WarnerMedia OneFifty Acquires Oscar-Shortlisted Films Namoo and When the Sun Sets for HBO Max
WarnerMedia OneFifty has acquired two short films, NAMOO and WHEN THE SUN SETS, to be released on HBO Max on January 27 and February 8, respectively. The films are both shortlisted to be nominated for the 2022 Academy Awards, NAMOO in the Animated Short Film category and WHEN THE SUN SETS in the Live Action Short Film category (find full 94th Oscars Shortlist here: https://www.oscars.org/oscars/94th-oscars-shortlists). The nominations will be formally announced on February 8.
“WarnerMedia's 'artist studio where innovation happens,’ OneFifty has built a track record of identifying incredible artists whose vision we believe in, and acquiring their extraordinary, groundbreaking content. We are excited to continue working with these filmmakers for many years to come,” said Axel Caballero, Vice President of Arts & Cultural Innovations and Head of WarnerMedia OneFifty.
NAMOO and WHEN THE SUN SETS join a fast-growing catalogue of critically acclaimed Oscar contenders that have been acquired by WarnerMedia OneFifty, including the 2021 Oscar-nominated short WHITE EYE, 2022 Spirit Awards nominated film THIS IS NOT A WAR STORY, and Sundance Sloan Winner SON OF MONARCHS among other groundbreaking content.
NAMOO is a narrative poem come to life through hand-crafted animation. Inspired by the passing of the director's grandfather, NAMOO – which translates to “tree” in Korean – follows the beautiful and heartbreaking moments of a man’s life, from beginning to end. It was written and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Erick Oh (OPERA) and marks his most personal and ambitious work to date. The film was produced by nine-time Emmy Award-winning Baobab Studios, executive produced by John Cho and produced by Larry Cutler, Eric Darnell, Maureen Fan, and Kane Lee. It most recently received the Best Animated Short prize from the 2022 Gold List Awards.
“I’ve been making short films for 10 years, and it’s extremely rare for independent filmmakers to find a way to share them with a wide audience. I can’t tell you what a huge honor and pleasure it is to have HBO Max launch NAMOO; their reach together with the caliber of their content is amazing” said Erick Oh, writer and director of NAMOO.
“We are excited to work with HBO Max, a brand which is synonymous with quality. It has also been
a delight to work with the WarnerMedia OneFifty team who are so indie-artist friendly and passionate about NAMOO” said Maureen Fan, producer of NAMOO and CEO/Co-founder of Baobab Studios.
WHEN THE SUN SETS is a touching story of a young, Black nurse’s struggle to protect her family during apartheid South Africa. It is an ode to family, motherhood, and resilience, and reminds viewers of the power of love to transcend oppression. The live action short film is directed by South African filmmaker Phumi Morare and is inspired by her mother’s true story. WHEN THE SUN SETS won the 2021 HBO ABFF Short Film Competition and was a finalist at the 2021 Urbanworld Film Festival. It is also nominated for the 2022 NAACP Image Awards in the Outstanding Short Form (Live Action) category.
“I am deeply honored that this story, inspired by my family, and dear to me, has found a home on HBO Max and is now part of the WarnerMedia OneFifty family. I am grateful for the opportunity that OneFifty provides to emerging filmmakers like myself," said Phumi Morare, writer and director of WHEN THE SUN SETS.
"It's an exciting honor to be working with HBO Max and WarnerMedia OneFifty to bring this meaningful film to their platform. We hope to continue sparking important discourse that resonates with wider audiences,” said Christine Cho, producing partner for WHEN THE SUN SETS.
Leslie Cohen, Senior Vice President of Film Acquisitions for HBO/HBO Max, finalized the deals for both titles. Amanda Trokan, Director of Content Acquisitions for HBO Max, worked on the negotiations for NAMOO; Rebecca Vazquez, Vice President of Content Acquisitions for HBO Max, worked on the negotiations for WHEN THE SUN SETS.
About WarnerMedia OneFifty
WarnerMedia OneFifty represents the natural complement to the industry-leading work of WarnerMedia and its brands HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC Entertainment, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, and others. Inspired by the nearly 100-year tradition of innovation at our company, WarnerMedia OneFifty serves as the content elevation hub for WarnerMedia, and as an artist studio where content innovation happens, seeking to amplify the best, most compelling untold and artist-forward stories to audiences.
About HBO MAX
HBO Max™ is WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform, offering best in class quality entertainment. HBO Max features the greatest array of storytelling for all audiences from the iconic brands of HBO, Warner Bros., DC, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies and more. The platform launched in the United States in May 2020 and introduced a lower priced, advertising-supported tier in June 2021. HBO Max began its global rollout launching in markets across Latin America and the Caribbean last summer, followed by its first European launches in the Nordics and Spain in the fall. Currently available in 46 countries, there are plans for continued expansion of HBO Max in 2022.
About WarnerMedia
WarnerMedia is a leading media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content from a diverse array of talented storytellers and journalists to global audiences through its consumer brands, including HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC, New Line, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, and others.
WarnerMedia is part of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T).
About Baobab Studios
Founded by Maureen Fan, Eric Darnell, and Larry Cutler in 2015, nine-time Emmy® Award-winning Baobab Studios is the world's leading independent interactive animation studio. With a mission to inspire you to dream and bring out your sense of wonder by making you matter, Baobab Studios has released eight projects to date — INVASION!; ASTEROIDS!; JACK CROW: THE LEGEND; BONFIRE; BABA YAGA; PAPER BIRDS; and NAMOO — all to critical acclaim and commercial success. Named Fast Company's 2018 Most Innovative Company, its awarding winning works (traditional, VR, and AR) have been viewed millions of times and have starred such diverse talents as John Legend, Oprah, Constance Wu, Diego Luna, Liza Koshy, Tye Sheridan, Elizabeth Banks, Ethan Hawke, Lupita Nyong'o, Ali Wong and Edward Norton. Their IP are currently being adapted into books (MacMillan, Penguin Random House), film (Roth/Kirsch, Disney), original series with the premium streamers, and games. Recently the studio announced a deal with Disney Branded Television to develop an animated anthology series called THE WITCHVERSE, based on the Emmy-winning VR short film, BABA YAGA.