Oscar Shorts 2014
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PRESS KIT For information on the U.S. release, contact: Marina Bailey 323-650-3627/[email protected] (West Coast) John Murphy 212-414-0408/[email protected] (East Coast) or For U.S. theatrical booking enquiries and regional publicity, contact: Neal Block 212-924-6701 (x211)/[email protected] For global enquiries, contact: Izabelle Durian +44 (0)20 7012 1579/[email protected] . N O I S S I M R E P H T I W D E S U D N A , S E C N E I C S D N A S T R A E R U T C I P N O I T O M F O Y M E D A C A E H T F O S K R A M E D A R T D E R E T S I G E R E R A ” ® S D R A W A Y M E D A C A “ D N A ” ® R A C S O “ " "“OSCAR®” AND “ACADEMY AWARDS®” ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES, AND USED WITH PERMISSION. A N I M A T I O N FERAL USA / 13MIN Director: Daniel Sousa Synopsis: A wild boy is found in the woods by a solitary hunter and brought back to civilization. Alienated by a strange new environment, the boy tries to adapt by using the same strategies that kept him safe in the forest. Director’s Biography: In his work, Daniel Sousa uses animation and themes commonly found in mythology and fairy tales to examine archetypes of human nature, and the inner struggles between our intellects and our unconscious drives. Rather than following conventional narratives, he approaches filmmaking from a painter s perspective. He focuses on states of mind, evoking the ʼ fragility of fleeting moments, memories and perceptions. Daniel was born in Cape Verde and grew up in Portugal. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Sousa has worked as a director and animator with Cartoon Network, Olive Jar Studios, Global Mechanic, and Duck. Sousa has taught at several colleges in the New England area, including Harvard University, The Museum School, and The Art Institute of Boston. Since 2001 he has been teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design. He is a Creative Capital grantee for the production of his new film, "Feral". Awards: Festival of Animated Film, Stuttgart, Germany Black Maria Film Festival, USA Big Muddy Film Festival, USA Anima International Animation Festival, Brussels International Environmental Film Festival, France Animac International Animation Festival, Catalonia Festival Mauvais Genre, France Cine en los Barrios del Cartagena Film Festival, Colombia Roanne animation film festival, France Sundance Film Festival, USA Animated Dreams (Black Nights), Estonia: Best Story award Anilogue International Animation Festival, Hungary Etiuda&Anima International Animation Festival, Poland Sommets du Cinéma d'Animation, Canada Expotoons, Argentina Montserrat College of Art, USA GIRAF, Canada: Innovation in Animation Award Cinanima International Animation Festival, Portugal: RTP2 Award Cutout International Animation Festival, Mexico Animage International Animation Festival, Brazil KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival, The Netherlands Anim'est International Animation Film Festival, Romania Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canada Animated Encounters, UK The International Fest of Contemporary animation & media-art Linoleum, Russia GET A HORSE! USA / 6MIN Director: Lauren MacMullan Producer: Dorothy McKim Synopsis: Walt Disney Animation Studios’ innovative new short “Get A Horse!” is a contemporary homage to the first animated shorts featuring Mickey Mouse, with all-new, black-and-white, hand-drawn animation that’s paired with full-color, 3D, CG filmmaking—in the same frame. Mickey (voice of Walt Disney), his favorite gal pal Minnie Mouse and their friends Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow delight in a musical haywagon ride—until Peg-Leg Pete shows up and tries to run them off the road. This groundbreaking short takes a sharp turn when Mickey finds himself separated from Minnie and must use every trick up his sleeve to find his way back to her. Directed by Lauren MacMullan and produced by Dorothy McKim, “Get A Horse!” is in theaters in front of “Frozen”. Director’s Biography: Lauren MacMullan (Director), veteran director of hit TV shows including “The Simpsons,” “King of the Hill” and “Avatar, The Last Airbender,” also served as sequence director on “The Simpsons Movie.” MacMullan was born and raised in Swarthmore, Penn. She attended Harvard University starting in 1982. During that time, as part of the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine (including a stint as president in 1985), she learned to draw in many styles, designed a 20-foot party hat for a building, and made a student film using the rubber-hose style of animation. She graduated in 1989 and continued to hone her animation skills while working for her animation professor, Suzan Pitt, on her 1991 film “Joy Street.” In 1992, MacMullan was a winner of an MTV “World Problems, World Solutions” storyboard contest. The contest required entrants to identify and propose a solution to a world problem in 30 seconds or less, and the 12 winners got a small budget to make their proposed films. Her completed film “Feet” won first prize among all contestants at the Annecy International Animation Festival. MacMullan launched her professional career as a commercial director with the Boston-based Olive Jar Studios in 1991, specializing in mixed media ads and MTV IDs. Two years later, she moved to Los Angeles to direct on the primetime animated TV series “The Critic” for ABC and Fox. One of the most memorable moments she directed for “The Critic” was a stop-motion “Nightmare Before Christmas” parody that featured a Hanukkahtown sequence with the sets built out of powdered sugar and matzoh. She went on to direct several episodes of the Mike Judge/Fox TV series “King of the Hill,” and served as a supervising director and designer for the WB animated series “Mission Hill.” Starting in 2001, MacMullan was a staff director for “The Simpsons,” and is credited with helming seven episodes over the next four seasons, including “Bye Bye Nerdie,” “Half-Decent Proposal,” “Moe Better Blues” and “I, D'oh-Bot,” among others. MacMullan worked for two years on the Peabody Award-winning Nick TV series “Avatar, the Last Airbender,” directing eight episodes and winning an Annie Award for storyboarding. She served as one of four sequence directors (along with “Wreck-It Ralph” director Rich Moore) on the blockbuster 2007 feature “The Simpsons Movie.” followed by a stint at Pixar Animation Studios. In 2010, she joined Walt Disney Animation Studios as a story artist on the Annie Award-winning, Oscar®-nominated “Wreck-It Ralph.” Festivals/Screenings: Annecy International Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival and Ottawa International Animation Festival. MR HUBLOT LUXEMBOURG /FRANCE / 11MIN Director and Producer: Laurent Witz Co-Director: Alexandre Espigares Synopsis: Mr Hublot lives in a world where characters are made partially of mechanical parts, driving huge vehicles, rub shoulders with each other. A world where the giant scale of machines and the relentless use of salvaged materials reign supreme. A withdrawn, idiosyncratic character with OCD, Mr Hublot is scared of change and the outside world. His solution: he doesn't step foot outside his apartment! The arrival of the dog Robot Pet will turn his life upside down: he has to share his home with this very invasive companion... Director’s Biography: Born in Haguenau on November 21st, 1975, Laurent Witz gets rapidly passionate about graphic arts. He attends the Metz Fine Arts Institute where he obtains his diploma with honours. Self-taught, he learns 3D creation and animation during his studies and directs four short films between 1997 and 1998. The following year, he works for Ex-Machina, where he continues his learning process as an artistic director, an animator or an assistant director on some projects. He arrives in Luxembourg in 2002 to work on the « Roman de Renart ». From then on, he regularly works for studios where he supervises, directs and develops animated projects. Among other projects, he is a 3D supervisor on the television series Wordworld, T'choupi and Noukies. In 2007, Laurent founded ZEILT productions Luxembourg, to further his vision of animation and audiovisual production. He created in 2009 the Animation Café, « the cultural haunt for animation in Luxembourg ». In 2012-2013, he produced, wrote and co-directed Mr Hublot his first professional short movie. He is now thinking about adapting Mr Hublot into a feature film. Laurent is also producing and directing a teaser for a full-length film, "Wilfred", which will be completed in 2014. Awards: Dimension 3 / France, 2013 - Grand Prix Best shorts competition / USA, 2013 - Best in Show California International Shorts Festival (Fall) / USA, 2013 - Best Animated Short FreeNetWorld International Film Festival / Serbia, 2013 - The Best Animated Film / The Best Film of the Festival Kerry Film Festival / Ireland, 2013 - Best Animation Urban Mediamakers Film Festival / USA, 2013 - Best International Animation Sunscreen film festival West / USA, 2013 - Best Animated Short 3D Image Festival / Poland, 2013 - Best Animation Urban Mediamakers Film Festival / USA, 2013 - Best International Animation Animago / Germany, 2013 - Best Short Film Glovebox Short Film & Animation Festival / USA, 2013 - Best in Show Courant 3D / France, 2013 - Grand Prix POSSESSIONS JAPAN / 14MIN Director and Writer: Shuhei Morita Producers’: Yasumasa Tsuchiya, Daisuke Uchiyama, Motoki Mukaichi Synopsis: The 18th Century. On a stormy night, deep in the mountains, a man has lost his way and comes across a small shrine. When he enters, the space suddenly turns into a room in a different world. One after another appear abandoned umbrellas, discarded kimonos, and such spectral things. The man painstakingly mends these paraphernalia, which harbor deep-seated bitterness, and brings them comfort.