Carter Pilcher is the founder and CEO of ShortsTV — the premiere outlet for short film content. I’m a frequent viewer of the popular TV channel, and since 2009, I’ve gone to a local movie theater to see the Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films on the big screen. Each year, ShortsTV presents the Animated, Live-Action and Documentary Short nominees in select theaters across the country, so movie fans can get to see them before Oscar night.

All three 2022 presentations opened this past Friday February 25th to a respectable box office gross (with one of the weekend’s higher per screen averages), and they will remain at cinemas through Oscar Sunday March 27th. In this Animation Scoop Email Q&A, Pilcher shares insights on this year’s Best Animated Short Film nominees and the success of the theatrical presentations.

Jackson Murphy: What stands out about this year’s group of Best Animated Short Film Oscar nominees?

Carter Pilcher: This year’s group of Best Animated Short Film Oscar nominees is truly a big standout from years past. Audiences will love their variety of techniques and styles, the mastery exhibited in each film, and the range of emotions experienced across the release. For instance, this year we have a few beautifully executed stop-motion films, but one is a short biopic and the other is a family musical; we have three beautiful hand-drawn 2D animations – masterpieces really — with completely different styles and storytelling techniques. Seeing these films on the big screen will be such a treat for audiences this year!

JM: How does watching an animated short film on the big screen enhance the experience vs. watching it at home?

CP: It provides the magic, pure and simple. There is nothing like watching these five gorgeous animations on the big screen. Watching on a TV or computer just gives you the basics of the story; it’s like saying that a taste of your favorite food or wine is the same as having a proper serving – it’s a much lesser experience. But for these shorts, the magic of the big screen makes them come fully alive: audiences will experience their complete beauty and feel the full story-telling impact, all of which is heightened by a collective spirit of being part of an audience enjoying each story together as it unfolds.

JM: How quick is the process of acquiring the shorts and putting them in the order you’d like for the theatrical presentations?

CP: At ShortsTV, getting all of the Oscar nominated shorts ready for a quick-turnaround release is a down-to-the-wire sprint every year. Most movies take months to prep, but we have 2 weeks! We start working with the filmmakers as soon as they’re short-listed in December and hold a series of Zoom meetings during January to bring everyone up to speed. We ask all of the animated shortlisters to deliver the necessary materials (including the master) as soon as they’re nominated, and then we begin the work of prepping all 15 shortlisters (subtitles and/or closed captions, processing at the production house, etc.) in each short nominee category. Once the nominations are announced, we have one week to complete all final processing and ship the final compilation DCP for each nominated category to theaters across the country – just in time for opening night!

JM: What are some of your favorite animated short films that have been part of the theatrical presentations over the past decade?

CP: Some of my favorite Oscar nominated animated shorts are Bear Story: a beautiful CGI animation telling a poignant and meaningful story of political persecution in Chile; Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo: spectacular animations from Magic Light Pictures in the UK; Garden Party: an amazing CGI animation by a group of uber-talented French students; We Can’t Live Without Cosmos: beautiful, hand-drawn story from Konstantin Bronzit; Peter and the Wolf: a beautiful stop-motion story and of course, Nick Park’s A Matter of Loaf and Death: an inimitable stop-motion addition to the Wallace & Gromit stories.

JM: Do you make personal predictions of which shorts are going to win the Oscar each year?; How do you usually do with your Oscar Pool?

CP: I seldom make personal predictions about which shorts are going to win the Oscar each year – it’s simply too easy to get it wrong. But, my overall Oscar pool prediction score over the last 5 years is running well over 90%!

JM: What’s been the most rewarding part of being able to provide audiences with the animated shorts ahead of the Oscars?

CP: It is extremely rewarding to be able to bring some of the year’s best films to audiences across the country every year, and the most enjoyable moment of the release is sitting in a dark theater full of an audience enjoying the Oscar Nominated Short Animations and hearing the “ooo’s” and “ahhs” and sheer delight – or shock and horror! – of their reactions. And for the nominated filmmakers, this experience of the theatrical release is the absolute highlight of their Oscar experience. It is important to note that none of this would be possible without the independent and arthouse theaters that have supported us so strongly over the years.

Due to mature content, the 2022 Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films presentation is suitable for adults only. Children are advised not to attend and, at select theater locations, will not be admitted.

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Jackson Murphy

Jackson Murphy is a movie critic and entertainment columnist. He is the creator of the website Lights-Camera-Jackson.com, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

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