Wires for Empathy unites more than 76 artists working from 22 countries in a production drawing on the world's oldest, most universal story. Wires is inspired by the Gilgamesh epic, which comes down to us through countless mutations in culture as an incomplete, conflicting set of fragments and variations. But in this version, Gilgamesh is a woman with a military past who seeks out a cure for death, and becomes the animation's own frames.

Elephants Dream, the original Blender open movie directed by Bassam Kurdali, proved it possible to make high quality 3D animated films using free/libre tools in the studio. Wires for Empathy is a new experiment, this time in distributed collaboration—a love letter to free software and open culture that marks their convergence with independent filmmaking.

The finished film and its mountain of data assets will be released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike and the GNU General Public License, meaning you can use them for anything—even commercial appropriation—at no charge, as long as you allow others to reuse your work on the same terms.


Call for Sponsors and Donors

The award-winning Urchin collective invites your support!

The team behind Wires for Empathy have been recognized by the Museum of Modern Art, Venice Biennale, Prix Ars Electronica, and Academy Awards. Their internationally lauded work ranges from indie projects to blockbusters.

A notable project in a popular medium, Wires comes with buzz and an in-built audience. Our previous indie work has screened widely in festivals, and been seen online by millions. Its liberal license allows it to travel freely and also appear in less conventional settings, as a staple demo tool of new technologies, stores and trade show floors. And since its only license caveat is attribution, your sponsor credit will show in every one of the innumerable screenings the film continues to have over time.

Patron Sponsors — $7500: Top sponsor billing/Logo acknowledgment on film and website
Sustainer Sponsors — $2500: Prominent named acknowledgment in film credits and logo on the website
Maintainer Sponsors — $500: Credited with special thanks
Contributing Sponsors — $250: Credited as a contributing sponsor
Backers — $50: Get your name in the credits as a backer

Your support can be tax-deductible to the full extent of US law through our 501C3 fiscal sponsor:
Donate via Fractured Atlas

Please contact us with inquiries.


Images

All images may be used under Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license

Credits

Director: Ursula Kurdali / Fateh Slavitsky
Producer: Fateh Slavitsky-Osment
Writer: Fateh Slavitsky-Osment
Animation Supervisor: Chris Bishop
Environment/Texture Lead: Nicolo Zubbini
Modelling Lead: Dimetrii Kalinin
Sound: Thomas Vechionne
Music: Jan Morgenstern
Animators:
Gianmichele Mariani
Sarah Laufer
Tal Hershkovich
Luciano Muñoz Sessarego
Karen Webb
Virgilio Vasconcelos
Jarred de Beer
Jeanhye Kim
Carlo Serra
Matt Bugeja
Nathan Vegdahl
Oscar Baechler
Bassam Kurdali
Chris Bishop
Francesco Siddi
Beorn Leonard
Roselyn McMurray
Samantha Luo
BingRun Jiang
Aslynn Kilgore
Pipeline/Technical Artists:
Paolo Acampura
Jake Wisdom
Bassam Kurdali
Josh Wedlake
Lighters/Compositors:
Pablo Vasquez
Hanny Lu
Christine Stuckart
Francesco Siddi
Ivan Cappiello
Timothy Miko Carol
Bassam Kurdali
3D Generalists:
Lukas Zeichmann
Hanny Lu
Henri Hebeisen
Pablo Lizardo
Josh Wedlake
Samah Majadla
Ike Ahloe
Jamal Coleman
Benjamin Sohn
Davide Maimone
Connie Hildreth
Timothy Miko Carol
Dan Finnegan
Hassan Yola
Kursad Kuratas
Jonathan Williamson
2D Artists:
Becky Tang
Juan Angel Redondo
Lisette Lopez
Malefico Andaur
Astro Leon-Jhong
Pere Balsach
Marcel Mars
Jimmu Bohall
Chris Bishop
Warren Belfield
Alice Langlois
Michael Kalinin
Bassam Kurdali
Developers:
Lucas Toenne
Chris Webber
Ahmad Abdelhamid
Shantanu Choudary
Daf
Bassam Kurdali
Chris Perry
Interns:
Andreu Cabre
Alvaro Luna Buatista
Andre Souza De Silva
Arindam Mondal
Nathanael Gaethers
Gatis Rathko
Alejandro Cruz
Nora Jenny
Milan Stankovic
Lyndon Daniels
Lamont Robinson
Raphael Sousa
System Administration:
Wm Josiah Erikson
Jason Van Gumster
Executive Producers:
Barbara Elizabeth Bolles
Michael Tiemann
Kẏra
Philippe Casteleyn
Co-Producers:
E. G. Ellis
Chris Perry
Spirit Animal:
Dan Gilbert
Special Thanks:
Stanley Kowalski III
Matteo Gloyer
Ed Ellis
Backers:
Colin Levy
Jonathan Williamson
Ethan Time
Jeroen Bakker
Maria Figueiredo
Will Kahn-Greene
Rob Myers
loglow
Rodney Dawes
Ian Lilkendey
Rock Shaink
Jake Blais
Mike Sheldon
John Pointer
solstag
Riccardo Giovanetti
Tero Pajunen
Martin Preisler
Tony Mullen
Andreu Cabré
Andrew Heaven
Cliff Garwood II
Timo Munnukka
Ben Hagen
malefico
Xesus Garcia Alvarez
Scott B. Hamilton
Carsten Fisch
Blaine Landowski
Lars Brubaker
Alan Ferguson
David M. Cotter
Andrea Weikert
Michael Langford
gnumpen
Ren-Wei Yang
Julian Gall
Grá Linnaea
Jelmer Vernooij
Andrew Mike
Trevor
Alexander Pierce
Geoffrey Lehr
Andrew Buttery
David M Driggs
Louis S. and Tammy D.
Fred Benenson
Daniel Tompkins
Christine Pedersen
Chris (deleted)
twmffat
David REVOY
Julius Tuomisto
Simon Haller
GenX
James Pierechod
Jamie Brandon
Lancalot
Bensn
Andrew Jones
Goofy Goober
Edward
Thomas Dudziak
Lance Conatser
Sean Kennedy
Matthias
Joshua Kratovil
Dirk Siegel
Marek Belski
Anthony Barone
GiantRabbit
Stephen Paul Weber
Chris Van Vranken
Ryan Sayre
Mike Sayen
Srinivas Sirigina
Robert von Burg
Jeff Elmer
Jason Canty
Sarah Jane Pell
Cheryl Court
Dale Rooney
Doha Marzouk
Matthew Nash
Jules Beulen
Gordon
Matija Nalis
Rana Hobbs
Angie Kalea Ho
Robyn Ellis
John C
Shadi Sakr
Alexander Kvartz
Hawyee Auyong
Lallemand
Alain Marion
Donald Thompson
Joshua S.
Bojan Orlovic
mads simonsen
Aurélien Sacaze
Ivan Kapovic
rmellin
Peter Kropf
Richard Perry
Sébastien Jomphe
Stephen
BAIL
Adam Kasanof
Erik Möller
don snover
david joyner
Pascal Bach
Goran B.
DarthOdorous
Benoit HEBEISEN
Omnifarious
Bradley Cathey
Kc Michael Martinez
acro
Tristan Louis
David Mason
Tom James Allen Jr
Thies Schulz-Holland
Thomas Hahn
Andreas Mattijat
Erwin Vanderhoydonks
Steve Clement
Aniline
Giovanni Gallo
Oliver B
Duy Kevin Nguyen
Daniel Yanez
David Hickson
Andre Hugo
Yannick Croissant
Frank Anes
Carlos Muriel
Ain Anepaio
chaitanya krishnan
Joar Wandborg
JayMon
kokomo_joe
André Kishimoto
Lexicus
artleast
Eric Harris-Braun
Andrew Kwon
Peter de Castro
Philipp Oeser
Johnell Malone
Dan Cundiff
Leandro Simonetti
Matt Koons
Marius Slavescu
Julian Mulvey
Jonathan Masters
Dylan Cole
Jánvári Bálint
Horia Ardelean
Ace Gopher
Travis McHenry
John Urquhart Ferguson
Erick
vagn scott
Sjako ten Haken
Todd Gross
Ejner Fergo
Anthony Ray
Mathias L
Hugh Fitzgerald
Yves Bilgeri
Adam Ziegler
Amer Rahmani
John Burak
Jason Burns
Steven Bible
Emanuele Olivetti
Kristian Egdamin
Brett Truett
Logan Scheel
Jonathan Brier
Todd Yurkovic
Luca Rossetto
Rui Nóbrega
SHAMISEN
The-Wise-Cat
Sylvain Racicot
openstandards
Ignacio Fiallos
Autumn Laraine Mackey
Gordon Milner
William Welton
John Knight
Thomas LeBlanc
Yannick Warnier
Flavio Perez
Adam Lyall
melissa
kamereon
Malachi de AElfweald
Pat Heiden
Denver Gingerich
Steven Zakulec
Admiral Potato
James Weeks
Brenton Buchbach
Johann
mike interbartolo
David Seguin
Adrian Giddings
Kristoffer Strömblad
Greg Fischer
James R. Hall
Peter Carrero Provenzano
andrew brennan
chad
Rein de Waart
Kaliatech
Campbell Hore
Will T.
Wesley Hirsch
Tom M.
Jiri Hnidek
John Wisdom
Mike Linksvayer
Terry Hancock
Brett McCoy
Max De Marzi
Farida Majadla
Mohammed Majadla
Michele Hardesty
Lucas Scavone
J. Piscioneri
Florian Berardi
Colin Reynolds
Nick Bastin
abhay toshniwal
Jason Ward
Brian De Wolf
Coucouf
Carl Richell
Matthew Muldoon
Houda Kurdali
Steve
Nelson Goncalves
Christopher Webber
Devi Hart
Chris Perry
S J Bennett
Troy Sabotka
Scott Wilson
ton roosendaal
Joseph Annino
paulthegrouch
Michael Mellinger
Simon Haegler
William Leu
Jake Mazonson
CapyBaron
Vandré Israel Brunazo
Ryan Gordon
Brian Kierce
Jean-Sebastien Guillemette