E22 Laurianne Uy | Storyboard Artist & Comic Creator | Shaping the narrative and showcasing the power of storytelling

Why was Voltes V banned in the Philippines during Martial Law? Concerns about the effects of violence on children, said the official statement. Perhaps the mecha anime's theme of young resistance fighters battling an oppressive regime hit too close to home for the censors, others opined.

Stories have power, as we discuss with Laurianne Uy, a storyboard artist and comic creator from Manila, Philippines now based in LA whose work has appeared in film, TV, print, and online.

She started drawing comics about her favorite characters in 1997 and also served as art editor for her high school and college newspapers. Laur went on to major in History of Art at the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in and wrote her honors thesis on manga and female representation. In 2012, she won a Xeric grant and launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for her self-published young adult comic series "Polterguys."

She successfully deployed her lifelong passion for drawing and storytelling to a career in animation by 2017. She is currently a Story Artist for Skydance Animation, and has also worked as a Storyboard Artist for DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Titmouse, Wild Canary Animation, Activision, and Soapbox Films. She has worked on storyboard animation for properties such as Star Trek, Madagascar, Cleopatra in Space, Deathstroke, and Puss in Boots.

She gets real about being lost in her twenties, finding her way back to her first love of drawing, turning down movie offers to adapt her comics, how the manga and anime fandom went mainstream, as well as universal advice on the dangers of burnout and the importance of boundaries between our personal and professional lives.

This episode is dedicated to all artists making their voices heard and standing up for truth in darkness... and to all our Filipino listeners who showed up at the polls on May 9. Representation matters, as Laur said. Stories matter, too -- and we are still writing our collective story as a nation.

We hope this episode (recorded in 2021) brings you joy in these times.

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Follow Laur on Twitter (@Laurbits) or visit her website laurbits.com
View her portfolio at https://laurbits.weebly.com/
Read her YA graphic novel "Polterguys" at laurbits.com/Polterguys or polterguys.laurbits.com

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Other topics discussed:

Voltes V

https://www.spot.ph/entertainment/movies-music-tv/83558/voltes-v-martial-law-explainer-a4362-20200913-lfrm

Philippine Animation Industry

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2018/04/02/animation-and-the-filipino/

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/FilCartoons

https://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/top-20-cities-worldwide-animation-careers

Intellectual Property Suits

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/comic-books-and-the-law-talking-with-michael-lovitz-about-ips-and-sdcc/

https://www.cbr.com/unpacking-the-kirby-reclamation-case/

Oni Press

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oni_Pre

Penny Arcade

https://nwasianweekly.com/2014/01/lifes-game-leap-faith-turns-comic-strip-successful-gaming-company/

https://www.geekwire.com/2016/penny-arcades-robert-khoo-steps-15-years-helm/

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Music: “Neon Laser Horizon” by Kevin MacLeod (imcompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Sound Editing by franticsong

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xoxo Jo