Check Out Lena Greene’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lena Greene.

Hi Lena, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a pocket of West LA called Cheviot Hills, went to school in West Hollywood and Brentwood, and then studied Film/Animation/Video (FAV) at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). I was a musical theater kid obsessed with drawing and 90s cartoons like Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Ren & Stimpy, and Aeon Flux. I felt animation was the perfect combination of story, acting, and drawing.

After RISD, I moved to New York and started working in animation. After 11 years, I’ve worked on some really awesome projects, directing or animating for artists and brands, such as Lana Del Rey, Lauren Greenfield, Celeste, Comedy Central, Gucci, MAC, Tory Burch, and J.Crew, and with companies like Edelman, Droga5, and Vice. I’ve worked on shows for HBO, Adult Swim, and PBS (storyboards on “Teenage Euthanasia” and “City Island”, and character designing on “Smiling Friends” season 3).

In 2025, I finished my musical short film “Tuna Tartare”, about a can of tuna fish who runs a karaoke bar with her BFF (a fake Louis Vuitton purse) in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, after our trash has come to life. It premiered at HollyShorts in LA, won Best Animation at the Santa Cruz Film Festival, and is distributed by Miyu.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m thankful to have such an amazing community of friends and peers, who recommend one another for various opportunities. Freelancing is tough! And there are definitely some huge bumps in the road.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a director, animator, writer, illustrator, producer, and voice actor. My work is campy and playful, taking inspiration from the glitz and glamour of growing up in a bubble right outside of Hollywood. My characters are often striving to “make it” in a world that has long since overlooked them. Regardless of gender, they wear heels or thigh highs, are larger than life, and over the top.

I grew up on musicals like Funny Girl and Cabaret, love the work of Sally Cruikshank, Gladys Nilsson, and Liquid Television, am equally fascinated and revolted by the bags of trash that barricade my NYC apartment, and feel best after getting a song off my chest at a karaoke bar.

I’m especially proud of my 11-minute-long indie animated short film “Tuna Tartare”, which was completed in early 2025. It’s loud, bombastic, campy, and absurd. A film about what it means to be an artist, what it takes to fight your own insecurities, and how friendship so often saves the day. And, how karaoke encourages you to be yourself but hotter. I co-wrote “Tuna Tartare” with my LA-based best friend, Alessandra Clark, and worked with some other amazing animators (notably Emily Zullo), voice actors (notably Tony Award-winning Lesli Margherita), and sound designer Ryan Woodhall, after a 4-month-long fundraising campaign.

I also recently made a super short 1-minute musical animation called “Sticky Man” on A Studio Digital. It’s about an inexplicably sticky man who is looking for love. I co-wrote the song with my friend Eric Farber. It’s online and pretty funny, you should check it out!

A few years ago, I directed and animated a 3-minute animated short film called “Lauren Greenfield: How Capitalism Exploits Insecurities”, with Topic and Augenblick Studios. I’m also proud of a video I was animation director on for Lana Del Rey, for her poem “Happy”. The vibe is very “Fantasia”, it took forever to animate, and people love it.

On the more technical side, I’m known for 2D animation, storyboarding, and illustrating! I’m open to collaborations and freelance work. I’m repped by Alison Mann at Fourth Wall Management, hit me up 🙂

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I loved Pokémon, dragons, and the Powerpuff Girls, and was always drawing my own versions of these creatures. But I was also very energetic and would just like, run around a lot. I was a freak, but also thought I had a sixth sense for fashion, and loved drawing sexy anime ladies in couture. I felt cool one day and like a loser the next!

Pricing:

• A good rule of thumb is $8-10k/minute of hand drawn animation

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lenagreene.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_lena.greene_/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenagreene/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@throatskaraokebar
• Other: https://www.tunatartarefilm.com/