Writer/director McKinley Benson, writer/producer Mackenzie Benson, and EP Jodi Benson talk about the beauty of the ordinary, like sticky notes left on a refrigerator, and how little moments between two people take on such special meaning in their award winning 2D film about how a couple working opposite schedules tries to maintain their connection through fleeting encounters.
Difficult circumstances, like living long distances apart or having opposite schedules, can be tough on a relationship, especially for newlyweds.But husband and wife McKinley and Mackenzie Benson took their early marriage challenges and made a short film out of them: .
“I've had pieces of myself in everything that I've made, but this one was so personal and vulnerable that I was a little bit scared at first to write it and then to eventually show people the film,” says McKinley, son of actor and Disney legend Jodi Benson () and known for his directorial work on short films like ,his Indie Grant-winning short,and others.
McKinley’s work has typically been focused on live-action; this was his first fully animated project.It was also the first time he and Mackenzie wrote a script together. “It was also the longest project that either of us had ever worked on,” shares McKinley, also a three-time Southeast Emmy Award winner.“It took four years to finish and was a very slow, tedious process.
But it's honestly been such a dream come true to create an animated project of my own, of our own, that we were able to bring to life together.” The award-winning, Oscar-qualifying short is a semi-autobiographical 2D-animated story of how a couple, while working opposite schedules, attempts to maintain their connection through fleeting encounters.Those moments are animated side by side with the woman’s daily schedule colored in yellow while the man’s is colored in blue.Check out the trailer: “There’s an understanding that bright and light colors equal happy and dark colors equal sad, but we wanted to make sure even our female character, who is shrouded in this sunny color palette, would still have moments of melancholy,” says McKinley.
“The music from Zach Pelham, Mason Palanti and composer Luís Soares was a big help with that and did a good job capturing the feelings of loneliness, even in the daylight.” The characters’ encounters – the man putting down a bowl and the woman picking it back up again, for example – are animated like a dance or, more fittingly, two ships passing in the night.“We wanted the pacing and the movement of the characters throughout the film to be very specific in not only the timing of the movements, but also in the way we wanted it to feel very choreographed,” says McKinley.“The way I first pitched the idea to Mackenzie was by acting out the kitchen scene in our own kitchen, to show this dance between these two characters stuck in a pendulum swing.
They're not in sync and they keep swinging past each other and missing each other, while still trying to reach for each other.Mackenzie and I had all these same feelings inside of us when we were living this experience and desperately wanting to find ways to stay connected during a time that was so busy and stressful.” Mackenzie, now working as a professional photographer, chimes in, “That's what made me want to sign on.When McKinley was telling me about it, we were having dinner while he was showing me the kitchen scene.
I could just see him loving it.And that this was the most ‘him’ story he'd ever conceptualized.So, then I was like, ‘Okay, I want to be part of this.’ It immediately attracted me.” In addition to director and writer McKinley and co-writer Mackenzie, Jodi serves as executive producer with Cola Animation and McKinley’s Room 330 Productions producing the 2D animation with a very small animation team consisting of only four artists: Ala Nunu, Olga Brańska, Ana Iutes, and Bofan Liu. For Jodi, her son’s animated project came as a delightful surprise, and she was just as eager to be part of it. “His focus has been live-action shorts for many years, so when McKinley and Mackenzie were sharing about this, and they said it's going to be animated in 2D, I was over the moon excited,” says Jodi.
“When they invited me to be an executive producer, I felt like my number one job was to be their cheerleader and their encourager.I can offer some fresh eyes, but this project is completely them.I'm still blown away that people in festivals all over the world are seeing a snippet of their life and are connecting to their story.” Every filmmaker hopes their movie connects with an audience.
But Mackenzie and McKinley didn’t want their short to be too general either.Many couples go through the same struggles represented in the film.But for the story to stand out and make a memorable impact, the two writers decided that the more personal they made the story and visuals, the better. “It had to stay true to us,” notes Mackenzie.
“One idea we had was that the characters would play chess together.And we were like, ‘We wouldn't actually do that.’ We had to think about how our characters would actually experience life.And then we added little things like our handwriting on little sticky notes, which is something we actually do together to communicate with each other throughout the week.” In the characters’ bedroom, there’s also a framed photo of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is actually in McKinley and Mackenzie’s apartment. “When Mackenzie was in college in San Francisco and I stayed in Atlanta to go to SCAD, that was when we were long distance,” says McKinley.
“It was important we included that in there.” Mackenzie adds, “There's also a photo that I took of one of the buildings on the street I lived on in San Francisco that was also included in the film.The calendar on the character’s fridge is set in the month of June, which is when we got married.I think the hands are even modeled after our hands.” Though McKinley didn’t want the film to be overly sentimental, he admits the visuals – from things like Mackenzie’s golden hoop earrings to their old dish drying rack they no longer own – has turned the short into a type of time capsule that the two will cherish for many years to come. “Part of the concept was to explore the beauty of the ordinary and these little moments between two people,” says McKinley.
“And eventually we'll get to show it to our family, even maybe our grandkids in the future.That's another great thing about art, is that it'll outlive you and live beyond you and have a life of its own.And so that's something that we're looking forward to.
We want the audience to feel that sentimentality when they watch it as well.” The film’s many awards – L.A.A.F.’s Excellence in Drama Award, OLMI Premio Award and others – suggests it seems to be working.“The more personal you make it, the more vulnerability is shown,” says Jodi.“When you have vulnerability, authenticity and you are being real, then you can connect to an audience.
They can't connect with people if they are not true to themselves.This story of McKinley and Mackenzie… it's them.It's their apartment.
It's their fish.It's their handwriting.It couldn't be more real to the animation, really, and that's what's so beautiful about it.
And everyone can connect – not just partners, but also roommates, friends, mothers and daughters, fathers, and sons.” She adds, “I've been in that apartment many, many times, where they began their life together.And for them to create this during the pandemic, for both of them to graduate during the pandemic, when the world shut down, when the rug got pulled up from underneath them, and the fact that they grabbed onto something creative to express themselves during a dark time, makes it even more special.” The production experience has been so special for McKinley that he’s already started on his next animated project, still yet to be announced. “We're working on it right now,” teases McKinley.“We’re still in very early development, but maybe in five years we’ll have something new to talk about.” Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime.
She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment.Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
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