'Movies Inspire Dreams'

This is an animation that I produced for the Japanese non-profit organisation; World Theater Project.

I have a big interest in Japan and I watch a lot of Japanese television through NHK World. One day I happened to catch a show that I don't usually watch, but had caught my attention because of its theme. It was a program called Side by Side, a documentary series that shares the work of collaborative projects that help people and communities.

The focus of this particular show was on the World Theater Project, a small group of people who travel around and screen movies to children who have never had the chance to see one. I was instantly touched by the message and felt it was a cause that I could really get behind. When the show ended I was left with a feeling that I had to get involved somehow, so I found their website and sent them an email. Even though I wasn't sure at this point if any of the group could speak English.

Since the group was based in Japan, and I had only just stumbled across their work myself, I proposed the idea of an animation that would promote their cause to an English speaking audience. Following an initial meeting on Skype; and numerous email exchanges, I produced this animation for them. I suggested trying to push it to some of the animation festivals that happen throughout the year, and a few of these were happy to accept it into their programme.