Today’s piece is an animated short with a history, and despite the thriller/horror aspect of the film itself, behind the scenes it’s something of a hero’s journey.

Killing Anabella is the story of an orphaned Mexican girl with a horrific past, traumatized by a psycho killer. Only death can save her from whatever’s chasing her. So what’s killing Anabella?

Pause the SCIFI.radio music stream using the player at the upper right before you view it.

Killing Anabella is the work of Aman Bhanot, who, eight years ago, was little more than a hopeful artist in a small town in India with the dream of becoming an animator some day.

After taking a short class in animation and practicing like mad, he got his first break with EpicsFx Studios in Mexico, where he worked with renowned artist Serkan Zelzele, who has worked on numerous Hollywood productions, including Titanic, X-Men 2, and the Oscar-winning Golden Compass.

That’s when Aman’s real education began. It’s a far cry from learning the basics in a classroom to being on real productions. Aman did scene and camera layouts to prepare the scenes for other animators for the most part, but gradually was given animated sequences to do. He learned about every aspect of production, and began the long journey of making his own short subject.

He wasn’t making a lot of money working for EpicsFX Studios, but he set aside a quarter of what he earned each month to spend on his project, and worked on it every day. He had budgeted $40,000 for the film, but in the end, he had worked with 74 artists around the world and spent $10,000 more. He’s now working on a pitch for a TV series project that he hopes to direct.

Aman says that this film isn’t about how great he is as a filmmaker or first time director – it’s about not giving up until you reach the finish line. When he started the project he had no idea what would happen to it when he was finished, or where it might go.

He offers these words of encouragement to new filmmakers:

Projects like these are babies and you need to ensure yourself that they will grow up all right ! I am not here to disappoint you, but to tell you, push forward and trust in your project, put your money into if if you have to, but make it something which you feel confident showcasing to the producers. It’s your dream and you have to own it.

Before you make excuses, and tell me ‘Easy for you to say, as you might be earning good and we are not, because we have to pay our bills etc.’ I am sorry, friends, I don’t have to find reasons for you. But I can tell that I also want to go to foreign trips, buy latest iPhones, live rocking Fridays and buy expensive gifts for my family and girlfriend but I find every small step towards finishing the project more satisfying than all those temporary pleasures.

So please please please JUST DO IT !!! Start walking and the road will build itself.

You can also see the film on Amazon Prime – here’s the link for that.

You can see more of Aman Bhanot’s work on his personal Video channel, on the Killing Anabella Vimeo channel, and on the Vimeo Animator’s Warmup channel.

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