Art Of Panic

23/09/2025

Animation Explosion. Marcello Paolillo discusses “Mike and a Magazine” in a Zoom conversation about the animated shorts premiering at Out On Film

A Bird Hit My Window and Now I'm a Le***an -AJ Dubler and Carmela MurphyAfter a mysterious girl shows up at Gray's doorstep holding the co**se of a bird that...

19/09/2025

Mike and the Magazine
World Premiere September 30


Written, edited and directed by
Produced by and

15/09/2025

🎞️✨ Shorts Spotlight – Tuesday, Sept 30 | Midtown Art Cinema ✨🎞️
📍 Midtown Art Cinema

🕔 5:00 PM – Animation Explosion
Vivid, inventive animations exploring love, transformation, and identity.
🎬 A Bird Hit My Window and Now I’m a Le***an (US, 8 min, Dir. Carmela Marie Murphy) — A bird funeral changes Gray’s view of herself.
🎬 How a River Is Born (Brazil, 9 min, Dir. Luma Flores) — Ayla journeys through a surreal natural landscape of discovery.
🎬 Mike and the Magazine (Italy, 6 min, Dir. Marcello Paolillo) — A teen’s errand in NYC becomes a coming-of-age adventure.
🎬 If/When (Australia, 10 min, Dir. Courtney Westbrook) — A surreal exploration of time, fate, and love.
🎬 The Eating of an Orange (UK, 7 min, Dir. May Kindred-Boothby) — A mysterious orange transforms everything.
🎬 Butterfly Kiss (Germany, 10 min, Dir. Zohar Dvir) — A proposal spirals when love takes a magical turn.
🎬 Two Black Boys in Paradise (UK, 9 min, Dir. Baz Sells) — A tender poem-to-screen journey of q***r self-acceptance.

05/09/2025

A few years ago, I wrote the script for a short film with the goal of capturing a tender portrait of adolescence—that swirling time of self-discovery, awkwardness, blushing shame, quiet thrills, and vulnerability.
A few months ago, I decided to bring that script to life through AI animation. It began as a pure experiment, an exploration, but when I showed the result to my producing partner, , she immediately fell in love with the protagonist, little Mike, and encouraged me to take it further.
And so here we are. Our short film “Mike and the Magazine” is about to premiere at the Out on Film Festival in Atlanta—and simultaneously at the Seoul AI International Film Festival. We couldn’t be prouder. 🌈🎬❤️

Marcello

04/09/2025

Totally chuffed that our new short film, MIKE AND THE MAGAZINE, has been selected at the festival in Atlanta 😍. Yeahy!
Check it out at our link in bio!

Mike and the Magazine is the amazing brainchild of Art of Panic co-founder Marcello Paolillo. And we couldn’t be prouder. 🌈🦄🏹

04/09/2025

This is Mike. All he wants is a magazine. What could go wrong?

Please meet the new hero you didn’t know you needed. And you’re welcome.

04/09/2025

Meet Mike: the hero you don’t deserve. And it’s enough for now.