VANCOUVER (January 29th, 2009) - A one-minute animated film made by a group of Vancouver filmmakers won the year-end “2008 People’s Choice Award” in the Friends of the Earth One-Minute Film Competition. Winners were announced in London, England by Friends of the Earth, an international organization seeking to inspire solutions to environmental problems.
Viewers from around the world voted for How to Boil a Frog as their favorite 60-second film among the top 10 entries shown online. This “cheeky animation of a frog incensed by the world hotting up due to climate change” was written and produced by North Vancouver filmmaker, Jon Cooksey. Cooksey has won a lunch in London with one of the judges, Trainspotting Producer Andrew MacDonald. In describing the film, MacDonald said, “The animation How to Boil a Frog is professionally made and fun - it pulls viewers in and gets them thinking about climate change through its original entertaining style.”
How To Boil a Frog tells the story of Lou, a South American tree frog, who appears to be enjoying a Jacuzzi, until we see that he is the proverbial boiling frog, and the heat source is a burning Earth. Lou tastes the planet, and discovers the source of this global warming: oil, factories, and cars. He yanks out the offending fossil-fuelled culprits, and bounces away on a happier planet.
Thumbnail sketches are created by the animation team to illustrate the camera moves, the action, the characters.
To create the animated film, Cooksey enlisted the help of other volunteer filmmakers, including CG supervisor Frank Vitz and CG animation art director Andy Yi Shen, and a production team of Vandy Savage, Teri McArter and Dave Grave. Music was provided by Michael Richard Plowman and sound by Ian Emberton.
Co-producer Teri McArter commended the full-out efforts of the volunteer team. Frank Vitz, a leader in 3-D computer graphics production and software, (from Tron to X-Men, to the Universal’s Spiderman ride, currently making video games at Electronic Arts) headed up the animation team. “Vandy led the charge, and Frank and Andy spent many a weekend burning the midnight oil to create this little film. We’re thrilled it won the People’s Choice Award - the people’s choice is what we want to be.”
Dave Grave, Andy Yi Shen, Jon Cooksey, Frank Vitz
Front Row: Vandy Savage, Teri McArter
A TV producer/writer, Jon Cooksey is also the creator of a humor-oriented website — howtoboilafrog.com — that presents free short videos, articles, links and other materials about the consequences of “overshoot”, including global warming, peak oil, overpopulation, income inequality and the overuse of natural resources. Cooksey is in the process of turning How to Boil a Frog into a feature-length “eco-comedy”, a humorous documentary about personal solutions for creating a better future.
“How to Boil a Frog is like a prism, a way to look at a troubled and confusing world so that all the pieces fit into a big picture. And it’s got to be funny so everybody doesn’t run off screaming ” says Cooksey. “But it’s also a vehicle to help people band together, make friends and have fun making the world a better place. It’ll save you money, make you happier, and teach you how to be a pain in the ass. What could be better?”
Cooksey is working on a rough cut of the full-length feature film now, all of which has been financed out of his own pocket. McArter and fellow producer Shelley Gillen (former broadcast executive at Movie Central and now doing her own projects) have managed to make a couple of TV sales for the movie before it’s even finished, and they’re also in talks with distributors. But it’s a tough market and the fate of the project is still uncertain. Cooksey admits he doesn’t have the money to finish the film on his own. “The rough cut will show more or less what the movie will be.” he says. “That’s a critical step, because the movie isn’t really like anything else- it has something in common with a movie like ‘Supersize Me’ for instance, but it’s nothing like the super-serious and super-depressing movies that have tried to tackle the pieces of this mess we’re in. Speaking for myself, I’m just not up for misery on movie night - I want to laugh, be entertained. And if somebody can actually slip some information into my brain, and make my life better, while I’m laughing, well, okay, I’m up for that too.”
Those interested in donating or investing in the cause can contact the filmmakers through the howtoboilafrog.com website. “We’re open to any offers,” laughs Gillen. “We might even hold a bake sale, if we can come up with a million cupcakes.”
