When Jeremy Spears and Nathan Engelhardt began directing the animated short film Forevergreen, they anticipated completing it within a year, but the project extended to six. This Oscar-nominated film became a collaborative effort fueled by hundreds of industry friends, highlighting the vital role Natalie Portman animation producer support plays in today’s animation landscape.
Creating Forevergreen: A Lengthy, Passionate Journey
Spears revealed the demanding nature of producing Forevergreen, noting that the commitment stretched beyond the original timeframe.
“Our wives were about ready to kill us, but God bless them, they loved us through it all,”
he shared, underscoring the strain on personal lives. Over time, their circle grew as 200 artists and technicians contributed voluntarily, demonstrating how community efforts can drive an ambitious project forward.
Assisting Spears was Steph Gortz, a seasoned production supervisor with Disney animation experience, who took on a producer role for Forevergreen. She explained her affinity for managing the complexities of production, saying,
“I enjoy the challenge of corralling. It’s why I work on the production side and not the creative side. Somebody has to herd the cats. I enjoy it.”
Insights from Fellow Animators on Craft and Collaboration
Alongside Spears and Gortz, the animation panel featured Chris Lavis, co-director of The Girl Who Cried Pearls, Konstantin Bronzit, director of The Three Sisters, and Ugo Bienvenu, writer and director of the Oscar-nominated feature Arco. Their diverse projects reveal varied approaches to animation storytelling.
Lavis described how his and Maciek Szczerbowski’s collaborative process began 15 years ago, sparked by combining images much like a collage.
“We write all the time, and we work all the time, and we go for beers all the time, and we’re just always open for things,”
Lavis said.
“We started working together as collage artists, actually, and with collage, you find images, and you look for things, and you collide them, and you piece them together. … With this movie, it was that same kind of process, where this image of a girl crying and this image of pearls lying on the ground were like two pieces of a collage, and it felt like there was a story there.”
By contrast, Bronzit’s work on The Three Sisters was deeply influenced by narrative style and design, resembling a pop-up book. Explaining this artistic choice, he said,
“I was taught that story dictates the design and the style, so I didn’t have a choice. It was inevitable.”
Imagining Better Futures Through Animation
Bienvenu’s feature Arco follows a boy traveling from a utopian future back to the 2070s, reflecting the director’s concerns about present events. When starting the project in 2019, he recognized unsettling parallels with dystopian science fiction, expressing a renewed desire to depict hope instead.
“Since the golden age of science fiction spread bad ideas in the future and they are happening right now, maybe it’s our responsibility right now as science-fiction writers to spread better things in the future,”
Bienvenu said.
“If we want the best to happen, we have to imagine it.”
Natalie Portman’s Crucial Role in Realizing Arco
To complete Arco, Bienvenu sought the involvement of a prominent producer and found Natalie Portman through their shared agent. After presenting her with 45 minutes of animatics, Portman became deeply invested in the project.
Bienvenu recounted their interaction:
“She was really moved and like, ‘What do you need from me?’ I said, ‘I need you to protect the movie — the movie I wanted to make in the very beginning, because nobody trusts it.’ And we need you to put the rest of the money to do the animatic so we can show everybody the exact movie we want to do.’”
Her engagement underscores the significance of established talent backing new animation projects.
A Director’s Choice to Use a Pseudonym for Artistic Freedom
For The Three Sisters, Bronzit initially chose to submit his work under the alias Timur Kognov. This decision was driven by curiosity about how the film would be received without the weight of his previous reputation — he had already earned two prior Oscar short nominations.
He described the experience:
“The first people who actually knew who I was were actually the selection committee of the Santa Barbara Festival. When they learned, when I won the prize, that I am not Timur Kognov but I’m actually Konstantin Bronzit, they were amazed. They thought it’s just an outstanding adventure, and they thanked me for letting them be part of it.”
Implications for Animated Film and Industry Collaborations
The shared stories of these filmmakers highlight the complexity and dedication involved in producing animated works with Oscar-level ambitions. From managing extensive volunteer teams to enlisting celebrated figures like Natalie Portman, these projects reflect broader trends in animation production where collaboration, perseverance, and creative innovation intersect.
As Forevergreen, The Girl Who Cried Pearls, The Three Sisters, and Arco come into the spotlight, their journeys illustrate both the challenges and opportunities within the evolving animation community, pointing toward a future shaped by passionate artists and strategic partnership.
