Form the release:

Hornet is excited to announce the global signing of director César Pelizer, the animator, illustrator and absurdist, whose work tends toward the humorously uncomfortable, emotionally abstract and in general leaves one feeling weird yet amused.
César has led his life and career through a mix of spontaneity and intuition, with a strong sense of his own craft both with inspiration and a clear vision for aesthetic creations.

He grew up devouring comics and searching magazines for illustrations and drawings (his Grandfather worked for a publisher in Sao Paulo and would bring them home to César.) Also a huge fan of Disney, he would take these illustrations and characters and draw, attempt to replicate (found he couldn’t) and ultimately created his own versions. Thus began at an early age his own unique style and a trajectory which he led with the fundamental truth that he has never liked proper proportions so he made up his own.

In his youth, he tried art classes but didn’t respond to them because he didn’t tend toward perfectionist techniques. At 15, he was approached to do an illustration for a local paper, which led to one of his comic strips being included in a book of local illustrators. It was at this point he realized that he could make a living out of his art. At 16 he began to explore animation, taught himself flash and learned to build websites.

At 18, he moved to Argentina for university after attending a design conference and falling in love with the art scene there. Not long after he quit university to work at an animation studio where he remained for several years. His next leap of faith occurred when visiting London on holiday. He went to meet a friend of a friend, which turned out to be an interview and design-led motion studio weareseventeen immediately asked when he was moving. Not long after, César moved to London.

Today, his philosophy of not following the rules has evolved into a very graphical, primitive style. The forms are stark and he is incredibly particular with the choices of his minimalism. Hornet’s EP Hana Shimizu is drawn to this simplicity, “Although Cesar’s worlds are minimal, it’s not to be mistaken for simple or naive. I love how his storytelling is provoking and whimsical at the same time. In this dichotomy of his sensibilities, I find an incredible richness and unique voice. We’re so excited to partner up with him at this stage of his career where his distinct voice adds a new dimension to our family of directors.” Working primarily in 3D, his work tends to play with the back and forth of using CG as a tool for his animation and still consciously removing any depth from his work.

Upon signing with Hornet, there is always the question of what is the intentional evolution of this union. César’s impulse to dive in and self-teach translates naturally into an interest in the new technologies of VR and even more in the AR world. Yet the new technologies do not overshadow the importance of short film and storytelling, which marries directly with Hornet’s DNA. And in the commercial space, for César animation and illustration go hand in hand, and he regularly jumps back and forth between the two crafts, so he would love to be part of creating a truly integrated campaign from branding to ads to design.