Luv Letter Studios Founder Details Indie Path Into Anime at Anime NYC
A studio founded in 2023 with a black-and-female-led team has already built a portfolio across major anime and American animation studios, and its Anime NYC panel laid out the practical realities of breaking into the industry.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime News Network.
Kennedy "Kenzie" Freeman founded Luv Letter Studios in February 2023. In three years, the black-and-female-led team has worked on one music video, two commercials, six films, and over 55 shows for studios including Disney, DreamWorks, MAPPA, and Toei. At Anime NYC, Freeman and her team held a panel on the realities of the anime business, from landing work to getting paid.
Freeman's own path ran through American animation before anime. After graduating from BMCC and SCAD, she worked on the short film Legend of Pipi, interned at DreamWorks on Fright Krewe, and moved to Disney TVA, where she storyboarded Alice's Wonderland Bakery and did prop design for Monsters at Work. A brief stint at Titmouse put her on Beavis and Butt-Head. She then took sketches and storyboards to Anime Expo to meet Studio Trigger producers, and landed work at Tonari Productions before moving to Fincrossed Studio.
The panel, which also featured animation director Ellen Block and voice actor Nickeem Latty-Morgan, covered how the business operates, how you get work, how you meet deadlines, and how you get paid. Freeman's studio credits include assisting with animation on Ruri Rocks, Dandadan, Re:Zero, Pokemon, One Piece, and Medalist.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.