Exclusive: Nickelodeon Announces 2014 Animated Shorts Program
Nickelodeon has announced a call for submissions for its 2014 global Animated Shorts Program, which is designed to identify and develop new and up-and-coming animation talent. It is the third year that Nick has run the program domestically, and the second year for international artists.
The animated short at top, Bug Salad created by Carl Faruolo (Gravity Falls, Fish Hooks), is from the 2013 class of shorts and debuts today exclusively on Cartoon Brew.
“We’re on an ongoing mission to create the funniest animated content for this next generation of kids, and find the freshest creative voices from around the world,” says Russell Hicks, Nick’s president of content development and production. “The shorts program has already fueled our pipeline with new content and we’re very excited to see what comes through our door this year.”
Nick will choose a minimum of 10 pitches to develop into shorts that will appear on air, on Nick.com, and the Nick app. The shorts also have the potential to be developed into full series, such as the upcoming Breadwinners which was chosen from the inaugural Animated Shorts Program in 2012. Per the call for submissions:
Ideas will be accepted from a broad pool of creative talent from all quarters including artists, designers, writers, directors and comedians. Creators will be provided with the necessary artistic and production support teams to help them complete their fully animated short. Shorts must be original, humor-based and character-driven. All animation styles are encouraged from 2D, digital 2D, stop motion, CG or mixed media. The deadline for submissions is March 14, 2014.
Full details and guidelines are available on the Nick website.
Nick also announced the full list of 17 pitches from the 2013 edition that were chosen for pilot development. The list includes the following ten projects from the U.S.:
The Loud House created by Chris Savino
Bear Wrestler created by Deanna Rooney
By Request Pizza created by Arica Tuesday and Mick Ignis
Hole created by Sam Spina
Matt and Gus created by Matt Braunger
Charlie and Mr. Two created by Travis Braun
Bug Salad created by Carl Faruolo
Earmouse and Bottle created by Brian Morante
Woodstump created by Zach Smith
Broats created by Jack Cusumano
And seven international projects:
Badly Drawn Animals by Hamish Steele (UK)
Louis and Georges by Renaud Martin & Raphaël Chabassol (France)
Monster Pack by Pedro Eboli & Graham Peterson (Brazil)
Moosebox by Mike Scott (South Africa)
Scoop by The Brothers McLeod (UK)
Tech Oddity by Marco Ibarra and Stefie Zöhrer (Mexico)
Tonk’s Island by Mel Roach (Australia)
(The two shorts pictured in this post are Earmouse and Bottle and By Request Pizza.)
