboration. Over the years, he has contributed to major projects including Niko and the Sword of Light on Amazon Prime Video and served as head writer for Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans. His current work focuses on developing and leading animated series in the kids and family space, where he oversees everything from pilot scripts and series development to guiding creative teams through production.
As a showrunner, Hoegee works closely with artists, actors, composers and animators to shape each project’s vision. His role requires both creative leadership and an ability to communicate across disciplines, skills he first developed at Meadows through collaborations with students in acting, music and visual art.
“Creative collaboration is a big part of my job and I got my first real taste of this at Meadows being close friends with actors, artists, and musicians,” says Hoegee. “I know how to speak their language. This really comes in handy now during a voice recording session with my cast, or a music review with my series composer, and most importantly when I’m working with the artists and animators on my team."
Throughout his career, Hoegee has continued to draw on the adaptability he developed as a student, embracing unexpected opportunities and allowing his path to evolve. Though his original goal was to work behind the camera in live-action film, his journey into animation ultimately led him to a role that blends storytelling, leadership and creativity in new ways.
He encourages current students to remain open to possibilities and to trust that their skills will translate across different paths. Staying flexible can lead to opportunities that are both surprising and fulfilling, and it may even take their careers in directions they never initially imagined.