Sun Scream tells the comedic tale of a down-on-his-luck vampire named 'Pippin', and his last-ditch efforts to sell at least one bottle of sunscreen before facing the wrath of his ferocious boss 'Cy the Cyclops'. Luckily for Pippin, the truck of an extremely sunburned farmer breaks down in front of his stall on the hottest day of the year. However, 'Billy' ain't no bumblin' yokel, and Pippin will have to do everything in his power to prove his product will protect anyone, even a vampire, from the sun's deadly rays.

Director Statement

Sun Scream is a project I began during the pandemic. Those were exceedingly difficult and lonely years for me, compounded by the recent loss of a loved one. However, I am now appreciative of the pause it gave me to reflect on my life.

With this reflection I came to remember that during equally difficult times in my childhood, namely the passing of my dad, I found solace in the pursuit of storytelling. It helped me process my emotions so well that you wouldn't have known I was struggling if you saw me playing with my toys- I was too engrossed in the worlds I was creating.

You may be asking yourself, 'Why is he sharing this?'

Well, because Sun Scream is my way of once again using storytelling as a therapeutic tool. The toys I'm playing with now just happen to be 3D puppets.

On its surface, Sun Scream is a playful comedy set in a unique land of monsters and puppetry. However, at its core, it conveys the idea that Pippin is trapped in his own life, and to escape that feeling, he tries something scary, but new: jumping out from the safety of his stall (for better or worse) in an attempt to improve his circumstances.

Pippin's ordeal was written from my own experience, I turned personal hardship towards something i've always wanted to do; learning how to make an animated film, and sharing it with the world. The prospect of my art being judged is as frightening to me as the sun is to our vampire, Pippin. However, it is a necessary step in the process of 'jumping out' of my own negative space.

As you watch the film, please keep in mind it represents some two years of working late nights and weekends, all while juggling a full-time job. Nearly every one of the thousand or so assets was painstakingly made by me: from every emotion expressed by the 2D animated faces, to the grease stains on Billy’s overalls, and the scratched, elixir-like sunscreen bottles.

However, that is not to say this film was made entirely on my own. I would not have finished it, if it wasn’t for people offering their voices, musical talent, artistic skill, or even just a daily passing interest in how far I’d progressed.

Sun Scream stands in my mind as a renewed appreciation for the positive impact filmmaking has on my life, and a 'thank you' to those who supported me during a difficult time.

-AD