Matt Emma
Image Credit: TimonsDreams
Lukhanya Pooe is not from Los Angeles, but he has come to embody its spirit. Just as one neighborhood rolls into another, his creative world stretches out before you, a blinking, electric sprawl. Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Lukhanya blends myriad influences. He’s South African, he’s Californian, and, thanks to a lifelong love of anime, he’s a little Japanese. He exists in a colorful, culturally rich universe that he treats others to, branded as TimonsDreams.
Anime/cartoons, reels, videos. Each is a piece of the tapestry. For an uninitiate, it might seem hard to grasp at first as it flickers by. But Lukhanya’s style of social observation and commentary, and the technology platforms he uses to reach his growing audiences, come as second nature to him. He was raised on the internet and turned to it to share his knack for humorous storytelling.
Out of this pure personal joy, he has won fans. He now has more than a million online followers. His channel is available on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, which are well-suited vehicles for his pithy bursts of cartoon that blow by with an incisive and speedy wit. TikTok is his most natural domain, one where he has 700,000 followers and more than 24 million likes. In an environment where it’s almost impossible to capture attention, TimonsDreams stands out.
But why?
“I think what distinguishes my work is my blend of worlds,” he says of his own achievements. “There might be an anime battle with dramatic angles, and there might be just some jokes about everyday life, how absurd it is.”
At its core, TimonsDreams is about rendering his own creative ideas in visual form. Japanese anime and gaming culture, real-life quandaries about a steep bill or some traffic mishap all collide. “People love my animation, but they also relate to the situations,” Lukhanya comments.
But it’s not so easy. Lukhanya is a diligent artist and creator. He doesn’t work with teams or production companies, and he will even ask his audience if they would prefer more long- or short-form content. He’s versatile, adroit; he manages the entire production cycle himself. Scripts emerge based around the characters he dreams up — it is called TimonsDreams — and then he sketches out the scenes, scenarios, drawing heavily on his everyday life for inspiration.
He does have a background in drawing and animation, and he’s studied digital marketing, as well as audio engineering and music production, all at the University of California, Los Angeles. Along the way, he’s done internships and held down positions as part of marketing initiatives.
“I have a lot of experience in social media management, graphic design, data-driven campaign optimization,” says Lukhanya. As a creator, he’s used these skills to build his own brand. These skills and efforts have paid off. Some videos have surpassed 15 million views.
It all started in his dorm room. When he came to study in California, he began experimenting with short videos for fun. His talent was apparent to many from the get-go. In addition to racking up the followers on various social media platforms, he’s also received his share of requests for collaboration. It’s not just a for-fun pastime.
Currently, Lukhayna is continuing his studies at UCLA, gaining insight into the business dynamics of the modern creator economy. He would like to expand TimonsDreams too, making it more of a broader creative brand, one that could eventually include animation, comics, and longer storytelling formats, but retain its mix of humor, anime, and real-world observation. Along the way, he wants to retain his independent spirit, one that has allowed him to build an audience without the help of big studios, production pipelines, and other traps that can stifle creativity.
His muse remains the City of Los Angeles, which has inspired him since day one. “This place is famous for manufactured dreams,” says Lukhanya. “But here I’ve realized my real dreams.” He walks its streets, gathering ideas for TimonsDreams. With every street, that world gets bigger.