SFIFF58 Interview: ‘Aria for a Cow’ writer/director Dan Lund & Crew

Amos, (Me), Siddhartha, Elizabeth, and Dan of 'Aria for a Cow'
Amos, Me, Siddhartha, Stephanie, and Dan talking ‘Aria for a Cow’

The shorts programs at SFIFF58 have been increasing in popularity the last few years, and Shorts 5: Family Films is no exception. One film from the group, the colorful and magnificent musical Aria for a Cow, is appropriately quite the showstopper. I sat down with Disney animator and Aria for a Cow writer/director Dan Lund, art director and co-producer Amos Sussigan, background designer and painter Stephanie Dominguez, and production manager Siddhartha Maganti at the Hotel Majestic, a few blocks from where their short would premiere the next day and a few hours before their premiere party. The camaraderie within the group is infectious, and they had no trouble jumping right into the nitty gritty of their film: 

Where did the idea for Aria for a Cow originate?

Dan Lund: I’ve always had a pretty healthy ‘outside-of-Disney’ project type thing going. I was a PA in 1989 at Disney and was working with people who were working with Howard (Ashman). I had kept hearing about this passion project of his called ‘Fatty of the Opera’. Right before we started working on Frozen I had this period where I didn’t have an outside project to work on and it kinda freaked me out. I was in New York and I had mentioned to a friend, ‘I wonder what ever happened to Howard’s “Fatty of the Opera” project’ and my friend knew Sarah (Howard’s sister) peripherally and he said, ‘You should email her.’ So I did and she graciously agreed to give me all the information I needed on this passion project if I listened to her favorite song that no one has ever heard by him, called Aria for a Cow.” I really just did it to get the other thing I wanted, but the other thing I wanted turned out to be a little odder than I thought. And I just fell in love with the cow song. She let me turn it into an animated thing. Originally she was thinking of it being a children’s book but I don’t know that world at all. The song was just lyrics on a page. I wrote the wraparound. I didn’t just want to make a music video. I wanted the song to have a home that was as story-driven as the song.

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SFIFF58 Spotlights #3: Shorts — Youth Works / Family Films / Animation

'A Single Life' short from the Animated Shorts Program.
‘A Single Life’ short from the Animated Shorts Program.

SFIFF58 is underway, and we’re here to bring you all the goodies! Here’s a quick look at a few selections from three of the MANY amazing shorts programs, all of which are worth checking out at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (April 23-May 7):

Shorts 6: Youth Works
April 25, 11:00am – Tickets & Info
Created by amazing young talent, this collection of narrative, documentary, and animated films is astounding and just a taste of the strong pool of future filmmakers we can expect to see more of down the line.

Kers
(Alexia Salingaros, USA 2014, 5 min)

KERS
KERS

Steadily shot and succinctly edited, Kers is a quick portrait of a female graffiti artist. Challenging the notions of gender roles and respected art forms, the subject reveals the struggles and lifestyle her passion has created for herself.

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