50 New Short Films Will Debut In L.A. As Part Of ‘Nouns Fest’

Nouns Fest will premiere October 10 at the United Theater in downtown L.A. The program will present 50 new animated short films from around the globe, ranging from 30-seconds to five minutes in length.

A trailer for the program was released today:

The shorts, put together by digital arts collective Nouns, were selected from over 400 entries. Each of the selected filmmakers received grants ranging from $7,500 to $25,000 to fund the production of their films.

The only instruction given to filmmakers was to incorporate at least one of the “Nouns” — digital characters generated by Nouns and auctioned off daily at Nouns.wtf. All other creative choices, from the animation technique to story were the choice of the filmmakers. Once the funds were granted, creators were subject to no intervention from the Nouns Fest team.

“What you’ll see at Nouns Fest is creativity unleashed, pure and simple,” said Stoopid Buddy co-founder Eric Towner, who is also a co-founder of Nouns Fest. “In a time of massive change and turmoil for the animation industry, our goal was to finance, encourage and support true creative freedom, and the results we’ve seen so far have smashed through our sky-high expectations. We can’t wait to see these incredible works on the big screen.” (Stoopid Buddy Studios itself will debut three new animated shorts created especially for the event.)

Nouns Fest co-founder Walter J. Newman added, “We told everyone involved to take off all of the safety rails and show us what was in their deepest creative minds, and that’s exactly what they’ve done. If there’s one common thread that runs through the ninety minutes of animation that will debut at Nouns Fest, it’s creative freedom—a spirit that will be felt in every aspect of the event itself.”

Nouns Fest is co-founded by Towner, Newman, Playground Productions CPO Chris Waters, Nouns veteran Joel Cares, music executive Joshua Fisher, and animator/director Goldy. The event points to a new way of funding indie animation through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which the organization calls “digital collectibles.” To better understand the Nouns model, visit Nounish.com.

Another commendable aspect of the program is that every animator whose work is included in the event retains full rights to their work, content, and characters in perpetuity, underscoring the group’s commitment to a free market of art and ideas.

For more details on the event, including tickets, visit Nounsfest.tv.