We recently connected with Yoo Lee and have shared our conversation below.

Yoo , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started sooner?

I had a career change in my 40’s. I was a CEO running my own fashion brand for almost two decades before transitioning over to becoming a filmmaker using stop motion as my medium. Although fashion is creative, it ultimately wasn’t the right creative outlet for me, but it taught me about discipline, time management skills, how to be organized, how to negotiate with multiple vendors, and how to budget and keep the crew. Had I started stop-motion animation in my 20s, I am sure I would have been a much better animator, you need years of practice to be excellent. However, everything I learned in the fashion industry gave me the unique perspective and discipline to become the storyteller I am today. So no, no regrets, I think I started animation just when it was the right time for me to do so.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Yoo Lee, I am a Korean-American artist and filmmaker who first started her career as a fashion designer before transitioning to animation. I have written and directed five stop-motion animated shorts over a period of four years while pursuing my MFA in Animation and Digital Design at USC, which I finally obtained this May of 2023.

I was going through a midlife crisis, not being fully content with what I was doing. I had my own fashion brand, which I thought I always wanted, but it wasn’t ticking the right box. I also really didn’t like the fact I was contributing to something that was a necessity. I fell in love with stop-motion animation making a music video for my daughter and, unable to break into a position at a stop-motion studio with no prior work experience, I decided I needed to go back to school and got into USC MFA program majoring in animation. Investing in myself to learn something new, regardless of my age, was the single best decision and gift I’ve given myself. I learned so much and came out of a 4-year journey (I had to take one one-year leave of absence to finish the film I was directing), as a writer, director, and artist. Not listening to my fear and instead allowing myself to experience and learn something new is my proudest decision.

I received the Film Independent Laika Animation Fellowship, and Fox Fellowship, and also won the Grand Jury Animation Prize at the Florida Film Festival in 2022. The films I wrote and directed are currently distributed through the New Yorker Screening Room and streamed on Max.

Now that I am out of school, I’ve decided to branch out as an independent writer, director, and artist. I don’t shy away from difficulty, and stories always have a way of finding me so I am working on several new stories for the near future and will have my very first gallery opening this winter.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think this question is very timely, and we needn’t look further than the current state of Hollywood with the ongoing strikes by writers, actors, and the looming video game industry.

The society where the studio appreciates, supports, and understands there is humanity behind all successful creations is where creativity will thrive. Look at the dearth of creativity that we are currently experiencing. When the intent of one executive studio is to “break the WGA” and draw out the negotiations so that the writers will run out of savings, enabling them to dictate terms as a “necessary evil”, no wonder we ended up here.

Without artists, there is no content, but some studios seem to forget this fact. Artists are not disposable; we are sensitive, living beings with life experiences that we share with the audience. We put it all out there in the name of entertainment. Yet, the disparity between the studio executives’ salaries and that of average working writers, actors, and other creatives is beyond comprehension. So, what other protection do average working creatives have other than that provided by a union?

I believe that a society that thinks a little deeper and understands the importance of humanity and connectivity among us, as we dive deeper into the AI world of the future, is a must. If that means earmarked government funding or tax breaks for artists, more grants and fellowships provided by business entities, not just as a band-aid to use for their own diversity agenda to check off a box and strip creatives of their rights, but as a real, meaningful grant with no strings attached.

Also, for the rest of us, including the audience, supporting independent filmmakers is crucial. Whether it means supporting a filmmaker running a crowdfunding campaign, attending your local film festivals, or visiting arthouse theaters to watch independent films, we should support artists whenever we can

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The cards were stacked against me before I even started. As a middle-aged minority female with no prior experience in the entertainment industry, becoming the writer and director I want to be, is never going to be easy. I want to be remembered long after I am gone for my films. I want to serve as an example for anyone who doubts themselves, that there is no excuse in not trying, if someone like me can do it. In order to do that, I need to tell stories worth telling, take on projects that resonate with me, and never tell boring stories.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.meetyoolee.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetyoolee/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoo-lee-00a0a86/
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12437578/?ref_=fn_al_nm_8

Image Credits
Yoo Lee picture taken by Steven Wong Jr. Film Stills taken by Aaron Wise