Sony Picks Up "Hair Love" Short Film
This Director's Animated Short About Natural Hair Will Debut in Theatres Before Angry Birds 2
Director and former NFL player Matthew A. Cherry's "Hair Love" animation has been wildly popular on social media since its inception, and is now being turned into a short film. Deadline reported in March that Sony Pictures Animation teamed up with Cherry on the short film adaptation which tells the story of a young black father learning how to do his daughter's hair for the first time. And we now know that it'll premiere ahead of The Angry Birds Movie 2, in theatres this month.
The partnership news comes two years after Cherry, who recently worked as an executive producer on Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman, launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the project. The Kickstarter's original goal was set at $75,000, though Cherry was able to meet that goal nearly four times over.
"In the past year, it has been very clear that audiences have been yearning to see fresh stories that are universal and culturally authentic," Sony Animation President Kristine Belson said, according to Deadline. "'Hair Love' is a wonderful father-daughter story and we are proud to nurture talented young filmmakers like Matthew who are breaking new ground."
In addition to the short film, which is scheduled to release on Aug. 14 before Angry Birds 2 showings, the story was made into an accompanying book that debuted on May 14.
