Tiny Inventions' Short Film 'Negative Space' is Nominated for Academy Award

Tiny Inventions, the directorial duo represented in the US by Noble, has been nominated for a 2018 Academy Award for their touching animated short film, “Negative Space.” The film was one of five nominees in the category of Short Film (Animated). 

An adaptation of a Ron Koertge poem about a man reminiscing about bonding with his father over a properly-packed suitcase, the stop-motion short has screened at festivals around the world. To date, “Negative Space” has won 52 prizes (including 25 Grand Prix or Best Animated Short awards) and played in over 131 festivals. In addition to its nomination for Best Animated Short Film at the Academy Awards, it was also nominated for Best Animated Short Subject at the Annie Awards and was pre-selected for the Académie des arts et techniques du cinema in France.

Negative Space - Trailer from Tiny Inventions on Vimeo.

The Baltimore-based directing team – comprised of filmmakers Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata – are known for their unique mixed-media style of animation. Since beginning their collaboration in 2007, Tiny Inventions has also produced commercials, music videos, PSAs, comics and interactive games, as well as four independent shorts. Their films have screened in festivals around the world, including Sundance, the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and the Annecy Animation Festival, and have received over 110 international awards. 

Their work for ad agencies and brands, according to Noble Founder and Executive Producer Mark Medernach, includes spots and web shorts for Ralph Lauren, Ben & Jerry’s and Orajel. “We’re thrilled Max and Ru have achieved this great honour in being nominated for an Academy Award,” Medernach comments. “Presenting creative talents of this calibre is what Noble is all about; we look for directors who are master storytellers and know how to use animation in all its forms to engage and enthral audiences. That’s clearly the case with Tiny Inventions.”  

In making “Negative Space,” the directors created by hand a multitude of items seen in the packing process, everything from miniature shirts, slacks, belts and shoes, all of which go a long way in showing the unspoken bond that the film’s central character achieves with his dad. These items move across the screen in an orderly procession that underscores the reserved precision of the father character. In packing these suitcases, the son is finding an activity to share with his father, even though it’s often done in isolation.  

“Negative Space” runs 5:30 in length and was the result of the directors’ strong connection with the Koertge poem it’s based on, which goes by the same title. It clicked especially strongly with Kuwahata, whose father was an airline pilot who travelled often. The directors mined their own childhood memories of various objects, textures and banal routines to portray the small things that make up a large part of life.  

The film was pitched prior to production to the CICLIC Animation Center, a production residency located in Vendôme, France. Once approved, Tiny Inventions teamed up with a French animation company, IKKI FILMS, and co-producer, Manuel Cam Studio, to realise the project over a nine-month period.