By Valerie Milano
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 2/5/26 – In just 99 seconds, Staring Contest delivers an emotional gut punch that lingers long after the screen goes dark. The animated short, written, directed, and animated by Courtney Sposato and produced by her husband and creative partner Mark Sposato, screens in the 99 Specials program at the Slamdance Film Festival on February 22 at 6 p.m.
During a recent Zoom interview with The Hollywood Times, Courtney and Mark spoke candidly about the personal origins of the film, their collaborative creative process, and the challenge of telling a complete and resonant story in such a compressed format.
The idea for Staring Contest emerged in the fall as Courtney prepared for her five-year-old daughter to begin kindergarten. What started as a swirl of parental fears quickly evolved into a story told through a child’s perspective. “I was having so many emotions and anxieties coming to the surface,” Courtney shared. “When I discovered the 99 Specials category, I thought, maybe I can make something out of what I’m feeling.”
Click below for our exclusive interview:
The film opens with a playful staring contest between two childlike animal characters, a bunny and a fox, before taking a sudden and unsettling turn when ICE enters the room. That tonal shift is deliberate. Courtney explained that she wanted to reflect how quickly real-world dangers can intrude on innocent childhood moments. “These kids are just kids,” she said. “They see each other as friends. They’re playing innocent games, and then suddenly something terrible happens, and they don’t understand why their friend would be taken. All they know is, ‘That’s my friend, and now they’re gone.’”
Although Courtney is an experienced video editor and narrative filmmaker, Staring Contest marked her first time working in animation. She taught herself Blender while simultaneously building the film, often confronting moments of frustration and doubt. “There were nights I wanted to quit,” she admitted. “I remember telling Mark, ‘I don’t think I can finish this.’”
Mark, who joined the Zoom interview and served as both producer and creative sounding board, encouraged her to keep going. “If she had stopped, we wouldn’t be here at Slamdance,” he said. He described watching the project evolve from Blender’s infamous beginner “donut exercise” into a fully realized animated world. “To go from a donut on a plate to an entire universe, it was incredible to witness.”
Their collaboration extended beyond technical problem-solving. Mark emphasized how Courtney’s background in live-action filmmaking deeply informed the animation. Her understanding of camera movement, lighting, blocking, and shot composition translated directly into the animated space. “Knowing how scenes work in live action made the animation much stronger,” he noted. “That experience is invaluable.”
One of the film’s most intimate layers comes from the involvement of the couple’s daughter, Lola. Her original drawings inspired the bunny and fox characters, and she helped choose their colors and design. Courtney shared that Lola proudly calls Staring Contest “her movie.” Mark added that Lola’s natural creativity made her an ideal collaborator, even joking that she stepped into the role of art director.
To capture authentic emotion without dialogue, Courtney studied her daughter’s facial expressions, photographing her reactions and sculpting the characters to mirror them. She also performed the characters’ vocalizations herself, prioritizing emotional truth over polish. “I wanted it to feel as true to childhood behavior as possible,” she explained.
Despite its brevity, Staring Contest grapples with weighty themes; fear, safety, loss, while ultimately landing on a message of friendship and simplicity. Courtney hopes audiences leave with the same clarity children often possess. She recalled her daughter’s approach to making friends: walking up to another child and simply asking, “Will you be my friend?” The answer was yes, and the two have been inseparable ever since. “We can learn so much from kids,” she said.
That perspective is underscored by one of the film’s most poignant moments, when Lola watched the short and asked why the bunny was taken away. “I told her, ‘I don’t know,’” Courtney said. “Because it doesn’t make any sense. That’s what I want people to sit with.”
Courtney and Mark will attend the Slamdance screening together and are eager to experience the film with a live audience. Both expressed excitement about the 99-second format and admiration for Slamdance’s commitment to independent filmmaking. “To us, Slamdance represents the highest caliber of indie film,” Mark said. “Being here feels like a milestone.”
With Staring Contest, the Sposatos prove that even in 99 seconds, a story can be tender, urgent, and unforgettable.
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