CHIMNEY TOWN Co., Ltd.
[Akihiro Nishino] Stop-motion short film “Bottle George” nominated for San Francisco International Film Festival!
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The stop-motion short film “Bottle George”, designed, written and executive produced by Akihiro Nishino, has been nominated for the San Francisco International Film Festival, America’s oldest film festival. It will be screened in San Francisco next month (April 2024). By being nominated for a historic film festival, we were able to take the first step towards having it seen by many people.
[Image 1: https://prtimes.jp/i/97599/29/resize/d97599-29-c2972ee1e6e2a34f746e-0.jpg&s3=97599-29-40aba0ee80875fd539415e7343977807-314×475.jpg] Stop-motion short film “Bottle George”
[Image 2: https://prtimes.jp/i/97599/29/resize/d97599-29-03e6cab2941dce70d443-0.jpg&s3=97599-29-e47755306d202cae95ddce31a6854fab-425×265.jpg] [Synopsis]
One day George, a strange creature like a caterpillar trapped in a bottle of alcohol, meets a little girl and a cat. A 13-minute stop-motion animated short film about addiction and family.
【staff】
Director/Screenplay: Daisuke Tsutsumi (Tonko House)
Original idea/screenplay/executive producer: Akihiro Nishino (CHIMNEY TOWN) Producer Noriko Matsumoto (dwarf studios)
What is the San Francisco International Film Festival?
America’s longest-running film festival, started in 1957. It is held every April and approximately 150 to 200 films from around the world are screened. It is said to be one of the gateways for films to be nominated for the Academy Awards, and is one of the most popular film festivals in the United States.
The final selection for the Academy Award-recognized Golden Gate Awards will be announced at a ceremony on April 28, the final day of the film festival.
Akihiro Nishino comment
The stop-motion short film “Bottle George” began rolling out from a conversation I had with director Tsutsumi at a snack bar in Gotanda in 2019, which seemed like a social greeting, “Let’s do something interesting together someday.”
Originally, the plan was to make a picture book called “Bottle George,” but at Director Tsutsumi’s suggestion (that’s a compliment), which was a mix of dreams and annoyances, they decided on
“stop-motion animation.”
With this momentum, I rushed to work at Dwarf, a stop-motion animation studio that is highly rated both domestically and internationally. Once we started, we found it difficult (really!) and the project was on the verge of giving up over and over again, but I was impressed by the skills of the craftsmen on site and said, “I’m determined to complete this no matter what.” We have to reach all over the world!”, and we were finally able to complete the project.
The stop-motion short film “Bottle George” is not a bloody movie (a short film produced by companies or organizations for branding purposes), nor is it a short film aimed at creating an opportunity (promotion) for making a full-length work. It’s a “short film for short films.”
In order to create a world where people can make a living through short films, we have completely reconsidered everything from scratch, including the production environment, financing, and delivery methods for short films.
If I start talking about this, it will become long, so I will omit it, but I am very happy that the work that all the staff dreamed and worked hard to create was selected for this historic film festival. I think so.
A teaser video (a digest video of about 1 and a half minutes) will be released soon, so please look forward to it.
If you have any inquiries regarding the work, such as “I’d like to hear some stories from our media,” please contact us here ↓
https://support.chimneytown.com/hc/ja/requests/new?ticket_form_id=30469998111897 I worked hard on this work, so I want to deliver it to the world before Koji Higashino finds it.
Please be kind and watch over me.
Akihiro Nishino (King Kong)
More details about this release:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000029.000097599.html