Permanent Collection

Léo Brunel Strikes a Comic Chord in “Duet” Short Film

Posted on Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Director Leo Brunel, who recently signed with Paris prodco Eddy and co-directed the hilarious multi-award-winning short Hors Piste, is back with more CG character comedy in his newest personal film Duet.

From Eddy: “In Leo’s cinematic language, every detail becomes a small opportunity for things to go wrong in the best possible way – taking an archetypal situation and squeezing out the comedy hidden in it.

“In Leo’s cinematic language, every detail becomes a small opportunity for things to go wrong in the best possible way.”

“Leo handled almost every step of the film’s creation, except for the music, composed tailor-made by Antoine Pages, a fellow Eddy director and talented pianist. Written to follow the rhythm of the finished piece, it slips in naturally and ties the whole film together.”

Brunel, who graduated from École des Nouvelles and co-founded animation collective MegaComputeur, has been shortlisted for the Oscars, won the BAFTA Student Award for Best Animated Short, and received the Jury Award for Best Animated Short at New York Children’s International Film Festival.

Images

Two animated characters, one orange and one brown, both wearing orange hats and suits, stand on a grand staircase with a red carpet—inside an elegant, sunlit building. This stylish duet hints at the playful spirit of a Léo Brunel short film. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Two animated movers in orange uniforms struggle to move a black grand piano up a red-carpeted staircase in an elegant building—a comedic duet brought to life in this short film by Léo Brunel. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Close-up of a black grand piano with white and black keys, featuring a gold saxophone resting on the keyboard, reminiscent of a scene from Léo Brunel’s Duet short film, with an ornate black iron music stand nearby. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A claymation-style character with a mustache and beard stubble, wearing an orange cap and overalls, stands behind a desk looking surprised; in this Duet short film by Léo Brunel, another blurred figure is partially visible in the foreground. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A grand piano lies upside down on a red carpet at the bottom of a staircase, with four people’s arms and legs sticking out from underneath it, echoing the quirky, comedic style of Duet short film by Léo Brunel and Eddy. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Credits

Production: Eddy
Director/animator: Léo Brunel
Producer: Julie Paturle
Creative Producer: Zuka Lelashvili
Color Grading: William Ferré
Computer Equipment: Progiss, Exaion, 3DVF.com, Boris Zen

Piano Composition: Antoine Pagès
Arrangement/Recording/Sound Design: Fabrice Smadja, Etienne Billard
Sound Studio: Attention O Chiens

Special Thanks: Tara Rewal, Eglantine Mayonnade, Antonin Jarlan, Cléo Kandel, Eana Risch, Jean-François Bourrel, Bruno Recorbet, Emilie Walmsley

Stephen Price

Stephen is the co-founder/CD of Stash Media Inc. and the executive editor of Stash Magazine and the Stash Permanent Collection.
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Category: Animation, CG, Character Animation, Featured, Short Films · Tags: Antoine Pagès, Attention O Chiens, Chez Eddy, Etienne Billard, Fabrice Smadja, Leo Brunel