Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538315
AIA is a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing Asian talent in the animation industry, and "they wanted to move toward more hands- on educational training," says TAG member Saira Umar, Executive Producer, Supervising Director, and Writer on Tea Leaves Last. "They'd been experimenting with making short films, and they had an idea—what if we do something longer?" A fully boarded feature film was considered, but Umar, an AIA volunteer for the last four years, felt it might be too long. Coming from a TV background, she suggested an animatic pilot. Even then, it's the most ambitious project AIA has undertaken, according to Writer and Story Editor Stephanie Sim, a TAG member whose past experience included Production Assistant and Freelance Writer. The organization has a short film program called The Immersive Lab, "but from there it's a big leap to a 45-minute pilot," she says. Tea Leaves Last is a fantasy adventure story about a young adult, Mya, who leaves her homeland in search of the mysterious, elusive Houses of Tea to revive ceremonial tea magic. Discovering a colonizing force that threatens to destroy her family's historic tea farm, she needs to band together with the other Tea Houses to save their heritage. As the idea for the pilot was first being discussed, Umar—who'd worked so far as a Production Assistant and Writer—knew she wanted to serve as the Showrunner, which is her goal in the industry. And when it came to the story, "I thought it would be fun if we had this page (from top): The art in Tea Leaves Last is purposefully more refined than in a typical animatic; the film's main character, Mya. opposite page (clockwise from top right): Vis-dev for Mya's costumes; a sample from the color script; a fight scene with Mya; vis-dev details for the theater (top). THREE TAG MEMBERS SHARE HOW THE ANIMATIC PILOT TEA LEAVES LAST EMBRACED LEARNING CURVES TO PROVIDE NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR ASIANS IN ANIMATION. hye lynn park Director stephanie sim Writer & Story Editor Steeped in Culture saira umar Executive Producer, Supervising Director, & Writer Learning on the job is one of the best ways to gain experience. But what if you can't get the job because you don't have the necessary experience? Under the umbrella of Asians in Animation (AIA), the animatic pilot Tea Leaves Last is helping solve that catch-22 for more than a hundred aspiring and professional animation creatives. 14 KEYFRAME D I A L O G U E