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Mel Castán

Mel Castán

Mel Castán is a Mexico City-born, Barcelona-based motion designer, illustrator, and community builder; Sr. Motion Designer, creative wellbeing advocate, and co-founder of the Barcelona animator community Frames by Friends.

Aug 24, 2026

37:30
So what is a Side Project?
37:32
So I started Side Project because after working with Frames by Friends for so long, and it took a direction of networking for professionals, but I started to get more interested into people, into how they process not only their work but life in general, and how they need to be connected in a more human and deep way instead of just big networking events.
37:57
So I just saw that Barcelona was quite full of places where you can do great networking but maybe can feel sometimes a little bit shallow for people that needs more depth.
38:09
So I started Side Project exactly because I felt like, wow, I have an idea of like my life shouldn't be a side project.
38:18
My life is how I eat, how I work, how I approach life, how I manage my relationships.
38:27
It's everything at the same time.
38:29
So how can I create a space for people where they can share more than just their professional paths and a little bit more about themselves as creatives, probably with neurodivergencies, probably as being migrants that are struggling and trying to figure out their careers in other places.
39:42
So as opposed to mass networking events, what is the format of the Side Project? What happens in the room?

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