Startup Patch Animation pushes the boundaries of 3D production and delves into grief in its latest animated short in development, Stached. The studio has received a significant subsidy from Epic Games, creators of Fortnite, to carry out an ambitious project that seeks to break the barriers of the Unreal Engine, a powerful real-time 3D tool.
“We chose to use Unreal Engine for our short because we believe its production flexibility is the future of animation and we want to be a part of making real-time pipelines the new standard,” said David Romani II, who co-founded Patch Animation with Kelly Farmer and Sofia Soldevila.
Behind this project are the creative minds of Kelly Farmer, David Romani II and Sofia Soldevila. The first, a designer and illustrator, is passionate about special effects and telling stories through drawing. The second, a screenwriter from New York, has worked for large clients such as Disney or the NFL and, the third, is a Spanish art director who is fascinated by animated films and has worked for Lego, Spotify and UN Women, among other industries.
The film tells the story of an old man and a hermit crab whose lives become intertwined as they both cope with a personal loss. Entertaining, emotional, authentic, but above all educational, the short delves into the management of loss and how to cope with grief.
In this spirit, the animation studio has explained that the proceeds from said short will go to an American non-profit organization that helps manage grief, GriedHaven.
The grant received is named Epic MegaGrant and is awarded by the video game and software development giant Epic Games with the aim of supporting digital creators working on the expansion and impact of real-time technology.
