Jun 15, 2026 · 1 hr 10 min · 11 segments
Elyse Kelly joins the show to discuss her meandering journey from childhood Disney fascination to her impactful work in animation and documentary storytelling. She discusses the importance of…
Elyse KellyGuest
Matt VojacekHost
Shelby HagerdonHost
I, I think a lot of people, especially in animation, they wanna go this path of like, "Hey, I just wanna tell cool stories.
I, I want to like, just make people feel things," right? Like, that was very much me.
And it, it got to a certain point with me, and I'm sure it does with everyone else, where you're like, "Okay, well, I also have to pay bills here."
So I- how do you balance, uh, the, the need for money with the desire to tell the stories you wanna tell?
I mean, I think it's, it's different when, before I left the industry and I was working and freelancing in LA, of course I wasn't necessarily, um, choosing jobs because I believed in the sto- I mean, yes, I, I believed in a team or I was excited about the project.
Uh, but it, it was more so driven by I just got out of grad school, I have a bunch of bills to pay, I have a bunch of loans to pay.
And that was part of the reason I ended up leaving the industry, is that it wasn't sustainable and I could not make a living doing it.
Um, and I think in part taking the time away, um, to kind of re-ground myself, figure out my, what my priorities, um, were helped.
Um, but I think on the just kind of a very like logistical, like practical side, the fact that I teach, um, as well, and the fact that I have a partner with a stable job and health insurance now, um, is a, a sad reality that that is like such a huge help, but it is.
Um, and I think those things combined have allowed me to be a little bit more selfish, uh, in terms of like what we say yes to and what we don't say yes to, and, and being able to kind of navigate that space a little bit more intentionally than when I was earlier on in my career and it was just like you have to say yes because you need to pay rent.
Elise, this is so fascinating to me because quite frankly I've never met somebody with like almost the exact same story as me, and like why I, I made the decisions I made.
I, I think a lot of people, especially in animation, they wanna go this path of like, "Hey, I just wanna tell cool stories.
I, I want to like, just make people feel things," right? Like, that was very much me.
And it, it got to a certain point with me, and I'm sure it does with everyone else, where you're like, "Okay, well, I also have to pay bills here."
So I- how do you balance, uh, the, the need for money with the desire to tell the stories you wanna tell?
I mean, I think it's, it's different when, before I left the industry and I was working and freelancing in LA, of course I wasn't necessarily, um, choosing jobs because I believed in the sto- I mean, yes, I, I believed in a team or I was excited about the project.
Uh, but it, it was more so driven by I just got out of grad school, I have a bunch of bills to pay, I have a bunch of loans to pay.
And that was part of the reason I ended up leaving the industry, is that it wasn't sustainable and I could not make a living doing it.
Um, and I think in part taking the time away, um, to kind of re-ground myself, figure out my, what my priorities, um, were helped.
Um, but I think on the just kind of a very like logistical, like practical side, the fact that I teach, um, as well, and the fact that I have a partner with a stable job and health insurance now, um, is a, a sad reality that that is like such a huge help, but it is.
Um, and I think those things combined have allowed me to be a little bit more selfish, uh, in terms of like what we say yes to and what we don't say yes to, and, and being able to kind of navigate that space a little bit more intentionally than when I was earlier on in my career and it was just like you have to say yes because you need to pay rent.
Elise, this is so fascinating to me because quite frankly I've never met somebody with like almost the exact same story as me, and like why I, I made the decisions I made.
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