BEHIND THE LENS #523: Featuring Sarah Affleck and Jesse Weglein

BEHIND THE LENS #523: Featuring Sarah Affleck and Jesse Weglein

From Behind The Lens by debbie lynn elias

June 8, 2026 · 1h 25m

About this episode

This episode features discussions on world premiere animation shorts and insights from their creators.

It's all about animation and Tribeca Film Festival this week on BEHIND THE LENS! And not just any animation, but world premiere animation shorts – DEAR UPSTAIRS NEIGHBORS and ROAR, both animated gems led by filmmakers with a Pixar pedigree – animation editor SARAH AFFLECK and writer/director JESSE WEGLEIN, respectively. First up, we're gonna roar with writer/director/editor/dp/and songwriter JESSE WEGLEIN and his beautiful short ROAR! ROAR follows a neurodivergent young girl with selective mutism who, after being uprooted from Tokyo to San Francisco, must navigate a chaotic new culture and an isolating silence by transforming her internal K-Pop soundtrack into a vibrant visual language to find her place—and her new roar. Then, more animation goodness for you from animation editor SARAH AFFLECK and DEAR UPSTAIRS NEIGHBORS. DEAR UPSTAIRS NEIGHBORS is the fantastical and all-too-relatable story of one woman's epic battle against her noisy neighbors for a good night's sleep. As I told Sarah Affleck, this short from director Connie He could directly pertain to my condo neighbors, and I'm betting some of your neighbors, too! This is one high-energy, FUN, short…

People in this episode

Host: debbie lynn elias

Guests: Sarah Affleck, Jesse Weglein

Topics covered

  • animation
  • Tribeca Film Festival
  • short films
  • neurodiversity
  • K-Pop
  • filmmaking

Keywords

  • animation
  • Tribeca Film Festival
  • short films
  • neurodivergent
  • K-Pop
  • Sarah Affleck
  • Jesse Weglein

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pixar

Books & works: DEAR UPSTAIRS NEIGHBORS, ROAR

Places: Tokyo, San Francisco

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