💌 SLS August News 💌

Our monthly screening was this past Friday 08/07 & whether you were able to make it or not, we’ve got some news to keep you in the loop!

August Screening Highlights

• We featured 26 live action and animated shorts by LA filmmakers + one from Finnish animator Juho Maurinen who we met at OIAF (Ottawa International Animation Festival) last year and has since started his own Animation Studio Maurinen

  

  It was quiiiiitte a particularly packed show with 250+ people in attendance between the inside and outside screening areas and a full line outside to get in!

  

• Here is the teaser trailer with clips of the films from this month’s lineup. It features the song ‘Ducktails’ by R.O.O.F (Directed by Josh Cohen) which was one of the films we screened. Edit by Co-Executive Director Ben Sharpe.

• On the El Cid patio we had vendors including:
  
  -Animator/Artist Jack Gatto AKA Taterman whose work we’ve screened before with his Science Zone series. He debuted some shirts with the character from his shorts series and had some hand painted ceramics for sale with an old school chunky TV playing his short films on the table.

  

  
  -Bess Thompson tabled with her free zines and had a new one called ‘Bad Dog Worse Dog’ that she kindly gave out!
  
  
  Thankfully we have had a great group of volunteers that have been really helping us cover our bases between the merch table and managing the door process of checking people in these past few months. Special S/O to our volunteer Will Giunco who led the charge coordinating. It has made a big difference as we steadily grow our org!

  

  
  New Sponsors we’re very happy to announce:
  

• Tongal is a platform that connects creators with studios and brands for paid commercial work. You can read more about how it works here on their website.
  

• A Studio Digital is an incubator that produces original animated shorts from independent animators around the world. You can check out their Youtube, Instagram & TikTok to watch some great shorts and notice that a ton of them are made by animators we have screened before.
  

• Titmouse has renewed their sponsorship and we are so grateful for their continued partnership and support… Chirp!
  

Previous Event Recap from July:

• Sunday Morning Cartoons at Junior High on 07/12

  

  We had a nice, low key Sunday afternoon screening with 18 animated shorts in the art gallery/multi-purpose space Junior High. It was such a unique environment to watch some top notch animated shorts in! Afterwards the filmmakers and other attendees hung out a bit and a few people were already asking when the next screening there was so….stay tuned!

• SCAD Mixer at El Cid on 07/20

  

  We had a special event in partnership with SCAD for students to showcase their hard work and talent with a screening and mixer afterwards on the El Cid patio with alumni, students, and industry/studio representatives like Netflix, Starburns, and Open the Portal.
  
  An unexpected guest crashed it and stole the show though:

• Special Screening of the Animated Feature ‘Mars’ by the Whitest Kids You Know (WKUK) at El Cid on 07/21

  

  We had a packed indoor screening of ‘Mars’ which is a crowd funded, independent animated feature and the final project by the sketch comedy group Whitest Kids You Know (WKUK).
  At the end, we had an impromptu Q&A on stage with Sam Brown of WKUK, Sevan Najarian who directed, and some of the crew that helped animate on the project. Apparently the original idea and first draft was written over a weekend back in 2012 with all members of the sketch group and worked on consistently over the years to become the final version that was released in 2024.
  Sadly, Trevor Moore, a member of their group, unexpectedly passed in 2021 so Sam Brown highlighted the difficult challenge of finishing the film. They took a break for a bit but their fans were so supportive and wanted to see the project come together so they donated money and crowd funded to help it get to the finish line and dedicate it to Moore. It was eventually completed and premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2024, had a theatrical release and is currently streaming on multiple online platforms.
  At a press event a few years back, Zach Cregger (another WKUK member) gave the following statement about the release of ‘Mars’: "Without Trevor, there's no Whitest Kids. So this will be our final thing and I'm really proud of it and I'm really happy to put it out there."
  
  

• SLS Panel at SDCC on 07/24
  
  We had the chance to present a panel and screening at San Diego Comic Con this year. It took place in the afternoon in a large conference room in a Marriott next to the convention center where dozens of other panels were happening at the same time so we were thrilled that so many people showed up and went out of their way to attend. It’s hard to estimate how many people were at the panel since it was a prettty good sized space but an estimated 135,000+ people attend SDCC in total each year!

  

  Here’s the event description:
  
  ’Silver Lake Shorts: Championing Independent Animation Through Community Organization.’
  Jared Corwin and Benjamin Sharpe (co-executive directors) discuss building Silver Lake Shorts as a 501c3 non-profit championing independent filmmakers, animators, comedians and comic artists in Los Angeles through free monthly screenings and a fellowship program. They are joined by animators Arius Ziaee @the.marooned and Kat Messing @kat.messing, recipients of the 2025 Silver Lake Shorts fellowship. Trailers for their fellowship films ‘Wolpie Of The Woods’ and ‘Hot Drop: Lil Gibbos’ will be screened along with a half hour block of eclectic animated shorts from the Silver Lake Shorts community. All four will participate in a Q+A moderated by Mikey Heller @yoyorobot (comic artist and writer of Cartoon Network’s ‘We Bare Bears’ and head writer of ‘We Baby Bears’). Sam Grinberg @samgrinberg (comic artist and Simpsons character designer) will be making a special announcement about Silver Lake Comics at the end.
  
  It was such a big opportunity and we met so many kind people who attended and were interested to hear more about SLS for the first time that we got to talk to afterwards outside of the conference hall. It felt like a significant milestone to present there and feature so many artists in our community on such a huge platform.

  

  Thanks to our friend Jim Punch who joined us and captured the weekend on his handicam, I cut together some of the footage to give a VHS style peek at our time there including some footage of the panel itself.
  
  Also thanks to NewVHS for the low-fi SLS intro that plays at our monthly shows and fit so well to the beginning of this video.
  
  You can check that video out on our Youtube page here!

  

  Another big highlight was hanging out on the Adult Swim Green and seeing the panels/performances/music/animation that they featured throughout the weekend including an awesome new Adult Swim ID that was animated/drawn by hand by The Guy Who Waves At Things who frequently attends and tables at our screenings. You go, Joe!

  

  All in all, it was a weekend to remember for sure!
  
  
  Events Coming Up This Month:
  
  Rick and Morty s9 Celebration on 08/17 at El Cid

Join us for an inside look at Season 9 of Rick and Morty with a panel highlighting the team that brings the show to life and a party to celebrate our vibrant animation community!
Doors at 7 & Panel Starts at 7:30

Snag a Free RSVP while you can HERE


Thanks for reading!

<3
Karissa
& the Silver Lake Shorts Team