MEET THE CREW
DIRECTOR AND ANIMATOR
MATTHEW ALICZ
As the visionary leader behind this project, Matthew is a gifted storyteller who aspires to create animations depicting the breadth of human experience. Matthew enjoys exploring stories from an unusual or surprising angle. Born in England at a military hospital, he spent much of his youth traveling the world. Being fascinated by history and diverse cultures, he chose to study archaeology and work in the travel industry. Since he also spent his childhood with a pencil in hand drawing on every available scrap of paper, he decided to continue his education with a fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.
COMPOSER
DANIELLE ALICZ
Danielle Alicz, our talented composer, is the driving force behind the successful execution of the film's original score. Music plays in Danielle's head continuously as she experiences and observes life. In 5th grade, she started playing in the school orchestra, which began the journey of translating those melodies into notes on a page. After majoring in music for an undergraduate degree, she continued onto graduate school. Her first masters degree is in music theory, followed by a second in film composition from the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute.
ABOUT US
The sibling duo of Matthew and Danielle Alicz grew up in the Chicagoland area, both exhibiting intense creative aspirations at early ages. Matthew, always with a pencil in hand, loved to draw. Inspired by the animated movies and television shows of his youth, his creations reflected his love of storytelling. Meanwhile, Danielle’s creativity was inspired more by music. Having grown up learning multiple instruments, that passion eventually led to a desire to write her own music. It wasn't until well into their adult years that Matthew and Danielle decided to collaborate with Come To Our Assistance as the vehicle of amalgamation for their creative talents.
Early on in the animation process, Danielle was already writing themes and by the time Matthew finished with a detailed story board, she was mapping out where the music would go. Matthew felt very confident that the music was going to fit well with the style and genre of the film. So much so that Danielle was given a lot of creative freedom. By the end of March, 2024, Matthew had listened and approved of the music to be recorded and set for final delivery.
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Upon completion, the director stated, "Working with my sister was such a fascinating view into the world of composition and film scoring. Admittedly, understanding music has never been my strong suit, so having a sibling in that world helped balance out the production of the film beautifully. I always got a bit emotional when these mostly silent scenes suddenly burst with new life once Danielle’s score was added."
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Further, Danielle spoke about her experience saying, "The entire process while working with my brother provided minimal stress and lots of creative collaboration. He supported many of my contributions to enhance the story and made it a fun and memorable experience for both of us. From the first images Matthew created, I was mesmerized by the intensity of the emotions expressed and wanted to increase the audience’s empathy of the experience."
