A Not-So Clean Slate

Big industry news, a celebration of an Animation legend, & cash available to filmmakers!

A quick turn of events in the past couple of days epitomizes the topsy-turvy relationship many of us have had with Hollywood as an institution over the past several months. First, a deal was reached between the Screen Actors Guild and the AMPTP. Details aren’t out, but major concessions were supposedly made by the studios. Now all the major guilds are in contract and a collective work stoppage of over 6 months can come to an end.

But, before the ink was even dry, Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav gave fresh evidence of how damaged the entertainment industry continues to be, and how anti-artist the companies will behave in pursuit of the bottom line, by shelving another completed film. We’re especially heartbroken about this one as it was directed by multi-time Short of the Week alum, Dave Green.

The strike(s) are over, but business as usual has not resumed, and maybe it never will?

📅 This Week on Short of the Week

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A busy week on S/W, with a pair of editorial features supplementing our standard short film reviews. The first came over the weekend as Rob prepared a retrospective of the mesmerizing Dutch talent, ROSTO. It was a personal one for Rob as he credits the idiosyncratic creator for being an early gateway for him into the world of independent animation and short film. Autour de Minuit’s Nicholas Schmerkin was a close friend of the artist before his passing and provides a touching statement for the piece.

Then Rob takes on an exciting sports thriller, Crack Shot, which pairs the over-the-top intensity of Whiplash with the world of squash. Its writer/director Alex Cohen was a ranked junior player himself and his knowledge of the sport grants him an unmatched eye for how to shoot it thrillingly.

Céline handles one of her faves out of SXSW, a team-up of two filmmakers previously selected for separate shorts, Lucy McKendrick and Charlie Polinger. She calls it, “a cat and mouse game about isolation and instant gratification, with a surprising power dynamic that makes the film incredibly engaging.”

I then wrote about a film that touched me out of Sundance this year, Liz Sargent’s Take Me Home. The hook is how the director cast her own cognitively disabled sister in the lead role, and the winning performance that Anna Sargent delivers, yet the collaborative and tailored production style used to accommodate the actress produces a lovely lilting style that elides time throughout the film in a pleasing way.

Then Rob highlights Theo W Scott and his sardonic animated short, Cuties. Inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry of all things, this blitz through human history (and beyond) is hard to describe, so at only 5min maybe you should just watch?

We close things today with another editorial feature—Rob is headed to the UK’s biggest animation event, The Manchester Animation Festival, and he had a chat with the festival’s director in advance for the latest in our Meet the Gatekeepers series. In a far-ranging convo the pair touch on the event's history, programming philosophies, charging for submissions, and the festival’s new status as an Oscar-qualifying event.

🪐 Shortverse Collections

Ainslie Henderson’s latest, “Shackle”, is another stellar short.

A complement to Rob’s Q&A with Steve Henderson, we preview the Manchester slate, putting forward 10 unreleased animated shorts you need to have on your radar.

💷 Filmmaker Opp

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M&M’S (yes the snack!) wants to support up-and-coming filmmakers in the UK in navigating the challenges of breaking into the industry so they’ve just launched The M&M’S Short Film Festival, a new competition that gives aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to access mentorship and funding to reach their film career goals.

We’ve partnered with the brand to spread the word and help judge the contestants. Head over to Shortverse to learn more and apply. Applications are open now until Nov. 26th.

🎟 Coming soon that we’re excited about…

📖 Odds n’ Ends

A followup on the news from up top. Dave was the runner-up in our very first Short of the Week competition in 2009 and we’ve proudly watched him build a Hollywood career in the years that followed. Here is his eloquent statement about the shelving of his film. If this behavior from the studio bothers you, make your voice heard on social media. We should not let this become normalized.

Next up, a bit of development news that caused waves online was actually foreshadowed well in advance. What a twist!

It took 13 years, but Wes called his shot. We’ve been fans of Ball’s since the early 2010s for his indie works like Eye of the Storm and the S/W-selection, RUIN. Some fans are hating on the choice, but /Film’s Jacob Hall calls it inspired.

Well, here’s a short-to-feature adaptation we never expected…

From Dan Brown, we featured the short in 2010, and the feature now hits theaters today! Amazing perseverance from Dan, we’re so happy for him. With strong reviews and a VOD release on the 14th, we recommend you check it out soon.

Walt Disney Studios has partnered with the Sundance Institute to launch a new completion fund to support underrepresented filmmakers. Special congrats to Shortverse members Dania Bdeir and Sean Wang as inaugural recipients!

Speaking of funds available to filmmakers, Runway, a leading AI video technology company and the founder of the AI Film Festival, is offering cash grants and technology mentorship to individuals wanting to use AI tools in documentary film projects. Most of the AI-driven work we’ve seen has been either comedic, or arty and experimental, but Joe Posner of Semafor has done interesting work at the intersection of journalism and AI, so count us intrigued.

Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation was a touchstone for the development of indie animation, the first exposure many of us had to what was possible in the medium. Looking to carry on that goodwill, Skybound Entertainment, the company behind Invincible and The Walking Dead, is relaunching the event in 2024. The goodwill part might not translate though, as Cartoon Brew documents the unease filmmakers are having with the amazingly broad rights one must give up simply to submit. This exchange in our Discord server summed up the feelings well.

That’s it for this week, thanks for reading! Rob is in Manchester for the festival there, and I will be on the ground at DOC NYC, so reach out to either of us via Shortverse if you want to connect. Till next time.