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Dir. Marq Evans - 2022 - 96m

Known as the “Father of Claymation,” Will Vinton revolutionized the animation business during the 1980s and 90s, creating such iconic characters as the California Raisins and Domino’s The Noid. But after thirty years of being the unheralded king of clay, Vinton’s carefully sculpted American dream came crumbling down. Structured around interviews with this charismatic pioneer and his close collaborators, along with a treasure trove of clips of their work together, CLAYDREAM charts the rise and fall of the Oscar®- and Emmy®-winning Will Vinton Studios. Documentarian Marq Evans brings to life the battle between art and commerce in this affectionate, insightful portrait of an artist who put so much of himself into his craft.

"Brilliant, Heartbreaking, Lovely, Dire and Riveting!" - Guy Maddin

"Will make most viewers want to run out and rent as much of Vinton's work as they can find, and that's the highest compliment it can get." - Films Gone Wild

“Answers all that you ever wondered about the rise and fall of ‘Claymation’—and its corporate re-birth as Laika Studios.” - Maven's Nest

[Will Vinton] is a figure in animation history worth celebrating.” - CBR

"The story of a pioneer of American animation, and how he was denied his rightful place." - Tilt Magazine

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Dir. Phil Tippett - 2022 - 83m

The highly anticipated mad opus feature by legendary stop animation pro & two time Academy Award winner Phil Tippet hurls us into a ruined city being explored by a diving bell birthed assassin on a mysterious mission!  Starring REPO MAN director Alex Cox! 

This fully practical stop-motion film is set in a Miltonesque world of monsters, mad scientists, and war pigs.

In 1987, legendary visual effects and stop-motion craftsman Phil Tippett embarked upon an ambitious personal project, fabricating and animating a darkly surreal world in which the creatures and nightmares of his imagination could roam free.  Phil produced dozens of environments and hundreds of puppets for the project, filling notebook after notebook with thousands of detailed sketches and storyboards. 

Decades after the success of Tippett Studio forced production into stasis, a group of animators at Tippett Studio came upon boxes of shelved props and puppets.  After viewing the original footage, they convinced Phil to resurrect the project.  The small group began volunteering their weekends to MAD GOD, and before long it had snowballed into a crew of more than 60 artists.  A wildly successful KickStarter campaign provided funding for materials and equipment.

Each piece of MAD GOD is hand crafted, independent and created from the heart.  Sometimes that heart is bursting with love for the craft, while other times it's macabre, punctured, and bleeding. MAD GOD is a mature film crafted from techniques & technologies that span the history of cinema and the career of a true animation mastermind.

"Playful and morbid, inquisitive and wise, [Tippett is] worth following into Hell and out the other side." - Charles Bramesco, Inside Hook

"A hellish accumulation that, in its entirety, creates a divine comedy." - Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle

"For animation and sci-fi fans with strong stomachs and adventurous tastes... “Mad God” is a must. There’s never been a movie quite like it: an unflinching tour through the darkest recesses of a brilliant artist’s mind." - Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times

"It’s a striking, unsettling vision that defies narrative norms as it tugs you into the cesspool depths. It’s unlike much anything else you’ll ever see."  - Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

"A grotesque, troubling film, but it is also a beautiful, awe-inspiring one, and film fans owe it to themselves to descend into its depths." - Jessica Scott, We Who Walk Here

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