Today we’d like to introduce you to Joy Zhou.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in St. Louis, Missouri, spent my infant years in Canada, and was mostly raised in Boston, Massachusetts. As a kid, I had a ton of different hobbies and interests, but none of them stuck around like art and cartoons! Eventually, I attended high school in the Bay Area, where animation started to feel like a real profession someone could have. I remember visiting my grandparents in Toronto and dragging my mom to tour Sheridan College and then watching ‘Bao’ a few hours later in theaters—it didn’t take much more convincing than that!
I ended up moving to Toronto to attend Sheridan, where my concept of an animation career took shape; I learned about art history, dabbled in every part of the pipeline, made several short films, and formed epic friendships—even if many were birthed over Zoom! In my junior year, I interned at House of Cool drawing trainee storyboard sequences, and I pitched an original TV series at the Ottawa International Animation Festival as a Pitch THIS! Competition Semi-finalist. In my final year, I completed a 2-minute animated opening, ‘On The Haunt’, where I merged my love for New England’s spooky season and punny-theatrical songwriting to make an early-2000’s-style theme song! Currently, I’m a Story and Design Generalist at Skyship Entertainment.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Yes and no! Primarily, I had to find my footing through frequent moves and have long had my immediate family scattered all around the globe. This was complicated by the pandemic as an 18-year-old “immigrant” in Canada (though it IS very similar there!), as I ended up navigating most early adulthood responsibilities on my own—restricted from returning to any of my many homes and unable to consult anyone I knew about the country’s immigrant bureaucracy, banking, or housing. I’m sure many people—most of all, my own parents!—had identical experiences but felt similarly alone at the time. On the other hand though, I built up a foundation of self-reliance and appreciation for all the different places I’ve lived; It makes me feel excited, rather than scared, to take on big life decisions, and reminds me to cherish people while they’re close. Throughout my many moves, there’s always three constants; I’m still the same person, I’ll figure it out, and I’ll miss the place I’m leaving within a few years—so feel lucky to live and love it for now!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’d say I specialize in character-driven, cinematic dramedy! I love to put believable characters in situations where their flaws can be on full display, and find the humor that comes from that. Structurally, it’s like setting up a bunch of dominos and trying to delight the audience with the interlocking image they make once it all comes crashing down! I still have a lot to learn starting out my career, but I’m most proud of when a story does such a quietly good job setting up the resolution that it still feels surprising and wild and earned. While this is clearest to convey through storyboards, it’s also what I love to bring to character designs and backgrounds—that feeling that rewards you for leaning in, collecting clues, and interacting with the artwork. So far, I’m the proudest of my graduation film, which was my most ambitious year-long, nearly solo endeavor to board, design, background paint, animate, and composite an opening theme. I hadn’t seen a film quite like it before, like a cross between a character sizzle reel and a narrative theme song set to lyrics, but that made it all the more exciting to me! In the end, I think the film is a fever-dream time capsule of me at this age. I look forward to taking on bigger and bolder projects!
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Understand, then EMBRACE yourself! It’s important to support and guide your artistic process, which is different for everyone! For example, I conceptualized my graduation film knowing I’d feel motivated by the novelty of fast-paced, constantly changing scenes, and I love listening to musicals on repeat. These were traits I often felt ambivalent about (because I wished to be a patient, methodical person with an ever-changing, vinyl-clad music taste), but lately, I’ve discovered that productivity is much more enjoyable when leaning into our idiosyncrasies, instead of vilifying them—Nay, they can even be an asset! Find the niches where your unique sensibilities can shine even brighter; that’s the art that’s authentically joyful, and only YOU can create best (In fact, you would be robbing the world by NOT making it—think about that)!
I’ve also learned that a picture absolutely speaks a thousand words; for all my planning and brainstorming, and writing, nothing beats a good drawover or thoughtful sketch for sorting out creative problems—Both in critiques and conveying my own stumbling blocks!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://zhoujoy.portfoliobox.net/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyzhou5/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHkgZNTk2Ds&ab_channel=ohjoy
Image Credits
Joy Zhou
