We recently connected with Francesca Nobili and have shared our conversation below.

Francesca, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

When I fell in love with stop motion fabrication and animation, I chose to be self-taught. I didn’t want to do what others already do, I didn’t want to follow anyone’s example but only being inspired by them. Stop motion to me is pure freedom. Freedom to set your own rules, come up with your own technique and find your own, unique style. And 10 years later, here I am. Building creepy cute miniature worlds where the magic happens, giving waste materials a second chance at a life of imagination and joy. I enjoy to experiment with all kind of materials and to turn everyday objects into something else. It’s time consuming but I don’t wish to speed up the creative process, it’s too much fun and also necessary to keep learning and improving.

Francesca, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

With a solid background in marketing and advertising, I slowly but enthusiastically got into art direction and anything art department, as I discovered my talent when it comes to give life to the director’s vision and build worlds where the magic happens. When I am not on set, I am in my lab, building and animating miniature sets and puppets for stop motion animation short films and music videos. Since 2013, my short films have been officially selected by 74 film festivals worldwide, with dozens of awards and recognitions. When I am done animating, I turn my miniature sets into dioramas, that are now getting their spot in art galleries and shows. When I am not on set or in my lab, I am probably directing a voice over recording session (both in English and Italian), providing cultural and linguistic consultation for the Italian market, making some fanzines or relaxing at the dog park with my better half.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being a creative is a blessing and a curse. I think almost everyone can agree on that. But I am sure no creative would ever change it, because it’s more than a being, it’s a need. You don’t choose to be creative, that’s who you are and you know you will spend the rest of your life enjoying and struggling with it. Creativity lets me be authentic, it’s my voice as an individual, and I embrace every single blemish of my work and myself because that’s what makes me unique.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

All my life is about pivoting, mostly driven by ambition, boredom and/or curiosity. Buckle up. When I was living in Milan, Italy, I got a master degree in law, then a master degree in creative writing and art direction, I worked in several advertising agencies and then became freelancer, working for many agencies around the world as voice over director, consultant, copywriter and some more stuff. In the meantime, I got into production design, stop motion production, and fanzine making. Then I put all my life in 4 boxes and moved to Los Angeles, CA by myself. Many red carpets later, I am now finding my own way into art galleries. To be continued.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.francescanobili.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankie_nobili/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE1wxjUYSEIs991w61uXMmg/videos

Image Credits
Pictures 01 and 02: Jess Ferrara Picture 3: Steve Escarcega Picture 4: Chiara Meattelli