These 2 Creatives Are Working On an Animated Battle Between Sun and Rain

Day in and day out, creatives in adland spend their time coming up with, developing and refining content designed to connect with consumers around the globe. Regardless of the format – TV, to out-of-home, digital – every piece of work must tell a brand’s story so that it appears original and memorable.

Of course, the skills required to create compelling narratives extend beyond advertising. While some may prefer to step away from their craft after work, for creatives like Pierre Chan and John Larigakis (group creative director at Cossette and freelance art and creative director respectively), channeling their talents into personal projects is a passion worth pursuing.

Right now, the duo is working on ‘Above’, a whimsical, 2D-animated short that brings to life the playful rivalry between Sun and Rain. Set in a world above the clouds, the film follows their daily battle for control of the forecast – an imaginative concept that promises plenty of fun.

So far, the promotional material, including a beautifully hand-drawn trailer, offers fans a treat of classic animation that serves as testament to the magic that happens when creatives apply their skills beyond the workplace. To learn more about the project’s progress, the inspiration behind it, and why Pierre and John felt compelled to bring ‘Above’ to life, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with them for a chat.

LBB> Where did the idea for ‘Above’ come from?

John> We’ve always been fans of animated films and world building. And when we crossed paths in the ad world, we realised we both had a side interest in creating an animated short. It’s harder than it sounds to develop a new animated film idea when it seems like almost every world has been explored by now – animals, toys, bugs, emotions, fish, monsters, aliens and so on. But something eventually sparked that felt like it had legs, so we had to pursue it.

Pierre> We did a lot of concepting on potential film ideas and created a long list, which was then cut down to a shortlist. From there, we sought the help of some industry friends who peer reviewed the sh*t out of the ideas. That’s how we landed on ‘Above’, which was also inspired by an illustration John drew for his Instagram page exactly a week before we met up to start concepting.

LBB> What was your iteration process like? How did you work to flesh out this universe?

John> When it came to the head-to-head conflicts, we got a lot of inspiration from Mad Magazine’s ‘Spy vs. Spy’. The way those sequences were crafted with unexpected twists and a witty tone is something we haven’t seen for a while. So we wanted to bring some of that back to life in a new way.

Pierre> As for the iteration process, it wasn’t any different than coming up with scenes for an ad script. We met up regularly after work, and kept rapid-firing ideas on the ways that Sun and Rain could battle. There was a long, long list of battle scenes to start – some of them were pretty dumb when I think about it now – but that’s all part of the process. Every time we thought we landed on the right battles, we’d second guess ourselves a week later and rethink everything. The key was to get a range of very different scenes that ramp up to create a nice and surprising story structure.

LBB> And what was the writing process like?

Pierre> We created a story outline first, which introduced the world and characters, and we thought a lot about how to build unexpected excitement. We also wanted to find a surprising ending, even to people who love predicting endings.

We then wrote a draft manuscript and picked it apart over and over and over again, trying to find the right balance of unexpected moments. We probably have over 20 versions of graveyard scripts lying around in our Google Drive. But even when we started working on an animatic of the script, we’d do rewrites. It definitely made me wanna slam my head against a wall repeatedly. But nothing great comes without struggle.

John> We have a solid script written now, with room for tweaks as we move into the animation stage. At that point, we’ll find a pacing and flow, and last minute plus-ups will reveal themselves once we start to see it come to life.

LBB> Both visually and narratively, where have you drawn inspiration from? And how are you incorporating the best of these sources into your work?

John> Pixar is a big inspiration, both for its full-length films, like ‘Monsters, Inc.’, and its shorts, like ‘For the Birds’. We also rewatched a range of shorts from different animation studios to explore different story arcs.

For the visual style, we got inspiration from a mix of older Disney films and some more recent animation projects that used a hand-drawn style. We really like Madeline Sharafian’s ‘Burrow’, and Robert Löbel’s ‘Wind’. They both have a classical look, charming characters, and great comedic timing. We also liked that both are so watchable without needing any dialogue.

LBB> Specifically, what made 2D animation the right form for this story to be told? Was there a lot of debate about the approach?

John> We knew we wanted to make something that had a traditional, frame-by-frame, hand-crafted charm. There’s an inventiveness and simplicity that comes with 2D animation where anything feels possible. Also, now that a lot of films have moved into polished 3D, there’s a nostalgic quality about going back to something with more of a rough traditional line quality. A lot of my favourite shows and movies were done in that style, from early seasons of ‘The Simpsons’, to films like ‘The Iron Giant’ and the original ‘The Jungle Book’.

LBB> Of course, you recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production process. What are your goals with that? Production-wise, what are you hoping to achieve?

Pierre> Producing an animated film, even a short one, is expensive. Even with our own investment to get to this stage, we still need more to pay for all the animation work. Plus, we’re hoping to enter it into some film festivals after its completion.

Unfortunately, neither of us have rich uncles, so we’re really hoping we can find brand sponsors as well. We feel like the premise of our film is a perfect fit for brands like The Weather Network, Vessi, Made Outdoor and even Destination BC. But if you’re not a brand, we’ve still got some great perks like socks, tote bags, and enamel pins of our characters. We’ve even got a perk that lets you pick a battle in the film!

John> We have a specific style in mind, and the Kickstarter will help us execute in that style without compromising on the quality. We’re also offering a children’s book as one of the rewards, so it’s allowed us to showcase both projects in one place. (Pierre's written a few kid’s books already and, incidentally, funded them through Kickstarter).

LBB> Should all go according to plan, you’ll be working with animators Chan Tong and Will Panassi. How did you get them involved, and what made them the right partners for this collaboration?

Pierre> We actually met with a lot of animators, and to be honest, it was not easy finding someone who wanted to take on a side-hustle project. Chan was someone recommended to me by an ex-colleague, and we really loved his animation experience and illustration style. He’s worked on Disney’s ‘The Princess and the Frog’, as well as Netflix’s ‘America: The Motion Picture’, featuring the voices of Channing Tatum, Andy Samberg, Simon Pegg, Oliva Munn and Will Forte. So he’s no stranger to successful films. Chan then brought Will onto the project to help with background animation. Will’s worked on animation series like ‘Osmar: The Heel of the Loaf’ and Cartoon Network’s ‘Oswaldo’.

LBB> Of course, finding the right music and sound effects, both for the trailer, but also the final version, is crucial. What has this process been like?

John> Mozart’s ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ felt perfect for the trailer because of its triumphant build and classical tone. That track fell right into place in early trailer edits.

As for the film, we want it to have a bit of a nostalgic feel, like it could have been an old Disney tape that got lost. So, for the sound design and scoring, we’re working with Craig Warrian of Wave Productions. He’s an excellent sound designer who we’ve done a lot of projects with already. I worked with him for many years on ‘Snack Time’, an animated YouTube series we developed for Milk West while it was at DDB. We produced 84 episodes and it went on to win Gold at the London International Awards for branded content, and were shortlisted at Cannes and The One Show. There was a great process of experimentation and exploration on that project, and we’ll take a similar approach to this one.

LBB> If everything goes to plan, when can we expect the film by?

Pierre> AI is so popular right now for creative projects like short films. But, because we’re committed to this being 100% AI-free, and we’ve executed in our hand-drawn animation style, our target launch date is fall 2026. We’ve built in a lot of buffer time to refine every single scene, plus we’re looking into bringing on additional animation support to speed up our timeline.

But rest assured that when our film is done, it’ll make AI look like a piece of garbage. Just kidding… If you’re listening, AI, please don’t cut my brake lines!