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  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Animation

Sean Buckelew

Sean Buckelew is an award winning animator who received an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in Experimental Animation and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His professional work includes directing a sequence for the Zac Efron film We Are Your Friends and working as a storyboard artist and animator on the Davis Guggenheim documentary He Named Me Malala. He is also a member of the online collective Late Night Work Club, and has worked with clients including MTV, Arctic Monkeys, VH1, Adult Swim and on Chris Sullivan’s award-winning feature Consuming Spirits, in addition to screening his own work at the Slamdance Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and others. He lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Hopkins & Delaney LLP
(personal project)
An important client visits the law offices of Hopkins & Delaney LLP to discuss his copyright infringement suit. This short animation explores the day to day goings on of a fictional law office handling a copyright infringement case, from inane chatter to texting on the toilet. It attempts to take an objective look at the ubiquity of technology in modern life, and its impact on social culture. It was created during my first year in the MFA program in Experimental Animation at CalArts.

He Named Me Malala
(client: Fox Searchlight Pictures)
After the Taliban tries to kill her for speaking out on behalf of girls’ education, Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai emerges as a leading advocate for children’s rights and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. I was an animator, storyboard artist and compositor tasked with developing 11 unique animated sequences for the film, totaling more than 25 minutes of original animation.

We Are Your Friends
(client: Warner Brothers)
Young Cole Carter (Zac Efron) dreams of hitting the big time as a Hollywood disc jockey, spending his days and nights hanging with buddies and working on the one track that will set the world on fire. I co-directed and designed the animation for a scene in which Cole accidentally takes PCP at an art opening.