Creators
Writer Vanessa Shealy and Artist Leah Lovise
Leah Lovise and Vanessa Shealy grew up in Oklahoma City, OK. In the beginning we had an obligatory friendship (our mothers are best friends) but when we grew up we decided to join forces to make some art. In 2012 Leah approached Vanessa with an idea to create a television show for kids called Doo Dad’s Moon Pad. Through countless emails and phone calls, the project eventually evolved to a four part comic book called Couri Vine.
Our goal for COURI VINE is to create an action packed adventure story about a young person hiding from her disability, who discovers that her difference can become her superpower. We are personally inspired by this goal. Vanessa is the mother of a child with autism, and Leah’s father was wheelchair bound due to muscular dystrophy. These two heroes in our lives have confronted us with fears, challenges and endless admiration. We hope this science fiction analogy will empower children and adults who live with difficulties of all kinds.
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Leah Lovise is an illustrator, graphic designer, and motion graphic artist. Her projects include animation for the Amazon Prime series Undone, Warner Independent Pictures’ feature film A Scanner Darkly, compositing for The History Channel’s Jurassic Fight Club, and motion graphics for a variety of educational video productions. Leah is passionate about creating eye-catching designs solutions. She lives on a miniature urban farm in Austin, Texas. View more of her work at LeahLovise.com |
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Vanessa Shealy is a writer and actor whose produced, full-length plays include Tea in the Afternoon, American Drum Circle, and One, Two, Whatever you do. She is the screenwriter for three short films, and has received recognition for television writing from the FanFiction Festival, Nickelodeon Writing Program, and Scriptapalooza. Vanessa is a lover of the solo show and live storytelling genres and frequently performs in or curates festivals. She lives in New York City and can be found at VanessaShealy.com
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