PEN15

THE ANIMATED SPECIAL | S2 E08

NOW STREAMING ON HULU

EPISODE TRAILER

In 2020, I was approached to be the Animation Supervisor and Executive Producer for the Animated Special episode of Hulu’s Pen15.

From early concept design and thumbnails to final compositing and post-production, I was thrilled to work on this boundary-pushing series, helping to shape the tone, look and visual narrative of the Special.

Character Design by Jasmin Garcia-Verdin

Animation Services by Studio Meala.

PRESS
VARIETY | Why ‘Pen15’ Turned to Animation for a Pivotal Florida Vacation Episode

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER | ‘Pen15’ Co-Creator Maya Erskine on Producing Animated “Jacuzzi” Episode

THE GUARDIAN | ‘Excruciatingly relatable’: why Pen15’s animated special might be it’s best episode yet

AV CLUB | Pen15’s animated special delivers another hilarious and aching depiction of teen troubles

DEADLINE | Hulu’s ‘Pen15’ Animated Special Follows Maya And Anna To Florida

VANITY FAIR | Exclusive: Anna Konkle on Pen15's Brilliant Animated Special

CHARACTER LAYOUT AND EXPRESSIONS

Posing the characters and designing their expressions was one of my favorite parts of this project. The awkward and subtle expression changes is such a signature part of the show, our challenge was to translate this crucial part of it’s DNA into animation.

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BACKGROUND DESIGNS

Here are some backgrounds I designed to set the tone of our stage for the episode.

Anna wanted the world to feel like “Reject Florida” — A lackluster place that is the saddest version of a fun beach holiday. We designed the type of hotel fit for a sad pharmaceutical convention, perfect to dash all hopes.

EARLY DEVELOPMENT

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EARLY DEVELOPMENT ✌︎︎

EARLY CHARACTER DESIGN TESTS

Initially, the creative direction of the project was leaning towards a 90s, early days of Nickelodeon style. Here are some tests I designed along that direction.

✌︎︎The full episode is now available for streaming on HULU✌︎︎