/ˌgrat.taˈkek.ka/
Summer, sibling love, shaved ice.
An animated short in pre-production.
Synopsis
Gio, and her big brother, Marco, live alone in a city they are yet
to call home. Summer's scorching sun prompts Marco on a quest to
make the heat bearable.
Setting
A port city on the Southern European coast. The 60s, where
fridges were common but not AC.
Characters
Gio
Distinctly quieter since moving to their new city, Gio longs
for the comfort of the familiar. Despite her strong and fierce
exterior to the world, her love for Marco keeps them both grounded
in their new home away from home.
Marco
A long day of work in the sweltering heat washing dishes at
the fanciest hotel in the city doesn’t stop Marco from putting
his sister first. Endlessly stoic, pragmatic, and resourceful,
he helps remind Gio that life doesn’t always have to be so hard.
Meet the team
Giulio Martella
Director
While reminiscing about his childhood summers spent in Rome,
Giulio came up with the idea for Grattachecca. Emigrating first
to Germany, then to the US and now living in the UK, he is
leveraging his experience in TV and Feature animation to conjure
images of nostalgia with a sprinkle of homesickness.
Oliver Hulme
Producer
Oli moved to London from the North of England after studying
Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. His 5 years
experience in Feature Animation has seen him work on animated
projects for 20th Century Studios, Disney, Columbia Pictures,
Paramount Pictures, Netflix, and Warner Bros. In summer you can
find him, camera in hand, in a museum or dining outside the BFI
and soaking in the sun.
Álvaro Xoán Vidal Pazos
aka Alariko
Environment visual designer
Álvaro has always had a pencil in his hand, learning to draw
before he could read or speak. His fascination with architecture
is inspired by unique details in buildings, inhabited or abandoned.
This, and a bit of Google Maps, helps him create evocative designs
purely from memory. Since completing an illustration course at the
EASD "Pablo Picasso", he has been studying Fine Arts at the
University of Salamanca.
Eden Hea-Ryung Chyun
aka Tulli
Characters visual designer
Eden is a Korean-American character designer, illustrator, and
fashion enthusiast based in Los Angeles, California. Queerness,
fantasy, intimacy, and their cultural background are major themes
in their wide variety of work in animation, games, comics, and
theatre. Outside of art, they also enjoy exploring communities
in their hometown and thrift shopping.
Howard Kung
aka Bixels
Story artist
Howard is a Taiwanese-American storyboard artist, animator, and
character designer based in the Bay Area and San Diego. He is
currently attending Stanford University as an Art Practice and
Film & Media Studies double-major. Animation production has been
his passion since he was 10 years old, when he first began making
animated shorts. He loves 90s anime, analog technology, and Y2K
fashion!
Federica Vommaro
aka PHYSALIArt
Graphic Designer
Federica, inspired by her childhood love of Sailor Moon, pursued
her love for drawing while studying at the International School
of Comics in her hometown of Rome. Since then she’s acted as a
concept artist for ILBE Animation on projects like "Il Segreto
di Liberato", "Mahmood", "Jipo & Baby Puffins", "Arctic Friends", and
"Puffins".