GOTTA BARN PRODUCTIONS, LLC
Presents
Aria, a bovine diva, demands to be respected for more than just her dairy products.
Featuring previously unreleased song by Howard Ashman & Alan Menken
Directed by Dan Lund
Produced by Dan Lund, Connie Nartonis Thompson, Amos Sussigan
Release date: April 26, 2015
Running time: 7 minutes
Press Contact:
Jennifer Coyne
[email protected]
503-544-0135
www.ariaforacow.com
Rating: TBD
Aspect Ratio: 2.35
ARIA FOR A COW - SYNOPSIS
Aria for a Cow is an animated musical short based on a previously unreleased
song by the Oscar winning team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (“Little Shop of
Horrors”, “Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin”).
When a callow young farmer shows himself to be completely uninterested in the
sensitive art of milking a dairy cow, Aria, a bovine diva, along with her singing and
dancing back up bulls, belts out a tune demanding to be respected for more than just
dairy products. Aria and her friends take us through a fast- paced musical journey. In
the end, our young farmer learns to respect the collaborative effort that made Krelborn
farms and its cows an award winning dairy farm.
Sarah Ashman Gillespie, Howard Ashman’s sister, offered the song to Disney
animator and independent film-maker, Dan Lund, so he could bring this long-forgotten
tune to center stage. Lund and producer Connie Nartonis Thompson (“Frankenweenie”,
and Disney colleague of Lund) launched Gotta Barn Productions, designed to bring
together students and artists from across the world to get their shot at feeling the thrill of
'putting on a show'!
Helping lead the creative effort were Amos Sussigan, Art Director, Siddhartha
Maganti, as Production Manager, Kate Pazakis voicing Aria, and John deHaas as
Musical Director.
“I believe Howard would be thrilled to be contributing to the development of
talented young people,” adds Sarah Gillespie. “He loved animation, and he specifically
loved seeing his words come to new life through animation. Seeing Aria spring to life in
the hands of such enthusiastic young talents is an absolute gift.”
MAKING ARIA FOR A COW
THE IDEA:
The story of Aria for a Cow started over 30 years ago. Howard Ashman and Alan
Menken, then less known than they would become for their hit lyrics and music, wrote a
few songs on spec for Sesame Street. At the time, the songs weren’t used, and Aria for
a Cow remained unreleased. Ashman and Menken went on to become an Oscarwinning team known for the Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors, and animated
musical features Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
Fast forward to three years ago. Dan Lund,
Disney animator and independent filmmaker, had
an idea. He wanted to showcase an Ashman &
Menken song in an independently-produced
animated short.
Lund contacted Sarah Ashman Gillespie, sister of
the late Howard Ashman. She offered this
unknown song, which was a personal favorite of
Sarah’s, to Dan. Dan said, “With a gift as rich as
Howard Ashman & Alan Menken, circa 1988
this song was, I knew I needed to bring something
unique and clever to the table. It was my way of earning the right to use the song.” Dan
felt strongly about not just doing a music video for the song, but rather creating a story
around the song that stood on its own and had a point to make. With that, Aria the
bovine diva was born.
Lund began weekly meetings with
long-time colleague & producer Connie
Nartonis Thompson at a Hollywood café,
famously known as “the last cappuccino
before the 101 Freeway”. Says Connie,
“Dan and I worked at Disney together for 10
years. I had left the feature animation studio to make a documentary about the second
golden age of animation at Disney called "Waking Sleeping Beauty." While making that
film and reviewing all of the archival footage, I fell in love with Howard Ashman, his
passion for music and story, the intelligent and intense way he had of working with
talent, his commitment to these animated movies. When Dan approached me about
working on this Howard Ashman and Alan Menken short, I was so excited to be a part
of it." Six months and countless cappuccinos later, Dan & Connie launched the
production with the idea of creating a “global barn”, in the spirit of Mickey Rooney and
Judy Garland putting on a show. In the time since, Team Cow & Gotta Barn
Productions was established. This unique production experience would eventually bring
together a group with immensely diverse skills & experiences, backgrounds & age, all
contributing their time and effort toward this small-budget production.
FROM IDEA TO VISUAL CONCEPTS: Amos
Sussigan, a talented young animator &
director Lund had been mentoring, was
recruited as Art Director. Having never before
seen a Broadway musical, Lund sent Sussigan
on a trip to New York for his own musical
theater boot camp. The trip was extremely
inspirational to the artistic design of the film.
Amos Sussigan & Sarah Ashman Gillespie in New York
Amos was able to learn and collaborate with
experienced artists such as Disney director and mentor to Lund, Leon Joosen, and
choreographer Angel Reda, who was starring in Chicago on Broadway. The trip
culminated with Sarah Ashman Gillespie taking Sussigan to dinner, where Amos was
able to share the beginning of his Aria style guide and what he learned in his “Broadway
Boot Camp”. Regarding the artistic design, Sussigan said: “Aria for a Cow was written
when animation was still 2D. Because of that, I
wanted to keep Aria’s art direction free of any
extremely realistic or elaborate special effects,
and go back to a more 2D-look.” Based on his
art direction, Aria is painterly, colorful, with a
cubistic approach.
THE PRODUCTION:
Aria for a Cow has, from the start, been a labor of love. With no funding or studio
backing, Lund, Sussigan and Thompson had to think creatively to push the project
forward. Siddhartha Maganti, a student at the Academy of Art University in San
Francisco, joined the Aria team as Production Manager. Team Cow took the opportunity
to recruit animation leads and a crew including 40 from the Academy & other animators
dispersed across the globe, who all volunteered their talents to the project. Other “Aria
Angels”, as Dan Lund likes to call the film’s supporters, had students stay at their house
during “production jams”, provided funding support for render farm time & other
expenses, and donated time to the back-end production activities. Dan Lund liked the
idea of having people involved with a passion for the project, and with something to
gain, professionally or personally. The “global barn” concept harnessed the power of
connection through social media and other collaborative technologies to bring in diverse
perspectives and strong talents from around the world.
“THE SONG” – Honoring the legacy of the Ashman & Menken team, the song had to
be just right! Dan Lund notes that “the song, its origins and how the worlds of
animation and musical theater influenced the filmmakers became something to honor
and the Aria production team went to great care in keeping that balance evident in this
short film”. Musical comedy veteran Kate Pazakis
joined on in the role of Aria, with a
group of back up “bull” singers
harmonizing under the musical direction
of John deHaas, who flew in from
Singer Kate Pazakis under the Aria lights
Florida for the production. Recorded in
December 2013 at POP Sound in Santa Monica, California, the musical team conveyed
a playfulness and joy through the recording that truly pays tribute to the legacy of the
Ashman & Menken collaboration. The day
before the recording session, Dan threw a
cocktail party to assemble “the barn”,
rehearse and get everyone in the mood
for the recording. The whole musical team
bonded to interpret and put their own
stamp on the song, and created an
The "backup Bulls": Bryan Blaskie (assistant music director),
Aaron Scheff, Kevin Field, Wesley Alfvin
improvised section that can be heard as the credits roll for the film. Dan Lund remarked
“We were honored to have Sarah Ashman Gillespie attend the recording session, give
her advice and approve the final cut. The global barn concept had really taken flight.
THE GLOBAL BARN TAKES FULL EFFECT – Once the recording session was done,
the animators took center stage. The “global barn” production yielded some surprises
and presented challenges, but ultimately provided an incredible working experience for
the whole team. Dan Lund stated that “we put the call out at the Academy of Art for
some animators to help with our
production. The school thought maybe
we’d get 4 volunteers. We were blown
away when 40 students showed up!”
Having such a large turnout presented
some leadership and managerial
challenges. Lund: “We didn’t really
have enough staff on the original team
Team Cow featuring Academy of Art students
to provide direction to all of the students. Some of the students stepped up and became
team leads, such as Character Animator Cory Walker. Other contributors from around
the world also joined the project. Throughout the days and nights, we’d see more pieces
of work arrive in our cloud drive!” For Sussigan, this was a large leadership opportunity
early in his professional career. “Before Aria, I had worked more as a student on my
own projects or smaller group projects. On this film, I got the opportunity to lead, to
really set deadlines and coordinate across different time zones and cultures to get
everyone on the same page. Aria for a Cow, with its Broadway- musical-meets-farmlife
style, has over 150 shots, requiring a tremendous amount of planning and coordination
to ensure the work pieced together shot by shot. Sussigan continued, “I had to make
sure that, from shot to shot, things stayed consistent, worked together, and preserved
our vision of how the film should look”. Cory Walker similarly noted that challenge,
adding: “It was a challenge to help everyone see that it was about more that maximizing
the beauty of every shot, it was instead about the bigger picture and seeing it all come
together.”
Throughout the production, the team took advantage of advancing technology
not just for traditional aspects like scheduling, rendering and compiling the film, but
social technology such as Google®
Hangouts to track progress, and talk
about issues face to face. Sussigan
believes that his and the other’s
experience gained in the production
will help accelerate their careers. “I
really learned a lot, and I think the
students learned a lot about working
Team Cow uses social technology to collaborate on the film (L-R:
Gunsic Kim, Dharmin Doshi & Andy Wu)
on a professional production and how
high the expectations are’, he says.
The extraordinary blend of student and industry talent in Team Cow produced a
compelling piece of film. Their accomplishment drew the attention of other top
professionals, and prompted them to contribute to the project. Academy-Award winning
re-recording mixer Gary Rizzo, of Skywalker Sound, and post-production pro Lori
Korngiebel worked to make “Aria” complete. “Every student producer dreams of
working with the best technicians and artists such as Gary and Dug at Skywalker. For
me I didn't dream Aria would be as collaborative as it was,” said Siddhartha Maganti,
production manager.
ARIA TAKES THE STAGE – After two years of planning and thousands of hours of
production, Aria the cow is finally ready to take the stage! Aria for a Cow is a story
about valuing
others’
contributions, about
personal
connection, and the
value of
collaboration. It doesn’t go unnoticed that Dan Lund and Team Cow have touched on
those same themes through the Global Barn collaborative effort. Noted Maganti, “I had
been a student from India. When we were at Skywalker, and I shared a room with the
director and art director, I realized we were not just indie film makers, but family. Aria
had given me a family.” Lund said, “I hope that Howard Ashman would love that we
took his song and made it something with a special message.” Howard Ashman’s grave
marker is inscribed: “Oh that he had one more song to sing, one more song…” With
Aria for a Cow, the team hopes that wish for one more song is honored.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Dan Lund (Director) has been an animator at Walt
Disney Animation Studios since 1989. He has
contributed to dozens of classic features including
“Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin” as well as
“Pocahontas”, “The Lion King”, “Tarzan”, “Mulan,”
and “The Princess and the Frog.” Recently, he served
as Effects Design Lead on 2013’s Academy Award®-winning “Frozen,” the biggest
animated film of all time.
Outside of the studio system, Dan has been very active in bringing non-Disney
themed projects from concept to completion including the award-winning documentary
“Death Becomes Them: The Musical” (Best Director, New York Film Fest) and
“Dream On Silly Dreamer” (Certificate of Merit ASIFA AWARDS). His love of
underground theater led to a collaboration with writer Patricia Scanlon that resulted in
the animated series of shorts “Hildy Hildy.”
His current project features the unheard song “Aria for a Cow” from the
Academy Award®-winning songwriting team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. Dan
says, “Sarah Ashman Gillespie (Howard Ashman’s sister) took a huge leap of faith in
saying yes to my request…and all she asked was that I give just a little love to a cow
needing some respect.” Nothing could give Dan more creative pleasure than doing just
that, giving respect to the art of theater, animation, film, story, music and the process of
putting on a show.
Connie Nartonis Thompson (Producer) began her
animation career in 1992 working on “The Ren & Stimpy
Show” and “Beavis & Butthead.” Following that, she
started an 11 year run at Walt Disney Animation Studios
where she worked on animated features including
“Fantastia 2000,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,”
“Chicken Little,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and
“Tangled” as well as award-winning shorts “The Little Matchgirl,” “Lorenzo,” and
“Destino.” In 2007, she joined veteran producer Don Hahn at Disney’s live-action
studio to associate produce the Disneynature documentaries “Earth,” “Oceans,”
“African Cats,” and “Chimpanzee.” Hahn and Thompson also produced three other
documentaries — “Waking Sleeping Beauty,” “Hand Held,” and “High Ground.”
Connie then went on to associate produce the critically acclaimed “Frankenweenie,”
directed by Tim Burton. In 2012, Connie left Disney for Illumination Entertainment to
work on “Despicable Me 2,” one of the top five grossing animated films of all time.
Currently, Connie is producing a stop-motion animated feature at Laika. She is honored
to have produced the animated musical short, “Aria for a Cow” with her former Disney
colleague, Director Dan Lund and Art Director Amos Sussigan. Connie lives in Portland
with her husband, writer Bryan Thompson.
Amos Sussigan (Art Director) has, at a relatively
young age, already amassed an impressive list of
accomplishments in TV, radio, animation, art design,
and music videos and currently works at Paramount
Pictures as a concept artist.
Amos grew up in Switzerland where he completed his
diploma in languages (Italian, English, Spanish, French, and German). After graduating,
he worked on air for Swiss TV and radio. He came to Los Angeles to attend Woodbury
University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and won the Departmental Award of
Academic Excellence in 2013.
Amos started a blog where he wrote about his sadness at being away from
home. His blog became a radio program and then, in October 2011, when Amos was 22
years old, a book, “The Chocolate Oscar.” The book sold out three times. Amos
created and coordinated the marketing campaign of the book on his own. He has also
received nominations and awards at more than fifty film festivals around the world for
writing and directing his two shorts, “Broken Wing” and “Swan Cake.”
Working on “Aria For A Cow” is a professional and personal milestone for
Amos. Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” featuring the music of Howard Ashman and
Alan Menken, was one of the first movies he ever saw. Says Amos, “When I go home to
Switzerland, my grandparents and I still watch it together.”
Gotta Barn Productions
Presents
ARIA FOR A COW
Directed by Dan Lund
Produced by Connie Nartonis Thompson, Dan Lund, Amos Sussigan
Written by Dan Lund
Lyrics by Howard Ashman
Music by Alan Menken
Executive Producers
Art Director
Lead Vocals
Back Up Vocals
“Aria For A Cow”
Music Director
Additional Music Direction
“Appreciate A Cow”
Written By
Mixed By
Post Production Producer
Re-Recording Mixer
Supervising Sound Editor
Vocals & Instruments Sound Engineer
Vocals & Instruments Sound Recordist
Additional Sound Editor
Temp Track Sound Engineer
Color by
DI Supervisor
DI Producer
DI Colorist
Sarah Ashman Gillespie
Alan Menken
William Lauch
Leon Joosen
Amos Sussigan
Kate Pazakis
Wesley Alfvin
Bryan Blaskie
Kevin Field
Aaron Scheff
John B. deHaas
Bryan Blaskie
John B. deHaas
Brandon Knechtel at The Jamnasium
Lori Korngiebel
Gary A. Rizzo, CAS
Dug Winningham
Michael Miller
Kyle Krajewski
Albert Casselhoff
Paul Moser III
Fotokem Digital Film Services
Director of Engineering Nextlab
Production Manager
Siddhartha Maganti
Background Designer
Story Lead
Modeling Lead
CGI Supervisor
Animation TD
Rigging TD
Stephanie Dominguez
Jeremy Spears
Xi Wang
Dharmin Doshi
Moe Myint Htet
Nathan Lawrence
Animation Supervisors
Cory Walker
Linda Bell
Animation Leads
Bruna Berford
Ken Craig
Daniel Rosales
Andriy Muzychenko
Chris Bowman
Toshi Nakamura
Jose Rodrigo Gandionco
Animators
Alex Bittner
Alex Hong
Bianca Lancu
Chalisa Boonkasemsanti
Channy Imada
Christina Saenger
Crystal Godat
Obo Agboghidi
Q Lee
Mayra Rivera
Nathaniel Fisher
Paloma Diaz
Srujith Kumar
Adam Ampa Besigye
Rhea Shetty
Samantha Rose Montejo
Thomas De Maleingreau
Vera Chen
Hyun Ji Kim
Kelsey Heckenkamp
Kullapat Srikrisanapol
Lea Antonette Irlanda
Mary Chang
Ramez Mahdi
Saloni Jain
Seong Youn Kim
Ting Chou
Eke Seliawan
3D Layout
Cory Walker
Ken Craig
Modelers
Rolando Reyes
Simon Kumar
Pavan Mallaih
Victou Kim
Rigging
Daniel Arata
Plabon Bhattacharya
Rajesh Bagdae
Andrea Goh
Lighting
Patrick Bramley
Andy Wu
Gun Sik Kim
Yeonkyeong Kang
Cindy Jang
Dharmin Doshi
Catherine Wu
Jainisha Patel
Ramnath Sundaresan
Character Clean Up
Van Shirvanian
Lisa Dossom
Sign Construction
Dado & Carson
Lead Compositor
Amos Sussigan
Compositors
Patrick Bramley
Andy Wu
Dave Scarpitti
Dharmin Doshi
Brenden Russert
Render Wranglers
Lucas Libardi
Siddhartha Maganti
Pre-Production Manager
Production Accountant
Production Coordinator
Production Assistant
Nikitha Mannam
Scott C. Thompson
Marina Niava
Darnell Gooch
Choreographer
Assistant Choreographer
Dance Animation Director
Angel Reda
Andrea Rosenthal
Leon Joosen
Live Action Reference
Maragaret Shoop
Angel Reda
John Tucker
Still Photographers
David Rand
Peitro Torrisi
Post Production Sound Services by
Skywalker Sound
A Lucasfilm Ltd. Company
Marin County, California
Assistant Re-Recording Mixer
Engineering Services
Digital Editorial Support
Audio/Visual Transfer
Kevin Bolen
Scott Brewer
David Peifer
John Countryman
Bidding & Scheduling
Post-Production Sound Accountant
Client Services
Skywalker Sound, Executive Staff
Charlotte Moore
Cathy Shirk
Eva Porter
John Lowden, General Manager
Jon Null, Head of Production
Steve Morris, Head of Engineering
VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO ARIA’S SUPPORTERS
Victoria Maus
David Latour
Nancy Parent
David B. Oshinsky
Charlie Anderson
Don Hahn
Ed Hooks
Kiersten Eve
Jonathan Lomma
Ayyappa Veer
Edwin Rhemrev
Elements School of Visual Arts
Animex
Academy of Art University
Chris Armstrong
Galina Rozina
Colter Coates
Luke Klipp
Erin Reilly
Sasha Korellis
Bonnie and Clyde
P.R. Moo-vers & Shakers
Fumiko Kitahara
Mare Aehlich
Jennifer Coyne
Brigitte Haase
Natural Talent, Inc.
Donna Felten
Kelly Calder-King
Disney Feature Animation
The “Pitches Be Crazy” Group
Maria Gonzalez
Dale Baer
Doug Walker
Kristina Reed
Darin Hollings
Brittany Lee
Brett Boggs
Howard Green
Family
Roberto & Maringela Sussigan
Ron & Karolyn Lund
Mason Racich
John & Marianne Tucker
Bryan Daniel Thompson
Copyright © 2015 Gotta Barn Productions, LLC
All Rights Reserved