Deaf animated film concept, “Liftoff”

Renca Dunn, Daily Moth Reporter: A group of deaf and hard of hearing animators and storytellers are teaming up to create a 9-minute 3D-animated short film called “Liftoff.” The story is about a 22-year-old Deaf ballet dancer named Vivian.

[Kickstarter video clip #1]

Renca: A nonprofit organization called “Signing Animation” is behind the project. They’ve started a Kickstarter with a $40,000 goal to cover the costs of creating the first cut of the film and have already surpassed half of that goal in a few days.

The film is inspired by a real-life deaf dancer, Zahna Simon.

[Kickstarter video clip #1]

The director, writer, and co-founder’s name is Carin Powell, who has single-sided deafness. Here are some remarks from her and one of the producers, Sam Sepah.

Our show is called, “Lift-off”. Like artistic freedom, and also to think of a rocket blasting off.

That film is truly inspired by many Deaf and hard-of-hearing dancers from all over in our communities. That story isn’t an actual true story but a lot of parts in it are based on various true stories and included in the making of this animated film.

Carin: We’re making the Kickstarter because we’re ready to start the animations, and we want enough money to pay the Animator. We also want to build up our audience.

Sam: Now, as we started and announced Kickstarter, we’ve had so many donations coming in. We are speechless, inspired and most importantly, our hearts are warmed and touched.

Carin: Amazing! I hope that we exceed the goal and that we make the movie faster as well as grow our audience.

Renca: Check out the video on Kickstarter to see who else is behind the “Liftoff” team. There are rewards for supporting this project, including various items from deaf-owned businesses. The link is in the transcript.

[Sponsored Video from Convo: https://www.convorelay.com/download]