The Spirit Seam (2019)
The Spirit Seam is an animated short film by Ashley Gerst that mixes practical sets, 3d and 2d animation. It takes place in 1950's Appalachian mining country, and tells the story of Pap-Paw and his granddaughter, Pollywog. The two are inseparable until an illness threatens to fracture their family.
The Spirit Seam has screened in over 100 film festivals internationally! It has also won over 25 awards!
Selected Awards
Best Animation Award — Wake Forest Film Festival 2020 — Wake Forest, NC
Best Animated Short - NEO International Film Festival 2019 — Canton Fulton, OH
Audience Award — Anima Pix 2019 — Azores, Portugal
Best Animation Award — ART FORUM Festival of the Moving Image 2019 — NYC, NY
Best Short Film — Sleepy Hollow Int’l Film Festival 2019 — Sleepy Hollow, NY
Best Animation Award — Lebanese Independent Film Festival 2019 - Beirut, Lebanon
Best Animated Short Film Award — FICLAPAZ La Paz In’l Film Festival — La Paz, Bolivia
Best Family Short Film Award — Cindependent Film Festival 2019 — Cincinatti, OH
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Award — Sunrise 45 Film Fesitval 2019 — Alpena, MI
Best Animation Award — Highway Walkers Film Festival 2019 — Denali Park, AK
Best Animation Award — Pittsburgh Int’l Film Festival 2019 — Pittsburgh, PA
Best Animation Award — Northeast Mountain Film festival 2019 — Dillard, GA
Best Animation Award — Canton Film Fest 2019 — Canton, OH
Best Professional Division Animated Short Film Award — Mosaic Film Festival 2019 — Clarkston, GA
3rd Place Jury Award & 1st Place Audience Award — Standing Rock Film Festival 2019 — Kent, OH
Selected Screenings
The Rockefeller Gallery — June and July 2026 — Pleasantville, NY
Museum of Creative Minds — Aug 2021 — Hangzhou City, China
August Reels of Wheels — August 2021 — Cincinnati, OH
Lakefront Film Fest — July 2021 — Columbia, MD
Nassau Film Festival — May 2021 — Princeton, NJ
Fixon Fest — March 2021 — Santiago, Chile
Santa Fe Film Festival — February 2021 — Santa Fe, NM
Mindfield Film Festival — August 2020 — Albuquerque, NM
Red Cedar Film Festival — July 2020 — Menomonie, WI
Standing Rock Film Festival - February 2020 - Kent, OH
Grove Film Festival — June 2020 - Jersey City, NJ
End of Days Film Festival — May 2020 — Orlando, FL
Animation Celebration Fest — April 2020 — Racine, WI
Cascadia International Film Festival — April 2020 - Billingham, WA
Azalea Film Festival — April 2020 — Mobile, AL
Wake Forest Film Festival — March 2020 — Wake Forest, NC
Oxford Film Festival - March 2020 — Oxford, MS
Sochi Film Festival — February 2020 — Sochi, Russia
AnimPix Miratec Arts — December 2019 — Azores, Portugal
NEO International Film Festival — December 2019 — Canton Fulton, OH
Tampa Underground Film Festival — December 2019 — Tampa, FL
Mediterranean Film Festival — November 2019 — Cannes, France
Mentone Film Festival — November 2019 — Mentone, CA
Animation Marathon — November 2019 — Athens, Greece
The Hague World Cinema Fest — November 2019 — Hague Netherlands
Film Maudit — November 2019 — Santa Monica, CA
The Yonkers Film Festival — November 2019 — Yonkers, NY
Rails to Reels Film Festival — October 2019 — Meridian, MS
ART FORUM Festival of the Moving Image — October 2019 — New York, NY
Sleepy Hollow International Film Festival — October 2019 — Sleepy Hollow, NY
Louisville International Film Festival — October 2019 — Louisville, KY
Tulsa American Film Festival — October 2019 — Tulsa, OK
Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival — October 2019 — Cincinnati, OH
Coney Island Film Festival — September 2019 — Brooklyn, NY
Directed by Women Turkey Film Festival — September 2019 — Istanbul, Turkey
Detroit Shetown International Film Festival — September 2019 — Detroit, MI
Lebanese Independent Film Festival — Sept 2019 — Ashrafieh-Beruit, Lebanon
FICLAPAZ La Paz International Film Festival — September 2019 — La Paz, Bolivia
Sunrise Film Festival — September 2019 — Nova Scotia, Canada
Burbank International Film Festival — September 2019 — Burbank, CA
Cindependent Film Festival — August 2019 — Cincinnati, OH
Highway Walkers Film Festival — July 2019 — Denali Park, AK
Open World Animation Festival — July 2019 — Allentown, PA
Jersey Shore Film Festival — June 2019 — Asbury Park, NJ
Smokey Mountain Film Festival — June 2019 — Gatlinburg, TN
Pittsburgh International Film Festival — June 2019 — Pittsburgh, PA
Snake Alley Film Festival — June 2019 — Burlington, IA
Northeast Mountain Film Festival — June 2019 — Dillard, GA
Lighthouse International Film Festival — June 2019 — Long Beach, NJ
Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival — May 2019 — Ankara, Turkey
2 Fest Cine Pedra Azul — May 2019 — Pedra Azul, Brazil
New Haven International Film Festival — May 2019 — New Haven, CT
Philadelphia Independent Film Festival — May 2019 — Philadelphia, PA
Festival de Cine Oro Negro — May 2019 — Veracruz-Nanchital, Mexico
Sci-On! Film Festival — May 2019 — Reno, NV
The West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival — Apr 2019 — Morgantown, WV
Canton Film Fest — April 2019 — Canton, OH
Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival — April 2019 — Ridgewood, NJ
Monadnock International Film Festival — April 2019 — Keene, NH
Ozark Foothills Film Festival — April 2019 — Batesville, AR
Khem Animation Festival — April 2019 — Newark, NJ
Mountain Tales Film Festival — April 2019 — Enterprise, AL
Highway 61 Film Festival — April 2019 — Pine City, MN
Tupelo Film Festival — April 2019 - Tupelo, MS
WIFM Short FIlm Showcase — March 2019 — Pittsburgh, PA
Columbus International Film Festival — March 2019 — Columbus, OH
Boston Underground Film Festival — March 2019 — Cambridge, MA
Mosaic Film Festival — March 2019 — Clarkston, GA
Athens ANIMFEST — March 2019 — Athens, Greece
The Colony Short Film Festival — March 2019 — Marietta, OH
Cinema Sisters International Film Festival — March 2019 — Wilmington, NC
Prison City Film Festival — February 2019 — Huntsville, TX
Standing Rock Film Festival — January 2019 — Kent, OH
Film Stills
Concept Art
Set Fabrication
Credits:
VOICE CAST: Mia Kain as Pollywog
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Ashley Gerst
SOUND DESIGN: Jake Mautner & Jasper Lin
ANIMATORS: Ashley Gerst, Adam Momsen & Morgan Taylor
COLOR DEVELOPMENT: Laura Charles
CHARACTER MODELING: Ashley Gerst & Michael Somoza
VEHICLE MODELING & RIGGING: Chris Murphy
VISUAL EFFECTS: Emily Suber
SET DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION: Ashley Gerst
CONSTRUCTION ASSISTANTS: Emily Suber, Mieka Lewis, Sonia Garbes-Putzel, Yutah Shuh, Allan Bangera, Jaime Ekkens, Benjamin Morse, Vicky Leta, Elisah Dora, Jane Gorton, Belle Pedid, Jackie Moss, Rose Pedid, Janet Simek, Polly Baker, Christine Glasby, Eloise Glasby, Austin Glasby, Adri Nerone, Megan Kern, Cassandra Lagunzad Brown, & Tori Septien
DIGITAL FABRICATION: Jasper Lin
INTERIOR SET MODELING: Ashley Gerst & Michael Somoza
ILLUSTRATION ARTISTS: Benjamin Morse, Belle Pedid & Vicky Leta
CHILDREN’S DRAWINGS: Olivia Tucker & Mia Kain
STORYBOARD / ANIMATIC: Ashley Gerst & Benjamin Morse
GRAPHICS AND TITLE DESIGN: Benjamin Morse
MUSIC: Abby the Spoon Lady and Lyle Rickards, “Sonata In Spoons and Dulcimer For D” Copyright: Abby the Soon Lady and Lyle Rickards, Date 2017 | Orville J. Jenks, “Sprinkle Coal Dust on My Grave” Publisher: Library of Congress: Korson, George Gershon - Jenks, Orville J., Date: 1965 | Mel Allen with Jim Britt, “1948 World Series Game 5” Publisher: Major League Baseball, Date: 1948 | The Stanley Brothers, “Dream of a Miner’s Child” Album: Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Annual 1961 - 1965, Year Released: 2003, Copyright: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings | Anthony Pasquarosa, “Run for Life, Death is Near (Sequence 1)” Copyright: Anthony Pasquarusa, VDSQ, 2017 | Cassie Franklin, “Babes in the Woods” Composer: Trad. Arr Cassie Franklin, Publisher: Copyright Control, Copyright: Fellside Recordings LTD P + C 2005 | Mystic Woods Orchestra, “Autumn Leaves” Album: One Stormy Night, Composer: Brian Miller, Date: 1966
SPECIAL THANKS: Josh Plans, Mike & Dana Kubik, Lisa Kubik, Mike Kubik, Andy GLasby, Robert Gerst, Mary Katynski, Debbie Morse, Allie Lampe, Arts Letters & Numbers, Katherine Dallimore, Mike Mance (Coke Oven Mike), Jaime Ekkens, Alyssa Torres, Jane Gorton, Carl Edwards, Steve Baldesair, Savanna Kain, Lawrence Mascia, Eric Collins, Tony Howard, Steve Rittler, Michael Tucker, Lynda Tucker, Alisa Stern, Rocky Finley, Valerie Polger, & Hsiang-Chin Moe