Google Sets More Animated Spotlight Stories

Published on May 31, 2015

Google’s Spotlight Stories project has announced the next wave of mobile-based moviemaking projects, including the next animated short from Patrick Osborne, Oscar-winner for the Disney toon short Feast.

Osborne will develop and produce a Google Spotlight Story currently titled Pearl. The film is told in a musical format, and is about the gifts we inherit from our parents, both tangible and intangible.

Also announced:

Emmy Award-winning artist Shannon Tindle is directing On Ice with Evil Eye Studios in San Francisco and is due for release this year. It tells the story of an over-the-top, sci-fi themed ice show and its star, who suddenly finds he has competition for the spotlight from an unlikely rival.

Aardman co-founder and Oscar-nominated director Peter Lord will oversee Special Delivery, which is directed by Tim Ruffle and tied to the holiday season.

Acclaimed London-based studio Nexus Productions is working on an upcoming Google Spotlight Story, with Chris O’Reilly as creative director on the project.

And filmmaker Justin Lin (Fast & Furious films, True Detective, the upcoming Star Trek 3) has a live-action film called Help.

Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects has released a new Google Spotlight Stories app, now available on Android via the Play Store and will be available soon on iOS.

In addition to the app, Google Spotlight Stories also unveiled their Story Development Kit, which will enable studios all over the world to be able to create customized, curated stories for the Google Spotlight Stories app.

Google Spotlight Stories launched in October 2013 to tell timeless stories with mobile technology. The first three stories, Windy Day (directed by Jan Pinkava), Buggy Night (directed by Mark Oftedal), and Duet (directed by Glen Keane), which were previously available only for Moto X and Moto G users, are also now available on the Google Spotlight Stories app.