I graduated from Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking (June 2011), which is part of Yavapai College in Sedona, Arizona.

Before I went to film school, I had already spent about 9 years in the film industry, enjoying various jobs such as acting, script supervising, and assisting (a locations manager, an actress, etc).

I went to film school because I realized when I was a script supervisor that I needed to know more of the filmmaking process, the equipment, etc.

I had also started to direct and produce (and write and edit) my own short projects, and friends were starting to request me on their projects.

I’m very proud of the work I did on these projects, but wanted the projects (and my contribution to them) to be even better. I wanted to be more knowledgeable about the process so I could be even more useful and proficient on the projects that would come my way.

While making my thesis at ZGI, which was a 15-minute 2D animated movie called “Women’s Best Friend”, I realized how much I enjoyed animating, and applied to Tribeca Flashpoint Academy in Chicago, Illinois.

I was accepted to their VFX/Animation program and ten days after graduating ZGI I started at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy.

This blog is a bit of a sandbox for me to post my recent work from class and from my work outside of class.

I have become extremely proficient in many other activities outside of CG that relate to what I am currently studying, but for the sake of clarity I have chosen not to include that material on this site.

If you are interested in the material that relates more to my work as a filmmaker (editing, directing, acting, producing, writing, etc), that can be found at filmmaking.leslielello.com.

(If the link isn’t working it will! Check back soon!)