I had the chance to speak with the winner of April's War of Films contest. Julie Leon is originally from Japan, but moved to Canada at a young age. Leon's film, Sweet Night Dreams, was the most liked, tweeted and dugg film on Film Annex last month. And we're not surprised! Leon managed to create a highly animated dream world with a peaceful touch in less than 5 minutes. Check out our interview below! F.A. What inspires you to make films? More specifically, what inspired you to continue your studies in film animation and digital media? J.L. I am inspired to create animations because I spent my life playing video games. One day I asked a friend who did animation help me create my own animated video game character. He showed me how to do this with After Effects and Flash. When I finished, I realized I had so much fun that I began to animate other things: backgrounds and clouds and more! It was my own motivation to do animation and digital media, not any schooling. Schooling was okay, but they never taught us great things like these. The last couple of months I began taking night courses on flash animation and digital media. Those classes had a very informal setting, which was perfect for me because I made friends and got better at what I really wanted to do. F.A. Was this film a school project? What kind of resources did you use to create it? J.L. Sweet Night Dreams was not a school project, but I did finish it at school. I had it as a 20 second version, but spent time at school to make as long as it is now. F.A. Do you believe your film style will change when you begin studies in The United States? Why or why not? J.L. I have family in Chicago and plan to go there soon and begin my studies. I had never thought of going to college, but after taking night classes, I think I want to go into digital media. I also think the United States will be good for this because most big movies are filmed there. Additionally, most movies these days have some form of animation involved. Yes, I think my film style might change because I will learn cutting-edge animation! So, next year I am confident I should be very good. I am excited to go to Chicago, and a little bit scared at the same time. F.A. What were your social media marketing strategies to win the War of Films contest? J.L. I asked my friends in my night class to help vote and spread word, and this is all that I did. I did tell them that anyone voting must have a Film Annex account. Of course, I also asked all of my friends on Facebook F.A. Are you currently working on any projects? If so, is the project animated? J.L. Right Now, I am working on a few other animations, my favorite being much like a Fantasy, like Zelda or Sleepy Hollow. Making the short exactly like the idea in my head can be very difficult and is not working at the moment.