Ezra Edmond was born in Los Angeles, California. As a kid, his mom, dad, and grandpa would tell him stories and read him books before bed. In kindergarten, his mother was surprised to learn that he had learned to read by following along with the books he had been read every night. He then went to the library, where he checked out books by the pile every week. There never seemed to be enough! Reading Rainbow served as a wonderful source of inspiration: Ezra would try to watch every episode, and then would scour the library for the books that had been featured in the latest episode. The stories of Roald Dahl, Norton Juster, Lemony Snicket, Chris Van Allsberg, Eric Carle, Ezra Jack Keats, Aardman Animation, Disney, Arnold Lobel, Dav Pikey, Louis Sachar, Madeline Engle, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, Richard Scarry, and so many more wonderful writers, filmmakers, and storytellers, filled Ezra's mind with their works, showing him that telling any type of story was possible—and just how many types of stories there were!
In addition to reading, Ezra loved drawing and making things. He would spend hours in his room with paper, paint, tape, and glue, drawing and making anything that came to mind. In sixth grade, he discovered animation, taking an afternoon class - and was instantly hooked. All through high school, he took animation classes, staying up late every night drawing, writing stories, and reading and listening to books on tape. He also loved theater, and improv, performing in musicals with his friends in middle school, and then with his youth group in high school as well. When the time came to apply to college, Ezra knew that wherever he ended up, he wanted to study animation & screenwriting. That school ended up being the University of Southern California. Ezra was part of the first undergraduate animation class, a class of fifteen people, where he earned a B.A. He also created his own minor in screenwriting; and upon graduation, he was the first student to graduate with both degrees.
Ezra knew that the three things he loved, writing, animation, and acting had one thing in common - storytelling. And Ezra loved storytelling, no matter the method or medium. After graduation he worked as a creative director and writer at a startup animation studio on animated features and games. He worked for a few years as a visual effects artist, designing invisible magic in shows like Key & Peele, Outlander, Silicon Valley, and The Good Wife. He spent six years at Disney, producing animation & digital marketing for Lucasfilm, Pixar, Disney, and more. He wrote, directed, and produced a short animated film called Blewish, based on his childhood, and growing up feeling different from the folks around him. He is now producing an animated childrens series for a major network. Throughout Ezra's life, his love of telling stories has never diminished, and no matter what happens next, he always plans to keep telling them, and helping others tell their stories as well.
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Books by Ezra Edmonds
