Produced by WePresent, the content arm of WeTransfer, this film was created by illustrator Polly Nor in partnership with animator Andy Baker. Titled How Have You Been?, it is a five-minute film about loss, grieving, and finding comfort in the friendship of a slug-turned-demon creature. 

Through animated illustrations, Nor turns her personal experiences of loss into a story that’s universally relatable. “I started imagining this story at the beginning of lockdown, when the reality of the pandemic was really starting to sink in,” Nor says. “I kept thinking about how many people’s worlds were being turned upside down, from those losing friends and loved ones to relationships being pulled apart by travel restrictions and social distancing measures. That period of change led us to this story about love and loss in isolation.

“Like with most of my artwork, and in my previous collaborations with Andy, we wanted to keep the meaning open to interpretation – to some people it might feel like a story about a break-up, and to others a story about grief. We want the viewer to take from it whatever resonates with them most.”

Client: WePresent
Commissioning Editor: Suzanne Tromp
Managing Editor: Danielle Boelling
Writer/Designer/Director: Polly Nor
Production Company: Andy Baker Studios
Director: Andy Baker
Executive Producer: Lucia Davies
Animators: Andy Baker, Campbell Hartley, Sami Healy, Charlie Lane-Bush, Olly Montagu, Maki Yoshikura
Colour/Clean-up Animators: Alejandra Anguita, Emma Ehurling, Jamie Hobbs, Ned Mackness
Lead Animator, Dance Scene: Carlos De Faria
FX Animator: Frankie Swan
Design Assistant: Eve Archer
Compositing: Andy Baker, Tom Fisher
Voices: Nisa Kelly, Phoebe Argent, Rhondi Brown, Tom Adcock
Sound Designer/Re-Recording Mix: Nick Ainsworth
Foley Artist: Andrea Gard
Music: Little Dragon, Where You Belong