Newport Beach Film Festival 2008

In the vast galaxy, there is one robot planet in which all natural life is extinct. Only machines and robots occupy this planet. One day, a robot finds a piece of organic life existing in his world. Excited about his discovery, he wishes to save this living entity. Unfortunately, the piece of life is in the dangerous and restricted area of his planet. After careful consideration, he decides to take the risk and save the living entity. This decision catapults his adventure into the unknown.

Harold’s desire for living ended when his wife of 60 years passed. Fading memories and a dusty old house is all Harold has left. Can a knock at the door from an unwelcome visitor change things around in time?

Fictional film student Harvey Stevens created "The Toll" under the guise of a student project. A five-time award winning computer-animated mockumentary and character study, "The Toll" follows Harvey as he delves into the realm of not-so-fantastic myth to interview a troll who lives under a bridge. The troll is, for lack of a better word, evil. He is aggressive, uncouth, temperamental, and has a nasty habit of eating people. His pet is a malicious cross between a dragon, a pug, and a Cuisinart. Yet strangely, the troll wants acceptance from the society he preys on, and sees the young filmmaker as an opportunity to clear up the "misunderstandings" that have always plagued him. As Harvey rolls the camera, the troll's comments on work, life, and love range from somewhat inappropriate to outrageously delusional, slowly revealing the hilariously tragic figure of a monster in denial.

After realizing that yellow sticky note “ to do” lists were consuming his life, filmmaker Jeff Chiba Stearns decided to visually self-reflect on his filmmaking journey by animating on the same sticky notes that caused him to ignore major world events for the last nine years. Animation meditation is blended with image, text, and an original musical score by Genevieve Vincent through the creation of a classically animated experimental film that was drawn straight ahead with only a black ink pen on over 2,300 yellow sticky notes.

Yoga Noga Reyoga is a simple story of being together, separated and reunited again. The film is a light-hearted portrayal of the difficulties in finding the togetherness that we seek. The two young monks have dedicated their lives to finding this unity, meditating to see beyond their self-centered drives. However, despite their noble intentions, their attention soon shifts towards the other and they begin to compete, in order to be the most enlightened. After a climactic race, they are ultimately left exhausted, separated and alone. Only when they come together and forgive, do they find the unity that they first sought.