Meet Joshua You | Story Artist & Filmmaker

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

Hi Joshua, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
Watching a stunning film definitely makes me happy. Whenever I watch a masterpiece, I can feel my heart racing, filled with inspiration, and I get to remind myself that I also want to create a film that can also make the audience’s heart race.

Several people give me the advice that I should keep my personal life and my work life separate, but that’s definitely not easy. I’ve been doing art ever since I could hold a crayon in my hand, and it became an enormous part of my life and my ego. Therefore, the status of my creative process impacts my daily mood as well, which can be both a positive aspect and a negative aspect.

Creation is often a greatly troublesome and lonely process, which requires you to be extremely patient to endure endless trials and errors.

However, I forget about the troublesome process of creation immediately once I get to see the audience interacting with my finished artworks and enjoy them. This led me to the conclusion that making others make me happy.

Therefore, I will continue to make artworks that can deliver meaningful thoughts, messages, and emotions to the audience until I can no longer hold a pen in my hand, since that’s the definition of pursuing happiness to me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I introduce myself as a story artist and a filmmaker.

My artworks are extremely story-driven since the endless capability to tell stories was what led me to art. Therefore, I usually am not motivated to start working on a new project until I develop a story that I’m fully satisfied with.

In the past few years, I created multiple animated short films in both 2D and 3D. When I was a high school student, I created my first animated short film in 2D, titled “Belly Button.” I also created a 3D animated short about self-esteem, titled “You Are You,” and my latest film was a hybrid of both 2D and 3D, titled “Happy New Year.”

Combining all the artistic skills and knowledge that I acquired so far, I am currently in the production of my animated thesis film, and I hope it can inspire the world in diverse directions once it gets shared with the public.

In addition, I always try my best to stay involved in the artist community because that’s where I get inspired the most. At school, I have been voted by my fellow students to serve as the Department Representative at ArtCenter Student Government, which opened various opportunities and experiences for me.

As the Department Rep at Student Government, I get to attend executive meetings on behalf of the student body, host events, create digital content to keep our community connected, lead projects, and do a lot of public speaking.

The quote “Fake it till you make it” may be overused, but it still best describes the lessons that I learned in my ongoing journey of pursuing my dream. Similar to many other artists, I am an extreme introvert, but I learned that being an introvert doesn’t quite help me build the network that I need for reaching my goals.

I pretended like I always know everything that I am doing, and I also pretended like I’m an extrovert and enjoyed speaking in front of a large crowd. Eventually, I was able to discover myself gradually expanding my comfort zone and getting closer to my goals step by step.

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.
I personally feel greatly fortunate to live in Southern California, which has fabulous weather with numerous options to experience diverse foods and cultures.

In order to fully relish the beautiful weather in Southern California, I would highly recommend biking around Venice Beach and Venice Canals since I believe these locations perfectly represent the peaceful Californian life.

My other go-to spots in the city are Academy Awards Museum, the Last Book Store, and Griffith Observatory because these places have great charms that no other place can mimic while providing excellent spots to take stunning photos as well.

In addition to visiting these iconic locations, I would suggest stopping by restaurants like Matsuri, Avenue Italy, Shake Shack, President Thai, and Honey Pig to experience delicious tastes and diverse cultures.
Additionally, I would highly recommend visiting Six Flags Magic Mountain since it’s the perfect place to relieve your stress with its dynamic rides, and its flavorful funnel cake is something that must be tried as well.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Without a doubt, I would like to give a massive shoutout to our ArtCenter College of Design community fulfilled with hardworking students, staff, and instructors, who played a significant role in shaping me into the artist/leader I am.

I would also love to give a shoutout to these magical artists in the animation industry, including Pete Doctor, Steve Ahn, Teny Issakenian, Noah Klocek, and Alan Wan who influenced me in so many directions and paved the pathways that I can pursue.

Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the master Kim Jung Ki, whom the world, unfortunately, had to let go of recently.

Website: https://www.joshuayou.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuayouart

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuajisokyou/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/joshuayou