New York, NY -- From October 15 through October 18, Digital Hollywood—a leading conference focused on entertainment and technology—is hosting a list of who’s who to discuss a broad range of paradigms and trends surrounding how entertainment is financed, created, consumed, marketed and monetized in the digital age. Many of the cutting edge discussions at this conference held in Marina del Rey, California will touch upon topics that are merged together in an unlikely suspect called ‘Wolf Dog Tales’ (www.wolfdogtales.com [1])--an animated short film that is part of a bigger strategy that uniquely ‘walks the Digital Hollywood talk’ in more ways than one.
Launched by the company Wolf Dog, LLC, ‘Wolf Dog Tales’ premiered in June, 2012 as part of the Official Selection at the Annecy Animated Film Festival in France—considered the “Cannes” of animation by industry veterans—and features ancient stories of what animals teach us about respecting life. Original animation techniques were developed for this film called ‘Faux Sand Painting Animation’ based on Navajo sand paintings—an indigenous art form. Since its world premiere at Annecy, the film has gone on to win several awards, including BEST ANIMATED FILM at Comic Con International in San Diego, and play in numerous festivals around the world. ‘Wolf Dog Tales’ is now under consideration for a significant entertainment industry nomination.
Regarding Wolf Dog’s connection to this year’s Digital Hollywood, the art, technology and storytelling used in ‘Wolf Dog Tales’ are being leveraged as a springboard for a transmedia strategy that includes several cross-platform initiatives currently in various stages of development. Among these initiatives are a children’s animated TV series, a digital game, an educational package for schools (already in use in Mumbai and Delhi), a live-action feature film, a digital comic & graphic novel, a series of children’s illustrated books and a commerce/product component.
Wolf Dog is the brainchild of Bernadine Santistevan, a Stanford engineering/Wharton MBA graduate with credentials that span working in venture capital and mergers and acquisitions for GE Capital, developing strategies and operational plans for cutting edge technology/media companies such as Comixology (the world’s leading provider of digital comics) and writing, directing and producing feature films. Bernadine’s experiences alone embody a surprising convergence of Digital Hollywood’s focus on woman entrepreneurs, technology, investing, digital media, multi-dimensional storytelling and entertainment.
Wolf Dog has successfully attracted Emmy, Grammy and Oscar-winning/nominated artists to contribute their talents to its various initiatives. One such artist is Bono/U2, who has contributed music to the live-action feature film currently in post-production. An Emmy-winning designer/animator named Igor created the animation in ‘Wolf Dog Tales’ and the 2-time Grammy winning Native American artist, Robert Mirabal, performs the music.
Asked what inspired her to launch this socially responsible transmedia company, Bernadine responded, “I had a personal experience that really opened my eyes to how much the world that has fallen out of balance. My hope is that by using the power of art, storytelling, technology and entertainment, the messages in Wolf Dog might help us get us back on track.”
Bernadine intends to donate a percentage of Wolf Dog’s net profits to organizations protecting endangered wildlife and nature—following through with the company’s commitment to respecting life, as seen in her animated film ‘Wolf Dog Tales.’
Source: Wolf Dog, LLC
Links:
[1] http://www.wolfdogtales.com/