Daily Inspiration: Meet Anna Robinson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Robinson.

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 grew up surrounded by art, design, and performance in Wellington, New Zealand. My Dad was an opera singer and my Mum ran New Zealand’s leading art and design university. We did a family holiday to Los Angeles when I was 6 and as we were flying through the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland I remember being amazed by the fictional world that I was now physically immersed within. That feeling of awe and wonderment within an experience is now something I curate as part of my job.

While completing my undergraduate degree in Film and Theatre at Victoria University in New Zealand, and competing across the world in hip hop dance competitions, I began doing set and projection design for regional theatre while knowing that there was still a lot more to learn. This led me to move over to the United States and do my MFA in Technical Theatre and Set Design at the University of California, San Diego, under the tutelage of Tony-nominee Robert Brill, which became the biggest adventure of my life.

It was there that I started exploring and experimenting with the connection between a set, projections, media, and live performance. Following on from my Masters, I worked across the US as a theatre designer, assisted on two Broadway shows, and then began working at Possible, a Los Angeles-based creative studio leading the way in storytelling, design, and creative solutions in the entertainment industry.

At Possible I am now an Associate Creative Director. A job that is an amalgamation of all my skills and life experiences. I get to work with some of the world’s best artists, designers, producers, and collaborators to create impactful and unique shows, visual stories, and art-driven experiences to continue to define the visual language of pop culture.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think any creative road is smooth, to be honest, probably the bumpier the road the better. The bumps equate to the highs and lows, the yes’s and no’s, the constant learning and the mastering of crafts. However, there have also been a lot of big potholes on my road so far. Living on the other side of the world from my family and navigating life in Los Angeles has not been easy, but it has definitely taught me a lot about confidence and grit.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My job consists of creativity, stories, collaboration and imagination. I look to create pathways between moments and ideas that seem ultimately disparate and join them in unique visual ways. I approach each job with curiosity, enthusiasm, and research, following gut instincts and brainstorms all the way to creative thesis statements, concept doodles, and production.

The team I work with at Possible is filled with creative geniuses and some of my favourite moments at work are when we figure out show and performance design solutions together. Possible is a studio that creates magic on screens and in live performances and the collaborations I experience here are equally as much about learning from my colleagues and understanding everyone’s individual artistic process as they are about making memorable moments in today’s culture.

Some of our recent projects include the League of Legends 2022 World Finals Opening Ceremony, content design for Blackpink, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber, as well as creating an original mobile game for Louis Vuitton.

Any big plans?
Future plans seem challenging since we have all experienced the world shutting down due to the pandemic. It changed many people’s pathways, priorities, and values and showed us that we can never be too certain or set on one particular plan. Regardless of that though, I am looking forward to continuing to learn and create with my colleagues, I am looking forward to enjoying and exploring more of LA and California, and I am looking forward to inspiring that same feeling of awe and wonderment in experiences for the next generation of creatives like the ones that paved the way for my creative journey when I was a kid.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.annarobinson.design & www.psbl.co
• Instagram: @annabobinson & @possibleproductions
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/PzRi2JyRlvw

Image Credits
Photo 1-3: League of Legends World Finals 2022 Opening Ceremony Portrait Photography: Nick George