S Y N O P S I S
THE STORY
The young, brave but inexperienced Empress Eura of planet Adin confronts her greatest challenge as a ruler. With the lives of her people at stake, Eura is forced to choose between trusting the will of her late husband Emperor Taejo, who wished to protect Adin from further alien invasion with a mysterious weapon, or an extraterrestrial monster who arrives with a dire warning about the very same weapon... [23 Minutes]
Written and directed by former Pixar and Disney/Blue Sky Studios artist Gene Kim, One Last Monster is an 23 minute animated short that is inspired by ancient Korean history, the concept of the comfort zone, 80s/90s anime, recent world events and set against the backdrop of an intergalactic fantasy adventure tale.
A B O U T T H E W R I T E R /
D I R E C T O R
GENE KIM
Gene Kim (32) is a Korean-American writer, animator, storyboard artist & filmmaker. He previously interned at Pixar and worked at Disney's Blue Sky Studios on the Epic, Rio 2, The Peanuts Movie & Ice Age 5 movies as a production artist. One Last Monster is Gene's latest independently created short which was written, directed and produced by himself. He also split all the animation work of this film with his good friend Elmer Barcenes over the course of 1.5 years. His previous film was the 2012 Student Academy Award semifinalist short Fighting Spirits.
A B O U T T H E L E A D
A N I M A T O R
ELMER BARCENES
Elmer Barcenes (27) is an El Salvadorian-American character animator, illustrator & producer who has worked on numerous productions including the DreamWorks TV show Turbo and China, Illinois for Titmouse Studios. A native of Queens, NY, Elmer is also a graduate of the School of Visual Arts.
D I R E C T O R ' S
S T A T E M E N T
GENE KIM
I've always wanted to create an action/adventure/fantasy inspired by all the movies, novels and animated content from America and Asia that I've loved since childhood. I also wanted to examine themes of prejudice, hypocrisy and staying in one's comfort zone - all of which are issues that have come to concern and fascinate me as an adult. It was a great thrill as well to explore my Korean background by re-imagining ancient Korea as the fantasy world of Adin. The experience of making this film became an opportunity to fulfill all these artistic goals of mine and it's a privilege to finally share it with you.
