Check out The Lady and the Reaper in the 2010 AWN Oscar Showcase!

The Lady and the Reaper, a frantic comedy about the fight between death and a doctor over the life of an old lady, actually began as a $1 million R&D project at Kandor Moon. A contest was held at the studio in Granada, Spain as a way of testing the stereoscopic capabilities for the country's first 3-D feature, Goleor, about a young man on a quixotic quest to become a medieval knight. Javier Recio Gracia, a storyboard artist, won the contest and the result was The Lady and the Reaper, which was co-produced by Antonio Banderas. Meanwhile, Banderas will co-produce and lend his voice to Goleor, an ambitious and technically bold $30 million project, which will be directed by Manuel Sicilia, who also helmed Kandor's first feature, The Missing Lynx. I spoke with Gracia, about his animated adventure, which is Spain's first animated Oscar entry.

Bill Desowitz: What does this nomination mean to you?

Javier Recio Gracia: For me personally, it's an enormous honor to have this recognition of my work and the work of my colleagues at Kandor Moon. And I never expected to get this far with our first short. For the studio and the backers of the studio, it's very important to demonstrate that this kind of recognition is possible of the work that is being done here. And I'm hopeful that this nomination will also draw attention to the talent and skill of the people working in animation in Spain and that animation can continue to gain recognition here as a very important art form.

BD: And what was the atmosphere like for the announcement?

JRG: We called all the press in the region where we lived and we took a chance and invited them to come watch the nominations with us -- we projected the telecast on the wall and we opened a bunch of champagne and we were determined to drink it regardless because just reaching this point had been so significant for us. And then, of course, when the nomination was announced, everybody went absolutely berserk. We also had prepared a web conference with Antonio, who was in L.A. So it was one of the happiest days of our lives and it was happy having Antonio on the screen congratulating us.

BD: What inspired the idea of The Lady and the Reaper? 

JRG: At the time of the contest, I watched as my grandmother was fading away, and looking around at some other elderly people, who, perhaps as well, were having their last moments in life in a less idyllic manner than my own grandmother. It made me start to think about this idea. And I thought it would be a lot more fun to treat the subject matter with humor.

BD: Did the story come easily or was it a struggle?

JRG: In this particular case, the story came out straight. I storyboarded it and it flowed really naturally from beginning to end without any great difficulty.

BD: What were some of your biggest challenges?