It’s finally here! After more than two years, eight film festivals, incredible audience response, and a feature by the United Nations, our labor of love is available for public viewing.

As part of the public release, we’re announcing an enhanced edition that includes improved character animation, all new frame-by-frame animated character lighting, and various improvements that only obsessive types like us will notice.

What is Azúcar?

Azúcar is an animated short film about a boy and his mother. 

Ana and Marcelo have traveled 1500 miles from Honduras to the U.S. border. Tonight is the night they will attempt to cross the Rio Grande.

During the crossing we will learn why they have come so far, and endured so much, to get here. We will also see them face their greatest challenge of the journey.

Ana and Marcelo arrive at the riverbank carrying little more than hope, resilience, and a few packets of sugar—azúcar—to keep them going. But will their hope and resilience survive the night? 

Planet Nutshell hurtled through space and time for yet another year, and boy was it interesting! 2023 was a year of change for us; we emerged from the pandemic wondering what the world would bring, and several long-term projects made landfall on our shores, projects that we unfortunately can’t share until 2024. That said, a few projects did reach the finish line in 2023, and we’ve chosen a few favorites to share.

We Finished Azúcar!

It’s FINALLY done. And the best part? People really liked it, a lot of people, in fact. The film was selected by eight film festivals around the world and was profiled by the United Nations. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s streaming for the ludicrously low price of $1.99, which is all the more amazing because it is probably the best seven minutes you’ll spend all year.

Rockland Trust Bank

This one is near and dear to our hearts. We loved working with the forward thinking marketing and education team at Rockland Trust Bank to help them educate future customers about making wise financial decisions — as well as the virtues of break dancing at a school supply fair. Want to learn more? Head on over to Rockland Trust Bank’s classroom, where Ms. Money will be happy to help you out.

Say No to Plastic Oceans

I chose this one simply because I adore the animation the team did on this one. I mean, look at those 3D renderings of plastic trash! The real star of the show is the harbor seal. These sequences were commissioned for inclusion in a recent music video by Berkeley, CA-based singer/songwriter Don Arbor.

The Unexplored

Like many of our 2023 projects, this one isn’t quite finished yet, but it’s close, and we’re super excited about it. The Unexplored is a new and original web series designed to help folks (re)discover the humanities. We can’t wait to show you more of this and other projects we’re working on in 2024.

We’re beaming with pride that the United Nations chose to profile our incredible art director, Jen Sanchez, on World Refugee Day. If you don’t know about Jen’s background and family, get ready to be touched and inspired by this short documentary.

The profile offers a behind-the-scenes look at how our short film, Azúcar, grew out of the stories of refugees and immigrants in our own lives. 

A huge thank you to the team at USA for UNHCR  for highlighting Jen and our work.

And don’t worry, everyone will have an opportunity to watch Azúcar soon. Stay tuned for that…