Dani Bowman is a 15-year-old autistic high school girl with a love of anime style animation.
Dani aspires to follow in the footsteps of other cartooning greats with her own animation company, Powerlight Studios. What is even more impressive is that Dani is autistic. Dani illustrates, writes and voice acts nine different cartoon series, each with about 30 unique characters. Her stories, and her own story, have captured the interest of several production companies with the goal of taking Powerlight Studios to network and cable TV. Dani came up with the name of Powerlight Studios at age 11, and shortly there after created her first series, “Gemstar & Friends”, followed by “The Adventures of Captain Yuron”.
Dani’s imaginative adventures are loved by kids and admired by adults for their magical simplicity and heart-warming story lines that capture the imagination.
Many of Dani’s series started with a random scrap of paper found somewhere around the house. When asked about the drawings, Dani casually says, “oh, that’s my new series….”, like it’s completely common for a new world to be created on random slips of paper just left around the house.
Dani is a fan of Japanese culture, anime and manga style cartoons and loves sushi!
Part of Dani’s mission in creating Powerlight Studios is to deliver a positive message about the special abilities that autistic individuals have. Commonly sited statistics state that 1 in 110 children today are autistic.
A more alarming statistic is that 87% of autistic adults are unemployed according to the Autism Society of America. It is especially sad considering that autistics excel in visual and drawing skills but have historically, if employed at all, ended up working in low skill occupations. Powerlight Studios is developing an Autistic Artist’s Network to promote the works of other Autistic artists with the goal of helping them become self sufficient.
As a parent of an Aspie – I have been dragged to nearly 20 Anime Conventions. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, they are more like Asperger’s Conventions! I don’t know what it is, but many experts cite anime as an affinity among kids with Asperger’s! Go Dani!
My daughter loves anime. She draws some pretty amazing pictures and does several videos on you tube.
My daughter Summer reads graphic novels and has been watching anime movies on Youtube daily. I wonder what the connection is. She is really into animation. She is only ten and wanted me to buy an anime making software for the MAC but I thought it would be too complicated for her at this age. What is Dani using to create hers?
Hi Scott,
10 is definitely not too young for her to start learning animation. We’re board members of a program here in LA called Media Enrichment Academy that has ASD kids as young as 6 doing animation.
Dani’s using Toon Boom Studio, there’s a link to their store on the right hand side of our website. http://www.powerlight-studios.com. They have student versions available with a great discount and if you purchase through our link, Dani gets a % of the sale which helps support Powerlight Studios.
Studio is pretty easy to use, and most take to it quickly, they have some great tutorials and we’d be glad to help you get off the ground.
Patrick
I went through a phase during high school when Sailor Moon was popular, mostly because my friends liked it. The funny thing is, after receiving Dani’s story to post I had a dream that I found an elaborate drawing I did for my friends back in HS.
Scott, if we don’t get a response from Dani’s uncle here I can pass your question on to him.
I think part of the appeal in anime is that the facial expressions are a lot easier to understand, and there is often a very rich and imaginative story, with exciting characters. At least, that’s what I love about anime. Every year, I go to one anime convention, and get a sense of community to be connected with other fans. Even where there’s a lot of drama between fans.
It’s good to be with people that understand your passions.
(Sandy, I went through a Sailor Moon phase too. It only really expanded from there)
Thank you Dani for sharing your story and lovely animation. It’s awesome that you do so much.
I went through a long Anime phase myself. I didn’t really get a hang of the art, but definitely agree with Corina that it’s the expressions. I met many of my life long friends because of Anime in college. I used to go to conventions regularly, but have stopped as I’ve gotten older and have kids. Gets to be a lot to juggle when you have to worry about them as well!
Thanks for sharing Dani. I hope to see your shows on TV soon!
So Danielle, you are so famous making animations and books for kids. If you like to make me a new animation, then go make more.