What is your name and your current occupation?
My Name is LeSean Thomas. I’m a TV animation producer/director currently back and forth between Hollywood and Seoul, South Korea.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I think working in-house as production staff for South Korean animation studio, JM Animation in Seoul for a year & and half. I was the only foreigner there. Many American artists/animators have gone to South Korea to work and oversee projects, but they’ve always been represented by giant, corporate funded network studios who funded their trips and stays, but my situation was the reverse. I sought out, hounded Korean presidents and quit my job at Warner Bros Animation to be the first, independent hire by a Korean Studio to be plucked from the states specifically & move to Korea to work there as permanent staff at the time. It was a wild ride and it took me forever to learn, navigate and figure things out. Thank you, JM Animation, haha.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I would say Adult Swim’s ” The Boondocks” (Co-Director/Supervising Character Designer) & NIckelodeon’s “The Legend of Korra” (Storyboard artist/Animation production) . For one, The Boondocks, because it was the first, black-created prime-time animated tv show to blend our hip hop culture and love of anime aesthetic with a political satire approach. Absolute genius. And it won a Peabody Award! Makes me very proud. Secondly, The Legend of Korra, because it was the first project i worked on living in Seoul South Korea. Working alongside the korean animators for long, we were like family. I was their little brother. It was a great experience & what we helped make in 2010/2011 was nothing short of magical and groundbreaking> And aside from Continue reading
