"Luna & Lars" (Behind The Scenes)

The making of the award winning animated short film Luna & Lars.

Luna & Lars is a deeply personal collaborative project that began in 2011, when McCanna “Mac” Sinise composed and recorded the instrumental song “Waltz For Addicts” on piano. Screenwriter Lia Woodward listened to the song and envisioned an animated story that could accompany Mac’s evocative music. The haunting, tragic, and beautiful song strongly resonated with Lia and she wrote the first draft of “Luna & Lars” soon after. Inspired by the screenplay, Mac then wrote lyrics to “Waltz For Addicts” based on the story and recorded it with a string ensemble and vocals. Two years later in 2013, Mac and Lia began a journey to produce the script into an animated short, with Mac composing, orchestrating, and conducting an original score for the film.

When Mac and Lia approached director Anna Zlokovic to helm Luna & Lars, she was immediately taken by the script’s emotional storyline, and by Mac and Lia’s dedication and passion. The script’s themes of love, loss, and how we evolve as people through grief, resonated deeply with her. The artistic potential of stop motion to communicate those themes was equally as exciting, and Anna dove into learning everything she could about the medium. From there, an exceptional team of artists— comprised largely of fellow undergraduate and graduate students at USC—was gathered. Work began on what would be 4 months of filming every weekend in between classes. The final result is a labor of love from all involved.

Mac’s song “Waltz For Addicts” is featured in the end credits of the film.

The film premiered in May 2014 and went on to win many awards in 2015 including Best Animated Short at Downtown Film Festival Los Angeles; the Platinum Remi Award at Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival; Best Animation Short, Best Picture Finalist at Temecula Independent Film Festival; International Short Film Finalist at USA Film Festival, Catalina Film Festival Animation Award of Merit, and New Filmmakers of LA awards for Best Animated Short and for Best Score

Featuring original music by McCanna "Mac" Sinise
Performed by Lou Roy and Aman Alem

Featuring:
McCanna "Mac" Sinise
Anna Zlokovic
Lia Woodward
Simona Kessler
Brandon Lake
M Dougherty
Maria Sequeira
Arturo Acevedo Smith
Leah Folta
Tim Herrold
Patrice Rushen
Aman Alem
Lou Roy

Luna & Lars - Behind the Scenes filmed and edited by Lia Woodward

Special Thanks:
Brandon Woodward
Jordan Ryle