“The Worm’s-Eye View of the Bird”, an animated short by Karen Zipor, made its SoCal Premiere on Monday June 22nd
The Worm’s-Eye View of the Bird is a sassy, metaphorical short where a girl falls in love with a worm, only to have her heart broken by an unexpected twist. The film is written, directed, produced, and edited by Zipor. The score is composed by Ashna Pathan, with Alexa Zachary supplying the voice talent.
“Admit it, we’ve all dated a worm at some point.
The Worm’s-Eye View of the Bird is surprisingly not inspired by the meme, “Would you still love me if I was a worm?” It’s based on the true story of how I made the difficult choice to leave behind my first love. Despite many years together, he refused to follow me to Los Angeles and no longer aligned with my destiny and aspirations of becoming a filmmaker.
This short film is the culmination of years of processing difficult heartbreak — how the memories of people are like worms that stick in your brain, and how you know the other person is still watching you from a distance, even years after the split,” says filmmaker Zipor.
Karen Zipor is a Television Academy Foundation alum in Animation and works as a full-time producer: having created content for Disney, Dreamworks, Warner Bros, and other animated television (“ARK: The Animated Series“). Additionally, Karen is the Webby award-winning producer of “Brittany Broski’s Royal Court” — a celebrity interview show featuring high-profile guests like Harry Styles, Jessie Buckley, and many more.
As the founder of Zipped Up Films, Karen’s prior directorial work spans across both live-action and animation (A Painterly Hand, Blessing On Your Head), with a primary interest in the duality of love as both comedy and horror.
The Worm’s-Eye View of the Bird is the first animated work by Zipped Up Films. The project took over a year as she assembled a team of young all-stars from some of the biggest studios in Los Angeles (such as Disney, Sony Pictures Animation, Titmouse, and more). The crew of over 30 people are the next voices in the animation industry: honoring traditional 2D art styles (evoking the child-like innocence of watercolor in picture books), while implementing contemporary color palettes and VFX compositing techniques (especially to ground the film’s more mature themes).
The 6-minute shot screened on Monday, June 22nd at the TCL Chinese 6, 6801 Hollywood Blvd.
REVIEW:
In today’s modern world, life can be hard, and even more so when it comes to dating. We have all endured different kinds of scenarios, myself included, where it may not have worked out or it was just too toxic. That’s why this short film caught my attention.
The Worm’s-Eye View of the Bird is a very unique in that a human girl falls in love with the most unlikely creature imaginable: a worm. The metaphor is not obvious until you get to the end. This short film is tailored for more mature audiences because kids don’t deal with dating until later in life. But the way the film ended is also different.
In far too many romance films, we see two people who are complete opposites end up in love, then have a misunderstanding and split up, and then they HAVE to end up back together again. This short film examines what happens so often in real life: what if it DOESN’T work out? This is a truly healing movie that has a message that doesn’t get said much. For many that are force to navigate the very toxic reality of dating, this is a must-watch.
The visuals of the film are well done. In a world where everything is computer or AI generated, it is refreshing to still see a two-dimensional cartoon. The story is well-paced and the message remains on point. This is a truly wonderful film that should be watched by the world today.
ABOUT DANCES WITH FILMS
Now its 28th year and represented in both Los Angeles and New York, DANCES WITH FILMS champions the unflinching spirit at the very core of the independent film scene. While the vast majority of film fests rely heavily on celebrity, we have relied on the innovation, talent, creativity and sweat equity that revolutionized the entertainment industry. And that reliance continues to prove successful with alumni moving on to write, direct and produce celebrity-studded vehicles, star in blockbuster movies and television series, produce multi-million dollar films and create hit TV shows. Oh…. and we even have several OSCAR® nominees… In a world of homogenized, formulaic film festivals, DWF continues to defy the rules.
