Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, Wild Life.
This Canadian duo met at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver where they studied film, video and animation. Like so many of the women in The Friendship Edit both Wendy and Amanda created their own works before co-directing When the Day Breaks which received over 30 international awards including the Palme D’Or at Cannes, a Genie Award, an Oscar nomination and the Grand Prix at Annecy, Zagreb and Hiroshima International Animation Festivals.
Together they have created ground breaking new techniques in animation and forged a lifelong Big Friendship. The power of these long-term, committed friendships to create original work is something worth celebrating.
In 2018, they won the prestigious Winsor McCay Award at the Annies for their lifetime contribution to animation.
“People often ask us how we work together and we liken it to the “push me pull you” of Doctor Dolittle. One of us pushes and the other one pulls and as long as we’re in agreement we’re moving in the right direction.”
The pair spoke to CBC following their success at the Annies about their process when working together:
"We don't sit down and write a story and then execute it. It forms along the way. So we're definitely on the art end of short filmmaking, as opposed to the cartoon end, although we do do commercials, too, which I think is part of this award, too."
"I'm scared to say it because it sounds pretentious, but we try to get to some human truths, if that doesn't sound like too much."
Wild Life, their latest short with the National Film Board of Canada won several prizes and was nominated for an Academy Award. Press play to watch this totally charming piece follow a young man’s adventure from England to Canada in 1909.
WILD LIFE - In 1909, a dapper young remittance man is sent from England to Alberta to attempt ranching. However, his affection for badminton, bird watching and liquor leaves him little time for wrangling cattle. It soon becomes clear that nothing in his refined upbringing has prepared him for the harsh conditions of the New World. This animated short is about the beauty of the prairie, the pang of being homesick and the folly of living dangerously out of context.