May 15, 2019

Meet Michelle Lam of Glen Keane Productions/ Netflix in Hollywood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Lam.

Michelle, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Ever since I was young, I always loved storytelling through art as a form of communication. I wrote and illustrated stories in printer paper stapled liked books, I made storyboards on magna doodles, and I used Windows Movie Maker to sequence drawings from Microsoft Paint. I eventually learned how to use video editing programs and Adobe Photoshop on my own, and shared my animations on Youtube for fun.

Throughout this process, I realized that I love engaging people with my work, and animation would be the appropriate field to get into for that. I get to draw, tell stories, and entertain people– it’s what I’ve been doing since the day I learned to hold a pencil! I applied to several animation schools and got accepted into CalArts.

CalArts really challenged me to maintain a work-life balance. Although it was difficult in the beginning, it really taught me how to develop a strong work ethic while still being able to live my life. Art is ultimately an expression of who you are, so I believe that it’s important to live your life and implement your experiences into your work. After creating four student films and completing internships at Cartoon Network, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and DreamWorks, I knew I wanted to become a storyboard artist.

After a summer of waiting for the first full-time job, Glen Keane Productions / Netflix reached out to me for a storyboard revisionist/apprenticeship position. I immediately said, “Yes b*tch!!!” (Not the “b*tch” part), and got promoted to become a storyboard artist three months after I started as a revisionist.

Has it been a smooth road?
Post-graduation, I was faced with rejection after rejection for multiple job opportunities. While everything felt hopeless at that moment of my life, I refused to give up. I rebuilt my story portfolio from scratch and began increasing my online presence mainly through Instagram. While I put in so much effort for that first full-time opportunity, I unexpectedly rediscovered my love for having a voice. For a while, I had tunnel vision on landing a job, but sharing personal work and reaching out to others through my social platforms helped me find my value as not just an artist, but a role model too.

There is so much more to life than just a job, and that was what motivated me to begin making comics on Instagram to tell my stories and inspire others. I began taking kickboxing classes to put myself back in a beginner’s shoes, be okay with “failure”, and be willing to fight through it. I put “failure” in quotes, simply because I don’t believe in it. As Tony Robbins said, “There is no such thing as failure, there are only results.” I applied these life lessons back to my perspective on the job hunt and focused more on becoming a strong storyteller, rather than a strong job applicant.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am currently a storyboard artist on the show “Trash Truck” (2020) at Glen Keane Productions / Netflix. As a storyboard artist, you visually translate a script to what the audience will ultimately see on screen. You get to decide the staging, the camera moves, character acting, and more. This also serves as a reference for animators to know what they will be animating. I particularly enjoy drawing expressions and drawing out acting poses for the characters because it allows me to feel what they are feeling for that moment. A big part of why I love being in animation is because I can always empathize with the characters’ emotions.

During my free time, I work on my own personal comics that I post weekly on Instagram. They are based off of my personal life experiences mixed with very mild fantasy. While I love being a storyboard artist, I also love having a voice in my own personal art. Both worlds ultimately help feed each other, with my storyboarding skills assisting with my comics, and the authentic emotions from my comics assisting my storyboards. Someday I would like to create my own show for a larger audience and reach out to young girls with big dreams too.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I feel like Los Angeles is a great place for creatives. Coming from New York, things are a bit more business oriented, and the weather can be complete sh*t. While I still love New York, I think Los Angeles is a great place for young dreamers to grow because everyone “sacrificed their original lives to pursue their dreams as an actor or whatever.” Young creatives will definitely be surrounded by more like-minded people here since we’re all on the same boat.

Other than that, LA traffic sucks, and rent is definitely not cheap. I would really like to see LA develop a better public transportation system, but I know that may be difficult due to potential earthquakes. I just sometimes think it is a shame to see so many hardworking people get discouraged simply because they cannot afford proper housing or transportation.

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