Oscar® Qualified Animated Short Luki & The Lights by Toby Cochran

Toby Cochran’s animated short Luki & The Lights: An ALS Story Qualifies for the 97th Academy® Awards

Los Angeles, CA (September 23, 2024). Toby Cochran’s Luki & The Lights shares a charming and touching story of a robot named LUKi who is slowly starting to malfunction. But even with the struggles ahead, LUKi demonstrates unwavering resilience, painting a vivid portrait of what it means to truly live and the power to find light even in the darkest of times. This poignant animated short was made to raise awareness of ALS as well as to create a platform for children to understand what the disease is. It has qualified to be considered for the 2025 Oscars®.

Logline: The story follows an active, charming, and upbeat robot named LUKi who enjoys hanging with friends. One day after work while playing soccer, LUki’s arm begins to malfunction. After a trip to the doctor, LUKi is diagnosed with ALS.

Luki & The Lights is inspired by the true story of Sascha Groen and her husband Anjo Snijders who was diagnosed with ALS. Realizing the few educational tools available to explain the disease to their children, the couple sought to remedy this, leading to the conception of this beautiful animated short. To date, the film has taken home twenty awards including the “Audience Award” at the Florida Film Festival, the “Audience Choice Award” at Indy Shorts International Film Festival and Siggraph Electronic Theater, the Children’s Audience Award at Animayo Gran Canaria, “Best Animated Short” at the Phoenix Film Festival, and the “FilmSlam Student Choice Award for Best Short” at Cleveland International Film Festival.

Director Toby Cochran is the founder and creative force behind Big Grin Productions, with 20 years of animation and production expertise. His roles span story artist, writer, and director and extends across various entertainment realms, including games, commercials, live-action, and animated series. His distinguished career includes collaborations with studios and companies such as Netflix, Marvel, Disney, ReelFX, Discovery Channel, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Nestle, Lego Universe, and Kuku Studios.

Producer Adrian Ochoa is an award-winning producer. Prior to joining Big Grin, Adrian worked at Pixar Animation Studios, PlayStudios, and Penrose Studios. His credits include Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Wall-E, Cars 2, Monsters University, Inside Out, and The Good Dinosaur. He also worked on various shorts including Cars Toons, live-action shorts, and the animated short Day and Night. He’s also produced over 45 mobile games. Including three with Shaquille O’Neal and the award-winning VR animated short film Arden’s Wake. 

About The Film
The digital distribution For ALS information, educational material and more please visit globalneuroycare.org. This heartbreaking short has qualified for the 2025 Oscars®.

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