Short Film of the Month: 9 (September 2009)

Acker's short film 9 lost the Oscar, but gained a fan in Hollywood heavyweight Tim Burton

Director: Shane Acker
Writer: Shane Acker
Distributor: UCLA's Animation Workshop
Year of Release: 2005
Running Time: 10:39

Synopsis: Shane Acker's Oscar-nominated computer animated short film tells the story of a sentient rag doll called '9', who is the last of his breed in a parallel world that is absent of humankind. In fact, the only other visible entity is a relentless mechanical monster known as "the Cat Beast," which had already killed the first eight of the rag doll species, and is set on taking down '9' and its soul. This voiceless (music by Eric Olsen) short caught the attention of Tim Burton and Focus Features, who extended the story into a $33 million feature film that hits theatres today.