Sep 15, 2017

Pixar artist Trevor Jimenez's new short film "Weekends" (trailer)

The trailer for "Weekends," a new hand-animated short film in the Pixar pedigree with an engaging illustration style, was released online today.

The 15-minute film was conceived and directed by Trevor Jimenez, who by day works as a story artist at Pixar. Jimenez told Cartoon Brew that the 15-minute film is based on a personal story he has been boarding and editing in his spare time for the past four years.

Set in 1980s Toronto, the film tells the story of a young boy who travels between the homes of his recently divorced parents, mixing "surreal dream-like moments with the reality of a broken home."

Jimenez produced the film through Pixar's Co-op program, which allows studio artists to make films on their own time. Previous shorts made through this program include "The Dam Keeper" by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi and "Borrowed Time" by Andrew Coates and Lou Hamou-Raj, both of which were nominated for Academy Awards.

In July 2016, after years of developing the film single-handedly, Jimenez enlisted the help of Chris Sasaki ("Monsters University," "Sanjay's Super Team"), who then joined "The Weeknd" as production designer. Sasaki worked with a small group of people inside and outside Pixar to draw all the backgrounds for the film. The backgrounds were first drawn in charcoal and then painted digitally to achieve the unique tone of the images. [I started work on the film last August, and took a four-month break from work in December to concentrate on the production of the animated short film. I returned to work in May, finished production at night, and finally completed it in early August."

"Weekend" has just begun screening at film festivals, so look for it at your favorite animation events. For more information about the film and upcoming screening dates, visit WeekendsFilm.com or the film's Facebook page.