The Claw - Animated Short Film

Hello friends, family, and colleagues! My name is Tabs, and I'm in my 3rd year at CalArts studying Character Animation. I'm raising funds to support the crew helping me create my 4-minute animated film, The Claw.

The Claw is an animated short film that explores the story of a young shark who goes to a casino with his father and discovers a dark truth. The film will touch on more serious subjects, such as addiction and generational trauma, but also have more lighthearted elements earlier in the story.

^ Designs by Mina Chacko, Character Designer

My goal with The Claw is to spread awareness about the reality of addiction and how it can have a serious, lasting impact on children and other family members. This film is animated because I want to spread awareness to as wide of an audience as I can and make the film accessible and easy to watch for everyone. In my experience, animation is an easier medium to help convey darker messages to all audiences.

^ Piece by Felony Chen, Visual Development Artist

The funds earned through this fundraiser will go directly towards myself & my team that's creating this film. My goal is to pay the team at least minimum wage ($15.50/hour), as they truly deserve that and more for the hard work they're putting in to make this film a reality.

Here's the team & payment breakdown:

Each artist in this team will put in 1-5 hours of work. This fundraiser would have to earn about $3,000 to pay them minimum wage, which is why that's our starting goal.

I would love to have your support in making this film a reality. I, and the team behind my film, believe it has a powerful message that should be shared and given the attention it deserves. Any donation and resharing on social media would be appreciated.

Thank you so much,

Tabitha (Tabs) Wekerle