.png)
Animated Series Development & Pitch
Perfect Combo LLC, Silverlake CA (2018–2020)
Project Overview
During my time as Artist/Designer at Perfect Combo LLC from 2018-2020, I had the opportunity to work on developing a unique animated series pitch called "Keepout City". This ambitious project explored themes of youth autonomy, societal structures, and the challenges of creating utopia through the lens of an animated adventure series.
Keepout City was conceived as a cartoon about children who successfully overthrow the adult-controlled world, taking over a futuristic dystopia and banishing all adults to live in the wilderness. However, as the kids struggle to maintain their wild new utopia, they discover that creating and sustaining a perfect society is far more complex than they initially imagined.
.png)
Concept & Themes
The Central Premise: In a not-so-distant future, children have successfully executed the ultimate rebellion—overthrowing adult authority entirely and claiming dominion over their urban environment. The adults, now exiled to the wilderness, must adapt to a life stripped of their technological comforts and urban conveniences.
The Challenge: While the children have achieved their dream of a world without adult rules and restrictions, they quickly discover that running a society involves countless complex decisions, resource management, and the very governance structures they sought to escape.
.png)
.png)
.png)
Core Themes: The show examined questions of power, responsibility, generational conflict, environmental sustainability, and the cyclical nature of social structures. It asked whether true freedom is possible, and what happens when those who rebel against authority must become authorities themselves.
Development Team
Visual Development Gallery
Below is a selection of concept art, character designs, and environmental illustrations created for the Keepout City pitch. These visual elements were designed to capture the unique aesthetic of a world where children have taken control of a futuristic cityscape.
.png)
.png)
My Role & Contributions
As Artist/Designer on the Keepout City project, I was responsible for translating the ambitious narrative concepts into compelling visual elements for the series pitch. This involved creating concept art, character designs, environment illustrations, and visual development materials that would bring the dystopian-turned-utopian world to life.
My work focused on developing the visual language of both the futuristic urban environment under child rule and the wilderness camps where the exiled adults struggled to survive. This required balancing the playful, imaginative aesthetics associated with children's perspectives while maintaining the sophisticated themes and darker undertones of the societal commentary.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Beyond visual development, I contributed to the conceptual development of the world-building elements, helping to envision how a child-run society might reorganize urban spaces, technology, and social structures. This interdisciplinary approach combined my artistic skills with speculative design thinking about alternative social organizations.
.jpg)
"The visual development process involved extensive exploration of how familiar urban environments might be transformed by a child's perspective on functionality, aesthetics, and social organization."
Industry Context & Learning Experience
Working on Keepout City provided invaluable insight into the animated series development process, from initial concept to pitch preparation. The project taught me about the collaborative nature of entertainment industry creative development, where artists, writers, and producers work together to refine and communicate complex narrative concepts to potential networks and streaming platforms.
The experience also deepened my understanding of how animation can serve as a vehicle for sophisticated social commentary, using the accessibility of the cartoon medium to explore challenging themes about power, governance, and generational conflict. This project helped shape my approach to creating art that entertains while provoking thoughtful consideration of contemporary social issues.
Though the series was ultimately not picked up for production, the development process was instrumental in developing my skills in collaborative creative work, pitch presentation materials, and translating abstract concepts into concrete visual narratives suitable for the entertainment industry.