
Back in 2013, while finishing my MFA in Visual Development at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, I was living in New York City—commuting from Brooklyn to 34th St. Penn Station, working full-time as a web designer, and building characters by moonlight.
I completely transitioned to an online student in the fall of 2011 at the Academy of Art University and left San Francisco in October of that year to move to New York. I was lucky that I had friends who helped me find a place and help me transition to living there.
I was searching for Design jobs in San Francisco for 6 months and interviewing before that but had no luck. I decided I didn’t want to waste any more time in a city that I felt so stagnant in. I landed in New York, by December of that year I had a job offer to start in January of 2012.
It was there, in the pulse of the city, that Northstar Warrior was born.
This project began as my final thesis project, originally titled The Northstar. It wasn’t just a grad school assignment—it was a story that came from the deepest parts of my creativity and spiritual identity. Inspired by Native American spirituality, origin myths, and stories like Snow White, Tangled, and Stardust, I imagined a world where destiny, light, and love intersected.
The Story at the Heart of It All
The story follows Sacha, a young woman who grows up unaware of her true legacy. She’s a thief with a kind heart, living in a dying forest near the last great city of Etu. Her world is one of scarcity and survival—until she stumbles upon a secret vault and unlocks a power long forgotten: the light of the Northstar.
Sacha learns she’s the illegitimate child of the last Chief and is destined by prophecy to become the next Chieftess. Her journey is one of awakening—of learning who she really is, and what she’s capable of. To save the city from the corrupt rule of Chieftess Dakota and rescue her true love Elias, Sacha must embrace her calling and defeat the darkness threatening their world.
It’s a coming-of-age story wrapped in the magic of alternate futures and ancestral power.


Building the World: From Sketch to Screen
The final thesis included everything: early character explorations, full turnarounds, expression sheets, prop designs, background paintings, color scripts, and storybeats. It was a collection of drawings and digital painting that I worked on for two years—and a love letter to storytelling through visual development.
After graduating, I couldn’t let it go. I renamed it Northstar Warrior and tried to bring it to life as an animated short in 2015. I gathered a team of over 20 artists and launched an Indiegogo campaign. It didn’t reach its goal—but the lessons I gained from that attempt were worth more than funding.
See more of the artwork from this project here.


Voice Talent & Evolution of the Storyboard
As part of bringing Northstar Warrior to life, I was incredibly lucky to have creative friends who were inspired by the story and wanted to be part of it. Hillary Dusome voiced Sacha, Syderek Watson brought Mist to life, and Eliah Mountjoy voiced Elias. In 2015, we recorded voiceover sessions together in Los Angeles, which I used to create the first version of the animatic. At the time, the support and enthusiasm from my friends gave the project a special kind of energy—it felt like a true collaboration born out of shared passion for storytelling. As the years passed, the storyboards and narrative evolved significantly, eventually leading me to revise and change the animatic. Even though the story has transformed, those early recordings and creative moments remain a cherished part of Northstar Warrior‘s journey.
Thank you Hillary, Syderek, and Eliah for lending your voice talents. And to my cousin Pam Geniza who composed music and our talented audio engineer Joe Guzman for helping us with our recordings. I am so grateful for all of your talents 🥹❤️
What I Learned from “Failure”
The campaign wasn’t “successful” in traditional terms. But I walked away with a better understanding of creative leadership, collaboration, and the power of story. More importantly, I built something meaningful. The world of Northstar Warrior touched people. It was even featured in a blog post (Your Design Juice) about how storytelling can shape culture and empower young creators.
And personally? That story healed something in me. It gave me direction when I wasn’t sure what came next.
Is the Story Over? Not Yet.
To this day, I still think about Sacha. About the city of Etu. About Elias. And what might come next. Maybe one day it will return as a graphic novel, a book series, or a fully animated piece. Or maybe its purpose was to help me become who I was meant to be.
If you’ve ever poured your soul into a project that didn’t “make it”—please know: the work wasn’t wasted. You were transformed by it. You grew. You’re still carrying that spark.
🔥 A New Fire: The Forgotten Earth
While Northstar Warrior began as a spiritual, animated fable, the inspiration behind it never left me. In fact, it lit the fire for something deeper, darker, and more mature: my newest creative journey, The Forgotten Earth.
This new project reimagines the same characters in a radically different world—one marked by collapse, memory, and resilience. Still centered around Sacha and Elias, the story has evolved into a graphic novel series set in a post-dystopian future, where ancestral wisdom meets forgotten technology.
The Forgotten Earth builds on the emotional and spiritual foundations of Northstar Warrior, but takes them further—into the shadows of forgotten history, the complexity of identity, and the fight to reclaim truth. It’s not just a continuation. It’s a transformation.
More on the storyboards and voice overs in a next post!