Seriously’s sixth Best Fiends animated short, The Immortal Cockroach, features the voice of Maurice LaMarche (Futurama, Zootopia) as the main character, Lapoleon.
Alongside LaMarche is award-winning actress Pamela Adlon (Better Things, Californiacation) and actor David Herman (Office Space). The feature film quality short was directed by Augusto Schillaci and produced by Golden Globe-nominated Reel FX Animation Studios, which is best known for its work on Ice Age and Despicable Me.
Credits
Client Seriously/Best Fiends Visual Effects/Animation Reel FX Animation Studios, Dallas Augusto Schillaci, director/art dir/VFX supervisor; Rod Douglas, storyboard artist; Vincent Bisschop, Federico Moreno Breser, Nicolas Villareal, art dept; Tom Jordan, modeling supervisor; Douglas Bell, rigging supervisor; Steve Eger, Joe Porritt, Alex Salmar, rigging; Megan Shaffer, surfacing supervisor; Jeff Huard, Daniel Smith, surfacing; Chris Browne, character FX supervisor; Yuri Martell, matte painting; Dan West, layout lead; Andre Alvarenga, Thomas De Maleingreau, Sean Monteagudo, layout; Eddy Lowinski, FX supervisor; Tony Fan, Evan Robinson, Jyota Malcolm, Matthieu Bruneau, FX; Keenan Proffitt, environment supervisor; Elyse Roy, environment; Martin Ferland, animation supervisor; Kirby Atkins, Kosta Dracopaulos, Jason Park, Justin Ustel, Syuan-Ru Wu, Anna Masquelier, Tiago Ferreira, Chris Burnham, Helene Papet, animation; Kelsey Craig, Jessica M. Hogan, ltg supervisor; Lighting: Luiz Fernando Araujo, Jillian Blair, Melissa Gilbreath, Tim Goransson, Srabani Halarnkar, Swapnil Halarnkar, Pierre Lauret, Alice Lepoutre, Anthony Russo, Randy Tecson, ltg; Seth Schwartz, CG supervisor; John Anderholm, technical supervision; John Levanas, TD; Ted Lebeau III, render supervision; Aldo Victoria, render wrangler. Additional Modeling/Surfacing McFly Studio. Additional Modeling/Surfacing and Animation/FX Agora Studio (Toolbox: Maya, Nuke)
For the global EX30 Cross Country launch, Volvo and creative agency Forsman & Bodenfors wants to de-dramatize the outdoor experience--and remind people that small trips into nature can be grand experiences.
Cross Country is Volvo’s concept of turning their regular cars into more outdoor-capable versions, with higher ground clearance, all-wheel drive and other features making it more capable and off-road ready. And now, the compact, fully electric EX30 becomes available as a Cross Country version. It’s a small car designed for big experiences, made to elevate both urban living and outdoor adventure, and to bring people closer to nature.
“With Volvo being such a human-centric brand, it felt natural to focus on the human side of nature. The child’s perspective became the perfect metaphor for this, to spend time in nature on nature’s terms,” said Karl Risenfors, creative at Forsman & Bodenfors.
In a category that often portrays epic journeys deep into the wilderness, the campaign serves as a reminder that even everyday adventures can be memorable experiences. Thus this launch spot--directed by Marcus Ibanez via production company New-Land--shows nature through the point of view of a child. A child’s imagination and perspective generates a visual metaphor for the magic that nature can bring, no matter the scale of the adventure.