Hunter Saves Christmas
Shortly after the release of my first short film, Next Flight Home, the Edmonton Oilers reached out to me with an amazing opportunity - create a narrative short film for the holiday season to be released in arena and online. I was just finishing off another narrative project at the time, and I jumped at the chance to keep that momentum going. The Oilers knew that they wanted to explore an animation in 3D, and that they wanted to run with the idea of a pop-up book. Outside of those bounds, the brief was wide open. So, I wrote three possible stories - one that was much too somber and emotional, one that had no real story but a lot of exciting holiday imagery, and this one - Hunter Saves Christmas. The team at the Oilers loved the mixture of an easily digestible story, the integration of their players and mascots, and a progression doused in hockey related references.
I have had the incredible opportunity to work with some dream clients over my career. It is always a mixture of finding a client that trusts you, offers valuable ideas, and lets you bring a part of yourself to the project. The media team over at the Edmonton Oilers were exactly that. They approached me to create this piece with very few guidelines, but offered valuable feedback throughout the whole process without being overbearing. This was a project that offered me the chance to write a unique story, come up with a new and distinct art style, and animate it in a fun way with no product to sell behind it. This short was purely meant as a celebration of the season and a fun experience for fans in the stadium and online to view with their families. All of that put together helped to make this one of the most memorable and fun projects of my career. To see some behind the scenes and making of content, the page over at Ambient Press has a great breakdown that you can find here.
