Discover the Vibrant World of Emily the Artist
I’m a 2D and 3D animator and a 2026 Pratt Institute graduate — I entered on a Presidential Merit Scholarship and graduated with the Pratt Circle award for top academic honors. I work across the full pipeline — design, storyboards, modeling, animation, lighting, and comp — with a soft spot for character-driven storytelling and slightly off-kilter worlds.
Most recently I created an original animated segment for Great Ponds: Episode 3, a Circuit Arts of Martha’s Vineyard documentary from Circuit Films, with full creative freedom across design through final render. I’ve also produced background art for an independent short film and four animated shorts of my own, each written, directed, and animated solo.
My toolkit blends studio-pipeline software (Maya, Nuke, Substance Painter, Toon Boom) with artist-favorites (ZBrush, Procreate). The full studio portfolio lives on ArtStation. I’m open to full-time studio roles, freelance commissions, and indie or small-team projects, and willing to relocate.
“One of the most creative and talented students I have ever instructed in more than 20 years of teaching.”
— Stacey A. Kaelin, MFA · Adjunct Professor, Pratt Institute
Four animated shorts, written, directed, and animated solo. Easy Bake Husband won Audience Choice at the Lift-Off Global Network First-Time Filmmaker Sessions, and Well of the Underworld won the All Show Audience Choice Award at Pratt Institute — two audience-voted awards, at two different festivals. All four explore the kind of character-driven, slightly off-kilter worlds I’m drawn to.
2026. Written, directed, and animated by Emily Leeds. My senior thesis film at Pratt Institute. Winner of the All Show Audience Choice Award at Pratt Institute, and an Official Selection for Best Animation there.
2024. Written, directed, and animated by Emily Leeds — the end credits read “A film by Emily Leeds.” Audience Choice Award at the Lift-Off Global Network First-Time Filmmaker Sessions. Official selections: North Edinburgh Film Festival 2025, Lift-Off Global Network Sessions, and Otis College Animation Festival 2024. Now on IMDb.
2024. Written, directed, and animated by Emily Leeds. Official selections: Otis College Animation Festival 2024 and Lift-Off Global Network Sessions.
2023. Written, directed, and animated by Emily Leeds.
The full studio-facing portfolio — character work, environments, demo reels, and process.
Before Pratt, I spent years at the Broward Performing Arts Center’s theater program — and many of those years overlapped with reduced-sensory performances designed for kids on the autism spectrum. Around the same time, I taught at Young at Art Museum’s Sensory Sundays, where the focus was the same audience on the visual side.
Working with neurodivergent kids on both sides of the curtain shaped how I think about pacing, color, sound, and what “too much” feels like — instincts I bring to every shot now.
