Kirsten Lepore

How did you get into directing?
I think it all started around age 11, when my father granted me access to the family camcorder.  I immediately began directing my two younger sisters  (who were willing actresses) in a slew of silly stories and video experiments.

What is your most recent project?
I’m about a month away from finishing a new 10-minute stop-motion short that I’ve working on for the past two years.  Aside from that, my most recent projects would be “To give a present,” a segment for the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba, and Bottle, a six-minute short animated film from 2010.

What is the best part of being a director?
For me, the best part is probably being actively involved in all parts of the filmmaking process.  Although some directors do this more than others, my career thus far as a director of independent animation has required me to completely take on every role, from writing, boarding, and animating to editing, post-production, and sound design.  It feels great to fully understand and participate in every part of the process to achieve a very specific vision.

What is the worst part of being a director?
In the same way being involved in all parts of production is a blessing, it can also be a curse.  It can be beyond stressful when an entire film is riding solely on the shoulders of the director.

What is your current career focus: commercials & branded content, TV, movies? Do you plan to specialize in a particular genre–comedy, drama, visual effects, etc.?
Up to this point, I’ve focused mainly on short films for festivals, broadcast, and web and will probably continue to concentrate on music videos, commercial work, and TV.

Have you a mentor and if so, who is that person (or persons) and what has been the lesson learned from that mentoring which resonates most with you?
No mentor per se…. But I have some quotes I live by… Funny enough I can’t remember any of them!!!!!…. But they are in there…. Laying actively dormant in my subconscious.

Tell us about your background (i.e. Where did you grow up? Past jobs?)
I grew up in New Jersey, studied animation at MICA in Baltimore, then moved to the LA area to get a Masters in experimental animation from CalArts.
In that time, I’ve been fortunate enough to have my work featured on TV, the web, and at film festivals all over the world.

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