Massive Studios is teaming with screenwriters Paul A. Kaplan and Mark Torgove and producer Todd Garner on three AI-assisted animated short films built around the Christmas holiday.
The projects will be directed by Massive Studios co-founder Reza Sixo Safai from scripts by Kaplan and Torgove, whose credits include The Garfield Movie. Garner will produce.
Developed simultaneously by Massive Studios in partnership with content-creation platform CapCut, the shorts are using artificial intelligence tools including Video Studio and the AI video-generation model Seedance 2.5. The collaborators unveiled the project during a panel discussion at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2026.
The release plan is already taking shape. A trailer is due to arrive during Thanksgiving weekend in November, followed by all three completed films on Christmas Eve. The shorts will be available free of charge, although a streaming or distribution partner has not yet been announced.
Other major creative details remain under wraps, including the films’ titles, voice cast and additional collaborators.
Artists and performances will shape the characters
While AI technology is central to the production process, the filmmakers say the shorts began with hand-drawn artwork created by artists. Those designs will be paired with actor performances to define the characters’ proportions, facial expressions, costumes, textures and personalities before technology is used to put them into motion.
The wider production team is also expected to involve character artists, animators, editors, composers, sound designers, colorists and other creative contributors.
Massive Studios describes itself as a “filmmaker-led” company developing film, television, animation and branded entertainment through a combination of AI and traditional filmmaking tools. The Christmas shorts will reflect that hybrid approach, with the team presenting the collaboration as an opportunity to “demystify” emerging AI filmmaking technology.
Safai said the intention is to make the finished animation feel “emotionally handmade,” rather than letting the technology overwhelm the human contributions.
“For me, handcrafted doesn’t mean pretending technology wasn’t involved,” Safai said. “It means you can still feel the human decisions in the work. The drawings, the performances, the writing, the imperfections, the choices. What matters to me is that you can still feel the people behind every frame.”
Garner wants to revive a holiday tradition
The original concept came from Garner, who took the idea to Safai, Kaplan and Torgove as a possible way to revive the tradition of Christmas specials.
“I grew up with Christmas specials, and I miss that tradition,” Garner said. “There is something wonderful about families discovering these stories together and then coming back to them every year. We wanted to make something new that could have that same feeling.”
Garner is the principal of Broken Road Productions and has been involved in 170 projects over the years. Those projects include Runner, Mortal Kombat, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Vacation Friends, Zookeeper and Jack and Jill.
Both Garner and Safai said the production process is enabling the team to make the shorts on a budget. Garner characterized the fundamentals as consistent with his previous filmmaking work, despite the addition of AI tools.
“This is no different than any movie I’ve made,” he said. “You come up with an idea, you find the right people, and you see how the audience responds. To me, it’s all about the artists, the story and the imagination behind it. The technology just gives us another way to get there.”
Safai said the appeal extends beyond speeding up production, pointing instead to the creative and financial possibilities offered by the technology.
“The exciting thing isn’t simply that the tools can make production faster,” he said. “It’s what becomes creatively and economically possible. We’re interested in using technology to make films possible that otherwise might never get made.”
In addition to The Garfield Movie, Kaplan and Torgove previously worked on The Late Bloomer, Dr. Ken, Outsourced, George Lopez, Play Dates, Just Shoot Me! and Spin City.
What Happens Next?
The first public look at the three shorts is scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend in November. Their titles, voice performers, further creative participants and eventual streaming or distribution home still have to be revealed before the free Christmas Eve debut.