Jan 30, 2014

Exclusive Nickelodeon Announces 2014 Animated Short Shorts Program

Nickelodeon has announced a call for entries for its 2014 Global Animated Shorts Program, which aims to discover and nurture up-and-coming animation artists. This is the third year Nick has run this program in Japan, and the second year for international artists.

The top animated short, "Bug Salad," created by Carl Faruolo ("Gravity Falls," "Fish Hooks"), is from the Class of 2013 and premieres today exclusively on Cartoon Brew.

"We continue our mission to create the most entertaining animated content for the next generation of kids and find the freshest creative voices from around the world," said Russell Hicks, president of content development and production at Nick.

"The shorts program is already fueling our pipeline with new content, and we're very excited about what's coming through our doors this year.

Nick will select a minimum of 10 pitches to develop into shorts that will appear on air, Nick.com, and the Nick app. Short films may be developed into a full series, such as "Breadwinners," which was selected from the inaugural 2012 animated shorts program. Call for Pitches

Ideas are open to a wide range of creative talent from all walks of life, including artists, designers, screenwriters, directors, and comedians. Creators will be provided with the artistic and production support team necessary to complete a fully animated short. Animated shorts must be original, humorous, and character-driven. All styles of animation are encouraged, including 2D, digital 2D, stop motion, CG, and mixed media. Deadline for submissions is March 14, 2014.

Details and guidelines are available on Nick's website.

Nick also announced the full list of 17 pitches selected for pilot development from the 2013 edition. This list includes the following 10 projects from the US:

The Loud House (produced by Chris Savino) Bear Wrestler (produced by Deanna Rooney) By Request Pizza (produced by Arica Tuesday & Mick Ignis) Hole ( (produced by Sam Spina) Matt and Gus (produced by Matt Braunger) Charlie and Mr. Travis BraunBug Salad by Carl FaruoloEarmouse and Bottle by Brian MoranteWoodstump by Zach Jack Cusumano by SmithBroats

and seven international projects: "Badly Drawn Animals" by Hamish Steele (UK) "Louis and Georges" by Renaud Martin and Rafael Chabasol ( (France) "Monster Pack" by Pedro Eboli & Graham Peterson (Brazil) "Moosebox" by Mike Scott (South Africa) "Scoop" by The Brothers McLeod (UK)Tech Oddity by Marco Ibarra and Stefie Zöhrer (Mexico)Tonk's Island by Mel Roach (Australia)

(The two short films pictured in this post are Earmouse and Bottle and By Request Pizza (The two short stories pictured in this post are Earmouse and Bottle and By Request Pizza. )