The Aura of
Upstate

Born in Rome to a Haitian family and raised in Upstate New York, Evens Angulo-Duvil knew at age ten exactly what he wanted to build: his own animated worlds, on his own terms. He went pro with a degree in Animation and Illustration from SUNY Fredonia — then did the thing most artists only talk about.

Over seven years, almost entirely by himself, he wrote, storyboarded, animated and voice-directed an original pilot, Untainted. He didn't pitch it around and hope. He formed his own LLC, stood up an independent studio, and started studying marketing the way he'd once studied character design.

That instinct — make first, ask permission never — is the textbook maverick archetype: the independent operator who builds outside the gatekept system rather than queuing for its approval. It's also the exact spirit of the agency now in his corner. Micheaux Media takes its name from Oscar Micheaux, the pioneering Black filmmaker who, a century ago, financed, produced and four-walled his own films when Hollywood shut its doors. Same lineage, new generation.

Starting from a local arts grant in Troy, NY, Evens built something bigger than a short film. He spent a year interviewing Capital Region locals — in bars, skate shops, cafés, everywhere — as a podcast. Then, in the tradition of Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell's The Midnight Gospel, he hand-animated over the best moments, and wrapped the whole journey in a documentary about making it.

The result is a single intellectual property with three doors in: a podcast, an award-winning animated short, and a documentary — all pointed at one idea. As Evens puts it, it's "a love letter to home," a spotlight on a community that's usually overlooked.

It's the kind of project critics and curators noticed fast: features from the Times Union and local radio, and a spot on PBS's AHA! A House for Arts. Distinctive voice, real audience, clear ownership — exactly the raw material an IP incubator looks for.