(playful music)
Cosplay stands for costume playing.
So essentially, cosplay is
just people finding characters
that they fall in love with as a kid.
From comic books, novels, video games
and they create the costume
and then they put it on
and they feel awesome at a convention.
So after film school, I
started going to conventions.
My brother invited me to
my first Fan Expo in 2012.
So I went to the Con with him
and we cosplayed for the first time.
I put on the costume, went to my first Con
and I felt at home, I fell so
in love with it immediately,
and I went home and started
working on costumes that day.
I ended up going back to
school for fashion design,
learning how to sew.
I've been creating costumes
for about six years now.
(upbeat electronic music)
So this is a cosplay
community like, right here.
This is the photographer's pit,
so you see everyone is
just like hanging out,
taking pictures, enjoying
their time with their friends.
People have music, they're enjoying life.
And the best thing about it is
when you don't even know anybody
but you're wearing the same costume
or the same fandom, you
run up to that person
and you're like, "Oh
my God, Harry Potter!"
Everyone is just sharing everything
that they love about each other.
It's just, it's fantastic.
As soon as I put on that costume,
I embrace and just become that character.
What do I love about cosplay?
There's honestly so
many things that I love,
but the first thing that comes to my head
when I think about cosplay
is my friends that I've made.
I've made, honestly, lifelong
friends doing cosplay.
The cosplay community has grown so much,
and I am so blessed that I
get to do this as a career.
I don't like calling people fans,
I like calling people my community
because we've built this Team
Tutu community of people.
It's just such a crazy
world that this exists
and people can join in,
and meet people that
share the same interests,
and just not feel lonely.
I love what I do so much,
again, I am so thankful
that I get to do this
every single day.
There's definitely hard
days when I'm exhausted,
and you get sick from
traveling in the planes,
and shaking hands, and meeting people.
At the end of the day,
I'm just like, look around
and see like what you've built.
It's honestly, the best job
and I couldn't have seen
myself here six years ago,
or even when I was younger.
(upbeat music)
