WA’s Last Pixel heading to the Oscars with short film, ‘Please Hold’
Western Australian animation and visual effects (VFX) company, Last Pixel will take their seats at next week’s 94th Academy Awards as the visual effects team for Please Hold, the Oscar-nominated live-action short film awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the coveted Florida Film Festival.
Established in 2003, Last Pixel is owned and managed by Rick Grigsby and David McDonnell. From humble beginnings in the front office of an industrial warehouse Last Pixel now work with clients the world over creating content for almost every screen medium. With its head office in Northbridge, Last Pixel’s long held international reputation has helped extend its reach across the globe.
A pitch-black satire directed by LA-based filmmaker KD Davila, Please Hold follows a young man’s life is suddenly and inexplicably derailed, as he finds himself at the mercy of an infuriating automated prison.
The film – which competes against four other nominees in the Academy Awards’ short film category – addresses issues around mistaken identity with the extra layer of what technology can do to humans on top of it.
Last Pixel created visual effects for the film including CG Drones, Digital background enhancements as well as practical on set screen elements, working with the production mainly via Zoom.
“You work on these kinds of projects knowing that the films will generally be pretty good and play at festivals, but you’re never really doing these things for any awards, certainly not in the genre sci-fi, Kafka-esque, satirical, absurdism piece thinking this will be in Oscar contention. It’s actually been a beautiful piece of serendipity really, that it has made it to the Oscars is a testament to the whole team really, and particularly KD and Levin’s very clever writing and KD’s vision.” said Dave McDonnell of Last Pixel.
Please Hold had its Australian premiere at WA’s Revelation Perth International Film Festival in 2021 and streams exclusively on HBO Max in the US. In addition to winning the Grand Jury Prize in Florida, the film also won the Special Jury Award at the 2021 Palm Springs International Shortfest.
The 94th Academy Awards will be broadcast in Australia this Monday 28 March 2022 on Channel 7, from 8:00 – 11:00am AWST.
Congratulations Last Pixel!
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