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Welcome to Inclusion Bites, your sanctuary for bold conversations that spark change. I'm Joanne Lockwood, your guide on this journey of exploration into the heart of inclusion, belonging and societal transformation. Ever wondered what it truly takes to create a world without? Remember, everyone not only belongs, but thrives. You're not alone. Join me as we uncover the unseen, challenge the status quo and share storeys that resonate deep within. Ready to dive in. Whether you're sipping your morning coffee or winding down after a long day, let's connect, reflect and inspire action together. Don't forget, you can be part of the conversation too.

Reach out to jo.lockwood@seechangehappen.co.uk to share your insights or to join me on the show. So adjust your earbuds and settle in. It's time to ignite the spark of inclusion with Inclusion Bites.

And today is episode 193 with the title Animating Queer Futures. And I have the absolute honour and privilege to welcome AJ. AJ is the founder and creative director of 3dio Studios, a queer bipoc woman led indie studio creating adult anime series, animated series Poison Us. And she also champions globally resonant LGBTQ storytelling. So when I asked AJ to describe her superpower, she said it is telling storeys and it is something she loves to do and always has done. Hello, AJ, welcome to the show.

Hello. Thank you for having me.

Absolute pleasure. This is our second attempt. So we tried this probably a couple of months ago and detect differences between us and anyway, we're back today. Whereabouts in the world are you? You're. You're. You're in the States somewhere.

I am in the States on the east coast, near Washington dc. In between that? In between that.

So what's the weather like this time of year? Is it getting colder? Is it.

It is getting colder, but it's that nice fall cold where you're wearing your plaid and your. Yeah, it feels really nice. And the pollen has finally died down a little bit because it's just cold enough to kill off that last round of like weeds and hay fever. That really tries.

Yeah. So it's nice, soft, warmish.

We just had Halloween. Yeah.

Yeah. Beautiful.

Yes.

So the trick and treating is big in the States. I mean, over here it's become becoming something, but probably not as big as it is in the States.

Big in the States. I have two kids and they were just tearing through the neighbourhood in the pitch blackness and I was like, great, awesome. Door to door.

We noticed over here is you go to the local cinema and they're Doing reruns of all the horror movies. Sort of October is horror movies these and then everything is there. All the Halloween movies or the, all the Freddy Kruegers and all this other stuff. Final Destination comes out. I think they bring that back. And so yeah, there's a lot of. Culturally we seem to do a lot of horror movies on at the cinema at this time of year.

Yeah, we have a decent amount of horror movies come out on like the streaming platforms and then there's some that show like, hey, you have a limited showing in theatres, but I mean it'd be nice to do, to do that, but you'd have to find one of those small theatres that probably do it. We do, we're big on Rocky, the Rocky Horror Picture Show. A lot of theatres. Yeah, they'll either show it or they'll have like live acts or plays of it that go on the same time the movie's running. Like that's a big thing.

So you never thought about your indie studio knocking out some R rated horror then?

We actually have a thriller piece that we want to work on and it is, it's got two women who try to seek revenge on men who I guess treat women poorly. It's called the Manslaughter Project and so it's one of those thriller comedies that. But we're, we're, we're way in, we're still in pre production with that. So that's. Yeah.

Oh, sounds intriguing. So I, I noticed from your bio that you sent through that your studio aims to be a gayer and more colourful Disney. That's an ambition, isn't, is an ambition.