Fund This: Stop-Motion Animator PES Serves Up ‘Submarine Sandwich’

Welcome to Fund This, a new column here at Tubefilter. Each week, we’ll look at a planned web series or other online video project currently in search of funding on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or any other similar crowdfunding sites. We’ll tell you what the series is all about and explain why it is worth your money. Do you have a project that’s currently being crowdfunded? Contact us to let us know and we may feature it in upcoming installments and check out previous installments right here.

Project Name: Submarine Sandwich

Asking For: $30,000 on Kickstarter

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $34,739 (a new stretch goal looks to extend the campaign’s total to $70,000.)

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 21

Description: Submarine Sandwich is the latest short film from stop-motion animator PES. The Santa Monica-based artist, whose real name is Adam Pesapane, has carved out a niche for himself thanks to his expertly-crafted animations that use household objects to represent food, and Submarine Sandwich will be the latest entry in that series.

The most-viewed videos on PES’ YouTube channel utilize this random-stuff-as-food approach. In 2008, he crafted Western Spaghetti, which Time Magazine would eventually call the second-best video of the year. Five years after that, he turned hand grenades into avocados with Fresh Guacamole. That creation ended up with an Academy Award nomination in the Animated Short Film category, becoming the shortest film ever nominated for an Oscar.

Submarine Sandwich will continue the series by taking it to a deli counter, where boxing gloves, athletic socks, air hockey pucks, and other sporting goods will st

and in for sliced meats and toppings. While the main goal has been reached, a stretch total of $70,000 promises “a bigger deli, better lighting, and a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Submarine Sandwich!”

Creator Bio: While PES is best known for his two culinary creations, his YouTube channel is full of funky stop-motion shorts. He’s also done plenty of commercial work, too. Earlier this year, he created some Vines for Samsung, thus taking advantage of a platform that suits his style perfectly. He has also offered a Skillshare class that teaches students how to make their own stop-motion creations.

Best Perk: Backers at the $35 level receive a t-shirt that combines The Beatles with deli sandwiches. It is bound to make passersby become very hungry.

Why You Should Fund It: PES’s short films require months of intense production to complete. “My films may be short…but they’re not cheap,” explains PES on his Kickstarter page. “Even though they’re animated, my films share more in common with live-action productions. I need sets, props, fabrication, cameras, lights, space — everything that live-action productions need — except that I need them for months at a time.” PES has already marked Submarine Sandwich as “the largest film I’ve ever done,” so it will require even more labor and even more support from fans.

I think it goes without saying that PES is super talented, but can Submarine Sandwich outdo its predecessors? If Fresh Guacamole can earn an Academy Award nomination, can its follow-up win one. That would be a major milestone for online video, so let’s help make it happen.