MEET OUR PUPPETS

GIRL

GIRL is trying to process the loss of her mother. She has been left alone in the midst of a bustling city which swamps her, but finds solace in the vastness of the Bay. She spends her days, driven by grief, searching for the perfect vessel to scatter the ashes.

‘with obsessive attention to detail, her hawk-like eyes give little away; but the air of a stilted heart, which has never been invested in, hangs heavy.’

BOY

BOY silently longs for something to pull him out of the darkness. Every day he signs his name to himself in the reflection of the kettle in order to not forget his only sense of identity.

‘an anguished and weary soul, wearing a face removed of any joy that may have played there before; with deep set eyes that seem to hide all of the world’s secrets but as a burden rather than as a welcomed excitement.’

DOG

Boy's loyal companion, DOG provides hope for our children. It is she who ends up uniting the two. 

'she is gentle and elderly, with a cataract in her left eye; which in some lights, glints a light of hope that BOY can't help but follow.'

ANIMATION

This is a story which touches on the darker side of humanity. The use of stop-motion animation allows the film to be more emotionally accessible to audiences.

Taking inspiration from Suzie Templeton’s award winning ‘Dog’ and ‘Peter and the Wolf’ I want to capture a true human likeness in the puppets, as well as a nod to the irony of these, essentially children’s toys, going through the unimaginably tragic and adult situations our characters face.

These are our initial sketches for BOY & GIRL by our puppet designer Lisa Ott. Lisa is currently in the process making both the puppets now, whilst we develop their design.

We will be using ball-and-socket armatures to keep the traditional stop-motion style apparent within the film. Stylistically ‘James’ from ‘James & the Giant Peach’ is one of our references.

ANIMATING ACCESSIBILITY

The charcater of BOY is hearing impaired; to ensure we show his experience authentically, we will create a puppet-size hearing aid.

Additionally both puppets will have silicon hands and individual fingers which will allow for both of them to sign BSL accurately. This is a unique exploration into redifining representation in stop motion.

REFERENCES

Live Action:

• Tyrannosaur
• The Selfish Giant
• A Monster Calls
• Bird

Below is a reference reel for the animation style & tone of the project.

THE WORLD

His Inside 

The somber environment of BOY’S ‘inside’ will be shown with dark blue and green hues. Damp & mold will soak the walls. The rooms will be large with dim lighting to highlight how isolated he is within the space.BOY will be dressed in a similar colour palette to blend into these depressive landscapes.

Her Inside

Fiery shades of red and yellow will cover GIRL’s ‘inside.’ The intense need to escape will be apparent in the heat of the room. We will explore shadows to create a somewhat haunted undertone to the space. Once the fire has occured, the setting will join BOY’s hues and allow the colour of the flame to burn brightly.

WHY SHOOT ON FILM?

“I want THE BAY to feel timeless both in story and in aesthetic and shooting on 16mm allows for that. The quality of film truly enhances the medium of animation; it keeps the shots organic and gives light to the tactility and textural elements, which are a vital component in telling this story visually.

The results of scanning will inevitably causing variations of frame-to frame imperfections; I believe these imperfections will serve as a visual extension of BOY and GIRL’s headspace and add to the feelings of dissociation and pain we are trying to convey.

In my writing, I was heavily inspired by early stop-motion filmmakers such as Jiri Trnka, who’s work is all shot on 16mm.

The french poet playwright Jean Cocteau described Trnka’s work as ‘the sum of childhood and poetry.’

I feel this couldn’t ring more true for our story of THE BAY and therefore I wish to pay homage to such filmmaking processes.”

-Sophie Simnett

THE FILMAKERS

Sophie Simnett - Writer/Director

Sophie is a writer director from London. Although known for her acting, having had over a decade of experience in the industry, she is now branching into the broader world of filmaking.

Working as a photographer on numerous shorts and features, she is known for her intimate momentary captures of cast and crew alike. It’s here where she learnt of her vision for filmaking.

You can see her photography work on the link below:

https://sophoto14.mypixieset.com

‘THE BAY’ will be her directorial debut.

"In writing THE BAY, I wanted to shine a light on how loneliness manifests in children and the importance of finding solace in others. We often focus on isolation in the elderly but due to the innate, curious nature of children, they are often overlooked with regards to feeling secluded. I want this film to make audiences consider how we communicate. We don’t need vernacular to empathise and understand each other. Emotional communication is a human instinct developed before we even had a word for language."

"I took a lot of inspiration from live action films which tonally set the scene for the struggling British communities our characters come from. As the magical realism unfolds, it is essential that the core of the story stays in the brutal reality of children being given an unfair hand in life and yet surviving with the limited resources available."

Nick Cinelli - Animator

Nick is a multi-faceted filmmaker from San Francisco. Graduating with a BA in Photography and Art, he went to work in camera and art departments on an array of film, commercial, music and video projects. Because of his experience in different aspects of filmmaking, he was confident to try his hand at stop-motion animation. He completed a masters in Directing Animation at NFTS before moving back to LA and opening Studio Linguini. 

In 2023 , Nick opened a Linguini Studio in London Fields (where THE BAY will be created and filmed.)

Nick focuses on stop-motion, but loves using his understanding of set design and photography in coordination with animation, to create projects that seamlessly flow between techniques. Nick will be the head animator on THE BAY, working along side his trusted team at Studio Linguini.

Benjamin Jacob Smith - Producer

An internationally award-winning producer with work that has won a Critics Circle Award, nominated for a British Independent film award and long-listed for the BAFTA short film award.

His work traverses short film, theatre and XR/ VR storytelling, with a broad group of collaborators, and a wide range of narratives. Some work explores the transformative power of documentary; others push the boundaries of narrative storytelling. His work has been profiled at National Theatre, Tate Modern, Times square and BAFTA and OSCAR qualifying festivals such as Sundance, Tribeca, London Film Festival, IDFA among others.

Sophie Stacey - Producer

Sophie is a BIFA long-listed hard of hearing and neurodivergent producer. With short-form experience in commercials, music videos and social campaigns as both a producer and post-producer, freelance and in-house for companies such as Vice and i-D, Sophie is well versed in project scale. Sophie’s work in the short film space, now totaling 15 produced projects, has varied in genre, budget and length but she is always drawn to stories with truth and societal impact.

A regular collaborator of Academy Award-winning production company Slick Films, her latest films with them “What We Wished We Could Be” and “A Matter of Minutes” both premiered at the Oscar and BAFTA qualifying Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Lisa Ott - Puppet Maker

Lisa Ott is a Swiss animation director based in London. They moved to the UK 9 years ago to pursue a career in film, and fell in love with stop-motion in their training at the National Film and Television School. Since graduating they have worked on numerous projects including Guillermo del Toros's Pinocchio as well as The House for Netflix. Recently, their directorial animation debut DragFox, voiced by Sir Ian McKellen has been touring festivals and will be part of the BFI Flare schedule later this year.

Andrew Lockington - Composer

Andrew Lockington is a Canadian film composer, born and raised in Toronto. He is best known for his work on RAMPAGE, starring Dwayne Johnson. Andrew drew upon his knowledge and love of world music, his orchestral skills and electronic experimentation for the creation of this unique score, including a large orchestra, processed brass and vintage computer game electronics, manipulated animal noises recorded in the jungle and with The African Children’s Choir from Uganda.

His other work includes Mayor of Kingstown, Frontier, American Gods, Poacher, San Andreas, The Space Between Us, and upcoming Netflix film Atlas. He hopes his score of THE BAY will bring a paralell narrative to the film; to tell a story the visuals are not able to.

Click here for a score reference

THE STUDIO

The team at Studio Linguini will be creating and animating the world of The Bay. Studio Linguini is a multi-disciplinary animation studio based in LA and UK, specializing in stop motion, 2D and 3D. They are known for creating vast worlds in a miniature scale and breathing immense depth into their characters. Most recognised for their work on music videos, with artists Ghostmane, Ed Balloon, Skrty & Adam Melchor. Their storytelling is as successful in the short film medium, such as the studio’s debut film ‘A Bird With No Legs,’ which won Studio Linguini’s creative director Nick Cinenelli the 2019 Young Direc- tor’s Award as well as the film being in TIFF 2019 Official Competition, amongst many other festivals. 

FINANCING

Total Budget

£ 47,000

(Budget estimations are pre tax and quotations, Raw Inventive reserves the right to adapt the budget as per the producitons requirements)

FESTIVALS & DISTRIBUTION

With our team’s festival relationships and previous success, THE BAY is well-positioned to premiere at an A-list festival. We aim to premiere at La Biennale di Venezia, Tribeca, or London Film Festival, based on production timelines, while also targeting animation-focused festivals like Encounters, Anima, and GLAS Animation Festival, as well as BAFTA, BIFA, and Oscar-qualifying festivals to ensure maximum visibility and awards consideration. 

We are inspired and excited by the growing appreciation and critical acclaim for this timeless craft. Recent successes like Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, a BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated short, and Wonder to Wander winning the short film BIFA in 2024 and nominated for the BAFTA in 2025, demonstrating the resurgence of stop-motion as both an art form and a storytelling powerhouse.

We value the role of smaller, international festivals in connecting emerging work with diverse audiences, making them an essential part of our strategy. By embracing a global festival run, THE BAY seeks to inspire and resonate with audiences everywhere, celebrating the enduring magic of stop-motion storytelling.