Following the success of their critically acclaimed graphic novel, R.E.M., creators Ryan Colucci and Zsombor Huszka proudly announce the launch of their hand-drawn animated film, Orient City: Ronin & The Princess.
The team launched its Kickstarter campaign just this week to bring the striking 2D animation to life, and is already on their way toward their overall goal of $30,000 to help cover the total cost of the film.
Orient City: Ronin & The Princess is a samurai spaghetti western that mixes the characteristics of the American Wild West and the architecture of Feudal Asia. An unforgiving place, Orient City is a vertical tangle of rock and skyscrapers interconnected with waterways and cable cars. The poor, quite literally, dwell at the bottom. At the center of it all is Boshi, a fallen samurai who has sworn to protect a young girl whose family has been assassinated. Together they head to Orient City for one thing… revenge.
What sets apart Orient City is not only the quality of the story and animation, but also the depth and breadth of experience in the talents of the filmmaking team. Ryan Colucci was previously a producer on the CG-animated feature film Battle for Terra: 3D (Lionsgate, 2009). Zsombor Huszka has been animating music videos in Europe and the United States for artists such as Dirty South and Viktor Kiraly. Recently, his title sequence for the indie film Suburban Cowboy was nominated for a SXSW Excellence in Title Design at this year’s festival, against films such as Spectre and Avengers: Age of Ultron. The combination of hand-drawn animation with modern day filmmaking technology allows the team to make something breathtaking with a shorter production schedule and less capital.
The epic opening shot from the film can be viewed on the Kickstarter page at the end of the introduction video, as well as a handful of stills and character design images.
Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com
