Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson’s First Flight is set to appear as an animated short in front of DreamWorks Animation’s Over the Hedge starting May 19. Following is the official press release and a teaser image:

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION PLANS A NEW ANIMATED
SHORT FILM TO SOAR WITH OVER THE HEDGE IN NY & LA

First Flight will screen in front of
Over the Hedge in select New York and Los Angeles
movie theaters, beginning on May 19, 2006

DreamWorks Animation will debut a new animated short film entitled First Flight on May 19, 2006, exclusively in select New York and Los Angeles theatres, together with the opening of the studio’s upcoming animated comedy Over the Hedge.

Written and directed by two longtime DreamWorks Animation veterans, Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson, First Flight is a computer-animated short film that tells the story of a fastidiously organized businessman, whose perspective on life is forever changed through an unexpected encounter with a tiny fledgling bird.

Hood and Jefferson began working on the project more than three years ago, in between working on various DreamWorks feature films. In late 2004, the duo brought a rough version of the film to the attention of studio executives, who loved what they saw and immediately agreed to support the team in the completion of the project. On March 12th, First Flight debuted at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, where it was met by an overwhelmingly positive response. The film is also currently showing at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

DreamWorks Animation’s Head of Development and Production Bill Damaschke stated, “The studio is so proud to have two members of our DreamWorks Animation family come forward with their own beautifully original character piece that has such a unique painterly look and style. We are looking forward to sharing Cameron and Kyle’s First Flight with moviegoers everywhere. We feel it reflects the independent spirit and creativity that is shared by all of our artists. Over 80 artists from every corner of the studio jumped on board in-between their other projects to work on this film, which makes it even more special.”

First Flight was produced by Maryann Garger and co-produced by Pilar Flynn. The score was composed by James Dooley, with sound design by Mark Binder.

Cameron Hood has been working as a professional animator and teacher for more than eight years, and began his career with DreamWorks in 1997. During his tenure, he has worked on such features as The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Shark Tale. He also contributed to Sony Imageworks’ Stuart Little 2. Hood was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and is a graduate of the Claude Watson High School for the Arts and Sheridan College in Ontario. In addition to his film work, he has been teaching for the past four years at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, where he also aids in the design and curriculum of several of the school’s animation courses and currently hosts their best-selling character animation lecture series.

Kyle Jefferson has been with DreamWorks since 1996, and includes among his film credits The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Shrek, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Shark Tale. Jefferson also did pre-visualization work on Michael Bay’s live-action epic Pearl Harbor, and has explored other interests in the field as a commercial producer and music video director. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Jefferson graduated from Sheridan College and the Ontario College of Art. For the past three years, he has also taught classes in storyboarding, pre-visualization development, rough layout and animation at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.

DreamWorks Animation SKG (NYSE-DWA) is devoted to producing high-quality family entertainment through the use of computer-generated (CG) animation. Utilizing world-class creative talent and state-of-the-art technological capabilities, the company is committed to making two computer-animated feature films a year that appeal to a broad movie-going audience.