“The Worm’s-Eye View of the Bird”, an animated short by Karen Zipor, will make its Southern California Premiere on Monday June 22^ndat the 28^th edition of Dances With Films at 4:15 pm at the TCL Chinese 6 in Hollywood.  

The Worm’s-Eye View of the Bird is a sassy, metaphorical short where a girl falls in love with a worm, only to have her heart broken by an unexpected twist. The film is written, directed, produced, and edited by Zipor.  The score is composed by Ashna Pathan, with Alexa Zachary supplying the voice talent. 

“Admit it, we’ve all dated a worm at some point.

The Worm’s-Eye View of the Bird is surprisingly not inspired by the meme, “Would you still love me if I was a worm?” It’s based on the true story of how I made the difficult choice to leave behind my first love. Despite many years together, he refused to follow me to Los Angeles and no longer aligned with my destiny and aspirations of becoming a filmmaker.

This short film is the culmination of years of processing difficult heartbreak — how the memories of people are like worms that stick in your brain, and how you know the other person is still watching you from a distance, even years after the split,” says filmmaker Zipor.

Karen Zipor is a Television Academy Foundation alum in Animation and works as a full-time producer: having created content for Disney, Dreamworks, Warner Bros, and other animated television (“ARK: The Animated Series“). Additionally, Karen is the Webby award-winning producer of “Brittany Broski’s Royal Court” — a celebrity interview show featuring high-profile guests like Harry Styles, Jessie Buckley, and many more.

As the founder of Zipped Up Films, Karen’s prior directorial work spans across both live-action and animation (A Painterly Hand, Blessing On Your Head),with a primary interest in the duality of love as both comedy and horror.

The Worm’s-Eye View of the Bird is the first animated work by Zipped Up Films. The project took over a year as she assembled a team of young all-stars from some of the biggest studios in Los Angeles (such as Disney, Sony Pictures Animation, Titmouse, and more).  The crew of over 30 people are the next voices in the animation industry: honoring traditional 2D art styles (evoking the child-like innocence of watercolor in picture books), while implementing contemporary color palettes and VFX compositing techniques (especially to ground the film’s more mature themes).

The 6-minute short will screen as part of Fusion Shorts Block 1 at 4:15pm on Monday, June 22^nd at the TCL Chinese 6, 6801 Hollywood Blvd.  For tickets: https://danceswithfilms.com/2026-the-worms-eye-view-of-the-bird/