Athena Studios, an Emeryville-based company specializing in animation for film and multimedia clients, is currently in production on a stop-motion animated short film entitled “Mermaids on Mars.” Athena founder Jon V. Peters is director of the short.
“Mermaids on Mars” came to Athena Studios from children’s book author Nancy Guettier, who is producing the film. Guettier had written the book that the film is loosely based on in 2012, as a dedication to her three adopted children. The multitalented Guettier also wrote the five songs that are featured in the short. The story behind “Mermaids on Mars” centers around a young boy named Julian who takes a fantastic adventure to Mars. There, he discovers that the last surviving mermaids in the universe are living in a small body of water on that planet.
Athena Studios is doing all of the production work and animation on the film. The studio also helped to adapt the original full-length screenplay by Guettier and Jarrett Galante into a short film format.
To bring the story of “Mermaids on Mars” to life, Athena has assembled a notable crew comprised of a number of stop-motion animation and feature film artisans. Among these crew members are Athena producer Kat Alioshin (“Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Coraline,” “James and the Giant Peach,” “Corpse Bride,”) DP Pete Kozachik (“Star Wars: Attack of the Clones,” “Corpse Bride,” “Ghostbusters 2,” “Nightmare Before Christmas,”) cinematographer Timothy Taylor (“Back to the Future 2,” “Frankenweenie,” “Coraline,”) art director Tom Proost (“Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” “A.I.,” “James and the Giant Peach,” “The Matrix 2 and 3,”) and puppet fabricator Victoria Rose Zalewski (“Coraline,” “Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas.”)
