ELISABETH RILEY

Project Manager and Co-Creator for Magic & Stuff

Elisabeth Riley (she/her) has been a Project Manager at the Animation Lab since 2020. A woman of many talents, she jumped head-first into a creative role after successfully pitching Magic & Stuff with Meredith Kesh. For her, animation is about connection. She has connected with many characters on her favorite shows and they’ve helped her become who she is. She derives inspiration from things she enjoys like nature, video games, anime, books, fantasy, people, and places.

On Magic & Stuff, she helps manage and review all aspects of the show, along with co-creator Meredith and director Derek Benig. She has really enjoyed producing and coming into her own as a creative during the project of Magic & Stuff. As Project Manager, she is the keeper of knowledge! Elisabeth monitors projects to ensure that things are always moving forward, projects are on schedule, and people are where they need to be. When she started at BuzzFeed, she felt at ease quickly and found everyone warm and welcoming. Her favorite part of the role is being surrounded by so many creatives and having the space to contribute her own creativity. In the near future, Elisabeth sees herself continuing to produce and work on fun, creative projects!

Her workflow shortcut of choice is Slack. It's really helpful to have access to each of her team members and projects – and her most-fave part is THE BUZZFEED CUSTOM SLACKMOJIS because if you've never used a :chikn-nuggit-excited: or :betty-white-dabbing: emoji ... you're truly missing out!!! Elisabeth’s advice to aspiring animators is, “KEEP WORKING TOWARD YOUR DREAMS. Never give up and never stop creating. It's important to back your own art and make sure you really love what you're creating.”

Elisabeth is a born-and-raised California girl *cue Katy Perry's song* – the best part is being close to the beach and Disneyland! Her obsessions include Netflix's Castlevania, video games, Donald Duck and all things Disney, true crime and serial killer podcasts, magic shows, fantasy books like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, tattoos, board games, sea otters, her dog, traveling, rock climbing, crafting, Catbug, Van Helsing (the Hugh Jackman movie), bats...and the list goes on and on.

QUOTES FROM THE TEAM: “Elisabeth Riley is the back-bone of the entire Animation Lab!”

“Creative partner, producer, on-screen talent, editor, writer, graphic designer, professional vampire, and AWARD WINNING voice actor Elisabeth Riley does it all, with admirable focus and an infectiously positive energy!"

Find Elisabeth on Instagram @itselisabat