Dubai-based global management and production company 75East has signed Iranian-American filmmaker and animator Liam LoPinto, whose 2023 animated short film The Old Young Crow made waves on the festival circuit.

The work was EP’d by Succession Emmy-nominated actor Arian Moayed and Academy Award-winner Rayka Zehtabchi, who was the first Iranian woman to win an Oscar in 2019 for her short film Period. End of Sentence.

Described by Flee-director Jonas Poher Rasmussen as “playful, poetic, and profound,” the short tells the story of an Iranian-born man who, upon discovering his childhood sketchbook, goes on a kaleidoscopic journey back to a Tokyo graveyard where he befriended an elderly Japanese woman long ago.

LoPinto is currently developing including a feature length adaptation of the film within a slate of other short and feature length projects.

New York-raised LoPinto has recently participated in the second edition of The Pillars Artist Fellowship. Aimed at emerging Muslim artists, the program was created by the Pillars Fund in partnership with Riz Ahmed and Left Handed Films.

He also recently took part in Pedro Costa’s Creators Lab in partnership with Playlab Films in the heart of Mexico’s Yucatán.

Between 2013 and 2021, LoPinto attended NYU Tisch’s UGFTV Program, CalArts Character Animation Program, and Waseda University’s School of International Liberal Studies in Tokyo.

His early shorts include French Fly, which was selected for CAA Moebius’ 5th Showcase, and award-winning short documentary Karam Camera, made in partnership with the Karam Foundation focusing on empowering young Syrian refugees.

The Old Young Crow won more than 80 awards internationally including at the Oscar Palm Springs International ShortFest, as well The Gold Screen Young Directors Award and Best Short Film New Visions from Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia.

Launched in 2023, 75East is focused on representing talent from the SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) region and diaspora.

Further talent represented by 75East includes Mahdi Fleifel (To A Land Unknown); Palme d’Or-nominee Abu Bakr Shawky (Yomeddine, Hajjan); Oscar-nominee and BAFTA-winner Bassel Ghandour (Theeb, The Alleys); Omar Hilal (Voy! Voy! Voy!); Amjad Al Rasheed (Inshallah A Boy); Firas Khoury (Alam, Maradona’s Legs); Faris Alrjoob (The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry); Nay Tabbara (Ebb & Flow); Karim Shaaban (6 Days); Yassmina Karajah (Rupture), and Mayar Al Nouri (Tarteeb Khass).