Watch This: Unboxed (Asians In Animation)

Asians In Animation is a global non-profit and creative platform building pathways for Asian-led storytelling, talent development and original animation production. Its membership has swelled to over 6000 worldwide, including an impressive selection of industry mentors. The organisation has so far set up two immersive labs, where members worked together with mentors to create an original animated film. The first immersive lab included more than 40 artists, working for a period of nine days. The second lab was a big step up in terms of ambition. This time, 104 artists collaborated with a team of 14 industry mentors, and the production lasted a whole month.

The crew worked together on story rooms, dailies, art and animation reviews, edit sessions, music and sound spotting, using the production itself as a training ground. How better to learn the art of animation than by making animation?

The film they produced in the second lab was called Unboxed, and it has now been released online. Set in an unspecified future, a young mechanic works at a vast delivery hub- basically a futuristic Amazon warehouse. She finds herself and her Rick-and-Morty-style Portal Gun, entrusted to deliver a special package. But the mysterious package seems to have a life of its own, sending her on a wild ride across dimensions to try to deliver it to its intended destination.

This is an exceedingly entertaining eight minutes, with exciting sci-fi chases, a large helping of pathos and a likeable, plucky lead. The animation itself is deceptively simple looking, with a cartoony, sketchy style. It's all achieved without a single line of dialogue and is a masterclass in visual storytelling. The fact that this is all done by relative newbies to animation makes it all the more impressive.

The working industry mentors on the second lab included Mingjue Helen Chen (Production Designer, KPop Demon Hunters), Joy Ngiaw (Emmy-winning composer, WondLa), Raymond S. Persi (Emmy-winning Disney director/story artist), Calvin Tsang (Head of Story, Kung Fu Panda 4), and Pramita Mukherjee (18-year DreamWorks professional and Unboxed Executive Producer/Leadership Mentor) and more.

We hope that there will continue to be further AIA Immersive Labs, and we'll definitely be keeping a keen eye on what they produce. For more information, including how to become a member, visit the official Asians In Animation website.

Watch Unboxed below.