Zen

Told from the point of view of Zen, a strong, confident and fearless adolescent female mouse, this family-friendly animated movie is a fantastical animated coming-of-age story. It presents powerful themes of perseverance, teamwork and gratitude, and encourages audiences to love and appreciate their family and always follow their dreams. For many children, however, “Zen” will simply be a film about friendship, teamwork and growing up… themes that are evergreen. Having a Zen attitude means finding mindful awareness of the present moment. This concept permeates the storyline of “Zen”. I wrote "Zen" along the lines of animated films "Vivo" and "Coco". The movie tells the story of a mouse in her teens named Zen. She and other mice live in a school building. The mice inside the building live in a parallel world with the humans. The mice go to class one morning, and there are no humans in the school building. Zen learns that some sort of sickness is causing humans to disappear. With all of the people gone from the school, the rodents gradually descend into a state of chaos. Additionally, the absence of humans directly threatens the life of her father. Zen goes on an epic quest with her two best friends to find a cure for the humans, to save her father, and to return a state of calm, or Zen, to the world. During their journey, the mice face challenges, conquer fears, and discover a personal sense of Zen. In numerous contests and festivals, industry experts have given “Zen" several accolades. More importantly, they have provided feedback to make it exceptional. Judges say the fresh concept, snappy dialogue and strong main character in "Zen" will appeal to a wide audience. They have also shared that they think that the intersectionally diverse representation of the characters will resonate strongly with viewers. I wholeheartedly agree with their assessments!