Before I dive into specifics, this substack isn’t me asking for money! Pow! is fully funded with support from Pop Culture Collab’s Becoming America Fund, I’ve been working on it over the past year with a great animation production company called FlickerLab and a big team, we’re pretty far into production. I’m very proud of this film and this is my opportunity to talk to you about what is in a lot of ways a dream project for me and if you’d like to follow along, subscribe here!
With the boring stuff out of the way, here’s the good stuff!
Pow! is an 8 minute 2D animated comedy short film about a Native American kid trying to find a place to charge his video game console at a powwow. It’s like a classic Pixar or Looney Tunes animated short, but Native.
As a Native gamer who grew up watching, and eventually writing professionally, big silly cartoon shorts with a ton of physical comedy, I’ve always wanted to create something in that genre with contemporary Native folks front and center, so I combined my two loves and that’s where the initial idea for Pow! came to be.
This film is for Native dorks, gamers, anyone who feels conflicted straddling their traditional culture and modern day society and the childhood me, who was frequently interrupted in my hours long Grand Theft Auto Three sessions on the Tulalip reservation by my mom smudging the corners of my room.
Pow! is silly and ambitious with a big beating Native heart at the center, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it including screening info, concept art and other fun stuff via this substack in the coming weeks and months!
axa inxmink! (I love this!). As a native video game artist and animator myself, I can't wait to show my kids.