ROT

Ms. Sugar Bee notices children are starting to go missing from her class.

  • Sabrina Laurén Akins
    Director
  • Sabrina Laurén Akins
    Writer
  • Sabrina Laurén Akins
    Producer
  • Sabrina Laurén Akins
    Key Cast
    "Ms. Sugar Bee"
  • Michael Akins
    Key Cast
    "Principal Pit"
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Genres:
    stop motion, 2D animation, narrative, suspense, political
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 55 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 13, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable

  • United States
Director Biography - Sabrina Laurén Akins

Sabrina Akins is a 23 year old multi-media animator. She has always had an interest in political art and symbolism. She believes that animation can be an excellent artistic medium and can also push the boundaries of storytelling to give audiences new perspectives. Being a 2026 ASU graduate with a degree in animation, she cannot wait to finally start telling the stories she's written in her head for years.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

ROT delves into the subtlety of the rise of fascism. I was horrified witnessing the ICE raids, and wanted to help in a way that I could - through animation. Being disabled, it's difficult for me to attend protests but I want more people to talk about the issues happening around them and to know how to protect their community. A family friend - Shannon McGinnis - was a teacher and was talking about the L.A. ICE raids and how she was worried about her students who stopped coming to school out of fear of being kidnapped. She is really the inspiration for the animation as she was such an important pillar of her community. I wanted to use animals and fruit as a layer of symbolism for the story; as well as rot for being a symbol for hatred and fascism. This is my first 2D animated film and I had to work incredibly hard to get it done in 8 months by myself; I did not have much practice animating before this project so I learned a lot as I went along. My film is to remind everyone to keep an eye out for each other; we cannot face injustice alone.