Experiencing Interruptions?

The Worm's-Eye View of the Bird

A girl falls in love with a worm — who winds up breaking her heart.

  • Karen Zipor
    Director
    A Painterly Hand, Blessing On Your Head
  • Karen Zipor
    Writer
    A Painterly Hand, Blessing On Your Head
  • Karen Zipor
    Producer
    Brittany Broski's Royal Court, There Were Trees, Film Bros of Greenwich Village
  • Alexa Zachary
    Key Cast
    "Gillian"
    Nebulous Dark, Guillotine, Continuum
  • Kiara Lin
    Production Coordinator
    Helluva Boss, Homestuck, Snow Day
  • Ashna Pathan
    Music Composer
    Wednesday, Heretic, Megan 2.0, A Painterly Hand
  • Jared Fellows
    Sound Designer
    Morty, The Rookie, Spiral, There Were Trees
  • Mike Ackerman
    VFX Compositor
    Bob's Burgers, ARK: The Animated Series, There Were Trees
  • Karen Zipor
    Editor
    A Painterly Hand, Blessing On Your Head
  • Julie Hang
    Character Artist
    Pokémon, Motel Transylvania
  • Alex Henderson
    Concept Artist
    Trolls, Disenchantment, Motel Translyvania
  • Anna Simpson
    Storyboard Artist
    Bit Wars, Wheels & Roses
  • Kensei Morita
    Visual Development Artist
    Bit Wars, Wheels & Roses, El Despertar De Hua
  • Shelby Hayes
    Visual Development Artist
    Bit Wars, Wheels & Roses, Ten Year Old Tom
  • Ella Louise Khan
    Lead Worm Animator
    Once Upon a Studio, Donald Duck Hot Ones
  • Edith Adame
    Lead Gillian Animator
    Bit Wars, Wheels & Roses, Submersed
  • Vince Marcellino
    Lead Nightmare Animator
    Blood of Zeus
  • Julia Bodnar
    Rough Animator
    Wheels & Roses
  • Lana Gerace
    Rough Animator
    Duolingo, Teenage Euthanasia
  • Amber Rankin
    Rough Animator
  • Winnie Lu
    Rough Animator
  • Avalon Barr
    Rough Animator
  • Connor Halleck
    Rough Animator
  • Jesse-James Cullen
    Rough Animator
  • Yuri Pineda
    Clean Up Artist
    Wheels & Roses, Darkwood, Nicopò
  • Darayell Wright
    Clean Up Artist
    Dog Of the Samurai, Have You Eaten
  • Anna Brockless
    Clean Up Artist
    The Lord of the Rings: Legend of the Rohirrim, Princess Bento
  • Victoria Aldrich
    Clean Up Artist
    The Freaks of Laurel Creek; Castaways
  • Emma Vines
    Clean Up Artist
    The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: Rehydrated; Pencilmation
  • Janessa Eldaye
    Clean Up Artist
    Legend of Pipi, Bit Wars, Dog of the Samurai
  • Nick Lish
    Clean Up Artist
    Zantu
  • Collin Schuster
    Clean Up Artist
    Low-Key, Nate and John
  • Paula Moraga
    Clean Up Artist
    The Last Winged Puppy
  • Dalila Dutpayeva
    Clean Up Artist
  • William Richardson
    Clean Up Artist
  • Penny Lance
    Clean Up Artist
  • Yeng Madayag
    Clean Up Artist
  • Louise Isabela Wong
    Clean Up Artist
  • Gus Mazereeuw
    Clean Up Artist
  • Skully Gilder
    Clean Up Artist
  • Hadley Kennedy
    Clean Up Artist
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Genres:
    Animation, Romance, Comedy
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 20 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 2, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    25,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Cinequest Film Festival
    San Jose, CA
    March 16, 2026
    World Premiere
  • Indie Short Film Festival
    Charlottesville, VA
    March 20, 2026
    Virginia Premiere
    Best Animation 2026
  • AmDocs
    Palm Springs, CA
    March 28, 2026
    California Premiere
Director Biography - Karen Zipor

Karen Zipor is a Television Academy alum in Animation and works as a full-time producer: creating 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.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

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.