Sep 10, 2024

50 New Short Films to Premiere in L.A. as Part of “Nouns Fest”

A trailer for the program was released today:

The short films, compiled by the digital arts collective Nouns, were selected from over 400 submissions. Each selected filmmaker will receive a grant ranging from $7,500 to $25,000 to fund the production of their work.

The only instructions given to the filmmakers were to incorporate at least one “Nouns,” a digital character generated by Nouns and auctioned daily on Nouns.wtf. All other creative choices, from animation techniques to storyline, were up to the filmmakers. Once funding was provided, the creators received no intervention from the Nouns Fest team. [Eric Tauner, co-founder of Stoopid Buddy and co-founder of Nouns Fest, said, “What you see at Nouns Fest is creativity unleashed, pure and simple. In a time of great change and turmoil for the animation industry, our goal has been to finance, encourage, and support true creative freedom.” We can't wait to see these amazing films on the big screen.” (Stoopid Buddy Studios itself will also be unveiling three new animated shorts created especially for the event.) [Nouns Fest co-founder Walter J. Newman said, “We told everyone involved to take off all the safety rails and show us what's deep inside their creative minds, and if there's one thing that all the 90-minute animations debuting at Nouns Fest is creative freedom and a spirit that is felt in every aspect of the event itself."

Nouns Fest was co-founded by Towner, Newman, Chris Waters, CPO of Playground Productions, Nouns veteran Joel Cares, musician Joshua Fisher, and animator and director Co-founded by Goldy. To learn more about the Nouns model, visit Nounish.com.

Another commendable aspect of the program is that all animators participating in the event retain full rights to their work, content, and characters in perpetuity, underscoring the group's commitment to the free marketplace of art and ideas.

For more information about the event, including tickets, see Nounsfest.tv.