Don Hertzfeldt’s Films Find A New Streaming Home At Dropout

Comedy streamer Dropout has acquired a collection of films by indie animator Don Hertzfeldt, making the platform the streaming home of Oscar-nominated shorts Rejected and World of Tomorrow, as well as the upcoming streaming premiere of his latest film, Paper Trail.

Most of the collection arrives on Dropout today, August 4, but Paper Trail, which won the Cristal for best short film at this year’s Annecy Festival, will make its streaming debut on September 1.

“After seeing the films scattered across different streaming platforms for so many years, it’s amazing to finally bring them together under the same roof, for the very first time,” Hertzfeldt said. “I don’t know what Dropout is, but I hear it’s all game shows, and who doesn’t love a good game show?”

The deal covers work from across Hertzfeldt’s career, beginning with early shorts Lily and Jim and Billy’s Balloon. It also includes The Meaning of Life, Wisdom Teeth, the feature-length version of It’s Such a Beautiful Day, all three installments of the World of Tomorrow series, and the recent shorts On Memory and ME.

Paper Trail premiered at Sundance in January, winning the Special Jury Award for Creative Vision. It went on to receive the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival and both the audience award and best animated short prize at SXSW. Its Annecy win made it the first American film in 22 years to receive the festival’s top short film honor.

The Hertzfeldt collection is Dropout’s second major licensing acquisition, following British webseries Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared. The up-and-coming streamer says it plans to take a selective approach to licensing, adding films and series that complement its existing programming rather than building a broad general-interest catalog.

The Don Hertzfeldt Collection includes:

• Lily and Jim
• Billy’s Balloon
• Rejected
• The Meaning of Life
• Watching Grass Grow
• Wisdom Teeth
• It’s Such a Beautiful Day
• World of Tomorrow
• World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts
• On Memory
• World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime
• ME
• Paper Trail (September 1)