Odd Dog is an animated, family-comedy film by first-time filmmaker Keika Lee who also wrote, directed and produced it. Odd Dog is a short film with a runtime of 5 minutes completed on a budget of $20,000 by filmmakers at Greyscale Animation. Keika Lee talks to us about her work on this production. Hello Keika. Whats up?
indieativity (IA) : Can you give your personal experience with the story, writing and production.
Keika Lee (KL) : The story is based on my son and our cat. Ever since my son was born, he and our cat have been inseparable. After I had left my last job, I had started sketching cartoons of my son and our cat. Then it evolved into me writing a short story about them, then a script. All of a sudden I was contacting my friends for help on making a short animated film about an Odd Dog. I knew I needed a story artist and character designer so I was able to recruit Steph Dere who is a wonderfully talented story artist who’s worked at Pixar and DreamWorks Animation. She took my script and storyboarded the entire 10-minute short all the while I hired a couple of character designers, Miles Dulay and Genevieve Tsai to design the Cat and Boy. Things just kept rolling from there.
I didn’t have much background in writing as I was self taught so I had to Google how to write a script. Haha. It was foreign to me at the time but I did it!
When it came to production, I knew what I was getting into. I had 15 years of production experience already from film and games at Electronic Arts, DreamWorks Animation and Zynga to name a few. Pulling from the best practices of those production years, I was able to create networks and production schedules and campaigns to get the film going and eventually to the finish line. I have never been so proud!
indieactivity : Why was it important for you to share your story: Odd Dog?
Keika Lee : I’ve always had a fascination with simple films that could send a strong message. I wanted to create something like that with “Odd Dog”. I wanted to create a simple story and characters that people could relate to and have fun with.
Growing up I was always an “odd ball” in school. I was a loner for most of elementary school and I was starting to think something was wrong with me until I met my first best friend in 4th grade who was just as “odd” as me. Though it’s a subtle message, I wanted to write about how no matter how “odd” you may be, there is someone who you fit with or somewhere you fit in.
indieactivity: What was your first project?
Keika Lee: My first animated short was back in college when I did an internship at Kyoto Animation in Kyoto, Japan. It was called “SARU” and I did everything from producing to storyboarding to animating to editing in two and a half months. It was a 5-minute short in Japanese anime style animated to my favorite GLAY song at the time. Haha! It wasn’t very good but I had a lot of fun making it and was able to get feedback and mentorship from the talented directors and animation leads of Kyoto Animation studio. It was a dream come true!
indieativity : Is there anything about the independent filmmaking business that you struggle with?
Keika Lee: Raising funds to make films is a struggle but it’s totally worth it to me. It’s definitely a labor of love! I’m doing it because I love filmmaking so much and it makes me happier than any job has ever made me. I come from a career where I was making a decent salary and I left it to work twice as hard and not make much but…I am happy. The struggle is real but being happy and feeling fulfilled with my life is priceless.
indieactivity: Where do you think your strengths lie as a filmmaker?
Keika Lee: Team building. I love finding talented, passionate artists who want to work on my project and do their best. I feel pretty lucky that I have worked with some amazingly skillful and kind artists but I also know I choose who I work with carefully. Your project is your baby and you want to make sure you are selective on who works with you. Never settle.
indieactivity : How was the film financed?
Keika Lee : Most of the film was financed through Kickstarter and IndieGogo, (Thank you, backers!), and the rest was personally funded by myself.
indieactivity : What do you hope audiences get from your film?
Keika Lee : I just want people to enjoy it especially during this difficult time. I want people to laugh and smile. I also want people to see that no matter how “odd” they feel, there is someone who accepts them for who they are. They are not alone.
indieactivity : What else have you got in the works?
Keika Lee : Hopefully “Odd Dog” gets some interest in becoming a series for a network (crossing fingers!). And currently I am working on an exciting new short animated film called “Oren’s Way” about a princess who tries to save her kingdom from eternal sadness when she finds the true meaning of happiness. I can’t wait to share it with the world!
Tell us what you think of the new trailer for “film title” What do yo think of it? Genre? More genre? Lets have your comments below and/or on Facebook or Instagram! Or join me on Twitter @oladapobamidele
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