TV show Creator Lauren Faust is an Animation Super Hero
In the animation world, it’s all about showcasing your unique skills. Or so says Lauren Faust, 45, a writer, animator, and producer who works at Warner Brothers and is the creator and executive producer of Cartoon Network’s DC Super Hero Girls.
This series, which is all about girl power, is just the latest in a notable career that took off when Lauren created and executive-produced My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, an animated TV series that aired on Discovery Family for almost a decade.
No matter the project, Lauren’s goals remain the same.
“The main driver in my work is to make art for girls that isn’t just empowering but is good content, too. I feel like there’s a default assumption in the world that if something is for girls that it’s dumb, that it isn’t worthwhile. I’m dedicated to shaking up that assumption,” she says.
Lauren grew up near Annapolis, Maryland, and was active in Girl Scouts as a child. It’s Girl Scouts, in fact, that Lauren credits with providing her the opportunity to experiment with her creative side through arts and crafts—creativity that ultimately fueled her career.
“As a shy kid who didn’t have a lot of friends, having the outlet of art was a way for me to get noticed and to feel I was special, when in other cases maybe I didn’t feel so special,” she remembers. “Being encouraged in a specific talent and getting acknowledged for it was very good for me.”
These days, Lauren says she has the job of her dreams.
“I love getting to work with talented, dedicated people,” she says. “It’s so wonderful dreaming up new ideas, worlds, characters, and stories.”
She’s clearly having a lot of fun in the process.
“My favorite day [of the week] is when I’m in the story room working with writers and talking about ‘what story can we tell today,’” she notes. “We laugh and share our personal experiences and someone can say ‘I feel like this character might feel this way,’ because it happened to that person once.”
Seeing the end result of those early meetings is equally gratifying.
“The story room is the first part of the process, and over the course of a few months the story starts to develop and turn into something new,” she says. “Then you hear the actors saying the words, the animation comes back from the studio, the music is added, and then you have that beautiful story coming together. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
When it comes to being successful in a creative field, Lauren thinks it’s important to let your personality shine in order to stand out. Whenever you’re engaging with colleagues or a potential boss, she believes you should be enthusiastic about conveying your passions.
“Share the material that makes you happy,” she says. “Chat with people in a friendly manner. Be respectful, but don’t be boring!”
