Title sequence for Cassie Shao’s "This Is a Story Without a Plan" screening at Annecy International Animation Film Festival

The title sequence I designed for Cassie Shao’s This Is a Story Without a Plan will be screening in the Perspectives Short Films competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, one of the world’s leading events in animation. I was honored to contribute to Shao’s inimitable process, which integrates cel drawings and acrylic paint with 3D environments. I’m so proud of her artistry being recognized at an such an esteemed, international level.

This Is a Story Without a Plan (2023) Dir. Cassie Shao

"What I Had to Leave Behind" Official Selection at 2022 Los Angeles Animation Festival

What I Had to Leave Behind will screen at the 2022 Los Angeles Animation Festival on December 10th. Founded in 2007, LAAF is the city’s only international film festival and symposium.

Earlier this week, Maggie Dave - Old You, the official music video animated by Cassie Shao for Christensen’s pop music project with Mark Christopher, was awarded Honorable Mention at LAAF. This honor is given "to work of an exceptionally high standard and worthy of festival praise." Shao is an alum of the festival, earning a nomination for her film There Were Four of Us as Best Student Experimental Short in 2019.

"What I Had to Leave Behind" at 2022 HollyShorts Film Festival

The Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival hosted a screening of What I Had to Leave Behind at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA on August 18th, 2022. It was a fun night sharing the evening with my friends and collaborators from the film: cinematographer Wenting Deng Fisher and animator Cassie Shao. Our mighty sound mixer Jackie! Zhou had three films in the shorts block we played in, including our own!

Post-screening Q&A after the “Docs II” shorts block at the 2022 HollyShorts Film Festival in Hollywood, CA - August 18th, 2022. (Photo by Shengwei Zhou)

28th Palm Springs International ShortFest - June 24th, 2022

I was honored to share the screen with so many brilliant creatives at this year’s Palm Springs International ShortFest. I feel the journey of a film isn’t complete until an audience experiences it together. With that, What I Had to Leave Behind was embraced in a way that was completely unexpected and so gratifying for me & the crew who attended. Special thanks to Getty Images & David Crotty for capturing on the red carpet how I felt that entire week: grateful and proud of whatever comes next.

"What I Had to Leave Behind" at 2022 Palm Springs International ShortFest

As we wrapped miniature photography on What I Had to Leave Behind last spring, cinematographer Wenting Deng Fisher had an idea for a behind-the-scenes picture. I had to crawl underneath the set, a dollhouse-scale replica of my old Los Angeles Koreatown apartment, to get to the other side and give her the best angle. One year later, I'm looking at myself through this doorway, reflecting on all that was unknown at the time for my film & I. I hadn't yet added Cassie Shao's remarkable animation or Branden Brown’s evocative score (his first for film). Not even Jackie! Zhou’s immersive sound mix or Alastor Arnold’s impeccable color. This film would just be an empty room without my crew.

Wenting Deng Fisher adjusts her camera on the miniature set of What I Had to Leave Behind.

Later this month, our film will be making its west coast premiere at the 2022 Palm Springs International ShortFest, selected to compete in the "Best Animated Short" program. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude. For all those currently in the middle of a project or a pathway that seems obscured, keep moving. Don't be afraid to ask your peers for help. If and when you're blessed with their support, always give it back to your community two-fold. You're always stronger when you build together!

Palm Springs is an institution. Their thoughtful Oscar, BATFA & Goya Award-qualifying programming elevates the craft of short films. It's an honor to participate this year with my latest offering. Please check out the rest of my peers on the #shortfest2022 YouTube playlist to hear all about their wonderful work.

"What I Had to Leave Behind," original motion picture score by Branden Brown

It was a joy working with multireedist and composer Branden Brown on his first film score for What I Had to Leave Behind. A graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music Jazz Studies program, I discovered his gift for composing at one of the school’s jazz concerts, all of which, had been converted to pre-recorded livestreams during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Coincidentally, I was able to virtually attend more concerts than I had been able to do so years before in person, and the experience forever opened my mind and ears to these remarkably talented musicians.

July 17th, 2021 - Composer and saxophonist Branden Brown tunes his instrument in the scoring stage of BioSoul Music; Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Sean David Christensen)

Branden assembled an exceptional ensemble to perform his original jazz score, which he conducted from behind his player’s podium as the saxophonist. Joining him in the BioSoul Music scoring stage were trumpeter Ethan Chilton, bass clarinetist Eric Croissant, drummer/percussionist Lauren Ellis and bassist Cyrus Elia. Adding later on to the score, remotely, was keyboardist Magdalena Daniec of Joy Guerilla. The session was engineered by Daniel Weidlein.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

As we wait for our film festival premiere and an opportunity to share What I Had to Leave Behind in its entirety, please enjoy Branden’s musical score that evokes the film’s contemplative themes of remembrance and letting go of the past. (Music animation by Cassie Shao. Photography by Wenting Deng Fisher.)

Behind the scenes: "What I Had to Leave Behind"

Here I am dusting the miniature set of What I Had to Leave Behind, my latest film. In my (comparatively massive) hand, I’m wielding the same 1/2 inch acrylic paintbrush I used to paint this dollhouse-scale apartment. I should’ve made a dust pan before I started sweeping, too! Photographed by my director of photography, Wenting Deng Fisher, we wrapped filming in April 2021 with these miniature unit shots to help tell the story of this hybrid live-action/animation diary film. Featuring animation by my friend Cassie Shao, an original jazz score by Branden Brown and sound design by Jackie! Zhou, I’m looking forward to completion this summer and building whatever comes next!

Yusuf/Cat Stevens "On The Road To Find Out" (Director's Cut)

“A man and his boulder…a journey through time.” So begins director Kimberly Stuckwisch’s description to her director’s cut (with Melora Donoghue) for “On The Road To Find Out,” an allegorical interpretation of the song by Yusuf/Cat Stevens. Re-recorded by Stevens for the 50th anniversary re-release of his classic album Tea for the Tillerman, Stuckwisch filmed the music video for this new take on the song in her trademark style, blending stunning locations with ingenious practical effects to create a singular vision.

Filmed on the coastal sand dunes of Pismo Beach in California, a boulder amalgamated from household appliances and other manmade scrap gradually grows in size as a man (Viet Dang) drags it across figurative “sands of time.” Grimacing as the ever-increasing weight slows his gait to a crawl, objects from centuries past fly through the desert and cling to this rock, a burden he has chosen to carry.

Viet Dang drags the burden of man’s progress behind him in Yusuf/Cat Stevens “On The Road To Find Out” (Director’s Cut) by Kimberly Stuckwisch & Melora Donoghue

“The video is an allegory for humanity’s journey for self-discovery and the historical events, art, and music that have influenced life and culture,” says Stuckwisch. “Through the video, we follow a man pulling a boulder that increasingly grows to represent these influences. It’s a story of our ability to break free from these burdens and our will to find inner peace.”

The fully COVID-compliant production was filmed in the summer of 2020 with a crew of ten, using all-natural light with no generators or electricity. Ensuring the music video’s carbon footprint was as small as possible, all the props used to create the boulder were donated for recycling after the production wrapped.

Discover & share this Animation GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

Kimberly commissioned me to create hand-drawn titles & credits. Having collaborated with her before on videos for Broken Bells, Jeremy Ivey & Margo Price, we had developed an ease to envisioning what these sequences would look like in the final cut – almost before I would even put pen to paper!

End credits for “On The Road To Find Out” (Director’s Cut); Chisel-tip pen on paper.

Discover & share this Animation GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

Suggesting we add an additional layer of artistry to embellish the titles’ design, I recommended award-winning animator Cassie Shao, who often collaborates with my band, Maggie Dave. Her illustrated blowing sands revealing the names created a storybook-like beauty to the fantastical world that Stuckwisch imagined with her cast & crew.

Nevada City Film Festival - Animated Shorts Filmmakers' Interview

Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of joining a panel of animators and producers at the Nevada City Film Festival - Animation Shorts program, to discuss our approaches to visual storytelling, inspirations and collaborating virtually during this unprecedented year. Representing Maggie Dave - I’m Not Ready, animated by Cassie Shao, special thanks to Festival Director Jesse Locks for hosting the conversation.

Interview with selected “Animated Shorts” filmmakers: Josephine Lohoar - The Fabric of You,
Calum Hart - The Fabric of You, Sean David Christensen - Maggie Dave - I’m Not Ready, Camrus Johnson - Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad, Geoff Hecht - Metro 6, Cullen Parr - Charon; Hosted by Jesse Locks

"Maggie Dave - I'm Not Ready" at LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival & Nevada City Film Festival

Cassie Shao’s brilliant music video for “I’m Not Ready” (music video for Maggie Dave) was announced on two lauded festival lineups this week. At the LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival, Shao’s film will make its Ukrainian premiere alongside 26 other international offerings in the “Commissioned Film Competition.” At the “Sundance of the Sierra,” the Nevada City Film Festival will host the music video at their innovative outdoor drive-in cinema under the stars of Grass Valley, California.

Drive-in Cinema at Nevada City Film Festival

Directed & Animated by Cassie Shao Produced by Sean David Christensen “I'm Not Ready” written by Maggie Dave Vocals & keyboard: Sean David Christensen Synthesizers: Mark Christopher & Ricky Berger Vocals engineered by Ricky Berger Mixed by Ricky Berger & Mark Christopher Mastering by Trevor Case https://www.karasucassie.com/ https://www.maggiedave.com/ --Official Screenings-- 2020 Athens International Film + Video Festival 2019 Flux Screening Series Fall edition at the Hammer Museum 2019 Music Video & Shorts Night #3 at the Gold Diggers

Vimeo Staff Pick: "I'm Not Ready" by Cassie Shao

I’m thrilled for my friend Cassie Shao, awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick for her visionary reimagining of “I’m Not Ready” by Maggie Dave. Featured on “Ladies With Lenses,” a curated staff channel that celebrates the best work on the Internet by womxn behind the camera, Shao’s delicate and abstract expression of my lyrics makes the song new again with each viewing.

“I’m Not Ready” (2019) by Cassie Shao

“I’m Not Ready” (2019) by Cassie Shao

CREDITS

Directed & Animated by Cassie Shao
Produced by Sean David Christensen

“I'm Not Ready” written by Maggie Dave
Vocals & keyboard: Sean David Christensen
Synthesizers: Mark Christopher & Ricky Berger

Vocals engineered by Ricky Berger
Mixed by Ricky Berger & Mark Christopher
Mastering by Trevor Case

Maggie Dave "I'm Not Ready" by Cassie Shao

Cassie Shao is a visionary talent in animation. I had the great pleasure of meeting her through USC’s John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts after a screening of her breathtaking thesis film, There Were Four of Us:

A dizzying blend of claustrophobic environments that fold backwards with vivid bursts of color and hand-painted debris, Shao’s work traces the jagged edges of dreams with startling clarity. Shortly after getting to know her and learn more about her work, I invited her to visualize “I’m Not Ready,” a debut single from Maggie Dave (my band, with artist Mark Christopher). I was humbled and honored by her expressive and delicate exploration of the song, one that now sounds brand new each time I watch her video.

Maggie Dave - I’m Not Ready arrives October 23rd. Watch this space!