Elizabeth Ito - Creator of "City of Ghosts" on Netflix | AW09

Have you ever wanted to know what it feels like to talk with ghosts about the past? Just imagine all the stories they have to tell, right? Well, have you heard of the Netflix series called City of Ghosts? It is an animated mockumentary series. It is about kids who discover stories about Los Angeles by talking to the ghosts of the city. Doesn’t that sound amazing?

Well, my guest for this week is none other than the creator of the Netflix hit, City of Ghosts, Elizabeth Ito! Elizabeth and I chat about everything you want to know. From her childhood experiences to how she got the idea to create City of Ghosts. Elizabeth is just a ball of positive energy and an inspiration to so many. I say this for a lot of my episodes, but this is one you definitely want to hear!

Show Notes:

[3:20] How she got into animation in the first place.

[12:22] How she came up with the concept for City of Ghosts.

[17:42] How racism and bullying impacted her life. 

[23:05] About the Cartoon Network short, Welcome to my Life.

[31:22] What her favorite job in animation was.

[52:49] Q&A with Elizabeth during the live IgTV.

Follow along with Alicyn's Wonderland on:

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TikTok: @alicynpackard

YouTube: Alicyn Packard

Twitter: @Alicyn 

Transcript :

Intro Welcome to Alicyn's Wonderland. I'm your host, Alicyn Packard. Join us as we journey through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole into the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Hey, do a girl a favor, and please subscribe to this podcast and go on iTunes and leave us a good review. If you like the show, please help spread the word. It really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much. Alicyn You guys, today's guest, I am so excited. Elizabeth Ito, the creator of the animated series City of Ghosts for Netflix. I first found this show through my son, and I've just been blown away with it. It has such a unique vibe, kind of like a docu series. Just, it's different episodes, each episode focuses on different ghosts throughout the city of Los Angeles. And it's just such a beautiful show. So I'm so excited to welcome Elizabeth. You guys put hand together, let's hear it for Elizabeth Ito. Hi. Elizabeth Hi, Alicyn. Alicyn You look so beautiful. How are you? Elizabeth Thank you. I'm good. Alicyn You even have like the artistically displayed, you know, beautifully balanced, broken into thirds backdrop. Elizabeth Thanks. I've been working on it, I've had a little while to manipulate my background since we've all gotten, you sort of gotten used to doing all this from home. But I really like your, all the stuff in your background too. Alicyn You know, I do probably need to like, you know give it another, like the giant butt, I was just like, it's a little awkward. Elizabeth It's not, that's like an NHK character, right? Or? Alicyn It's, um, Yokai Watch. Elizabeth Okay, yeah, yeah. I saw it. Yeah, I definitely saw it. And I love seeing it back there too. Alicyn Yeah, I did the voice of this giant butt. Elizabeth That's amazing. Alicyn You know typecasting, we're typecast as, and apparently like that. Elizabeth That's amazing. I'm so impressed. Alicyn Awe. Thanks. So yeah, it's funny, it's, I first came, I saw, I heard about City of Ghosts, because it was came up in my son's Netflix queue. And at first I was like, oh, ghosts. He's five, you know, so I wanted to make sure it wasn't too scary. And then we watched it. And we fell in love with it. I reached out to you right away. And then I realized, fortunately, we had a friend connect us because obviously I can't take your messages from everybody. But I was so curious about just the whole process that you went through as an artist, and how you got a show like city of ghosts, which just has such an original, unique feel, how you got that to air. So I was hoping we could chat about that today. Elizabeth Yeah, of course, I'd love to talk about it. Yeah, it's an unusual journey. So I'm looking forward to telling you all about it. Alicyn So you've, I mean, you've been working in animation for a long time, you went to Cal Arts and you've worked as a storyboard supervisor, storyboard artist, a writer, can you tell us a little bit about how you got into animation in the first place? Elizabeth Yeah, um, I mean, if we go way back, when I was a kid, I just I loved children's books, cuz it was sort of like, I love to draw. And I think like, I didn't differentiate, like the person who wrote the book, didn't draw the pictures. So I just figured, like, that's what I want to do. I want to make children's books. I'm kind of in between, you know, being little and into drawing, and growing up and wanting to do animation. I think like, you know, there was periods in between where I was like, can you do, can you be an artist as a job? Like, I don't really know any artists and from everything that I see on like TV, or like characters who are artists are always struggling? Like they're living in a cool place, but they're also struggling for some reason. Alicyn Totally. The lights are getting turned off. Elizabeth Yeah, totally. So like, I kind of had to figure out like, what art do I want to do? You can't just sort of like roll into making children's books. I mean, I didn't know that when I was little. And then like, as I grew up, I just when I, when I got to high school, in my 11th grade year, like the summer of that year, I went to this high school program, where I learned animation and it was the state funded program called CSSSA. Alicyn What state did you grow up in? Elizabeth California. Alicyn Oh, yeah. Elizabeth Yeah, so it was almost like this thing where I just felt like like, this light went off that Just like this, this was my art form. Like I didn't know it before then because I think before then, honestly, it just seemed like, really tedious. What I knew of animation was that people just drew, to me, like at the time, like the same drawing over and over again. And I was like, Oh, that's too much. Yeah, so this summer program, I feel like they really showed me what animation was. And then I also found sort of, like kindred spirits. And in other kids, like, I didn't go to an arts high school. So I didn't really have like a situation where I was like, surrounded by other artists ever before. And so I think this particular experience was just really life changing. It was just kind of like, oh, like, this is, this is the art that I want to do. How can I figure out how to do it? So I think from that moment on, I kind of tried to figure out like, how do I get into this? But like, there are some people that know earlier than I knew that, like, you got to work on life drawing, and they knew a lot of the things that you had to do to get into Cal Arts. And I did not, it took, took me a few tries, like it took me maybe like three tries to get into the school. And also it's really expensive. So I also understand that aspect of why some people don't go down that route. Like it's just unreasonable for some people. So, I feel like grateful that I was able to do that in my life. But yeah,. Alicyn Stories like that are always so inspiring, though, because, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of young artists at home that see what you've created and think, oh, the talent and the dedication that must just come easy. So to hear that there were points in your life when it wasn't as easy is incredibly, I think, inspiring. Elizabeth I hope so like, I hope, I don't know, like, yeah, if anything, for people seeing what I've made, and then hearing about what it's like getting there, like, I hope they know, like, there's, there's not many people where it's easy, you know, there, there are definitely going to be points where it's not easy. And like you kind of have to really be dedicated to what you do, like as an artist in order to like to take it there. Take it to where you want to go. Alicyn Yeah. Do you think I was reading something as I was scrolling today about confidence, and this woman Mel Robbins that I follow on Instagram was saying that confidence is 100%, a skill. And it's the type of thing you have to develop over time. And I find, you know, time and time again, I come up against that and just have to keep chipping away at Okay, what is the different layer I need to peel back so that I can be fully embrace, fully in my art and not have that voice in my head saying, I'm not good enough or I'm not worthy. Elizabeth Yeah. I mean, as you're saying it like to be totally honest. Like, I think I was just thinking about it today. Like it's almost like, I mean, I'm not, I guess I'm not surprised. It's like, it's like this quality to introverts that I've read about where it's like, if you're really excited about something, you'll talk about it endlessly. And like you can just sort of get like really talkative when it comes to things that you're really interested in. And I feel that same way about like, what I do, like animation, and art and all of those things. But if you were to, like, when I talk about it as if it's like confidence, like something that I've learned, I feel like it's more like I've learned not be as afraid about, like, being embarrassed or about, like, making, yeah, like publicly making a mistake. Like obviously, like, I'm still worried about that a lot of the time, like really worried about being embarrassed or doing the wrong thing or like doing something the wrong way. But I think like just like I constantly have to remind myself that like other people have made mistakes, and they're fine, and they grow and they learn from it. And it's not that bad to do that. Like it's not that big of a risk really in your entire life to get to like keep kind of making those mistakes and risking it. Yeah, so like, I just hope that other people feel more inspired to kind of do that like in always like, like, people feel more inspired to take risks on like, making a show a different way. Like somebody might eventually say no, but at least you really tried. Alicyn And yeah, literally being able to be bold with your mistakes. I think the older you get it does it, well, in some ways, it gets easier, and in some ways it gets harder. Because when you're young, you're like, Oh, you don't realize that you can make mistakes, you just think you're gonna not make them. And then you get older you're, it becomes part of, I think what helps me appreciate others in their work is seeing the process and seeing the flaws behind the perfection because anything can be photoshopped, but seeing the process is what is most uplifting I think. Elizabeth I'm sorry, if I just got disconnected from it. I just, I this is my first time using Instagram Live. And I tried to clear a phone notification and it almost called somebody, so I'm sorry. Alicyn Yeah, this happened to me. It did look like it, like your lights went off for a second. Elizabeth Oh, sorry. Alicyn It's okay. So I was curious, you mentioned that comment about introverts? Do you consider yourself an introvert? Elizabeth Yeah, it's been a little bit of a learning process. Because when I first sort of, like, started learning about what being an introvert was like, I remember one of the things was like, I told my mom, like, I think I'm an introvert. And she was like, kind of just like, No, no, you're not. And I think like, it's been a learning process, and that like, kind of like everything, and it exists on a spectrum. And I know, like, there's part of me, that's definitely introverted. But like, I'm in this like profession and this industry where, like it, it's not, it's not introverted, like you're performing, you're creating things that are media that people are watching. So it's very much like you're, you're getting a lot of attention. It's not always like directly at you like I'm not an actress, so I don't necessarily like perform in front of people. But like, it's still, it still feels that way, whenever you show your work. So I think it was sort of having to realize like that thing of, like, Oh, I'm, I'm this way, because there is part of me that's extroverted, like, there's part of me that likes performing. But I also have to, like, balance that out with like, time alone, or just sort of like knowing that I have to be away from people to recharge a bit. Alicyn Yeah. I understand that. So I'm curious, how did you come up with the concept for City of Ghosts? Elizabeth I saw a ghost when I was little. And part of it is like, see, living in LA for my whole life and kind of just like a lot of big cities, it's going through a lot of gentrification in different areas of the city. And I think like, for me, I was trying to figure out like, how do I, how do I make something that helps that helps, like show what gentrification is erasing basically, you know, like, and then also, like, having kids and feeling like I really wanted more shows to watch with my kids, like "with" my kids, not kind of like where I you know, put them down in front of it and they learned something from it through voices that I like, I don't always really enjoy like for like a lot of the preschool shows, some of them can be a little louder. And like, also just for my son, when he was really little, he's a little bit better about it now, but it's still a case like he's really sensitive to really heightened drama. So I think like trying to create something that was like better for a kid like that, where they wouldn't get scared, I wouldn't have to deal with like, like part of it was like having to convince him to make it to the end of the movie because in the middle of the movie, he would get really like scared and he wouldn't want to continue because he felt like he was just going to continue having scared, bad feelings. So I wanted more stuff. But that where he didn't have to wait for like a whole 'nother half hour to have stuff resolve and to have that that feel good moment. Yeah, so I think it was a combination of all all of those things together. Alicyn I love that. Yeah. I mean, I'm also a mom. And I think it, being a mom, both of us in animation, there's this whole new awareness you get of your audience when you're actually with your audience and they're you know, you see, you know what they react to and like, how you have a six year old? Elizabeth Yeah, so my son just turned seven and my daughter is four so she's gonna be five this year. But yeah, they're pretty, they're still pretty little but Newton is definitely getting older now. So like, it's it's strange. It's strange how, like, fast it seems, they start to grow. Alicyn I always feel like, it feels like the book Flowers to Algernon where, you know, you know, you have just this limited time with them where like, they think you're wonderful and amazing. And like it's five years, they're gonna be like, but yeah, do you feel in any other ways that that's shifted your work or your ambitions? Elizabeth Yeah, I mean, it completely. Part of it is like, I mean, I guess I already believed this. But having kids even more so reinforces it, like, first, I think kids are really, really perceptive, in general, like, they'll notice things whether you want them to or not sometimes. Alicyn Especially when you don't want them to notice. Elizabeth Yeah, and they'll figure things out really fast, like, anything, you know, like, how to unlock a phone, like how to, I don't know, to like, turn to their favorite channel, how to find something like in the fridge. Stuff like, maybe not that because the fridge is a little hard to open. But like in general. Just like also enjoying the like, the comedy that kids bring to my life, especially my kids, like they'll say strange things sometimes. And I think that's given me more of this resolve to like, make sure that dialogue that kids say in whatever I make feels to that. Alicyn It's always funny too when like, the kids start repeating that the dialogue like there's there's a certain, I've been keeping a list of like phrases where it's like, Whoa, like, suddenly they'll be like, Oh, yeah, it was like, "whoa." Or like, "we got this" like, that's a big one. He says that a lot, because he hears it in his cartoons. Yeah, kids are just so cool. They're so fun. Elizabeth Do you feel like they changed your work? Alicyn Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, it's much easier to tell when you're on a roll, or you've come with a good character when you have like a built in laugh machine right there. You know, and like, the other day, I was saying something is like, Mama, you sound like a teenager. I was like, really? Okay, take out my voice memo. I'm like, here's the new teenage voice. But now, I know I have read on your blog, which is amazing, by the way, if you guys are not, if you haven't checked out Elizabeth blog, Hashtag Life. You talked a lot about when you were a kid and experiencing some racist bullying in school and and I was curious how that kind of may have impacted your life? Elizabeth Part of it was like, really, what do you call it? Like, small things that I think when I was really little people didn't really talk about it like racism, you know, like, it was sort of like, you would bring something weird for lunch. Like, I mean, not weird to me, just weird to some other kid. Like, I remember I bought I brought like, a rice ball to school. And this isn't even really a dig. But somebody was like, What are you eating, a snowball? Something like that. But like when you're a kid, for whatever reason, like anything, something like tiny that some other kid says you feel really, like, insulted or just sort of like, you just don't want to stand out in that way ever. So I think like I I learned like when you know, when somebody asks you in a class, we'll have mostly kids that don't really look like you like, what's your favorite food? Like I wouldn't really say like the this specific Japanese dish that I like, like I really liked soba noodles. When I was little, I still like them now. But like, when I was like, you know, in first grade or kindergarten, it would be hard to say like, Oh, I like soba. It's like, what's that? How much explaining do you have to do and like, you don't really want to talk that much. So like I think I you know, sometimes just revert to like pizza because every kid knew what that was. And I also liked pizza, okay. And then just like the junior high and high school, it was, you know, stuff like somebody saying, hey, Chinese girl or you know, like, whatever version of that and you kind of having to decide like, do I, do I correct them? Do I say something back? Or do I just kind of like avoid it and eat it and then like, wait until I get home and and complain about it or stuff like that. And I think most of the time just sort of like for personal safety you sort of just decide like, I'm just gonna leave that, there were times where I said something back and then I got like some girl grabbed my hair, like junior high. And I think I decided like, I don't think I'm gonna do that again, even though, like it felt kind of worth it to say something back. I don't really want to get punched in the face. So, not gonna do that again. Alicyn Wow, yeah. Nobody wants to feel othered or left out of their peer group, I think, you know, no matter for whatever reason that is whether you know, you look different or whether you act different. And we all do at some point or another, that's for sure. Do you feel that art was a way or like a safe haven for you at during those times? Elizabeth Yeah, I think just all the time. Since I was like that, I feel like that's almost like the reason why I started drawing was to just deal with emotions. Like, if I felt happy, if I felt sad, if I felt shy, I mean, sometimes it was just for fun. Like, I would draw a lot of like, mice and houses and things like that. But like, yeah, for the most part, it really just came from like, yeah, expressing my feelings. Because I know, like, later, I figured out like some people drew because they really just wanted to copy something that they'd seen, or they like, you know, characters that they love. They would draw those. I had some of those too. But for the most part, a lot of it just came from like wanting to draw funny things or, yeah, feelings. Alicyn Feelings. Did you, were your parents supportive of your art? Elizabeth Yeah, you know, they were really supportive. I think like, I say a lot in like the story of how I got to where I'm at that, like, when I was trying to decide where to go to college, they didn't want me to go to like art school, right out of high school. But it doesn't mean that like, throughout my life, they weren't like really supportive of like artistic pursuits, or being creative or like music or, you know, like, anything that I wanted to try that was kind of creative. They're both really creative people too. So, like, I definitely feel like it was a little of it was like, we know how important it is to be supportive of this kind of thing. Like, especially my mom, because she was a musician. And she would, like in addition to teaching elementary school, she taught music to kids. Yeah, so I think like, especially her like, just like she, she really knows how to nurture the strength of creativity in children. Like, I got that a lot from her when she was I don't know, just throughout my life even now. Alicyn Thank you, mommy. Yeah, that's so sweet. Is she on the cast now? Elizabeth She might be. I've tried to put her in different stuff. Alicyn Well, speaking of your family, you know, you, you had the Welcome to my life short, which was produced by Cartoon Network, is that right? And it was the second most viewed short in their entire history. So congratulations on that. For anybody that's interested, Welcome to my life can be viewed on YouTube. So definitely go and check it out. And it, also won the Audience Award at the New York International Children's Film Festival. So how cool is that? Now is T-Kesh the actor that plays T-Kesh? Is that actually your real life brother? Elizabeth Yeah, so, um, and he did have like a like, like, it's based off of his middle name Takeshi. So he, yeah, he T-Kesh is a rapper for a while. And he was actually really good. Like I was, I was glad to go see him once. Like it was one of those things where you're nervous, cuz like, it's your, your, your brother. So you're kind of like, well, I'm gonna support him no matter what. But I also hope that he's good. Because like, that'll be weird. And he was good. So yeah, I really love showcasing that. Alicyn And so how did they, what was the genesis of that idea for that project? Um, how did you decide to shoot kind of that docu style? I don't know if you have a term that you use for it or? Elizabeth Yeah, I mean, like, I had, I have been really inspired by Creature Comforts, which is this short by Nick Park where he like interviewed regular people, and then he turned them into zoo animals using like, clay, or yeah, Stop-Motion Clay Animation. And I think like seeing how funny and charming and original that was, like, I kind of always wanted to do stuff like that. And I just generally kind of like improvisational stuff. So I think it was that combined with like my brother had actually written, like, like some writing about himself, I think it was for like a high school English class, he had written about how he felt kind of like me, like, shy and just like, not necessarily like, super into being outgoing and seen but like, for me, there was this realization that like, he's getting a different kind of pressure based off of how people assume that he is for his size, you know, like, he's bigger than me, luckily, like, if he was my size, it'd be probably hard for him for different reasons. But like, just reading about how it was hard for him, because I think, you know, like, and then asking other friends who are kind of like bigger dudes, like, do you run into this, like, where people feel challenged by you, or for whatever reason, they feel threatened by you, and they treat you a certain way. And they were all kind of like, Yeah, definitely. Kind of wanting to just figure out like, how do I share all these things that my brother is talking about that are really funny. They'rem they're really personal and funny, and thinking like, Oh, well, what if I, what if he was like a like, the most awkward thing in high school? What would that be? Oh, if you were like a giant monster, and you couldn't hide that. And then what if I just really interviewed him about it? And then it kind of all came together that way when I was in school, and then I just sort of like, I don't know, I went for a really long time without working on that. And then I just kind of got inspired to pitch that idea again, to Cartoon Network. And kind of like had already. I mean, essentially done all this development, like years ago for it. Promo Hey, guys, this is Alicyn Packard. Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know that if you like the show, please, please, please remember to subscribe to this podcast. And leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much. Alicyn So is it because you were over there? You were working on, was it when you were on Adventure Time? Or was this? Elizabeth Yeah, I had actually come come back. So like the first time that I was on Adventure Time, I was a board artist. And then I left to go to Sony after the first season. And then around the time when they were in their fifth season. Ken kind of called me up to see what I was doing. And just basically wanted to know if I wanted to come back to direct. And I wasn't sure cuz like I didn't, I've never done that before. So mostly, that was why I wasn't sure. Yeah, and then. Alicyn Did you know that that was the direction you wanted to head in? Or was that sort of the first? So he was kind of the one that was like, hey, have you thought about this? Elizabeth Yeah, for sure. Like him and Adam, I think, have both approached me about it. And, and they also were really kind and that they, they explained what the job was before, you know, before I accepted it, because they wanted to be sure that like I was okay with like, one like the way that it's different from being a storyboard artist or a writer. Because it's sort of more like you're trying to help their vision. Make it all the way through until it's getting animated and through till the end, like because sometimes there's like big edits you'll have to make or just adjustments you'll have to make, but it's just different because, like, you're not putting as much of your own personality into the storyboards and I think they just wanted to double check like it's, it's like a lot more managerial and less creative. So, like, I appreciated that they gave me that kind of cushion to understand that like, what the job was before I dive, dived into it, but I was still nervous doing it. So in the beginning so like, don't get me wrong. It's still nerve racking. Alicyn Yeah. For anyone that's just tuning in that might not know what this show is. This show is called Alicyn's Wonderland. It is a weekly animation and video games centric podcast or igtv show that is becoming a podcast as well. And we interviewed different people that work in animation and video games. And today's guest is Elizabeth Ito creator of City of Ghosts for Netflix. Elizabeth Congrats on your show becoming a podcast. That's really cool. Alicyn Thank you. It's, yeah, it's um, we started as a web series in 2009 and then became a podcast and I just didn't realize oh, you have to actually be consistent with things. And that's kind of part of the job. So I rebooted it in September, you know, amidst the pandemic, I just felt really disconnected and wanted to build community again, because I was on social media for a year and a half. And that was pretty good. Really good. I was so much less distracted. But, you know, the, the reality is, I didn't want to just live as a digital hermit. I wanted to, you know, be connecting to people. So, and this is so great, because now I just follow my natural curiosity. And my son turns me on to things to, to see, you know, some of the amazing projects like yours, Ryan Crago, is coming on in a couple weeks. So, the alligator boy, you know, just a lot of friends that are voice actors and stuff. No, so to answer your question, I want to call you 2002. Because I think it's weird if I call you, AlisonFagorFans, he doesn't. It's not the last, it's gonna continue as an IgTV show. And then we're gonna repurpose the audio for the podcast later. So. But yeah, anyway, back to you, Elizabeth. You've had a lot of different types of jobs working in animation. I was wondering, do you have a favorite? Elizabeth I mean, I like a lot of them for different reasons. Storyboarding is actually really fun. It's hard though. It's, it's, it's hard work. Cuz you're drawing, I mean, a lot of the things that I've been working on anyway, you're drawing and writing at the same time. But like, I don't know, I have a really good time making people laugh. Or like, I enjoy making people laugh. So I think like, any way that I'm able to accomplish that is what I like to do. Like, I like to board stuff that lights up a room. Or sometimes it's just like making your friends laugh. Like, that's a lot of what Adventure Time was, like it felt, I always feel like it's challenging a little bit to make Ken laugh because he's got a very specific sense of humor to me. But I also have a similar sense of humor. And I think like, it's it's been the same for directing. Like, if I can help a joke really land or if I can help this, I guess it's not always jokes. Sometimes it's dramatic moments. Sometimes it's like, poignant moments between characters. Alicyn I mean, how many times have I cried watching City of Ghosts? Elizabeth Yeah. That's it. That's been a big one. A lot of people. Yes, yes. Stuff like that, I that's, that's what I like. I like affecting people's feelings. That sounds manipulative to put it that way. Alicyn Isn't that what the art says, really? Now, what about, I mean, are you a member of Women in Animation, that organization? Yeah, me as well. You know, they they're always releasing this statistics about just how underserved the female voices in animation and I was wondering, are you, do you find yourself, do you ever find yourself the only woman in the room or one of just a few? Elizabeth Yeah. There's more now I think people are different studios have been making more of an effort to give, give us shows and, like, staff us in higher level positions. But I think like, it could still be, like, 80% better. I think we've just started, I think like, me personally, like, I feel like there is a lot of stuff that got kind of like, not mixed up but just like, put on hold, because the last year and a half about has been so difficult for everybody. Alicyn With COVID? Elizabeth Yeah, with COVID. And with all of the multiple events that have happened over the course of us being also in pandemic at the same time, but like overlap, where I think like, it's just felt like there's been a lot of scrambling to kind of like figure out a lot of things that needed to be figured out still needs to be figured out. So like, I want to say it's better. I just hope that like, we can kind of like once, once we were starting to come out of pandemic and come out of all this stuff that like we'll be able to reevaluate a little bit and kind of go, like from everything that we've learned and considering the like kind of the pause, I'm considering it a pause just because like for me personally it's felt like, you know, just having to prioritize. What, what am i dealing with this particular moment? Like, what's in my control to do right now? Like even just today, I was like, man, I still feel that sense of like, I'm not, I'm not at like 100% productivity ever anymore. It's like, maximum is maybe like 75%. And that's like the best days and then the rest of it's kind of like I did okay, I made it through today. Let's get through like this week, it's felt a lot like that. So yeah, my hope is just that, like when everybody's reaching a point where we're all resetting a bit like, yeah, doing that in a way where we just keep the momentum of the progress that we had started going. Alicyn In terms of with female voices in animation. Yeah. And for anybody that's interested Women in Animation, has both students and memberships where people working in animation. So even if you're not currently working in animation, you are able to join as a student member, or somebody that's associate members. So definitely check that out. They have lots of great panels and other events. So, yeah. Elizabeth For you, too, though, it's probably been difficult, like as a mom, like, I mean, like, that's been one thing with Women in Animation that I've been pretty vocal from the moment, he came on mom, about like, how do we make it easier for women who, who want that? Or men who want that whoever wants it? How do we make that more possible and easier? And then that was another thing that during, during all this stuff, and having to figure out how are we working and taking care of our kids at the same time? Like, it's just been a lot. Alicyn Yeah, and you know, I think it's taken a while to learn, I was sort of already working from home. So it's a little bit different. But as we learn to adjust to working from home, there's a lot of upside in terms of saving time on your commute. You know, having lunch with your family, but there's also a lot of constant interruptions, especially if you have little kids. You know, just a minute ago, my son was like out here with a hula hoop like, Hey, we're on a string. Yeah. So it's, it's, it's a juggling act, and maybe, you know, maybe the next evolution of this whole thing is us evolving to, I mean, this is just a concept I have, but that for there to be less delineation between genders. I mean, my husband and I really do try to share the workload fairly easily. And we have to, you know, get some support in other ways, too. But as we come together and sort of parent more in community, I think, and, you know, the daily tasks are not necessarily falling in the women. And I think, in a lot of ways, we owe that to our parents generation for raising these awesome husbands that are like, yeah, I'll do the dishes. Elizabeth You're totally right. Like, that's, that's also something I have to give I have a lot of gratefulness for is like my, my husband, Kevin, like, he also worked on City of Ghosts with me, he runs his own studio. And yeah, I don't like, I don't I don't know, like, I just I don't know how any of this would have worked without, like, without having a like, a true partner where we can, you know, sometimes stuff ends up feeling, you feel overloaded, but like having the ability to talk about it and work out a solution. Like that's been, yeah, one of the key things to me being able to do any of this Alicyn Absolutely. And like Christine just mentioned, you know, the struggle between having to give your kids attention but also you know, needing to give your, your work, your art, your creativity, attention. And sometimes the art and the creativity or your work in your art are kind of different. You also need time for creative play, which is you know, a lot of that went out the window in 2020, but it's a new year. It's already May, I can't believe it's already the fifth of may that's that's amazing. Yeah, so I mean, there's so much Wow, okay. I'm like a little bit losing my train of thought because I am very interested in women in animation and how how everybody's dealing and I, you generally do hear that the women that are able to make it all work and fire on all cylinders often have a lot of support, which is not 100% always the case. And there's plenty of single moms killing the game too. But yeah, I mean, it's, it's challenging no matter how you slice it. Elizabeth Yeah, for sure. Alicyn Um, so City of Ghosts had just premiered on Netflix, was it February? March? Elizabeth It was March 5. Alicyn March 5. Okay. April, so. Elizabeth I've lost track of time too. Alicyn Two months. Yeah. And I saw you guys had your Time Square billboard debut. That was pretty cool. Elizabeth Yeah, I was so excited about that. And also, but I've also been so kind of, like, sad to miss out on getting to, like, go see it. Like, I was like, when they told me they were gonna do it. It was, you know, prior to when they do it. They tell you like, here's the plans. And like, I just thought, man, like, I wish I could go out there and see it, but like, you know, for the best of everybody, it's probably better for me to just rely on their instincts. Alicyn It was sick, right? Early, it was like March, right? You know, it's a tough time. What do you, what do your kids think of the show? Elizabeth They love it. I mean, like, I'm, I'm I pretty after they, you know, we're its biggest fans. I was pretty much like that. I nailed it. Like I don't care what happens really. Yeah, they love it. It's been really funny. Like we like we talked about earlier. It was really funny. Like as I was working on it, sometimes I would show them episodes and they would like just continue to repeat lines from the show. That was really funny. They like saying Peter's name a lot because of his his ring tone or this ring tone. It's like another thing where my daughter's lately been saying Hello? Is anybody in there? Like cuz she's copying Zelda in the last episode. And yeah, she's like, I think she really loves Atomic Nancy. Because she, she's told me many times like, Oh, I love Nancy Sekida cuz she can't say her last name yet. Alicyn Yeah. So how did you find the characters? I mean, how did you cast this? Are these, are they real people? Are some actors, and some are real people? Elizabeth Yeah, it's mostly real people. Um, big amount of the credit goes to my documentary producer, Joanne, who her and Katie le Dane, like, just researched the heck out of all of the, like, random ideas that we had talked about, and like people to talk to, and like places to visit. They handled most of like, basically like calling and pre-interviewing people to kind of like, give me a selection of things to listen to and think about. And then eventually, yeah, just kind of like, organically figuring out these stories or as organically as possible, and kind of like me going, I think this voice sounds like an interesting prospect. I think this person sounds really interesting. Maybe if we combine those two, and then it was really just like meeting the people in person, and kind of like developing a little bit of a comfort level before we were actually going to record. Yeah, and I don't know. Yeah, it was it was a really interesting process. I've never, I've never known another animated show to do it this way. Unless it's actually like a real documentary most of the time. So I feel really glad that we were able to, to do it like that. Alicyn Yeah. So would you eventually bring them into a recording studio? Would you bring gear to their location? Oh, so eventually, it was? Elizabeth Well, we tried a few different ways. So like, what's really funny to me is that at the very beginning of all of it, like I had, I think I had asked if it would be possible to do this like, like field recording, like, could we hire a sound guy to physically go with us? Yeah, and set it up. Like if, like if it would make people more comfortable to record where they were at, or like at a place that was comfortable to them. But it was, it was tough to do that, because like for animation, a lot of times they really want the sound as quick, you know, like as clean as possible. So that you know if there's ambient noise, it's added later. They said no to that pretty much but we tried out. Other things like we like I basically said, I don't necessarily think we need like a like a recording booth. It'd be cool, if we could try it in like a screening room. We could try it in a situation where you can set it up. So it's like we're having a real interview. So they don't feel too much like they're recording. Takes, they don't feel like they're recording lines. So we did that for a few of them. Like we had, we got set up, and like, normally they're used for like screening movies or screening like episodes of things in the main Netflix building, we like recorded audio there with like a, with a sound guy. And then there were a number where we went to United Recording, which is like this amazing, like rock and roll recording studio on Sunset that just happened to have an arrangement with Netflix. So like, what was awesome, like, I mean, just to go off on a little bit of a tangent, but like, what was also recording in a way it was, yeah, like, we brought her into this space. And she was looking at like, they have like the typical kind of like photo wall, like photo grid wall, where it's just snapshots of all of the famous rock stars that have recorded there. And she was like, just looking at this like, spread of people. And she was like, Oh, I know that person. Oh, that's my friend. I can't believe that was just really cool to have her, you know, there to see all that. And then just that space is amazing. Like, I think like there's a reason why a lot of people recorded there. You can I mean, similar to what we talked about on the show, like you could just feel the history in that, that building too. And they talked about how it was probably haunted like one of the engineers was telling us one day and so yeah, it was all really exciting. Alicyn Perhaps your season two location? Elizabeth Yeah. Alicyn So I know that May 6, you're going to be on a panel, Owning Your Story by Pop Creators for NYICFF. Did you want to just give them a little plug in? Let us know where we can go check it out tomorrow? Elizabeth Yeah, I mean, I think you can find links to it on both their Instagram, on Instagram and then I think they sent out, there might have something on their website about it. But yeah, it's a it's a panel where we're gonna be talking about owning, owning your stories. And yeah, I think it'll be fun. Like, it's like, it's always been really fun to work with them. They've been so supportive of me and my work. So I hope you'll I hope you'll check out our talk. Alicyn That's awesome. Elizabeth I think, it's at 2pm our time. Alicyn 2pm Pacific? Elizabeth Yeah. Alicyn Yeah, if you want to, I'll try and find it. And I can share it to my stories too, in case anybody wants to check that out. So a little ADD, right? But I'm taking it back. So City of Ghosts is now fully launched. And all the episodes are on. Is this just the time to kind of reflect and take inventory or do you find yourself already trying to jump back into the next thing? Elizabeth Yeah, like I I was trying to take a moment to kind of like I mean, basically just like enjoy other people enjoying it. Which has been really really nice. Like I, I couldn't be happier with people's reaction to it, with, I'm so, I feel so grateful that kids love it, I feel grateful that you know, your son loves it. It's been nice to just talk about it. Alicyn Well, and even just in the comments, best show I've seen on Netflix, can we get more episodes? I agree. Best show I've watched this year. Elizabeth Yeah. And yeah, like, I appreciate everybody who's checked it out. And who's reached out, I haven't had a chance to write back to everybody. I'm not sure I'm going to have that chance cuz it's been really epic. And I've been really bad about getting back to people to emails during during all this stuff. And but like, yeah, I think I've also just always got a lot of ideas on the back burner, and I'm not really sure what will be the next thing that happens as far as like what I do, but it's definitely like, like not to be like a broken record about this, this year and everything that people have gone through, but like, I feel like for me, it's just amplified the thoughts that I've had about, like, how important it is that the stuff that we work on, like, truly matters like and who it matters for and like, especially like if I'm making shows for kids and families, what, like what messages and what energy do I want that to represent, like what do I want people to feel from that work. So just like the last year being so hard on people I would like to, like make more work that makes life easier and better for people as much as I can. Alicyn Yeah, I strongly identify with that as well. You know, you think about the vibration that, you know, each, each bit of TV that they consume, which is so much more than ever before. I mean, thank you global pandemic for, we used to just watch TV on the weekends, there was a time when we just watch TV on the weekends. Elizabeth We didn't used to watch Octonauts like for a couple hours every day. Alicyn Another great show, the preschool show, too. But yeah, you think about what do you most want? I mean, this is the youngest generation, and what legacy do you want to leave? And being able to raise people's awareness while also staying true to kind of the heritage of not just the city, but different cultures that live in the city, and it's very KSRW. Which is, like, I guess, leads me which you're already kind of talked about a little bit to my final question about what do you hope fans get out of your work and your story? And I think that's, you know, what, you're, what you're saying is, how can we make this world a little bit better through, through art? Elizabeth Number one, I hope kids really like it, and they laugh at it, like more than anything. Like, I just hope they, they see themselves appreciated for like, how some adults, like value them just like that, I, that, I and everybody who worked on the show, I think consider kids to be smart and, and I don't know that they have to be the future. They literally are like here in the future so, beyond me. So it's kind of just like wanting to show that wanting to just give them like a like a realistic but but funny historical show. And yeah, I think like, like for me like a broader appreciation of like the spectrum that different people's brains are on not to get super deep about it, but like I feel like like you mentioned ADD, I feel like a real appreciation of like, how much more info we have now on on things like that. Because like when I read a lot about it, I think like man, I feel like I would have benefited from this info when I was a kid. I wish I'd had it. So, like making more content that speaks to you know, neuro diversity and things like that. Alicyn Definitely. I do notice we have a couple questions left in the question box. Are you comfortable taking questions from the audience? Elizabeth Yes, sure. Alicyn Okay, hope you guys did a good job. All right. Elizabeth Should I click on a box on my screen? Alicyn I've got it right here. What were some of your favorite characters from City of Ghosts? I guess it's like asking you to pick your favorite child, but. Elizabeth Oh, yeah. Alicyn Some of your favorites? Elizabeth Every ghost was like, special to me in some way. Like all of the real people I met, I know that's like a really safe answer, but I truly mean it. But like, maybe in a way to kind of like promote them beyond City of Ghosts. Like I hope all of the kids who voice characters get more jobs doing voicing characters because they were good at it. I think like. Alicyn Were they actors? Or were, were they also kids you found in your research? Elizabeth It was, it is tricky in that they're not SAG, so they're not SAG actors which was like sort of the reason why they were able to do our show. But they were not necessarily not interested in acting, so like I think they are actors just maybe not inside. The only caveat is that like if they all get work and they have to join SAG, then I might not be able to use them for like City of Ghosts continuations cuz I don't know if that's still gonna be like how it works. But like, I would just love to hear them and anything and everything. So every single kid who did a voice for my show should get employed at another studio on another TV show, doing many voices. Alicyn Well, I mean, I'm happy to if any of them want, want to chat or we also two weeks ago last week, I can't remember, Juliet Donenfeld was one of the guests. She's 11 years old, and she's just doing amazing jobs. So that episode is really good for any any kids that are interested in getting into voiceover. Elizabeth I watched a large part of it, and it's adorable. Alicyn It was definitely interesting of interviewing somebody that was so young, she's so talented. She's the youngest person to ever be nominated for an Annie Award for voice acting. So she's got an amazing career behind and ahead of her. Let's see. Oh. So Christina asks, the outlook of the Ghost Club members, is goals, right? G-O-A-L-S, goals? Are they modeled after people in real life or imagined ideals? Are they kind of playing themselves? Or? Elizabeth I think they're kind of imagined after, like, kids that I know. Some of them I think, like, like, I saw a comment about Zelda eating string. And I think some things like that are just like details that a lot of the artists that worked on the show kind of added that they felt like we're them as kids. Like, I feel like that particular detail is very like Oko, who's the Director of that episode, where that where that string eating thing starts. But it's stuff like where when she brings that up, like, I would think like, Oh, that's, that's relatable. Like, I feel like I had a friend who was like that when I was a kid, or there was some kid in my third grade class that was like that. So I think, like, part of it's like, stuff that we knew as kids part of it's like, asking kids when they were doing the voices, like I think about Peter when he was doing his beatboxing that was something where like, we just asked him like, can you beatbox and he could do it. So it's like, I feel like there were aspects to like their characters that would come out when we would ask them to do certain things that we didn't always know, that were part of them, but like, became a little bit part of their own characters. Alicyn Wow. Yeah. Well, it's amazing what you find when your creative process is not traditional. Who knows if you came in with a fully scripted idea of what was going to happen in scene A and B, you might never have discovered that. Let's see. Uh, we have one. Let's see. Okay, um, ChrisBattleArt was wondering, you mentioned that there was a City of Ghosts, like, how you'd like to have a City of Ghosts Dodger Stadium episode, any other concepts for episodes or locales that you would like to share? Elizabeth Oh, man, a lot. Like I like, I did have this one, like, random fantasy lately of like, like, if like we did another season, it would be sort of funny if it was like, adjacent to LA but maybe not like, exactly in LA proper. So like, what if we did like a, like a shopping mall? And like, like, cuz I watched this documentary called Jasper Mall. That was that I really enjoyed that was pretty much about just like, kind of like a dying shopping mall. And like, I forget what town I think it was in Jasper. Like, yeah, it was just really interesting to me because it was really like about a normal place that everybody goes and kind of like, the the evolution of it. So in my head, I was like, Is there some kind of like, like, there was a shopping mall that I saw that was like locked up in Palm Springs. I was like, What if we went to Palm Springs and did something about that abandoned shopping mall? Alicyn City of Ghosts Cathedral city? Elizabeth Yeah. Alicyn Wow, well, um, you know, from the bottom of my heart, I wish you absolute, you know, all your dreams come through with this show and any other future projects that you worked on. Did you get to have any screenings or anything like that? Or did COVID kind of prevent? Elizabeth We had a zZom screening and that was really emotional for me ,because my whole crew basically made this video where they were all saying thank you and how much they enjoyed working on the show and like, it was just like a lot to take in. So I like ugly cried on this random zoom call. But like, it was like, you know, processing a lot of other things, too. I think that it happened this year. Yeah, like I really hope once this is, you know, we're out and able to go do things in groups again, that I can have screenings, regardless of whether like there's going to be more City of Ghosts on Netflix, I would love to just do events where we could meet each other and talk about the show like, safely somehow. Alicyn I mean, you had, you had shared in your Instagram, I know a few stories that your feed KCRW like, reception idea? Elizabeth Oh, yeah. Alicyn That should be a thing. I mean a collab there maybe. Elizabeth That's like my, like, yeah, my hipster dream was like yeah, this like kcrw w event somewhere. Alicyn But now it's gonna be like novena and like. Elizabeth Yeah, somebody else like, just retired from, like, Morning Becomes Eclectic. And I was like, there is another DJ that I can't. Alicyn Was it M, like yeah. Elizabeth I think it was like, I'm forgetting but I'm sure somebody is gonna remind me. Alicyn Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Elizabeth, for your time. It's been so lovely chatting with you. I feel like we could do like six more of these because it's so interesting. And your process is so beautiful. So thank you for your time. Elizabeth Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me on. Alicyn Oh, you're welcome. Before you go, can you do you mind just saying saying your name and saying check out Alicyn's Wonderland or something like that this, is Elizabeth? Because then I'm going to cut 'em off into little pieces. Elizabeth Oh yeah, sure. This is Elizabeth Ito and make sure to check out Alicyn's Wonderland. Alicyn Thank you. Cool. Well, I'll go ahead and share this with anybody the replay will be available. And thank you guys so much for tuning in live. Elizabeth, thank you for your time. And everybody have a great Wednesday. Bye. Outro Thanks for tuning in to Alicyn's Wonderland, where we explore the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Please remember to subscribe and leave us a review. For more episodes of Alison's Wonderland. Please visit us at www.AlicynPackard.com. See you next week.