In the near future, a young animator is offered what should be her dream job, but, when she discovers the truth of the modern 'creative' process, she must make a hard choice about her passion for film.
Real Artists (2017) Online
Against all odds, Sophia Baker just scored her dream interview at the world-famous Semaphore Animation Studios -- who'd have thought a fan edit of one of their hit films could land her a shot at a job? But when she meets arch, mysterious executive Anne Palladon, she soon learns all is not as she expects behind the curtain. Every instinct Sophia has ever had about art in filmmaking is about to be challenged. Based on Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning author Ken Liu's short story of the same name, Real Artists asks a poignant question: In a dystopian near-future where big data, AI and natural language processing learn and create quickly and at massive scale, what role can a single artist play? Is Sophia a creative rebel who can make a difference? Or is the situation more serious than that?
| Credited cast: | |||
 | Tamlyn Tomita | - | Anne Palladon |
 | Tiffany Hines | - | Sophia Baker |
 | Connie Jo Sechrist | - | Receptionist |
 | Ryon Lane | - | Evil Corporate Lawyer |
 | Natalie Conneely | - | TRC Agent |
 | Lili Schafer | - | Big Semi |
| Sammy Wegent | - | Recruiter Man |
Real Artists premiered at Cinequest in 2017.
The voice of Big Semi is voiced by video game designer Tim Schafer's daughter, Lili Schafer.
Director Cameo Wood first read the short story by Ken Liu in MIT's Technology Review Science Fiction. She immediately emailed him from the plane she was on to ask about optioning it.
Cameo Wood started working on the script as early as 2013, and Tamlyn Tomita was the first person brought onto the project.
The majority of the wardrobe in the film was designed and provided by BCBGMAXAZRIA.
Drone operator John Lee is a filmmaker and was on the cover of Wired Magazine.
Big Semi designer Matt Evans designs UI for both Facebook and Apple.