Bafta-nominated Director, Oscar-winning artist and former Mogwai musician on team of ‘Nothing To Declare’
Comic book artist Frank Quitely - best known for his work on New X-Men, We3, and All-Star Superman with Grant Morrison, and titles such as The Authority and Jupiter's Legacy with Mark Miller - marks a move into animation with Nothing To Declare, an animated horror short.
The film is directed by multi-BAFTA-nominated animator Will Adams and produced by Mal Young, with artwork by Fraser McLean and Tom Bryant. It is based on a short story by Frank Quitely in which a well-meaning 19-year-old returns home at Christmas from backpacking in South America, only to discover he has unintentionally triggered a catastrophic chain of events. The team expect the film to appeal to comic book readers, as well as fans of animation and horror.
For Quitely, it is not only his first foray into film - it is also his first time in the role of writer. He says:
“I’ve always loved the horror genre. I had written a bunch of short stories, and this one, I felt, particularly lent itself to animation. This is the first time i've written a story and handed it over to other artists to work on. It's my first venture in film, and the team I'm working with are exceptionally talented and have created a brilliantly crafted animation. I'm really excited at the prospect of seeing it finished.”
The film is a co-production between Scottish animation studios Once Were Farmers and Interface Pattern, marking the first collaboration between the multi-award-winning studios. It is enhanced by an original score by John Cummings, formerly of the band Mogwai, who left the band on amicable terms in 2015 to pursue other musical avenues.
Will Adams, Director, says:
"This will be the first home-grown short I've directed since 2009, so it's a rare treat to work on a project where we have real creative freedom. Having been a fan of Frank Quitely's work since I read his comics at school, it's been brilliant having the opportunity to collaborate so closely with him."
The team are currently running a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to raise the funds that they need to complete the film. The campaign launched on Halloween, and raised 25% of its target within the first few days.
The campaign is a rare opportunity for fans to acquire original artwork by Frank Quitely and Fraser McLean, including unseen sketches from Quitely’s sketchbook, unique, signed frames from the film, and your own portrait as a Nothing To Declare character drawn by Fraser McLean.
The campaign runs until 10th December on Indiegogo. Please visit https://igg.me/at/NothingToDeclare for more information and to support the project.
Frank Quitely
Frank Quitely is an award-winning comic book artist best known for his work on Jupiter's Legacy, All Star Superman, New-X-Men, Batman and Robin, We3 and Sandman: Endless Nights.
His first few years were spent writing and drawing underground comics, the next two decades saw him illustrating stories for writers such as Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Neil Gaiman.
He has written dozens of short stories in the last few years, some of which will be told in comic form, others in film.
Will Adams
Will Adams co-founded animation studio Once Were Farmers in 2002 and has provided creative direction on a diverse range of projects including Architectural Visualisation, Music Videos, Multi-Media Theatre Performances, Broadcast Graphics and Visual Effects. The company recently completed their 5th short and 9th mini-series for BBC Learning. Adams have received a number of awards and nominations, including three Scottish BAFTA nominations. In 2016 Adams also established The Animation Centrifuge - a not-for-profit organisation to promote excellence in animation, and launched The Animation Bootcamp, an 8-week industry training programme in association with Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Mal Young
Mal Young has been involved in animation production for the past two years, having completed the
Screen NETS Advance course as the Animation Production Trainee, and completed Aardman
Animations' "Producing Animation" course and Edinburgh Film Festival's "Animation Talent Lab". This
has allow me to combine my animation with my software/technical project experience. He has worked with a number of animation studios including Ko Lik Films, Red Kite Animation, Interface Pattern and Once Were Farmers, as well as agencies including Leith, MTP, Freakworks and STV Creative. He was also involved in developing and producing a children's animated series at Interference Pattern as well as developing and producing two short animated films with Once Were Farmers.
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