VAN NUYS, CALIFORNIA – Brain Zoo Studios, an Emmy Award-winning animation and visual effects studio in Southern California, makes its short film debut with "Pepe & Lucas."
After 17 years of producing character animation for global brands like Marvel, Disney, and Mattel, this is the studio’s first foray into creating an animated property completely in-house, from inception to final cut.
“Pepe & Lucas”
is a fully-animated romantic comedy short that depicts the conflict between two classic forms of street entertainers: clowns and mimes. The story begins in the colorful town of Starlight City, where Pepe the clown is being thrown out of a local tavern. Thirsty for attention, he stumbles out onto the streets in search of an audience. Instead, he comes across his nemesis Lucas the mime, a rising star that knows how to please a crowd. It's clear that this town isn't big enough for the two of them, and a battle of the street titans ensues.
An army of robot clowns, squawking chickens, invisible mech suits and flaming car chases are just a few of the surprises that enliven the screen, as Pepe and Lucas try to one-up each other in hopes of becoming the king of the street. But when the real identity of Lucas is revealed, its clear there can be only one.
The story of “Pepe & Lucas” is told in the genre of Depression Era silent films where body language and facial expression, not words, are used to deliver the story to the audience.
"While we're paying homage to Charlie Chaplin and other films of that era, 3D animation allows us to do things Mr. Chaplin could only dream of," said Mo Davoudian, CEO and creative director of Brain Zoo Studios. “It's a whole new take on an old art form. The inspiration came from our recently-depressed economy, where doom and gloom were the orders of the day. I wanted to make a film that inspired hope and made people smile - the old fashioned way - but at the same time, using the latest techniques of animation to do it.”
“Pepe & Lucas”
is scheduled to be released later this year.