Gather round Stash 53 and let 90+ minutes of blazing animation and VFX warm your hands, heart and brain.

This roaring (yet somehow cozy) inferno starts with a flight of spots demonstrating the full range and all the strengths of 3D animation: Smith & Foulkes’ brings powerful new character work to UK traffic safety; 1st Ave Machine creates intrigue by combining geometric magic with characters in spots for Audi and Saturn; Bitt Animation splices together the world’s first fishdog in the smile-inducing new VW promo; Akama helps a lonely espresso cup find freedom through, well...coffee; Imaginary Forces gets surgical; and slick sampling scores of Scions and Deli Pictures break out a cacophony of CG to show you what hangovers actually look like.

Broadcast design, event titles and other motion graphic concoctions are also here in force, including PostPanic’s scary new VFX short for MTV Oooh, Superfad’s pair of mutational snow sculpture clips for the winter X Games on ESPN, the head-snapping new O’Neill Evolution open from Onesize, Colourmovie’s snappy new intro for Cinema Tuesdays for Flux and Nike, and Offspring’s new clips for Ford featuring the rant-alicious voice talents of Denis Leary.

The second half of 53 is one long boiling stream of inspiration including awesome work from new talent like the spectacular System 7 “Hinotori” video from Japan’s Mood Magic, the launch film from brand new San Fran studio Autofuss, charming and tricky live action/2D fun from Montreal’s Julien Vallée, the winning effort from Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” video contest by Tobias Stretch, the manically detailed new video for The Pangs called “Fighterplane” from Zeroh in the UK, a surprising take on Croatian history called “Magic Chest” from Luminus in Belgrade, and the naughty-enough-to-be-banned-from-YouTube video for Le Le “Breakfast” from Sandder Lanen and Parra.

Of course 53 also delivers plenty of work from the studios you know and love: Lobo is here with their epic Lego viral; Passion Pictures casts a Meerkat in a cravat for Compare the Market.com; Tronic is back with a pair of geometry-fueled spots for Oracle; Boolab directors Denis-Cisma and Nico Casavecchia roll up five virals for OCB; and Belgium’s Czar light up the new year for Electrabel by hand animating 228,000 candles.

Stash 53 closes the main program with “E1even Roses”, a short written and directed by Pedram Goshtasbpour, a young Canadian who harnessed a battalion of international volunteers to bring his zero-budget ode to love and obsession to the screen.

The four BONUS FILMS on Stash 53 are the incredibly diverse and ambitious winners from the 2008 Getty Images Short & Sweet Film Challenge.

The BONUS MUSIC on Stash 53 is a serving of eight MP3s from the stellar bands signed to Toronto-based indie label White Whale Records, including Kids These Days, Culture Reject, Precious Fathers, Octoberman, The Mohawk Lodge and Poorfolk.

BEHIND THE SCENES material on 53 includes insightful looks at the making of VW “Fishdog” from Bitt Animation, “Indescribable Pain” by Deli Pictures, the pair of ESPN Winter Games spots from Superfad, the “Anything You Synthesize” music video from Onesize, and the Pangs “Fighterplane” music video from Zeroh.

TALES OF THE ROAD:
“THE BOY WHO DIDN’T STOP, LOOK & LISTEN”
TVC :40

Client: DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT
Agency: CARAT
Directors: SMITH & FOULKES
Production: NEXUS PRODUCTIONS
Animation: NEXUS PRODUCTIONS
www.nexusproductions.com

VW SPACEFOX “FISHDOG”
TVC :30

Agency: ALMAP BBDO
Directors: ARMANDO BO
Production: REBOLUCION
VFX: BITT ANIMATION + VFX
www.bittanimation.com

AUDI Q5 “UNBOXED”
TVC :60

Agency: BBH
Directors: AARON DUFFY, RUSSELL BROOKE
Production: PASSION PICTURES, 1ST AVE MACHINE
Animation: PASSION PICTURES
www.passion-paris.com

SATURN (director’s cut)
TVC 2:05

Directors: ARVIND PALEP
Production: 1ST AVE MACHINE
VFX: 1ST AVE MACHINE
www.1stavemachine.com

SCION “SAMPLES”
TVCs x 2 :30

Agency: ATTIK
Director: SIMON NEEDHAM
Production: IMAGINARY FORCES
Animation/VFX: IMAGINARY FORCES
www.imaginaryforces.com

NESCAFE “SPACE EXPERIENCE”
TVC :30

Agency: PUBLICIS
Director: AKAMA
Production: WANDA
Animation: AKAMA
www.akamastudio.com

DOLORMIN “INDESCRIBABLE PAIN”
TVC :30

Client: KNSK
Agency: KNSK
Director: JAN RICHTER
Production: DELI PICTURES
Animation/VFX: DELI PICTURES
www.delipictures.de

MTV “I’M EVERYTHING, ALL OF THE TIME”
Short film 1:20

Client: MTV BENELUX
Director: MISCHA ROZEMA
Production: POSTPANIC
VFX: POSTPANIC, ORKA FILM
www.postpanic.com
www.orkafilm.com.pl

ESPN WINTER XGAMES 13 “THE SEED”, “THE SPARK”
TVCs x 2 :30

Agency: THE MARTIN AGENCY
Director: SUPERFAD
Animation/VFX: SUPERFAD
www.superfad.com

O’NEILL “EVOLUTION”
Event film :30

Director:
MENNO FOKMA
Production:
ONESIZE
Animation/design:
ONESIZE
www.onesize.nl

SYSTEM 7 “HINOTORI”
Music video 3:00

Record label: A-WAVE RECORDS
Agency: WAKYO INC, MUSICROBITA
Director: MOOD MAGIC
Production: TEZUKA PRODUCTIONS
Animation: MOOD MAGIC
www.sakotaharuka.com/moodmagic

THE AMERICAN DOLLAR “ANYTHING YOU SYNTHESIZE”
Music video 4:35

Director: KASPER VERWEIJ
Production: ONESIZE
Animation/VFX: ONESIZE
www.onesize.nl

“AUTOFUSS 001: KATELYN”
Self promotion 1:17

Directors: RANDY STOWELL, JEFF LINNELL
Animation/VFX: AUTOFUSS
www.autofuss.com

NIKE “CINEMA TUESDAYS”
Opening titles :50

Agency: FLUX
Director: COLOURMOVIE
Design/animation: COLOURMOVIE
www.colourmovie.com

“GLOBO LOGOS”
Short film :55

Director: JULIEN VALLÉE
Animation/VFX: JULIEN VALLÉE
www.jvallee.com

WELLCHILD
Corporate video/cinema 3:28

Agency: FEREF, REDBEEMEDIA
Directors: YIBI HU, LUKE KELLY
Design/animation: REDBEEMEDIA
www.redbeemedia.com

RADIOHEAD “WEIRD FISHES”
Music video 5:44

Record label: TBD RECORDS
Director: TOBIAS STRETCH FILMS
Animation/VFX: TOBIAS STRETCH FILMS
www.tobystretch.com

LE LE “BREAKFAST”
Music video 3:20

Record label: MAGNETRON MUSIC
Directors: SANDDER LANEN, PARRA
Animation: PARRA, SANDDER
www.rockwellclothing.com/parra/ www.sandder.com

LEGO “GO MINIMAN GO”
Viral 1:08

Agency: PEREIRA AND O’DELL
Director: CADU MACEDO
Production: THE EBELING GROUP
Animation/VFX: LOBO
www.lobo.cx

COMPARE THE MARKET.COM “ALEKS”
TVC :30

Agency: VCCP
Director: DARREN WALSH
Production: PASSION PICTURES
Animation/VFX: PASSION PICTURES
www.passion-pictures.com

FORD F-150 “RANT”
TVC x 2 :30

Agency: TEAM DETROIT
Director: VINCE HAYCOCK
Design/animation: OFFSPRING NY
www.offspringny.com

THE PANGS “FIGHTERPLANE”
Music video 3:48

Record label: CSIDE TRAX
Director: ZEROH
Production: ZEROH
Animation/VFX: ZEROH
www.zeroh.net

OPENWORLD 2008
Branded content / event video

Client: ORACLE
Director: TRONIC
Animation/VFX: TRONIC
www.tronicstudio.com

SMART. 10 YEARS.
Cinema/TVC :30

Agency: BBDO DÜSSELDORF GMBH
Director: NIKO TZIOPANOS
Production: SEHSUCHT GMBH
Animation/VFX: SEHSUCHT GMBH
www.sehsucht.de

ELECTRABEL “HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009”
TVC :30

Agency: FAMOUS
Director: RAF WATHION
Production: CZAR
Animation: CZAR
www.czar.be

“MAGIC CHEST”
Short film 4:52

Client: CITY OF VARAZDIN
Agency: LUMINUS CREATIVE, GOLD
Director: KRISTIJAN PETROVIC
Animation: LUMINUS STUDIO
www.luminusstudio.com

OCB: “BLACK THINKING”
Virals x 5

Client: REPUBLIC TECHNOLOGIES
Agency: ROAD
Directors: DENIS-CISMA, NICO CASAVECCHIA
Production: BOOLAB
Animation/VFX: BOOLAB
www.boolab.tv

“E1EVEN ROSES”
Short film 4:53

Director: PEDRAM GOSHTASBPOUR
Production: 300FT, MOM STUDIO, SOLIS ANIMATION,
BULLSEYE POST
www.e1evenroses.com

THE 2008 GETTY IMAGES
SHORT & SWEET FILM CHALLENGE
Short films x4

Winner:
“PHOTOGRAPH OF JESUS” 6:49
Director: Laurie Hill

Runner-Up:
“PERRINGTON STUD” 6:54
Director: Big Red Button

Honorable Mention:
“LONG JUMP” 4:09
Director: Ian Mackinnon, Dominic Parker

Honorable Mention:
“STAR GAMES” 3:36
Director: Jasmin Jodry