Kirsten Lepore is an award-winning LA-based director, animator, and alumna of the California Institute of the Arts. A leader in the stop-motion/animation space, Kirsten is highly respected in her craft and has given industry talks everywhere from Pixar to Portugal. Named one of the 50 Most Creative People by Creativity, her work has been displayed in theaters, online, on TV, in museums, and at 100+ international film festivals.
She was the Animation Director on the A24 feature, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe, and Critics’ Choice Award. The film won three Annie Awards, as well as a National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Animated Picture, among others. She wrote and directed the Marvel Studios I Am Groot series, which won an Emmy in 2023 for Outstanding Short Form Program, and is currently streaming on Disney+.
Before this, Kirsten wrote and directed an Emmy and Annie Award-winning stop-motion episode for Cartoon Network’s hit show, Adventure Time. Previously, Kirsten’s viral short Hi Stranger garnered upwards of 200 million views online, even inspiring Stephen Colbert to create a Donald Trump-centric parody on The Late Show.
In 2017, she co-directed the documentary short 100 Years with Lena Dunham. Giving an animated history of Planned Parenthood, the film features an all-star cast, including America Ferrera, Mindy Kaling, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, and Constance Wu. The following year, she acted as the writer and storyboard artist for the episode, “It’s My Party,” on season one of Cartoon Network’s series Summer Camp Island.
In addition to Film and TV, Kirsten continues to focus on her commercial work. Past clients include Google, Apple, MTV, Facebook, Belvedere, Oat Yeah!, Nestle, Mini Cooper, Whole Foods, Toyota, and more.
