Sea Salt Friends is an animated short that explores the often unbalanced realities of growing apart. The story follows Deacon, a lacklustre fisherman, as he finds himself face-to-face with a grotesque sea creature who turns out to be his childhood betta fish. Through nuanced gestures and awkward conversation, we are given a glimpse into the realities of losing touch with someone you love, to soon discover that sometimes letting go is more important than holding onto the fantasy of what could have been.

         Sea Salt Friends           
        Justin De Leon
        2023

The concept for Sea Salt Friends was created over two years ago but, due to timing and a need to improve his skill set, Justin shelved the idea. After diligently learning and honing his style he pitched the story as a graduation project with a personal challenge to see if he can produce an animated short entirely on his own.

Justin De Leon is an animator, illustrator and storyteller who began his creative journey during his early years attending the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University. Exploring his craft in isolation, he developed an art style that combines bold colours, paper-like textures, and misshapen wide-eyed and wacky-looking characters in order to tell stories about the emotions and thoughts we often silence because we think no one is listening.