"Cursed Bond" Wins "Best Student Film" in Hollywood

"Cursed Bond" wins "Best Student Film" in Hollywood

Many congratulations to the makers of "Cursed Bond", which has won "Best Student Film" at the Hollywood Gold Awards. "Cursed Bond" was created by our third year graduating class of VFX students at Escape Studios.  

The short film was written and directed by Ted Walker, and produced by Mahak Chowdhary.  Cinematography was by Irene Gomez Emilsson and the VFX Supervisor was Oliver Eveson.  Art direction was by Quimey Dasso.  Ted Walker stars as the Hermit. This is its second festival award. 

Cursed Bond

 

Cursed Bond

Cursed Bond tells the story of a mysterious hermit who finds a strange creature in the forest.

Software

Cursed Bond was animated in Maya and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro.  Visual Effects were created in Maya and Houdini. 

Cursed Bond Credits

• Ted Walker – Director, Co-Producer, Hermit, 2D Artist
• Mahak Chowdhary – Producer, 2D Colourist
• Irene Gomez Emilsson – DOP
• Oliver Eveson – Editor, VFX Supervisor, 2D Artist
• Quimey Dasso – Art Director, Animator, 3D Artist, 2D Colourist
• Paul Bittmann – Music
• Oliantai Kovac - FX
• Tim Lewis – FX
• Sam Carpenter – Layout, 3D Artist
• Eureka Silvester – Rendering, 3D Artist
• Emily Newton – 2D Artist
• Giovanni Nuzzo – 2D Artist

Tutor Supervision

Cursed Bond was overseen by Escape Studios' tutors Sokratis Synitos (2D VFX), Riccardo Zanarini (Houdini) and Ilaria Colavito (3D VFX).

Industry Feedback

Industry feedback was generously provided by artists from Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), in particular: Mel Leamon (Senior Compositor), Gabriel Hennessy (Senior FX TD), Ariel Flores Silva (Modeller) and Michael Wilde (Senior Texture Artist). Industry feedback is at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios; one of the Five Pillars of The Escape Method.

Cursed Bond at The IMDB

You can find Cursed Bond at the IMDB here. 

Cursed Bond at The Rookies

You can find "Cursed Bond", at the 2025 Rookies here.

Festival Success

Cursed Bond has won:

• Best Student Film at the International Gold Awards
• Best Student Film at the Hollywood Gold Awards

Escape Method  

Industry feedback is at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios; one of the Five Pillars of The Escape Method.  

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects.  To apply for one of our courses, follow this link.