Image Via: Variety
As Don Hertzfeldt prepares to debut his short at the Sundance Film Festical in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was announced that Snoot Entertainment will be producing Hertzfeldt’s first full length film, the animated title “Antarctica”.
“ANTARCTICA is an unusual project that’s been turning around in my head for a very long time, uncertain how it would get made, and I’m excited to actually have the chance now to take the plunge with Keith, Jess, and their brave team. After twenty years of animating alone, this will also mark the first time I’ll have the opportunity to work with a talented team of animators, and I’m looking forward to being able to walk into a room of hard-working artists every day and telling them that everything they’re doing is wrong,” said Hertzfeldt.
Sited as one of Calder’s “favorite animators” this feature will of course have Hertzfeldt’s unique style, and will certainly employ many skills learned while single-handedly animating his first release “It’s Such a Beautiful Day” that was runner up to “Brave” and “Wreck-It-Ralph” at the La Film Criticl Circle Awards. Press release below!
SNOOT ENTERTAINMENT TO PRODUCE
ANTARCTICA
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM HELMED BY PRODIGIOUS FILMMAKER DON HERTZFELDT
LOS ANGELES – January 21, 2015 – Snoot Entertainment, the production company behind YOU’RE NEXT, THE GUEST and Charlie Kaufman’s upcoming animated film ANOMALISA, announced today that they have optioned Don Hertzfeldt’s script for ANTARCTICA, an animated, genre-defying adventure which explores the world’s coldest continent. The film will also be directed by Hertzfeldt drawing on his signature visual style. Snoot Entertainment’s Keith Calder and Jessica Calder will produce along with Hertzfeldt. Hertzfeldt’s manager Jeremy Platt will executive-produce and Snoot’s Roxanne Benjamin will co-produce.
Hertzfeldt is premiering his new short film WORLD OF TOMORROW during the opening night of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. With WORLD OF TOMORROW as his seventh short film in competition, he has had more films play in competition at Sundance than any other filmmaker. Other projects Hertzfeldt has helmed include the Academy Award® nominated cult favorite REJECTED, and EVERYTHING WILL BE OK, which was awarded the 2007 Sundance Film Festival Jury Award in Short Filmmaking.
“Don Hertzfeldt is my favorite animator, and I’m ecstatic that we have this opportunity to help bring Don’s brilliant vision of Antarctica to life,” said Keith Calder, President of Snoot Entertainment.
“ANTARCTICA is an unusual project that’s been turning around in my head for a very long time, uncertain how it would get made, and I’m excited to actually have the chance now to take the plunge with Keith, Jess, and their brave team. After twenty years of animating alone, this will also mark the first time I’ll have the opportunity to work with a talented team of animators, and I’m looking forward to being able to walk into a room of hard-working artists every day and telling them that everything they’re doing is wrong,” said Hertzfeldt.
Hertzfeldt single-handedly animated his previous film, IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY, requiring the story to be originally released as a three short film chapters over the course of many years. The film was named runner-up for Best Animated Feature at the 2012 LA Film Critics Circle Awards, beating films like Pixar’s BRAVE and Disney’s WRECK-IT RALPH, and was most recently #3 on Timeout London’s Top 10 Films of 2013. He also helmed the couch gag for The Simpsons’ 26thseason, joining the ranks of auteurs who have contributed their own versions including Guillermo Del Toro and Banksy.Collectively, Hertzfeldt’s animated films have received over 200 awards and have been presented at thousands of film festivals and venues worldwide. Before the age of 30, his films were already the subject of several career retrospectives, and he has been featured on several lists for most influential animators of all time.
About Snoot Entertainment
Snoot Entertainment is a motion picture production company founded by Keith Calder and Jessica Calder in February 2004 to develop, finance and produce entertaining independent films across all genres. Snoot most recently produced Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s THE GUEST, which was released in 2014 by Picturehouse. Snoot’s prior collaboration with Wingard and Barrett before THE GUEST was the award-winning horror film YOU’RE NEXT, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011 where Lionsgate acquired domestic rights for a wide theatrical release in August of 2013. Snoot also produced FAULTS, the dramatic thriller starring Leland Orser and Mary Elizabeth Winstead which will be released theatrically and on VOD on March 6, 2016; and Charlie Kaufman’s stop-motion animated feature film ANOMALISA.
Snoot also produced the Morgan Spurlock documentary, THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD, which was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, the award-winning audience favorite documentary THUNDER SOUL, the martial-arts action film BUNRAKU, and the intense horror film UNDOCUMENTED. Snoot’s first release was the 3D animated science-fiction film BATTLE FOR TERRA. In addition, Keith produced ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE, THE WACKNESS, THE KEY MAN, and PEEP WORLD through Snoot’s subsidiary company Occupant Films, which he co-founded in 2005.
Snoot is also an investor in the direct-to-fan video distribution company VHX