the work of indie filmmaker & 2D animator Matt Bruneau-Richardson 🎬🧜♀️🎞 Currently producing “Sirenetta: Part-Time Mermaid” indie animated feature film
It's another #IndieAnimationDay, and we're here with an updated WIP Reel! One clip from every scene in "Sirenetta: Part-Time Mermaid" currently in production, from rough storyboards to early composites! We're getting close to a huge milestone - we only have four scenes left to start work on!
a cool thing about indie animation is that it's expected to save the entire industry, every show has to look better than the things the fans grew up on or it's a waste of time, there's no union to be found anywhere, no budget for any of it, and asking the audience to pay anything to watch is illegal
This past week has motivated me to get myself out there when it comes to voice acting, mainly because if the podcast isn't gonna get me away from this warehouse job, maybe I can creatively express myself with some fun voices & acting. I've always wanted to get myself out there, better now than never
Jim Queen premiered at Cannes, one of the most competitive film festivals to get into in the world, but it’s gay so of course YouTube has decided it’s bad. Not cuz it’s gay though, for TOTALLY unrelated reasons I’m sure.
And when the YouTube critics inevitably say “the actors are all so terrible,” like they did with the lead actress from Lesbian Space Princess who’s on The Pitt, remember Wendie Malick was in The Owl House
We’ve got a great thing going with indie animation - but there’s a lot of incredible lesser-known talents out there, outside of your Glitch and Spindlehorse shows.
The cool thing about indie stuff is it can come from anyone and anywhere; you just gotta look for it and share what you love.
Jim Queen premiered at Cannes, one of the most competitive film festivals to get into in the world, but it’s gay so of course YouTube has decided it’s bad. Not cuz it’s gay though, for TOTALLY unrelated reasons I’m sure.
I also (genuinely) wonder if it’s just a coincidence that these are two queer feature films, when most indie animation discussion is centered on pilots and series. Either that films are being targeted, or that these queer creators felt film festivals was the best environment for their stories
Jim Queen premiered at Cannes, one of the most competitive film festivals to get into in the world, but it’s gay so of course YouTube has decided it’s bad. Not cuz it’s gay though, for TOTALLY unrelated reasons I’m sure.
Lesbian Space Princess also won awards during its festival run, but you’d think it was objectively bad and universally reviled the way people talk about it. Sometimes films just aren’t made for you, and that’s okay. If you want a movie that caters to everyone, that’s what Hollywood is for.
After years of preparation...
Sunnyside: Royals of Cora
THE OFFICIAL PILOT CROWDFUND
Will launch OCTOBER 1ST on Kickstarter! 🎉🥳
(pre-launch page below 🥹)
Watching what felt like the entire internet rip an indie animated film to shreds just for being low budget, “cringey,” and queer really freaked me out this week. I couldn’t help but think that the same reaction is inevitable for my movie, and that honestly terrified me.
I thought about just keeping this movie to myself forever out of fear of a similar reaction, but that wouldn’t be fair to me or all of the people who have worked so hard on this project.
So I held true to the plans I’ve had for over a year and started submitting “Sirenetta” to film festivals today.
I really believe in what we’re making, and we still have such a long way to go but it’s all been so exciting. I don’t know how people will respond to it, but if even just one person feels a little bit more seen because of our little mermaid then I think it’ll all be worth it. 🧜♀️
A week from today I start submitting my mermaid movie set in PTown to film festivals, so I decided to take a break from that stress to enjoy mermaids in PTown
I’ve been pretty quiet lately, hard at work on getting Sirenetta ready for festival submissions, so there’s nothing new for #IndieAnimationDay, however…
I DID just make my first indie animated series public to watch again! 5683 was a web show I made back in high school, just a short…17 years ago ☠️
I animated it all by myself in Animation:Master, and my friends from doing school plays all did the voices on the cheapest little microphone my Grammie gave me for Christmas one year, haha! I have truly always wanted to do this
We started with 6 episodes (in the playlist above) and I wanted to make some one-offs so we made 3 more. This was literally a labor of love 💘 and as RoUgH as it is, I still have a lot of affection for these two magical girls
MONKEY WRENCH IS COMING TO NETFLIX!
The secret that's been kept for the past 8 months!
The first 5 episodes of Monkey Wrench are officially coming to NETFLIX on AUGUST 19th!
Fully remastered and re-engineered audio!
New multiple language dubs!
New intro sequence!
#monkeywrench#indieanimation
Just finished shipping out the last of our Kickstarter rewards!!! Thank you again to all of our backers, I hope you enjoy all of the mermaid magic when it washes up on your shores!
There are currently 3 ongoing/upcoming Kickstarters for Black-led animated projects to support:
• The Three Tomes by @breanimator.bsky.social
• FLY by @jayrayart.bsky.social
• HEY by ToonrificTariq
Links below! ⬇️
If our options are use AI or be left behind, I’ll gladly stay behind. I’ll pivot to theater or sculpture or something a computer can’t mindlessly reproduce. I enjoy creativity, and those who use AI just enjoy selling content.
Some heartbreaking animation news today from people who have been some of my animation heroes.
It’s up to us to hold the line and build a better future for animation.
NEXT INDIE ANIMATION DAY IS THIS MONTH, MAY 16th!!!!
Share your projects, support your favorite indies, and find a new cartoon to love!!!
#indieanimationday
We’re having an extra magical #MermaidMonday here as the rewards for our Kickstarter are starting to arrive! Still waiting on a few more things from the printer and then we’ll start sending them out to our backers!