Two young Canadians have scored an upset win at the South by Southwest Film Awards for a visually arresting short film using VFX and 3D animation as the trailer for a new book.

Chris R Moberg, a motion designer at an Ottawa agency, and writer Jared Young, author of a thriller called Into the Current, collaborated on the game-changing trailer, which won a prestige SXSW title design excellence award in Austin, Texas. (Above: From a Behind the Scenes video, here). They were up against heavy-duty Hollywood, including the popular Stranger Things TV show and the Marvel film Dr. Strange.

Young, a creative director at the same Ottawa agency, gets strong reviews for the inventive novel. It’s about Daniel, a young traveller whose plane explodes.  Time stops, the wreckage of the plane freezes in place, and Daniel finds he can transport himself back into his past.

A feature in Applied Arts magazine about the project, here.

Technique of the trailer on Chris Moberg’s Behance, here.

Jared Young’s biography, and Into the Current book info, here.

Moberg C.V.and project info, here.

Listen to them on CBC Radio, here.