Today we’d like to introduce you to Cecilia De Jesus.
Hi Cecilia, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My journey has been somewhat of a winding one. I’ve always wanted to be a storyteller and artist, but that felt so out of reach to me for so much of my life. I loved art from an early age and was always drawing, but I didn’t think I could make art my career. Once I finally admitted to myself that I wanted to go into filmmaking, specifically animation, having that as my North Star helped me make decisions that would lead me to where I am today.
I majored in Communication Design as my undergraduate degree, and I went on to get my MFA in Animation at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. At that time, I still didn’t quite know where I fit into the animation industry, and I discovered motion graphics made a lot of sense to me. It combined my design sensibilities and my love of animation. After USC, I started at a studio called Picturemill, a company that specialized in title sequences for film and television. I created style frames and storyboards for title sequences and as more and more of my ideas were being chosen, I took on more responsibilities. A few years later, I was art directing full sequences, presenting work to directors and showrunners, and finding my voice.
I spent over 6 years at Picturemill, and though I loved my team so much, I felt it was time for my next chapter to begin. I left Picturemill in early 2020 and soon found myself at Trailer Park Group, an agency in Hollywood that creates trailers for film and series. At TPG, I’ve learned so much as I’ve become more immersed in the production process.
Throughout my years of working at studios, I have also been contributing my animation and design skills towards projects that are meaningful to me. I freelance on the side and love collaborating with passionate people who have something important to say. I also have been creating my own short films and finding different ways to tell stories and connect with others.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think we all face obstacles and struggles in our lives, though they can come in an infinite amount of ways. For me, I feel like my most constant obstacles have been internal. Looking back, there are so many times I think I stood in my own way. I’ve had several moments in my journey where I felt totally stuck and couldn’t see a way out of my situation. There were options and choices that were available; it just took me, at times, a lot of searching to find.
Self-doubt can be one of the biggest hindrances for me personally. It can keep me from thinking I deserve better, when deep down I know I do. The unknown is scary, so sometimes it’s easier to stick with a situation you are dissatisfied with than taking a leap into the unknown.
Working in the creative field, I’ve met so many remarkably talented people who feel very limited. When you create subjective work for a living, you are constantly being critiqued and judged, so this can take a heavy toll on you and plant seeds of unworthiness. There are also times when your superiors pour fuel on this fire by treating you dismissively and chipping away at your self-confidence, feeding into this thought that you aren’t good enough. You want to go for something more but are afraid of the rejection and judgement. I have been in this situation more times than I can count, and I still struggle with it! The difference for me now is I actively try to push past these fears and doubts when I feel them creeping up. If I get rejected, then so be it, but at least I can say I tried.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work is wide and varied, but when I take a step back, I feel it’s very interconnected, and there is a definite theme. I have many interests and love different forms of art, so at different times, I’m expressing myself through film, writing, illustration, and painting. In my day job, I create motion graphics professionally at Trailer Park Group. However, I feel my heart truly lies in the work I do in my free time. Since I graduated from school, I’ve worked freelance outside my day job on projects that I feel made a difference and contributed something important to the world. Mostly in documentaries, I’ve contributed my animation and design skills to films about overcoming family trauma, an inspirational story of blind ballerinas in Brazil, and the role of the Black church in the struggle for Civil Rights to mention a few.
I strive to share stories of my own as well, specifically through writing and directing short films. For a long time, I feel I put these desires on the back burner, thinking it was something I could never achieve, but now I know, I can’t wait for someone to tell me I’m ready. I need to have the faith in myself to just go for it and make strides towards making these stories come to life. Last year, I completed an animated short called Back to Normal, and it’s one of my proudest achievements.
I’m also really proud of the work I do as a Panda Ambassador (PA) with WWF. I’m very passionate about wildlife and conservation and as a PA, I can lead projects that bring attention to important issues and make my contribution towards helping our world and environment. I like to bring my artistic skills to my projects too, like the social media campaign I lead each May called #EndangeredAnimalMay, where every day I draw a different endangered animal from a master list and give information about that animal. I love encouraging others to join so they can feel connected to these wonderful animals and learn about why they are important. I think no effort is too small, and it takes many hands and hearts to make a difference.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Covid-19 was a very pivotal time for me, and I learned quite a bit from the whole experience. Since I was working for an agency that specializes in trailers when the pandemic hit, I was very affected by the slowdown in the film industry. After months of working from home and surviving the rounds of layoffs, I was eventually put on an intermittent furlough. My future career felt very unclear. With that fear of personal uncertainty along with all the constant turmoil in the world, I felt very low and isolated. It all felt like too much for so long.
Though I was going through all of these really tough feelings, it did make me question what I really wanted to do with my life. For so long, I had been working towards helping others achieve their visions, making other people’s work complete with my animation and design. I did love that collaboration, but there were still stories that I longed to tell.
In November 2021, I heard about a call for submissions to the LatinX in Animation Spark Grant, and it immediately inspired me. LatinX in Animation, or LXiA for short, is a signature program of the Latino Film Institute (LFI) and is made up of an amazing group of people dedicated to uniting and uplifting LatinX creators in the Animation and VFX community. Their Spark Grant, sponsored by Netflix, was looking for 2 applicants to receive $10,000 to go towards creating an original animated short. With the grant would come industry mentors, workshops, and a special screening at the 2023 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. It sounded unreal to me, just the greatest opportunity I could have ever asked for.
I didn’t really think I stood a chance, but I wanted to go for it anyway. I wrote a story that basically reflected all I had gone through during the pandemic and everything that I had been feeling. It was very therapeutic, and I felt it was something that people could relate to and hopefully find some comfort in. I organized everything into a pitch bible and submitted it for consideration. To my utter surprise, in February of 2022, I found out that they had chosen me and another wonderful artist to receive the two Spark grants. It felt like a dream, but I got to work and completed my short, Back to Normal, in the summer of 2023 with the help of my incredibly talented crew. I remain super grateful to all of them for contributing their skills and bringing such passion to my story.
I learned so many lessons through the pandemic, and in turn, through the filmmaking process, but the biggest lesson I learned was to not give up. Even when things feel so hopeless, you have to keep going, keep trying, and that there are people who are there to love and support you. You never know when life will take a turn, and you have to leave yourself open to those moments of joy and opportunity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dejesusdesign.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cecdejesus
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilia-de-jesus-design/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/backtonormalfilm/
