Moom
The Oscar nominated directors Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo collaborated with talented Japanese filmmakers to create a 13 minute fantastical tale of a memory who helps release other memories from their objects.
Interview with Writer/Director Dice Tsutsumi
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Moom was originally a Japanese children’s book written by Genki Kawamura, a well-known film producer in Japan and illustrated by Yuuki Mashiko. Genki invited us to direct the adapted short and encouraged the directing pair to bring their interpretation of the story to the screen. The producers formed a talented production team in Japan and with Tonko House’s creative direction, they set out to make a film that combines the learned values from the American and Japanese animation cultures.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The story of Moom takes place in a mystical land where memories are characters attached to forgotten and discarded objects. Each memory is released from their object when they are ready to let go. Unlike other memories, Moom is a memory stuck in this mystical land. One day, he encounters another memory stuck in this world just like him.
The idea of spirits inside objects comes from an ancient belief in Japanese culture. It sounds fantastical but we are certain that anyone from any culture can all relate to this idea where objects we are attached to in our lives possess life inside.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
This is a story about loss and how to deal with it. We try to tell stories that are honest to us as filmmakers. Stories that we understand from our own life experiences. When we thought about stories of loss from our own lives, love was often where those stories started. In particular, the story of Moom was influenced by Robert’s story of losing his great grandmother, who he loved very much, at the age of 4 in a tragic accident.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The original book had much more vague story line which worked great in a book form.
Upon adapting into an animated short, we worked with the original author Genki to come up with something that's unique to the film format. We added more of a character story to the film that didn't exist in the original book. Since Genki is an established film producer, he welcomed the adaptation process and was open to our interpretation.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Moom is our second film that followed our first short The Dam Keeper which won 20 festival awards including the Oscar nomination. So it is natural for many people who loved The Dam Keeper to compare Moom to The Dam Keeper. But we are still new to film directing and each project is very unique for us to learn and grow as filmmakers. Moom so far has got into over 66 film festivals with 20 film festival awards which we are very humbled by.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Again, reaction from people who watched both The Dam Keeper and Moom made us aware how much people loved the painterly look of The Dam Keeper.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
It is not easy to promote an indy short film to reach audience period. We have animation community followers on our Instagram and Facebook but we are invisible outside of the animation industry. Hopefully your website can provide more awareness of our work.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
This is a very small story about a very simple theme. Hopefully people can relate to our characters.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What is your object that you had to let go in the past?
Would you like to add anything else?
http://www.tonkohouse.com
https://www.facebook.com/tonkohouse
https://www.instagram.com/tonkohouse/
Interview: October 2016
_______________________________________________________________________________
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
_______________________________________________________________________________
Moom
The Oscar nominated directors Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo collaborated with talented Japanese filmmakers to create a 13 minute fantastical tale of a memory who helps release other memories from their objects.
Length:
14 min
Director:
Dice Tsutsumi
Robert Kondo
Producer:
Tomohiko Ishii
Genki Kawamura
Writer:
Dice Tsutsumi
Robert Kondo
About the writer, director and producer:
Dice
Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, originally from Japan, is a filmmaker, painter and philanthropist. A graduate from The School of Visual Arts in New York, Dice has worked as a visual development/color key artist at Blue Sky Studios on Ice Age, Robots and Horton Hears a Who! His credits at Pixar Animation include Lighting Art Director for Toy Story 3 and Monsters University. Dice is passionate about charity work and spearheaded both The Totoro Forest Project and Sketchtravel.
Robert
Originally from Southern California, Robert Kondo graduated with a degree in illustration from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Robert landed his dream job as a sketch artist at Pixar on their 2006 release Ratatouille. While at Pixar, his film credits included Sets Art Director for Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, and most recently Monsters University and Production Designer on two shorts. In July, 2014, Robert left Pixar to start Tonko House, where every day is a challenge and an adventure.
Made in association with:
Craftar
Marza Animation Planet
Release date:
April 2016