Main Journey (Ballerina aka Leap!), Anton (Paddington, “His Dark Materials,” Greenland) and Caramel Films, announced that Kenneth Branagh (Death On The Nile), Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One), Laurie Holden (“The Walking Dead”), and William Shatner (“Star Trek”) are starring as the lead voice actors in FIREHEART, an animated family adventure.
Set in New York in the roaring twenties, FIREHEART tells the story of a young girl aspiring to be the world’s first female firefighter who, refusing to let others define her, heroically fights for her dream.
The original, music fueled comedy is one of the most ambitious independent animation features and scheduled for completion in 2021.
Internationally renowned producers of The Intouchables, and the 2017 animated hit feature, Ballerina (aka Leap!), Laurent Zeitoun, who is also directing, and Yann Zenou, the film’s creators and producers, are currently overseeing the production from L’Atelier Animation studios in Montreal. The film’s soundtrack will include re-orchestrated 1920’s style covers of modern pop songs.
Cecile Gaget, Anton’s President of International Production and Distribution stated: “FIREHEART is one of the most highly anticipated independent animated features amongst our buyers and the studio-level quality of L’Atelier Animation’s work is outstanding. This fun and joyful film with its themes of a young girl’s empowerment, and a community coming together to save the things they love, could not be more timely.”
There’s only thing sixteen-year-old Georgia Nolan (Olivia Cooke) ever wanted was to become a firefighter. But it’s 1920’s New York and women aren’t allowed to serve, even one with fire in her heart. When a mysterious arsonist starts burning down Broadway, one by one all the firemen in the city disappear. Georgia’s beloved father, Shawn (Kenneth Branagh), is called out of retirement by the Mayor of NY (William Shatner) to lead the investigation as Captain in the FDNY. Desperate to help her father and save her city, Georgia resorts to disguising herself as a young man called “Joe” and joins the small group of misfit firefighters trying to stop the arsonist, risking everything she loves to do it.
The film was written by Laurent Zeitoun, Daphne Ballon and Jennica Harper (“Some Assembly Required”) from an original idea by Zeitoun. Ted Ty (How to Train Your Dragon 2, Rise of The Guardians and Kung Fu Panda), the animation director on Ballerina, is the co-director on the film with Zeitoun.
Additional cast roles include Mara Junot as Laura Divine, Wilex Ly as Jin, Ryan W. Garcia as Ricardo.
