My good friend Renz and I are in the very early stages of our first ever animated short film!
Meet Hilo (Hee-loh), our young protagonist. She is based off of Renz and me and our experiences as Filipina/o Americans. Her story is based on our collective struggle with generational trauma. As we write, I feel us breaking open. As I design these characters and locations, I look to what I learned through PEP San Francisco and in my Asian American Studies classrooms. This story is about our connections to our past, historically and personally, and how we carry what happened with us today. It’s important to Renz and me that we put a story out there that is intentional about healing, because we are in the process of healing ourselves.
As someone who didn’t go to art school (because WOW art school is expensive) and is learning how to board & animate on her own, this is a huge challenge for me. But I’m so excited to work on this everyday, and I finally feel like dreams are coming true! I hope you all welcome Hilo with open arms.