Production Memo: Pilot Pre-Production Program (4P) – December 2024

Production Memo: Pilot Pre-Production Program (4P) – December 2024 – Asians in Animation

The end of the year is near, and we’re wrapping up some milestones here at 4P—full steam ahead with plenty of exciting updates to share!

Big headline first: as of December 12th, we locked the Record Draft of our script, coming in at a tight 33 pages!

Casting & Records

Another one of our biggest announcements this month: our voice actors have been cast! Stay tuned to next month's update to meet them!

We’re already feeling the fresh energy their incredible performances brought to the table, both during auditions, callbacks, and at our final table read where some of our newly onboarded voice actors acted as their own characters!

We’ve also got our cast in full swing, diving straight into records, knocking out 18 sessions in just two weeks, directed by Voice Director, Topher Ngo. Our mighty editors have been working to help pull selects and edit audio down to prep for our radioplay build next year!

Our Final Table Read!

Visual Development Wrapped!

Our design team is putting the final touches on their first phase work, and we’re officially wrapping up Visual Development! To give you a behind-the-scenes look at the effort, here’s a breakdown of the hard work that went into this phase:

• 15 rounds of reviews
• 90 assets
• 501 submissions/versions in this phase
  

And just like that, we’ve reached the end of Vis Dev and are ready to dive into Pre-Design! The canvas is primed, the ideas are flowing, and we can’t wait to jump into the exciting challenges ahead! Bring on the next chapter!

CH Design by Flo Young

CH Design by Kelly Chen

CH Design by Claire Chong

CH Design by Seline Abanto

CH Design by Riana Seminio

BG Design by Ben Arnold

BG Design by Robin Wong

BG Design by Clair Huang

Storyboards

Now, let’s talk about the Story Team! This month, we welcomed a new group of storyboard artists and trainees, making our team a solid 12 strong. Under the lead of our talented Director Hye Lynn Park, the team kicked things off with some casual character sketches to warm up. Now, they're dividing and conquering 20 beatboards, each representing a key story moment from the script. 

We’ll also be bringing on revisionists in the new year!

See below how we’ve been gradually bringing our narrative to life!

Beat Board by Rebe Chen

Beat Board by Xena Seo

Beat Board by Hye Lynn Park

Beat Board by Riana Seminio

More

We’ve also been diving into Music, developing character motifs, brainstorming opening theme ideas, and discussing how to weave early music explorations into the current storyboarding process. 

Behind the scenes, our Production Team has been the glue holding it all together—keeping meetings on track, assets organized, and conversations flowing smoothly. They’re the engine powering our progress, and it’s no easy job making sure nothing slips through the cracks! 
Finally, the cherry on top: we’ve been having an expanding Observation Deck, offering more aspiring animation folks a front-row seat to learn the ins and outs of studio-standard pre-production. Here at AIA, we’re committed to nurturing the next wave of industry talent—one step, one opportunity at a time.

Crew Update & Holiday Cheer!

This month, we’ve welcomed new crew members across color styling, editing, assistant editing, and IT support. That brings our total crew & cast size to 78! Alongside the hard work (1500+ total hours this month!), we've been enjoying some casual hangouts where we share personal updates and geek out over the shows that inspire us, games we’ve been playing, and more!

As the year draws to a close, the team is taking a well-deserved break starting late December to recharge and enjoy the holiday season. We want to end 2024 by sending out a big thank you to everyone for their commitment and dedication, and we’re looking forward to regrouping in the new year with fresh energy and new goals!

Our story continues… See you in 2025!