How unemployed animator, Emily Yang of pplpleasr became an NFT star

After rounds and rounds of job interviews, Emily Yang made a decision that changed her life and made her one of the biggest names in the NFT space.

For Emily Yang, 29, the rise to becoming one of the NFT world’s biggest names was part accident, part good timing and part making the best out of ill-fated situation.

With a resume that included working in the animation and visual effect departments on films like Wonder Woman, Star Trek Beyond and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, she was on the cusp of moving to a digital artist role with Apple when the pandemic hit.

In an all too familiar story, Apple rescinded the job and she was left unemployed.

Left with a lot of spare time, Ms Yang began researching and creating content for the decentralised finance space, which refers to financial platforms that don’t rely on traditional banks and institutions.

“I saw an opportunity to insert my skill set with crypto knowledge. I think now it’s more common to hear people say that and it was definitely the case back then but nobody knew about it,” she told news.com.au, ahead of her panel at the Vogue Codes Summit on June 18.

“I channelled that and made these higher quality animations that were promoting these DeFi companies and products.”

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Emily Yang is speaking at Vogue Codes on June 18. Picture: Supplied.

Adopting the online profile of ‘pplpleasr,’ her designs and digital artworks began getting more attention, which was when she pivoted to NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.

“They weren’t very expensive. I think I listed them for around US$200 (A$284) and I was just shocked that people were actually willing to pay for this,” she said.

“It just really resonated with the community and I would get more fans every time I would do one.”

A turning point came in November 2020. She had just completed what would be her final job interview. Ms Yang remembers thinking: “why should I keep bending over to try and get a job in the traditional career market when it’s just like not happening and I have this other thing going for me?

“That was the last job interview I did and I then decided to just focus my energy and time to fully do this crypto thing,” she said.

“I also didn’t leave anything on the table and put out animations throughout the week. I was working really hard to sort of like accelerate the process.”

After hustling at her NFT side hustle for half a year, she went full time in November 2020. Picture: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Kering.

Then in March 2021, she made a viral animation which sold for more than 310 Ethereum, which was worth around $500,000 at the time.

“That put me on the map for NFTs. I took that opportunity and ran with it,” she said.

Since then, she’s penned a cover for Vogue Taiwan and Fortune Magazine’s August/September 2021 issue. Ms Yang was also ushered into Forbe’s 2022 30 under 30 list.

Reflecting on her transition, Ms Yang has been able to draw on her background in digital effects, leapfrogging an industry where animators and visual effect artists are forced to churn and burn through content. “Living contract-to-contract” is also the norm, with job security shaky at best.

“It’s also speaks to the internal desire for creatives to really make something that’s for themselves and not be told how to do it by the people who have the money.”

“To get a film funded traditionally in Hollywood, you need to have the right connections and it’s very political,” she said.

“There’s so much in the process that loses the creative magic.”

In contrast, she mentions the Ethereum documentary, Ethereum: The Infinite Garden, which in 2021 raised US$1.9 million (A$2.7 million) in two days via crowdfunding. Donors received producer credits and NFTs created by Ms Yang herself.

The Ethereum documentary reached its US$1.9 million target in just two days. Picture: Supplied.

While Ms Yang is passionate about the opportunities and possibilities presented by the DeFi and NFT space, she acknowledges its volatility. Just this week, billions were wiped from the cryptocurrency markets, amid fears of a recession.

She jokes about the term: “Crypto time dilation, where six months feels like three years in the real world”.

“Now with the markets being so terrible not just in crypto, but also globally and across the board, it’s probably going to be a lot more difficult.”

Still, she believes it’s worth exploring for people who are curious.

“As long as it’s money you’re comfortable playing around with,” she adds.

“The golden rule is always to you know, not invest any more money than you’re willing to lose.”

Vogue Codes Summit, presented by Optus, Carriageworks Sydney Saturday, June 18, 2022. Tickets here vogue.com.au/vogue-codes