Today we’d like to introduce you to Jiedi Chen.
Hi Jiedi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and grew up in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. My parents met in an outsourcing animation company with my mother continuing to pursue art after they left the company, so I grew up surrounded by art and animation, and I’ve always loved drawing. In middle school, I found a copy of Iain McCaig’s “Shadowline” in a local bookshop and discovered different positions in pre-production such as character design, concept art, and storyboards, which are used in such films as Star Wars or Harry Potter, and I was enthralled. I learned the basics of storyboarding from a little booklet in “Shadowline”, and I drew my own storyboards for my short film in high school IB Film. I was lucky enough to be admitted to the University of Southern California, where I double majored in fine arts and animation. After graduation, I freelanced for a bit as a storyboard artist for commercials before working as a storyboard artist for stop motion animation at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios on projects such as Robot Chicken, Supermansion, and Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. In 2020, a director I used to work with at Stoopid Buddy – Nick Simotas – recommended me for a position on the Croods: Family Tree at DreamWorks, and that’s how I got started at DreamWorks Animation as a storyboard artist. Currently, I’m working on an unannounced TV show that I’m super excited for everyone to see in the future!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Overall, I consider myself very lucky for my family to be financially stable and supportive for me to study art and animation. I would say the biggest challenge along the way obviously has been moving into a completely new country when I was seventeen. Although I went to an international high school and my English is pretty good even before I came to the US, there are so many things I didn’t know in the new environment, from how you’re not supposed to wander around Skid Row to what artichokes are. And although LA is usually a very diverse and welcoming place with a lot of immigrants as myself, China is such a faraway and strange country for people that sometimes I can’t help but feel like what I do would lead others to believe in stereotypes that define the whole community. I try to be more outgoing and social with people nowadays because minding my own business in school one day earned me a loud remark from another student that “Asian girls only keep to themselves”.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a storyboard artist – which means that I take the script for something that will be later either shot in film or made into an animation, and I draw out the main composition and action as a blueprint for other people to visualize how it will be shot or animated. Previously I have also done concept art, character designs, and creature designs. I have worked on a variety of mediums, including live-action, 3D animation, 2D animation, stop-motion animation, and interactive projects. While working on projects such as the live-action film Amundsen (2019), Robot Chicken, and Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K in the United States, I was also able to work on Chinese-produced animation films by Light Chaser Animation Studios, such as White Snake (2019), Green Snake (2021), New Gods: Nezha Reborn, and New Gods: Yang Jian because of my Chinese backgrounds and connections.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Animation, as many have said, is a very small industry, so be nice to everybody and try not to burn any bridges. Personal connections are the main source of your next job. If there is a particular studio that you are interested in applying to, try to work your portfolio towards the style of that studio; be humble and willing to change, and portfolio reviews can be extremely helpful.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.jiedichen.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiedi-chen-5b592a67/
