PK 084: Cinzia Angelini on Making the Mila Film – an Incredible New CG Animated Short

The Mila Film is the result of 250 volunteer artists from 25 countries working together with director Cinzia Angelini to create an incredible piece of work

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“The girl who inspired me to create this movie was a child during WWII. That girl is my mother.”

~ Cinzia Angelini

The Mila Film isn’t just an incredibly powerful and moving CG animation short about a young girl caught up in the ravages of WWII.

It’s also a testament to the power of creative collaboration across the world, and the hard work and sheer talent of the 250 artists from 25 countries who created it.

In this week’s podcast, director Cinzia Angelini tells us why this film was so important for her to make, and why its message is just as poignant and relevant today.

Cinzia grew up in Trento, Italy, a town which was heavily bombed during the war in 1943.

Explaining her inspiration for making this new animated movie, she says: “Mila is the story of a girl and two women during Trento’s bombing in 1943. I wanted to tell a war story not centered on armies, soldiers, generals, battle plans.

“I wanted to talk about civilians, and especially the children. The girl who inspired me to create this movie was a child during WWII. That girl is my mother.”

Watch a trailer for the Mila Film here:

How Cinzia Angelini Ended up Making The Mila Film

Cinzia Angelini has worked as an animator for 20 years, starting out as a traditional animator at companies such as Warner Bros and Amblimation in Europe before moving to LA in 1997 to work at Dreamworks.

In 2000, she had the opportunity to move into CG and learn 3D software such as Maya, which led to her working at Sony on films such as Spiderman 2.

Having always been interested in working in the story behind animated movies, she eventually moved into this department, where she’s worked as a story artist ever since.

She’s currently at Illumination entertainment, where she’s worked on movies such as Minions and other big projects.

But the big project Cinzia is currently working on is a very personal one. It’s a story about a young girl and her friends caught in the middle of conflict, their lives irreversibly changed by life during wartime.

And she didn’t have to look too far for inspiration. Because the main character in the Mila Film is based upon the real-life experiences of her own mother.

She says: “I wanted to tell a story with animation about her experiences. The goal of this project is to raise awareness of what happens to kids caught up in war, and the physical and emotional damage they suffer as a result.”

The Mila Film is an amazing animated movie. But what’s also incredible is the backstory behind making it. Because Cinzia soon discovered she wasn’t the only artist passionate about telling this moving tale.

In fact, 250 artists from 25 countries volunteered their time and expertise for free to bring Mila’s story to life.

How to Show Your Support for the Mila Film

The Mila Film was made by a large team of artists who worked for free to bring Cinzia’s moving story to life. There are no large studios behind it, and no huge marketing budget to spend on advertising.

Instead, Cinzia and her fellow artists will be using the crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo, to help raise the money necessary to bring the Mila Film to the attention of as many people as possible.

But you can help make this awesome project a success right now by following these simple steps…

  1. Download the Mila Film movie poster below (just right-click and ‘Save as’
  2. Take a photo of you holding it
  3. Share this pic on social media with all your friends using the hashtag #ImaMilaFan

We can’t wait to see your pics!

Poster_MilaFAN_2016

Listen to this week’s show and learn:

  • How to get started on your own creative project
  • How to reach out to other artists
  • Why social media can be such a powerful force for creative projects

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Thanks for listening to our show! We’ll be back next Wednesday morning 8AM EST.

Cheers,

Mitch

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