Illumination Partners With Streetwear Brand Brain Dead For Experimental Short Films

Gremlin Foundry by Jordan Speer:

Clutch Diamond by Devin Flynn:

It is Just the Night Winds Waving the Tree Branches by Darío Alva:

The remaining two shorts are created by Pete Sharp and Steve Smith. Brain Dead describe the series as their “first foray into a ‘media-first’ project, in which they create the media before the merch.”

The films were produced with Illumination Labs, a division that “explores alternative and boundary-pushing short-form animated content geared towards an older audience.” Sure enough, the shorts are pitched closer to bizarro Adult Swim territory than Illumination’s features.

This is a new venture for Illumination, but the studio has produced dozens of family-oriented shorts for theatrical, tv, and home video releases, many of them based on its franchises. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri has spoken of his interest in short filmmaking: in a keynote speech at 2015’s Annecy Festival, he cited shorts and online distribution as key ways to spot and develop talent.