December 18, 2024

It’s official - The 21 has been shortlisted! In a Christmas miracle for which we are humbled and amazed, The 21 has been selected as one of the 15 short animated films from which the final 5 nominees will be chosen. We are so grateful to our director Tod Polson for his dedication and diligence over more than 5 years of production; our international team of 70+ artists who gave countless nights and weekends to the work; the Coptic community who has faithfully contributed to and encouraged the project these past years; and our global group of supporters who have faithfully journeyed with us on this project. To view the official announcement, go here.

December 9, 2024

Oscar nomination shortlist voting has begun! All this week, members of the Animation and Short Film branches of the Academy will be reviewing eligible films and considering which 15 deserve to be shortlisted for the final list of 5 nominees. We pray The 21 is among those fifteen!

November 2024

Oscar nomination campaigning is underway! The 21 is now live on the Academy Screening Room for Animation branch members to view and consider for the shortlist of films from which the official nominees will be selected. We will be leaning in on promoting the film to the animation industry in the weeks ahead. And we look forward to seeing the results next month!

October 2024

Exciting news - The 21 is eligible for an Oscar nomination! With production finishing earlier in the fall and the film being screened as part of Oscar four-walling in California in September, the film qualified for consideration as the Best Animated Short Film. Our submission package was sent to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this month and now we will promote the film for consideration ahead of voting for the 15-film “shortlist” in December.

September 2024

After more than five years of work, the production team is thrilled to announce that The 21 is finished! We had more than 70 artists from more than 24 countries contribute to the film, including trained iconographers, members of the Coptic community, veteran animators and artists still new in their profession. We could not be prouder of the work accomplished and look forward to premiering the film in the months ahead!

July 2024

The finish line is ever-closer! We have completed production of The 21 and are now in composite mode, knitting together all the beautiful art created by our international team. This final step has been a long time in coming but we are so grateful to be so close to finishing - and we look forward to announcing completion!

August 2023

Although it has been quite some time since we posted a project update on the website, we have been regularly sharing progress on our Instagram and Twitter accounts. We hope you are tracking the film’s production on those channels. Please be praying that we hit our objective of completing art for the film by the end of this year, so that we can arrange its premiere and distribution for 2024. Thank you as always for your patience and faithful support as we have partnered with the Coptic community and dozens of artists across the globe to elevate the humble faithfulness of the 21.

January 2022

We are so thankful for your grace and patience with us as we have navigated the process of producing an authentic and top-quality film honoring the 21 men who stood up to ISIS at the cost of their lives. The animation style we have developed for this film is much more complicated and time-consuming than we originally anticipated, but the results are well worth it! We are doing all we can to complete the film by the end of this calendar year, so that we can premiere it in 2023.

In order to reach our goal, we are putting together a detailed production timeline with milestones to keep us on track for December completion. Please pray that nothing will hinder our efforts to finish by the end of 2022, and that God would protect and empower the artists working on this project so that they can deliver their best work in a timely fashion. Thank you again!

January 2021

We have all dialogue and key sound effects recorded, which the animators will use to guide how the characters move, speak and act. We are in the final stage of pre-production before we launch into animation. Our head animator Tod Polson is working with a crew of artists from around the world to produce the key art needed for each scene in the film. Once those are complete, we'll greenlight the animation team.

December 2019

We launched an Indiegogo fundraiser to raise capital for the film! Check out the story below for the inspiration behind the film, and for ways that YOU can be a part of bringing this project to life.