EMERYVILLE, CA — Athena Studios (athenastudios.com) recently created an original, stop-motion animated short film titled Mermaids on Mars. The film was just named winner of the “Best Animation” Award for 2015 at the Carmel International Film Festival (www.carmelfilmfest.com).
Athena Studios provided all of the animation and production work on the film. The studio also helped adapt the original full-length screenplay by the film’s producer Nancy Guettier (author of the “Mermaids on Mars” book,) and writer Jarrett Galante, into its short film format.
The story behind Mermaids on Mars centers around a young boy named Julian, who takes a fantastic adventure to Mars. There, he discovers that the last surviving mermaids in the universe are living in a small body of water on that planet.
To bring
Mermaids on Mars
to life, Athena assembled a notable crew comprised of a number of stop-motion animation and feature film luminaries. Among these crew were: Athena producer Kat Alioshin (Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, James and the Giant Peach, Corpse Bride); DP Pete Kozachik (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Corpse Bride, Ghostbusters 2, Nightmare Before Christmas); cinematographer Timothy Taylor (Back to the Future 2, Frankenweenie, Coraline); art director Tom Proost (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, A.I., James and the Giant Peach, The Matrix 2 and 3); and puppet fabricator Victoria Rose Zalewski (Coraline, Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas). Other noted talent that contributed included Justin Kohn and Amy Adamy.
The Athena Studios team is now back in active development on another original project — a stop-motion, animated feature entitled Auntie Claus. They are working with collaborator/co-producer Nate Hopper (Blazing Samurai, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Surf’s Up, Open Season). The film will be based on the award-winning children’s book of the same name by author Elise Primavera. It will present the tale of a materialistic young girl who discovers the true meaning of the Christmas holiday season through her adventures at the North Pole with her great Aunt, who just happens to be the sister of Santa Claus.