Meet Anchi Shen: Storyboard Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anchi Shen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anchi, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and mostly raised in Taiwan. Growing up, I had the chance to travel and live in different countries due to my dad’s job. Before I could fully acquire a language, I would already be moving to a different city. Because of that, I never understood what people around me were saying. Since I was just in pre-school at the time and the teachers knew I was there temporarily, I always get “special treatments”, such as having the luxury to play all day in the back while everyone else is learning stuff in class. Therefore, I spent a lot of my childhood being in my head, creating stories for my toys, giving them personalities and trying to entertainment myself. The fact that language was a barrier for me meant that I quickly developed the skill to read people’s expressions and body gestures at an early age. Communicating through acting and drawing were more efficient and effective for me than words, and I enjoyed doing it. I was immersed in so many cultures to a point that it influenced the way I think and tell stories, and is likely the reason why my ideas and drawings tend to be more universal. These all crafted me to become a storyteller at an early age and paved my way to become a story artist in animation. 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am passionate about making stories that inspire the audience with a touch of humor. I love making people feel things, motivate them, make them cry but also give them a smile or a good laugh through my art. My work definitely has lots of fun comedic tone in it and I love jotting down little moments in my life, turning them into comics and sharing it with the world. Like most artists, I developed my love for drawing as a kid. But it wasn’t until I was in high school that I got serious about choosing animation as a career. I completed an animation degree in Taipei National University of the Arts in 2015, where I learned the general foundation of animation and filmmaking then later on went to study character animation in California institute of the Arts where my focus shifted to directing, writing and storyboarding. It took me 9 years to reach my goal and dream job. And I can confidently say I would never have made it this far had it not been the support of my family and the people that I met along this journey.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Sawtelle, Koreatown, Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu, Los Angeles National Forest, Big Bear Lake. Griffith Park, Little Tokyo.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My forever loving and supportive parents and siblings 🙂

Website: www.anchishen.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anchiiishen/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anchi-shen-216a795a/