Private Project

Bottle Neck

A luminous crush of still life silhouettes, abstract shapes and complex, interlocking patterns, Bottle Neck renovates the commonplace objects of a classical painting genre in a modern setting. This is the third film in Priestley’s abstract trilogy that explores patterning, with Eye Liner (2011) and Split Ends (2013).


  • Joanna Priestley
    Director
    The Rubber Stamp Film (1983), The Dancing Bulrushes (1985), Voices (1985), Jade Leaf (1985), Times Square (1986), Candyjam (1988), She-Bop (1988), All My Relations (1990), After the Fall (1991), Pro and Con (1993), Grown Up (1994), Hand Held (1995), Utopia Parkway (1997), Kali Yuga (2000), Surface Dive (2000), Andaluz (2004), Dew Line (2005), Extended Play (2007), Streetcar Named Perspire (2007), Missed Aches (2009), Eye Liner (2011), Out of Shape (2011), Clam Bake (2012), Choking Hazard (2012), Rumpy Pumpy (2013), Dear Pluto (2012), Split Ends (2013), Bottle Neck (2015)
  • Joanna Priestley
    Producer
    The Rubber Stamp Film (1983), The Dancing Bulrushes (1985), Voices (1985), Jade Leaf (1985), Times Square (1986), Candyjam (1988), She-Bop (1988), All My Relations (1990), After the Fall (1991), Pro and Con (1993), Grown Up (1994), Hand Held (1995), Utopia Parkway (1997), Kali Yuga (2000), Surface Dive (2000), Andaluz (2004), Dew Line (2005), Extended Play (2007), Streetcar Named Perspire (2007), Missed Aches (2009), Eye Liner (2011), Out of Shape (2011), Clam Bake (2012), Choking Hazard (2012), Rumpy Pumpy (2013), Dear Pluto (2012), Split Ends (2013), Bottle Neck (2015)
  • Seth Norman
    Sound Designer and Composer
    Eye Liner (2011), Clam Bake (2012), Dear Pluto (2012), Split Ends (2013), Bucksville (2014), Bottle Neck (2015)
  • Brian Kinkley
    Title Design and Compositing
    Eye Liner (2011), Dear Pluto (2012), Split Ends (2013), Bottle Neck (2015)
  • Joanna Priestley
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 24, 2015
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Stuttgart International Animation Festival
    Stuttgart
    Germany
    April 28, 2016
    German Premiere
    Official Competition
  • Northwest Filmmaker's Festival - Portland Art Museum
    Portland
    United States
    November 12, 2015
    Oregon Premiere
    Official Competition
  • Portland International Film Festival
    Portland
    United States
    February 10, 2016
    Official Selection
  • Melbourne International Animation Festival
    Melbourne
    Australia
    June 25, 2016
    Australian Premiere
    Official Competition
  • Sydney Film Festival
    Sydney
    Australia
    Sydney Premiere
    Official Competition
  • INDIE hype

    Germany
    Official Competition
  • Miami Independent Film Festival
    Miami, Florida
    United States
    Florida Premiere
    Official Competition
  • TMC London Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    United Kingdom Premiere
    Official Competition
  • Stockholm Animation and Experimental Film Festival
    Stockholm
    Sweden
    Sweden Premiere
    Official Competition
  • Cinema Pacific Fringe Festival
    Eugene, OR
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Northwest Animation Festival
    Portland, OR
    United States
    Oregon Premiere
    Official Competition
  • Hiroshima International Animation Festival
    Hiroshima
    Japan
    August 19, 2016
    Japan Premiere
    Best of World Program
  • New Zealand international Film Festival
    Auckland
    New Zealand
    December 8, 2016
    New Zealand Premiere
    Official Competition
Distribution Information
  • Priestley Motion Pictures
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Joanna Priestley

Joanna Priestley has produced, directed and animated 27 films (and one iOS app) about subjects dear to her heart: poetry, abstraction, plants, relationships and prison. Her work maintains a high level of porosity between serious exploration of boundaries and intuitive whimsy and she is dedicated to experimentation in technique and content while always exploiting mistakes and utilizing accidents. Priestley has had retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Center for Contemporary Art (Warsaw, Poland), American Cinematheque (Los Angeles, CA), Hiroshima Animation Festival (Japan) and Stuttgart Animation Festival (Germany) and she has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Film Institute, the MacDowell Colony, Fundación Valparaíso and Creative Capital. Priestley teaches animation workshops worldwide, was founding president of ASIFA Northwest and has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1992, where she annually juries the Student Academy Awards and the Nicholl Screenplay Fellowships. Her films are available at www.primopix.com.

"She's the queen of independent animation." -Bill Plympton

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Director Statement

"The exquisite animated world of Joanna Priestley has been one of the best kept secrets of the toon community. Whether she’s exploring our common fears and phobias, observing the vicissitudes of modern romance or commenting on turning 40, her many styles and visions are undeniably original and hard to forget."
— Animation Magazine

"Priestley has spent the past 25 years pushing the boundaries of the genre with inventive, often irreverent shorts on topics such as aging, prison and plants."
—Sharon Mizota, Los Angeles Times

"Imaginative, playful and whimsical, Priestley's work radiates a sense of wonder and delight about the art of animation."
—Maral Mohammadian, Cartoons: the International Journal of Animation.