California Dreaming

🔗 10 Things We’re Paying Attention To

1. Hertzfeldt’s “Animation Mixtape” Gets Theatrical Dates - New information about the Don Hertzfeldt-curated program of animation shorts inspired by past traveling programs like The Animation Show. Indiewire has details and news that the program will premiere in NYC on Aug 29th. The lineup is still being kept a surprise, but the website has three promo images. A free S/W submission to the first person to reply to this email correctly ID’ing these films!

2. Meet the Gotham Week Project Market Lineup - Gotham Week, hosted by the eponymous NYC-based indie film non-profit, is one of the best places to first learn about works in development that will eventually become festival darlings. The 2025 slate is out and is overflowing with cool-sounding projects from S/W alums like Stefanie Abel Horowitz, Daniel Zvereff, Dan Chen, Ward Kamel, Diana Cam Van Nguyen, and many more.

3. New Game from Animator Michael Frei - Frei gained plaudits for his animation/gaming crossover experience, Kids, which we covered in 2019. Time Flies is his latest, debuting this week to more rave reviews. Check it out.

4. DEI is DOA? New Report on Diversity - The latest report from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has arrived, suggesting that progress on diversity in mainstream film has stalled. Read the full report.

5. Short Filmmaker Posts Eye-Catching Comparison 👀 - Together, the Neon-released horror film currently in theaters, has already batted down one plagiarism lawsuit. But, when that drama first unfolded, our minds went to an entirely different film—Ben Brewer’s Sundance short A Folded Ocean. While the premise is common enough that parallel thinking is quite plausible, Ben just posted to his Instagram a reel that compares shots between his short and the feature. Yikes!

6. TIFF Shortcuts Lineup Lands - The shorts screening at next month’s Toronto festival are here, with alums Patrick Bresnan and Blake Rice sharing top billing in the press release alongside… Idris Elba!?

7. Podcast With Fantasia Short-to-Feature Winners - Fantasia’s pitch program, Frontières, is one of the best in the biz, so congrats to the team behind the deliciously filthy short, Make Me a Pizza, for winning the short-to-feature comp. GG Hawkins at NoFilmSchool sat with filmmakers Talia Shea Levin and Kara Grace Miller to discuss “starting a cult” in order to make their feature film.

8. Legendary Horror Franchise to Reboot with a Short - I think it’s clear to readers that I don’t mind Brand Films. But this news out of Comic-Con is one of the most cursed headlines I’ve seen.

9. Tim Burton Returns to Stop-Mo with Wednesday Micro-Short - Fans of the artist’s early shorts like Vincent and Frankenweenie will delight in this short sequence from Season 2 of the Netflix show, which the streamer has released on YouTube.

10. What To Watch This Weekend - Julian Glander has been a distinctive voice on the international animation scene for a few years with his absurdist, internet-inspired 3D style, seen in films like Tennis Ball on His Day Off and Bloop’s Birthday. Seemingly out of nowhere, Glander premiered a solo-animated feature-length film, Boys Go To Jupiter, at Tribeca 2024, which was picked up for distribution. With a killer voice cast featuring the likes of Cole Escala, Sarah Sherman, Tavi Gevison, Joe Pera, and many more, I’m jazzed to see what people think! A freshly minted NyTimes Critic’s Pick, the film opens in NYC today before expanding to more markets in the coming weeks. Find tickets.

📅 This Week on Short of the Week