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������’s “Penguin With a Sword” wins festival honors while showcasing the creativity, collaboration, and faculty mentorship behind the student production.

It’s been a great summer for a small penguin packing some serious steel — and for the ������ creatives who brought him to life. 

“Penguin With a Sword,” or “PWAS,” an animated short created as a capstone project in Columbia’s Animation Production Studio (APS), recently won Best Animated Short (Tier II: College and Professional) at the Illinois Film Festival at the Wilmette Theatre. It also has been named a finalist at the New York Short Animation Festival and Alpine International Film Festival and received an honorable mention at the Ealing Film Festival outside London. 

And the penguin’s journey isn’t over yet. 

“With 19 festivals still ahead of us, we look forward to continuing to showcase the strength of Columbia’s Animation Program on the international stage,” says Associate Professor Ron Fleischer, who teaches APS, now housed in Columbia’s School of Film and Television. 

From a Pitch to a Penguin 

The film began with little more than its intriguing title. 

At the start of APS, students pitch story ideas without artwork and vote on which one the class will produce that school year. Then-student Jayden Davis ’26 offered “Penguin With a Sword” — without much of a plot attached. Concept art by Michelle Edwards ’26 helped sell the class on the possibilities. 

“I took a giant leap of faith,” says Fleischer, who serves as executive producer of the APS films. Director and writer Olivia Nendick ’26, an Animation major, then helped turn the concept into a story. 

“The film really balances adventure and humor and heart,” Fleischer says. 

The nine-minute film, which premiered at Manifest in May, follows a seemingly ordinary penguin who arrives home to discover his wife and baby have been kidnapped. He opens his briefcase, reveals a sword, and sets off to rescue them. His quest leads to the Cruella de Vil-inspired Mrs. Claus, a social media influencer whose fashion line has a decidedly unethical source for its penguin-down clothing. 

For Casey Wang ’26, the film’s animation director, much of the fun came from balancing the hero’s appearance with his mission. 

“There was a comedic tension there between having something so cute and fluffy and then having it wield a sword and be a serious action movie hero,” Wang says. 

A Studio Inside the Classroom 

Making “PWAS” required students to function as a production team. Nendick oversaw the story and creative direction, while Wang focused on character movement and performance, reviewing classmates’ work and drawing corrections to maintain consistency. 

Animation lead Warren Voss ’26 served as Wang’s “right-hand man,” taking notes during shot reviews, working one-on-one with animators, tracking consistency issues, and tackling some of the film’s more difficult animation. 

For Wang, the leadership role proved transformative. 

“I learned that I was a lot more capable of being a leader than I thought I was,” Wang says. “I think that was probably the biggest thing that I took away from it.” 

For Voss, who previously had created animation largely on his own, working with a large team was a new experience. 

“It was both stressful and stress-relieving to rely on my peers,” Voss says. “Eventually, the stressful bits went away as our bonds grew.” 

Those relationships became one of the project’s lasting outcomes. 

“The PWAS crew were far more than classmates; we grew to be extremely close friends,” Voss says. “The real surprise was the support and love found within the PWAS crew.” 

Nendick had a similar takeaway from the roughly 25-member team. 

“Everybody got along so well, and I just learned how much that can do for a story and a team,” she says. “People got so invested in each other, but in the story too.” 

Faculty Guidance — and Tough Love 

Fleischer structures APS much like a professional animation studio, serving as executive producer while leaving most creative decisions to students. “PWAS” included more than 150 shots tracked across multiple stages, with student leaders managing schedules and assignments. 

“Ron really made sure nothing went off the rails,” Nendick says. 

That firm guidance helped the project reach the finish line, but Fleischer’s support extends beyond the classroom.  

“It took a lot of tough love at times, but I’ll always remember how proudly he talked about us as individuals and as a team to rooms packed full of people,” Voss says. “The role of a professor is to guide their students to success. Ron continues to support me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.” 

Collaboration Continues After Columbia 

By all accounts, strong relationships formed while making “PWAS,” with some already carrying over into professional work. 

Voss is an animator and effects animation lead on the independent pilot “Monna Chroma” with Negative Grass Studio, where fellow “PWAS” alumni Tenia Dres ‘26, Helen Gu ‘26, and Anais Leon-Cordero ’26 also work. 

As the recent graduates begin their careers, their capstone continues its festival run. But for Fleischer, the lasting measure of its success goes beyond awards. 

“My favorite thing that happens in this class every year is seeing all these individual people come together as one unit and love each other and become best friends and stick with each other after school,” Fleischer says. “That’s my biggest reward — to see that happen during the semester, and especially to see how they support each other after graduation.” 

Watch the "."

 

The "Penguin With a Sword" Team 

Michaela Ambrose
Quintin Melgar
Dante Barrera
Alexandria Mounts
Megan Brod
Ivory Nordeng
Luke Cambronne
Victor Sandoval
Aylin Carmona
Addy Schlatter
Jayden Davis
Emma Schmucker
Tenia Dres
Daya Thompson
Michelle Edwards
Warren Voss
Vanessa Gomez-Olivares
Casey Wang
Helen Gu
Jihyeon Na
Artem Juriga
Carson Graves
Anais Leon-Cordero
Ron Fleischer
Dawn Malagon
Olivia Nendick
Amber Matys

Music 

Jacob Lives 
Titouan Lencou 
  
Sound 

Logan Newby 
Charlie Metcalf 
Wren Zhang 
Avery Peterson 
Caity Speer 
  
Voice Talent 

Gracie Berto 
Jayden Davis 
Carson Graves 
Helen Gu
Vanessa Gomez-Olivares
 

  

 

 

 

 

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• Film and Television

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