Both Shaw and Samborski grew up in the Richmond area.

In his teens, Shaw got his start as the lead illustrator for the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s teen section inSync.

He graduated from the Center for the Arts at Henrico High School and then went on to get a degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Samborski graduated from the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School and studied at the kinetic imaging department at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Shaw is the author of several comic books, including “New School” and “Cosplay” from Fantagraphics Books. He struck up friendships with many of the actors who ended up working on his movie through his comic book work. Schwartzman was already a fan of his comics, and he met Dunham at a filmmaking fellowship program.

“It was interesting having these actors on board,” Shaw said. The movie was 80 percent drawn before he secured the A-list talent, but he said the voice actors “elevated the emotional range of the movie. They brought a real emotional depth to these characters.”

As for this weekend, Shaw said he and his wife are looking forward to returning to the site of their first dates at the Byrd.