Director Erick Oh Interview: Opera

We welcome Academy Award nominated director Erick Oh (on the week of the 93rd Academy Awards!) to talk about his short animated film Opera and how it sits at the intersection of film and fine art. Also the state of the animation industry, Asian / AAPI representation, and what it’s really like to have a wholly independent film suddenly recognized on a global scale.

Listen here:

Opera

‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana

Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker and former Pixar animator Erick Oh, ‘OPERA’ is an animation project that can be defined as a contemporary animated edition of the Renaissance fresco mural paintings. Driven by the spirits of Bosch, Michelangelo, Botticelli and more, Erick portrays, in his own signature whimsical and surreal way, the human society and history, filled with beauty and absurdity. Viewers will experience the range in-depth emotions through this epic reflection of human life: it is hopeful, comical, thoughtful, yet scary and sad. This piece is not only a living piece of art, it is an invitation to question the mechanisms of our society and human behavior. The universality of its message will inspire new perspectives on humanity and break down conversations. The full cycle of ‘OPERA’ consists of Day and Night. Each section and individual character’s activities are intrinsically connected so the viewers can eventually enjoy the entire pyramid no matter which character they set their eyes on first.

More about Erick:

Erick Oh is a Korean artist and filmmaker based in California, USA. His films have been introduced and awarded at numerous film festivals including the Academy Awards, Annie Awards, Annecy Animation Festival, Zagreb Film Festival, SIGGRAPH, Anima Mundi and more. With his background in fine art at Seoul National University (Korea) and film at UCLA (USA), Erick became an animator at Pixar Animation Studios from 2010 to 2016. Erick then part-time joined Tonko House with his fellow former Pixar artists and directed ‘PIG : The Dam Keeper Poems’ which won the Cristal Award at Annecy Animation Festival 2018. Erick is currently working on a variety of projects with his partners in film/animation, VR/AR industry and contemporary art scenes in the US and South Korea.

Erick Oh can be found at instagram.com/erickoheart, twitter.com/ossmedia, facebook.com/erickohart and erickoh.com