^{Credit: All Heart (Asteria Film)} 

Michael Govier and Will McCormack won the Best Animated Short Oscar in 2021 for If Anything Happens I Love You. The directors have reteamed for another animated short about a parent dealing with loss, All Heart. The film has qualified for Oscar consideration through theatrical exhibition. Cartoon Contender spoke with Govier and McCormack about following up their Oscar win, exploring grief again, and their thoughts on using AI.

^{Credit: All Heart (Asteria Film)} 

Q: Your last animated short, If Anything Happens I Love You, won an Academy Award. Did that make it easier to get All Heart off the ground, or did the production present new challenges?

A: It made it slightly easier! We were lucky enough to connect with Asteria Studios — Asteria Animation Studios — and we got into production much faster this time. Whereas I think with If Anything Happens I Love You, that script was rejected by town more than anything we've ever worked on. But with All Heart, we found great partners and champions in Bryn Mooser and Justin Lacob. And the moment we sent them the script, they said, “Let's go.” And that's rare to hear in Hollywood, and it's a great feeling.

Q: Both If Anything Happens I Love You and All Heart center on parents mourning their children, although the circumstances behind the losses differ. Did you hesitate to explore grief again?

A: Not at all. We wanted to explore grief again. In fact, we're making a third animated short film now about grief. We always thought of these films as a trilogy — three short films about grief. We are both interested in loss and how people endure it and survive it and prevail, and what grace comes with it. So it was something that we were eager to explore and are eager to explore again.

Q: All Heart’s look is based on the illustrations of Jimmy Thompson. What drew you to Thompson’s style, and why did you think it was an ideal fit for this story?

A: We're just big fans of Jimmy Thompson and always have been. His work is so emotional. He can paint a bowl of fruit or a hotel, and you imagine a person eating the apple or people falling in love inside the hotel. The work is just very human, and of course, these films explore deep emotions — and Jimmy's work brings so much pathos and nuance and humanity to it that we always knew we wanted Jimmy to be our artist.

Q: Maybe it’s the holiday backdrop, but Amanda Jones’ jazzy score gave me A Charlie Brown Christmas vibes. Was that an inspiration?

A: Yeah, music was always the third character in the film, and we were and are indeed inspired by A Charlie Brown Christmas music. We love that composer Vince Guaraldi so much. You know, Bill Evans was a big inspiration, and the music is so important because there's no dialogue in the film. We think a trap here was that it could feel sullen and sort of morose and maudlin, but Amanda's music has so much inherent buoyancy and hope, and that is intersected with the melancholy. It was just a perfect combination, and we are ecstatic about our collaboration with her and cannot wait to work with her again.

Q: Among All Heart’s producers is Justin Lacob, who worked on the Oscar-nominated Ninety-Five Senses, while actress Natasha Lyonne serves as an executive producer. How did the producing team get involved with the project?

A: We knew Justin Lacob and Bryn Mooser and Natasha Lyonne from around town. Natasha is such an incredible producer. She's remarkable in front of the camera and remarkable behind the camera. She's a real champion for artists and a true cinephile. We love her taste and her brain around film — she's just brilliant. We've been so impressed with Asteria and the work that Justin Lacob and Bryn Mooser are putting out into the world. They are really doing incredible work, and we are so excited to be a part of the team at Asteria and want to continue to work with them.

^{Credit: All Heart (Asteria Film)} 

Q: All Heart was made with a combination of traditional techniques and AI technology, specifically for key framing, in-betweening, and the creation of additional assets. AI is a hot-button topic in all facets of entertainment, especially animation. Were you hesitant about using AI on All Heart, or were you quick to embrace it?

A: Our approach to AI is rooted in originality, ethics, and respect for artists. We built our own closed models, using art created exclusively for this project. Every element — storyboards, backgrounds, characters — was made by real artists, and every artist was paid for their work.
We use AI only as a rendering and creative support tool, not as a replacement for human imagination. To us, AI is like a new kind of brush or camera — a technology that helps filmmakers create faster, more freely, and without the traditional limitations of studio systems.
Our goal is simple: to use new tools responsibly, while keeping artists and storytelling at the heart of the process.

Q: In what ways do you think AI can benefit the artist, and where do you think a line should be drawn?

A: We think that AI can benefit the artist because it gives you a tool that wasn't in your arsenal. Any tool that makes artists less reliant on studios, we’re for it.  It can democratize filmmaking in a way, and we think it can create new voices that we may have never heard from — and that's important to us. New voices and democratizing storytelling. We think the line is drawn when it's theft. We never want to steal, and you should never steal. Artists' originality and their work is sacred, and the way that we've used AI, we've treated it as sacred.

Q: All Heart has qualified for Best Animated Short consideration. Did you learn anything from your last Oscar campaign that you’re applying to this one?

A: Well, we're proud of the film, and we're excited to have the opportunity to show it to people, and grateful that people have seen it. It's an honor to even be considered for an Academy Award and to be up on the Academy platform, and we don't take that for granted. We both love, love, love movies, and they've changed our lives. And the fact that we were able to work in movies and have that be a living for us is something that's truly special. But the campaign is just a part of the filmmaking process, and for us, really, we see it as a joyful opportunity to connect with other artists and other filmmakers and people who love film. So truly, it's a gift.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!