Written/Directed/Produced by Harry Chaskin

A day in the life of an unemployed B-movie monster, a lingering personified special-effect of the 1950s. Presented as a series of vignettes, “Bygone Behemoth” follows the title character as he putters around his house, laments being out of shape, calls his agent about work, reads the want ads, and contemplates the obituaries.

In an age where computer graphics are all too prevalent, “Behemoth” is a nostalgic tribute to the work of Ray Harryhausen, Willis O’Brien, and numerous other forgotten wizards. Like the Behemoth itself, the film needs stop-motion to exist; it seeks to capture the ephemeral quality of a dying art form.

Written/Directed/Produced by Jamieson Ridenhour

“Cornerboys” is collaborative effort between writer Jamieson Ridenhour, artist Ali LaRock, and composer Kevin Smith. The short film tells the dark fairy tale story of Jennifer Lynn, who searches the night streets for home but finds only the rat-eyed and restless Cornerboys. Inspired in equal parts by Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, the fairy tales both of the Brothers Grimm and of later practitioners like Tim Burton and Brian Froud, and the gritty urban Gothic fantasies of the 19th century, “Cornerboys” began life ten years ago as a long poem published in the now-defunct horror ‘zine Whispers from the Shattered Forum.

Written/Directed by Bill Plympton; Produced by Biljana Labovic

“The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger” is a children’s fable about the power of advertising, the meaning of life, and ultimately, the test of a mother’s love.

Written by Jonathan Katz, Tom Leopold; Directed by Mike Salva, Tom Snyder; Produced by Jonathan Katz, Mike Salva, Tom Snyder

Jonathan Katz is a man who is on both death row and Weight Watchers. With Tom Leopold. (It takes the “D” out of Death Row and puts it back in “Delicious” where it belongs!)

Written/Directed/Produced by Aurelio Voltaire

A mummified cat is tormented by the skeletons of past meals. Directed and animated by MTV and Sy Fy Channel veteran Aurelio Voltaire and narrated by Danny Elfman.

Written/Directed/Produced by Damien Slevin

On July 24th 1969, man finally reached the Moon as 600 million people watched. They were not the only ones.

Directed by Stephen Jennings; Produced by Kathy Buxton, Tiffany Webber

Inspired by St. George and the Dragon, The Sacrifice is a moody retelling of the classic myth. A dragon nests in the well of a medieval village. Panicked and irrational the fearful villagers attempt to appease the dragon by offering a virgin to the beast. The dragon is satisfied, but not for long. One by one the women of the village vanish as they are offered to satiate the demon’s desires. This trade of women for water escalates until only a young Princess remains. Held captive, she is taken to be offered to the dragon. Forced onto the ledge of the well she awaits her doom as the dragon beats it’s enormous wings lifting it’s mass aloft out of the well. Is there no-one who would save her?

Visually unique with hand illustrated, pop-up book aesthetics and nightmarish undertones, the dark and moody atmosphere mirrors the fable’s themes of self-satisfaction, apprehension, fear and sacrifice.

Written/Directed/Produced by Lily Sun

A girl struggles to revive her beloved dead dog.

Written/Directed by David Baas

An animated mock documentary about the ecological plight of penguins in the Antarctic, possibly foretelling cataclysmic results for the rest of the world.

Written/Directed/Produced by Andrew Racho

Tobacco Man is the story of a cigarette-shaped ‘superhero’ fighting against ‘liberals, whiners, and people who just say ‘no.” A satirical ‘Colbert-esque’ hero, Tobacco Man stops a teenager from resisting peer pressure, stops an addict mother from quitting for her children, and encourages a schoolgirl experimenting in the playground.

Written/Directed by Sam K. Hale; Produced by Heather Henson

Events are set in motion when a mysterious Trickster hurls a star through outer space. Nani, a patchwork girl, chases the star to discover a world she’s never set foot upon. In her quest she saves the life of Shojun, a tortoise fisherman and warrior. Together they travel through his surreal, fantastic world to the star’s mountain resting place to discover its secrets.

From turbulent coastal waters to frozen mountains and unknown nether spaces, Yamasong takes the viewer on a fantastic journey filled with stunning live-action Japanese-style puppets in a hybrid world of computer-generated and real objects. Set to the music of On Ensemble, an L.A.-based percussion band, the story is an instrumental and visual metaphor for a journey taken with another across a new cultural landscape, and walking away changed from the experience.

Yamasong is an exciting blend of traditional puppet techniques married with new digital technology. From using green screen to After Effects to the Canon 7D camera, the story aims to create a visual world that is neither purely real or imaginary, but somewhere between and evocative as a place all of its own.