Elyse Kelly
Founder/Director, NEON ZOO
Elyse Kelly is an award-winning filmmaker and the founder of Neon Zoo, a full-service independent animation studio that champions untold, unexpected, and sometimes taboo stories.
Her work has been exhibited in festivals worldwide, including Sundance, Tribeca, Annecy, Zagreb, and OIAF. She received her MFA in Animation & Digital Arts from the University of Southern California.
How did you get your start in animation?
I'm definitely one of those kids who loved Disney movies and wanted to work in animation and didn't necessarily know what that meant, but that was 100% the driving force. So I was always drawing, took local animation classes, did weird claymation stuff, and really was doing all of the creative things I could possibly think of. If there was an option to write the paper or do the art-driven project, I was always going - how can I do the art-based project?
I went to college for architecture but had a minor in art. For my senior project, I was designing buildings just so I could make them move and I could animate them. So my buildings were walking, almost like Howl's Moving Castle. Then I was like - If I'm animating buildings and doing all these things so I can tell stories and make things move, why do I not just go for it and try to do animation? And so my senior year, I applied to grad school and got into USC.
What was collaboration like in USC’s Hench division?
I left animation for some time, but my classmates kept pulling me back in. When my good friend and I wanted to do this animated short film, which became Fired Up, the people that we reached out to were almost all of my former classmates, friends USC where we said, hey, we have this crazy idea. Would you like to go on this kind of crazy journey with us? And everyone said yes. Miguel [Jirón] was a part of it. A number of other USC folks were a part of it and we came together in a really magical, beautiful way just because we wanted to make something together. Quite frankly, that film launched my career as it is now.
I don't necessarily work with a bunch of the people that I went to school with at this point, but it's really exciting to see how everyone's thriving and the paths they've chosen. The last time I saw Miguel was last year at Annecy, and it was really interesting for us. Like, there was a little USC cohort just sitting there, like, you know, he was head of story on, you know, Spider-Verse and he's writing and hopefully directing his first big project. And our another friend is a creative director at a really big animation studio and everyone has kind of grown into their voices, filmmakers and storytellers and the industry. We’re always supporting each other and excited for one another.
Where did the name Neon Zoo come from?
Names are hard! I agonized for months over the name. Neon Zoo was a name that was chosen to reflect that bold, unexpected storytelling. It captures the energy and essence of what we’re always trying to accomplish. On the personal side, it’s a very loose connection to my family. ‘Neon’ ties to the fact that my great grandmother was a business owner who had a beer garden back in the 20s with a neon flamingo sign. It’s a subtle nod to her journey - doing her own thing and trying to do it differently.
Any advice for aspiring animators or those looking to get into the production space in animation?
Don’t be afraid of doing it differently. Do things that are right for you even if anyone tells you you are crazy. When I decided to leave LA, everyone I knew said I was making the biggest mistake of my career. It’s hard to hear that and stay true to yourself in those moments, but you have to try your very best to stay true to yourself. Just know that it always feels like you don’t know what you’re doing, but that’s ok! Some people have very linear paths, and others don’t.