Animating Queer Futures

Joanne Lockwood is joined by AJ Hannah, founder and creative director of FWDIO Studios, to talk about what it takes to build an indie animation studio committed to unapologetically queer, more representative storytelling. AJ shares why “a gayer and more colourful Disney” isn’t just a tagline, but a response to mainstream decisions that dilute or censor LGBTQ+ narratives and limit who gets to lead creative work.

They explore how authenticity is created not only through characters on screen, but through who writes, storyboards, directs, and voices them. AJ describes casting choices that match lived experience, the value of collaboration and cultural consultation, and the responsibility that comes with representing communities well.

The conversation also gets practical: the realities of funding animation through sponsorships and Kickstarter, paying artists fairly in an industry where unpaid work is common, and building a sustainable model without giving up creative control. Alongside the business and craft, AJ reflects on identity, safety, resilience, and the determination to keep making work in the face of political backlash and anti-DEI sentiment.

One-sentence summary

AJ Hannah is building the stories she once struggled to find — unapologetically queer, fully human, and paid for properly — because she refuses to let other people decide who gets to be seen.

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Synopsis

AJ Hannah is a storyteller shaped by absence. A queer, non-binary person of colour, a parent, the first in her family to graduate from college, and a former journalist who watched her industry collapse beneath her, she learned early what it means to be visible and overlooked at the same time. She remembers being told she needed “experience” before anyone would give her a chance. She remembers watching entire diversity teams laid off. She remembers reading one sapphic story — just one — that made her think, “This can be mainstream.” That spark became a turning point. If she couldn’t find the stories she needed, she would help create them.

Now, as founder of 3dio Studios, AJ is trying to make animated worlds where queer and BIPOC characters are not edits, not metaphors, not compromises. She says, “If nobody else is going to do this, we’re going to do this.” Her fight isn’t abstract. It’s about paying underrepresented creatives fairly. It’s about refusing to cut trans scenes to make distributors comfortable. It’s about being “responsible, reflective and resonant.” Beneath her humour and defiance — “Fine, we’ll do it ourselves” — is something steadier: a belief that existence itself can be an act of resistance, and that animation can carry dignity where institutions have failed.

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10 Small, digestible concepts for easy learning

1. If you can’t find the story you need, build it.

Sometimes representation begins with frustration.

2. Authenticity isn’t casting a character — it’s backing the people behind them.

Real stories require real lived experience at the table.

3. Exposure doesn’t pay rent.

Underrepresented talent deserves proper wages, not just visibility.

4. Censorship often begins with “just a small cut”.

Compromise chips away at dignity.

5. Community funding is self-determination.

When the mainstream won’t invest, communities can sustain themselves.

6. You don’t have to flatten yourself to be safe.

Existence is not negotiable.

7. Being twice as good is exhausting — but it builds muscle.

Resilience often grows from unfair expectations.

8. Lived experience sharpens storytelling.

It makes characters feel like mirrors, not inventions.

9. Introverts can start revolutions.

Conviction doesn’t require comfort.

10. Spite can be fuel — but justice is the compass.

Defiance may start the fire; fairness keeps it burning.

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The “why” in the story

What they believe is true about people

That people deserve to see themselves reflected fully — not edited, sanitised or tokenised — and that talent exists everywhere, not just where power looks.

What they cannot unsee

The layoffs. The quiet removal of DEI teams. The trans scenes cut. The gifted creatives never called back because they didn’t fit the mould.

What they are no longer willing to tolerate

Being told to rewrite queer experiences to make them more palatable. Asking artists to work for free. Waiting for permission.

What they are trying to build instead

A studio where queer and BIPOC creatives can lead, be paid, and tell stories without dilution — a “gayer and more colourful” world where difference isn’t subtext, it’s the centre.

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Narrative structure

1. The trigger:

Reading a story about two sapphic women — adventurous, complex, not just coming out or falling in love — and realising how rare that felt. Around her, industries were shrinking and inclusion teams were being cut.

2. The tension:

Operating in a political climate that pushes back on queer visibility. Facing funding shortages. Being an introvert who hates asking for money but needing to raise tens of thousands to pay creatives properly. Living visibly in a body that has drawn scrutiny and expectation.

3. The insight:

“If nobody else is going to do this, we’re going to do this.” Permission isn’t coming. Waiting is a form of erasure.

4. The pivot:

Starting her own studio. Paying artists even when she doesn’t pay herself. Refusing to move ahead on projects without cultural writers attached. Going directly to the community for support.

5. The destination:

A future where queer creators don’t have to prove they belong — where stories are abundant, valued and fairly funded — and where a young person doesn’t have to search so hard to feel seen.

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Five key takeaways and learning points

1. Representation is about power behind the scenes.

When lived experience shapes creation, audiences feel the difference.

2. Fair pay is an inclusion issue.

Visibility without income keeps marginalised talent stuck.

3. Not all resistance looks noble — sometimes it looks like stubbornness.

Refusing to shrink yourself is a daily practice.

4. Community can replace gatekeepers.

Direct support builds independence and creative freedom.

5. You don’t have to wait to be chosen.

Building your own platform can be the most radical response.

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Ten distinct ideas explained

1. Authenticity as collaboration

AJ seeks writers and voice actors from the communities represented. This creates dignity in the process, not just the product.

2. Economic inclusion

Paying artists — even when budgets are tight — acknowledges that creative labour has value. It shifts from charity to justice.

3. Creative control as safety

When institutions demand cuts, identity is diluted. Independence protects truth.

4. Representation beyond trauma

Queer stories don’t have to revolve around suffering. They can include magic, comedy and mystery.

5. Visibility fatigue

Being “the only one in the room” places invisible strain on identity and safety.

6. Gender as fluid experience

AJ describes the relief of not being immediately categorised — the quiet joy of ambiguity.

7. Resentment as energy

Anger at exclusion can become constructive if channelled into creation.

8. Community audience-building

Crowdfunding isn’t just financial — it signals belonging and shared ownership.

9. Burnout awareness

Allowing mental health breaks during production shows care for the humans behind the frames.

10. Existence as resistance

Continuing to create openly, despite backlash, becomes a statement in itself.

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How people should change as a result

1. Think

• Move from “content is content” to recognising who shapes the story.
• Understand that edits and small cuts can erase identity.
• See fair pay as part of inclusion, not separate from it.
• Realise that talent flourishes when opportunity widens.
• Question who is consistently “missing” in the worlds you consume.

2. Feel

• From passive consumption to active care about creators.
• From abstract support of inclusion to personal responsibility.
• From scepticism to curiosity about lived experience.
• From indifference to solidarity.
• From fear of backlash to quiet courage.

3. Act

• Financially support independent creatives whose work reflects marginalised identities.
• Share and amplify projects that widen representation.
• Ask who is being paid — and who isn’t — in creative work.
• Create platforms that invite lived experience into decision-making.
• Protect mental health in creative environments.
• When in power, remove the demand to water down identity.

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One thing to remember

If they won’t make space for you, build the stage — and pay your people to stand on it.