Weatherly, Hodges, & Klaves Team for an All-New Animated Short Film ‘Jennie’ at Attic Orpheum Animation

Following their success with ‘Tapping Out’ last semester, Jaron Weatherly and John Klaves have teamed up with Courtland Hodges to produce a brand new 2D animated short. 

Inspired by Weatherly’s own great-grandmother, ‘Jennie’ tells the story of a young girl in 1928 who is enjoying her last day in her hometown of Sicily before her family boards a passenger ship from Italy to America. 

With an original script, Weatherly will co-produce the film with Klaves and Hodges and serve as the short’s director, marking the filmmaker’s first foray into animation.

Hodges, who joined the project in late January, serves as a co-producer and story consultant. A team of animators are currently being assembled, with a set goal of roughly 35+ Regent University students collaborating on the project from both the Cinema & Television and Animation departments. The vision for the project is to capture the same excitement, quality, and success of ‘Tapping Out’ during the fall semester while delivering a heartfelt story.

This marks the third collaboration on a short film by Weatherly and Klaves. The pair also recently teamed up for the Victorian romance short ‘A Portrait of Love,’ which will come out in February. 

Additionally, frequent collaborator Ben D’Oleo has joined the team of students in a key editorial role. D’Oleo has collaborated on several projects with Weatherly, including editing ‘Tapping Out.’ Recently, Ben wrote and directed the basketball short ‘I Wonder,’ and is set to direct a brand new short documentary about the beginnings of Christian Hip Hop.

Though the release date for ‘Jennie’ is still under wraps, the short film will be associated with Klaves Productions and distributed under Jaron Weatherly’s Attic Orpheum Productions new animation banner.