Oscar Winners Back New Animation Short
Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans serve as executive producers for a hand-drawn film about a poet caring for his wife with Parkinson's.
By Yuki Melnyk ·
Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans have joined the production team for Living With a Visionary. The duo, who won Academy Awards for their work on KPop Demon Hunters, are serving as executive producers for the animated short film.
The New York Times Op-Docs will premiere the documentary this week. It is one of nine films in the 2026 slate that the outlet identifies as potential awards contenders. The list also includes The Revolution Against Death by Joshua Oppenheimer, The Tuners, and A Wolf in the Suburbs.
Stephen P. Neary wrote, directed, and animated the film. James Cromwell provides the narration. The story follows a poet’s fifty-year marriage to an art curator who is dealing with Parkinson’s disease. The plot is based on John Matthias’ memoir of the same name. It depicts how the wife’s medication causes vivid hallucinations and how the husband adapts to her imaginary world.
Neary created the visuals by hand over three years. He worked at night and on weekends while holding a full-time job as a story artist and teaching at the California Institute of the Arts. The production process involved thousands of drawings on intersecting layers of vellum. Mireia Vilanova produced the film alongside Neary.
The short film has already received major festival recognition. It won the grand jury award for animation at AFI Fest. Earlier this year, it took home the short film jury award for animation at the Sundance Film Festival.
Kang praised the effort required to make the film while Neary worked full time on KPop Demon Hunters and raised a family. She noted that the project shows how impactful animation can be when it comes from unexpected places. Appelhans described the work as a sketch of the human soul that captures love and grief. He said the experience of listening to Cromwell’s narration allowed him to witness the enduring power of love.
Neary thanked Kang and Appelhans for their support. He stated that despite stylistic differences between the two projects, both share a thread of raw emotional honesty. He believes this honesty can provide catharsis to viewers who might not expect it from animation.
