We recently connected with Laquan Copeland and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Laquan, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Work ethic is something that I take very seriously! I know that my work ethic stemmed from watching my parents commitment to their jobs and laying a foundation of what true work ethic looks like. As I grew, I think the desire to be great was something I always cared about and I wanted to work towards the qualities of what I felt my definition of greatness was in any way that I could.
I’m a perfectionist, so there are definitely times where that can be a great thing and also be detrimental to my work ethic. This is only due to the fact that I want things a certain way and a lot of times if my visions do not pan out in the way I see it, I scrap it. What I’m learning though, is to continue to be a student of my craft and passion, but also surrender to that of imperfection so that I can continue to grow as an artist.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
As a film director and director in animation, I’ve gotten the chance to work for studios and companies like Warner Brothers, Bleacher Report and more. The key to my work as a director is creating stories that showcase representation and inclusivity and give a spotlight to marginalized stories within our community. This is how Soturi, which is widely known as allblackanime was born.
Creating Soturi/allblackanime was a three year process, but has always been a vision of mine since I was a child. I would watch shows like Naruto, DBZ, Bleach and it would spark curiosity in me to see what it would be like to see a show like that with people who like me and my culture specifically. That’s when I began to develop the allblackanime brand as a whole.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three important aspects that are impactful to my journey are consistency, work-ethic and always being a student of your craft. I feel that you should always look for growth in everything you do, but especially in your craft which is why I feel you should always be a student of your craft. Work ethic is essential, but having a top tier work-ethic is key in having a successful journey in your career. I believe that your work-ethic is what separates you from the rest and that this is a key skill to hone and develop in itself. Lastly, consistency. Consistency in anything you do is important, but being consistent with quality is what I feel sets you up for success. This alone will make or break a journey. In knowing this, I’ve made it a point in my career to be consistent in my work because of the success I want to acquire.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
It super essential to develop your strongest attributes and invest in areas where you are weak so that you can be well rounded in all aspects of your craft. For me, I’m not the strongest animator, or illustrator, but I am the strongest in my vision. I know how to conceptualize characters and create designs to send to illustrators to create. I’m strong at directing and visually telling animators what my vision is to create successful story.
I think understand your strengths, but most importantly, understanding your weaknesses is super important in your growth as an artist and as a visionary and I urge everyone to do that self-assessment on themselves so that they can unlock their fullest potential in accomplishing their goals.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.soturianime.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allblackanime
Image Credits
Illustrations by: @luisdiegoart Concept Designs by: Laquan Copeland
