Animation Wild Card

31/12/2024

To honor the contributions of the AWC community, we are finishing the series with an in-person retrospective event co-hosted by our friends at Hot 30 Microshorts at El Cid in Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. We hope you can join us for the final installment of the Animation Wild Card journey. RSVP via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-animation-wild-card-retrospective-finale-screening-tickets-1122330824709?aff=oddtdtcreator

26/11/2024

With gratitude and some sadness, we have made the difficult decision to end our Animation Wild Card episode series. To honor the contributions of the Animation Wild Card community over the last 5 years, we are hosting an in-person celebration and retrospective showcase event on January 8th, 2025, at El Cid in Los Angeles (in collaboration with ). Please swipe through our post for a farewell letter from our longtime project organizers, Lex and Casey 💕

19/12/2023

Director / Animator, , shared a bit about the process of making "Help! (my elf is in a funk)" :⁠
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"Here are some process pics of the making of the Andy Puppet! ⁠
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He is a foam build up puppet made with 1/8 inch armature wire lashed together with extra strong thread and spray adhesive, built up body mass with upholstery foam, and his head was sculpted with chavant clay which was then used to make a mold to cast a light weight resin head. ⁠
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He was also made with lots of love and a dash of Christmas magic!"⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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19/12/2023

presents, Jeremy Mowery aka :⁠
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"Jeremy Mowery is a freelance stop motion animator and teacher hailing from Los Angeles. He founded his garage studio, Sock Dolly Productions in 2017, with his friend and colleague, Adam Thebault. Since then, he has worked on several indie short films, music videos, commercials, and features. The Christmas Elf, Andy the Agitated Elf, is a character from the upcoming indie feature film, An LA Christmas Story, coming in 2024."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

20/11/2023

presents, Nicolette Groome aka :⁠
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"Hi! I'm a freelance animator and writer. I love to tell stories. I take a lot of inspiration from my own life. My current passion project is a pilot called Apopalypse. I am a quarterfinalist in Screencraft's Animation Competition this year. I'm hoping I will be able to share it with everyone in the near future!"⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

18/11/2023

presents, Gina Bernardini aka .bernardini :⁠
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"Gina Bernardini is an animator and artist currently located in Tampa, FL. She works as a muralist while creating stop-motion and 2D animations in her free time. With hopes to someday work in the film industry, she continues learning how to implement her traditional art skills to build puppets and sets for her animations."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

12/11/2023

presents, Shawn Nelson aka :⁠
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"Arrrrr This be me.⁠
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I’m not sure how I first found Tiki Culture. I certainly tried to go in other directions before I settled my hut on Tiki Island. I guess the siren’s call finally reeled me in. Looking back I was most likely possessed as a youngster while my Grandparents would duck into the Enchanted Tiki Room to escape the LA heat at the Big D. As they were sleeping through the show I was inhaling tiny tiki particles shed by the drumming wall decorations. Eventually these nano-tikis took over my brain, and much like Marc Davis, and Gauguin, I was a lost soul doomed to drink from Scorpion Bowls and wear bright comfortable clothes forever."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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10/11/2023

Animator / Creator, , shared a bit about the process of making "Neck Romancer: Book" from his web series :⁠
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"Originally, I was going to start this short already inside the library. However, the exterior building and the steep steps leading up to the actual real life library, were too interesting not to recreate in miniature form. Here are a few photos of the process."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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10/11/2023

presents, Joseph Orr aka :⁠
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"My name is Joseph Orr and I am from Dublin, Ireland. I studied film in college but found later that animation was my true passion. Stop motion was the perfect gateway into this world because of how accessible it was compared to other forms of animation. Plus I had always been a huge Wallace & Gromit fan. I started my stop motion journey with just a phone, an app and some LEGO. I had no formal animation training but instead relied heavily on the tutorials and behind-the-scenes videos of others.⁠
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All of my early work was made using a combination of LEGO characters and sets made of arts and crafts materials. I really enjoyed creating original comedy sketches with popular characters from Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter and more. These brick films gave me the opportunity to develop as an animator and tap into a hugely supportive community of other like minded artists. ⁠
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However soon I began to take notice of film festivals. I became obsessed with the idea of entering one but I would need to move away from LEGO to do so. This is what led me to produce my first original short "Dracuvan". It took roughly 9 months and it is almost entirely made out of card and wood. The main character of Dracuvan was Thaddeus Dracula, a vampire living in Dublin. I had so much fun with this character that I decided to create a web series around him and that is how the idea for my web series Neck Romancer ( ) came into being."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

03/07/2023

presents, Isabella Potenziani aka :⁠
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"Isabella Potenziani is a stop-motion animator and fabricator who grew up in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Later moving to Baltimore Maryland to get a degree in Animation at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). While there, she focused on stop-motion animation and had an internship at NASA in Greenbelt, MD. After graduation she returned back to New Jersey where she resides now, making animated shorts and crochet commissions."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

23/06/2023

https://youtu.be/j3JZUwffsLA
NEW AWC EPISODE ALERT! As we get into the summer months (and soon our mid-season break), we chose "Close" as the optional theme for episode 23.⁠⁠⁠ This episode features some great short-short animations from new & old contributors!

Check out our Instagram () for features on all the contributing artists, and view full credits below:

0:12 The Warmest Hug
Director, Animator & Sound Designer: Pattama Homrod
YouTube & Instagram:
Film Colorist & Sound Design Advisor: Kamolwit Thomyabat
Instagram: .art

0:58 Magical Cat
By: Threadwood
Instagram:
TikTok:
Threadwood.com

1:47 Light Up
Director: Miguel Duarte
Instagram:

2:22 Subway B***r
Story, Art, Animation & Music By: Warren Muzak
Instagram:
YouTube:
Music Performed By: Warren Muzak and Mary Ancheta

2:42 Too Close
Direction/Animation By: Kira Awdry
YouTube & Instagram:
Sound Effects By: Kira Awdry & Freesound.org

3:26 Eyeball Experiments
Design/Animation By: Elliot Lobell
Instagram:

4:24 Lil' Space Bellies
Created By: Mikael Trench
TikToK & Instagram:
YouTube: TriClops Animations

5:11 Connection
Created/Directed By: Megan Matelonek
Instagram & Twitter:

5:42 We Are Not Alone
Direction/Animation/Fabrication By: Jeremy Mowery
Instagram:
Music By: Pulsar Radio
Instagram:

6:27 Too Close
Animator, Director, Editor: Isabella Potenziani
Instagram:

7:08 Aubrey Grump
Music: Robert Dietz
Direction, Animation and all the other things: Mike Dietz
Instagram:
www.mikedietz.com

Animation Wild Card Bumper
By: Cami Kwan & Apartment D Films
Instagram:
Instagram:
Music By: Ellen C***s & Lee Young
Instagram:
Instagram:

Thank You!

As we get into the summer months (and soon our mid-season break), we chose "Close" as the optional theme for episode 23.⁠⁠⁠ This episode features some great ...

14/04/2023

👑 TODAY'S THE DAY 💚 Animation Wild Card Fans! We have A BRAND NEW Episode up on our YouTube channel 📺⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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WOW Episode 22!!! AND we're starting our FOUTH SEASON?! 😱 We're so excited to keep bringing you sweet short-short animations from new & old contributors!

https://youtu.be/QcSVGq6gfwM
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Please also ❤️ Like ✅ Follow and 💌 Share Episode 22's contributing artists credited below:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

0:12 Raise the Woof!
Instagram & TikTok: Apartment D Films
Instagram:
Animation/Editing: Sean Malony
Instagram:
Fabrication: Joe Aragon
Instagram:
Special Thanks: Max Lopez & Cami Kwan
Instagram: .machinist
Instagram & TikTok:

0:34 Cat Park (Parc à chats)
By: Rachel Samson
Instagram:
Music By: Noak Blottière

1:03 Chaos Control
Direction, Animation, & Music By: Ian Barrans
Instagram:
Voices:
Snuggles: Ian Barrans
Tannoy Announcer: Kim Monks

1:47 Eli: Date Night
By: John Sumner & Harry Chaskin
Instagram:
Instagram:

3:21 Punchy
By: Mike Dietz
Instagram:
https://www.mikedietz.com/

3:40 Hardwork
Animator, Director, Editor: Isabella Potenziani
Instagram:

4:58 Beady Little Eyes
Concept & Direction:
Kat Messing (Instagram: )
Puppet & Background Fabrication:
Kat Messing (Instagram: )
Shea Ramsey (Instagram: )
Marisa Gehrig (Instagram: )
Tiffany Liu (Instagram: unfortunateplottwist)
Creature Animation:
Capybara: Marisa Gehrig (Instagram: )
Hedgehog & Fly: Shea Ramsey (Instagram: )
Gecko, Mantis Shrimp, Kittens, & Chameleon: Kat Messing (Instagram: )
Crocodile & Peacock: Natasha Ranganath (Instagram: )
Gaffer: Alex Lizotte
Editing & Post: Kat Messing (Instagram: )

6:05 Flower Bed
Animation & Fabrication By: Farha Alam
Instagram:
Music By: Julius H

Animation Wild Card Bumper
By: Cami Kwan & Apartment D Films
Insta:
Insta:
Music By: Ellen C***s & Lee Young
Insta:
Insta:

Thank You!

Episode 22!!! 😱 WEEEE'RE BACK folks! For a brand *NEW* Season and so pumped to keep bringing you sweet short-short animations from new & old contributors!Ch...

15/12/2022

🤩 It's our *NEW* Holiday Special Episode of : TOMORROW 12/16/22 at 1 pm PST on YouTube!!!⁠⁠ Join us in the live chat feature 🤩
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We have 11 BRAND NEW shorts this episode and we couldn’t be more excited to share! Welcome back to our previous contributors and congrats to our new contributors for making so many fantastic & FESTIVE shorts!⁠ Thank you so much for joining us and making this Season 3 finale so awesome!⁠
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For now - ❤️ Like and ✅ Follow and 💌 Share all of our Festive featured Contributors from Episode 21 (tagged above)
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Stay tuned for lots of fun shorts and our new contributing artist features in the next week!⁠⁠
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If you want to keep up with us please follow Animation Wild Card] and subscribe to our YouTube channel Link in Bio!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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21/07/2022

Director / Animator, , shared a bit about the process of making "SPOT" :⁠
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"I wanted to make a piece entirely out of paper and simple shapes. I loved the idea of an escape or break some sort happening through a rip or a tear in a piece of paper. Paper is one of my favorite mediums as it is fully sustainable."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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21/07/2022

Here's : "SPOT" , by , from - Episode 19. Up next, Mark will be sharing a bit more about the behind the scenes from his short!⁠ ⁠⁠
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"'Spot' is an experimental paper animation about an unconventional and unsuccessful prison break."⁠
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Credits:⁠
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Director/ Animator⁠
Mark Patricio - ⁠
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19/07/2022

Here's : "Little Forest - Shut-Eye" , by , from - Episode 19. Up next, we'll be sharing a bit more about Little Beasts (Kate and Andrew) and some behind the scenes from their short!⁠ ⁠⁠
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"Nothing like catching a little shut-eye..."⁠
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Credits:⁠
⁠By: Little Beasts⁠
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Instagram: | TikTok: (@)little_beasts | ⁠
YouTube: Little Beasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

15/07/2022

Animator / Creator, , shared a bit about the process of making "Lazy Noon in Claytasia" :⁠
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"Claytasia is a series of short looping clay animations set to lo-fi music in a fantasy world full of clay creatures and monsters. Claytasia is essentially an amalgamation of everything I love--clay animation, monsters, wildlife, setting animation to music, lo-fi and house music, and trippy, 60s and 70s era animation such as "Fantastic Planet" and "Allegro Non Troppo." ⁠
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My goal with Claytasia is to keep everything on screen 100% made out of clay, all the way down to the sky and ground. Every single element, from the characters and each indivdual prop piece is shot separately on a green screen to give me more flexibility when I composite everything into After Effects later on. I would like to experiment with more challenging lighting and in camera effects with this series down the line, as well as collaborate with lo-fi music artists and even fashion designers to create the world of Claytasia into a wider brand."⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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15/07/2022

Here's : "Lazy Noon in Claytasia" , by , from - Episode 19. Up next, Mikael will be sharing a bit more about the behind the scenes from his short!⁠ ⁠⁠
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"A Water Gruck-Muck snoozes away the afternoon as its favorite snack zooms by."⁠
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Credits:⁠
Created by Mikael Trench - ⁠
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