It’s easy to forget that The Walt Disney Company began as a small studio making short films, primarily in animation, with some live-action experimentation, too. That same spirit of innovation is still alive and well at the company, and one of the best examples of that is Disney’s Launchpad. This live-action shorts incubator program was created to give underrepresented voices a chance to show what they can do. In the same way that people financially backed the vision of Walt and Roy in 1923, the company is paying it forward by giving emerging filmmakers a chance to step up and take a chance. Six new shorts are now streaming on Disney+ from Disney’s Launchpad, and I recently had the pleasure of speaking with two of the producers who help lead the program – Mahim Ibrahim (Director of Creative Talent Pathways, Representation and Inclusion Strategies) and Phillip Domfeh (Senior Manager).
(Disney/Mahim Ibrahim/Phillip Domfeh)
Alex: Congratulations on the launch of the second season of Disney’s Launchpad shorts. The theme of the first season was “Discover.” What can you tell me about the theme that connects the films this season?
Phillip Domfeh: The theme for season two is “Connection.” We came up with the theme in 2021, and at that time, we had already been through 2020, and there was so much disconnection that happened there. We didn't know exactly how it would be reflected back to us, but we knew the idea of connection and even reconnection, perhaps as a sub-theme, was really pressing at the moment. Considering our audience, not just the audience that will watch the films, but the filmmaker community that's really passionate about Launchpad, that seemed like something that would connect with them as they started to come up with different ideas.
Mahim Ibrahim: We were very grateful to introduce to the world season one of Launchpad. With season two and the theme of connection, we hope to deepen that connection with our audience, and hopefully, they all come back, our big fans from season one, to continue to develop that connection into season two and champion new stories.
Alex: When Launchpad was first announced, you received over a thousand submissions. Did you use that same pool for the second season, or did you start all over again with a new selection process?
Phillip Domfeh: We started from the ground up, and this time we got nearly 2000 [submissions]. It was incredible, and there were so many awesome stories that we fell in love with, more than we were able to make, and my eyes got very weak, which is why I'm now dutifully bespectacled because of all of the screenplay reading and short film watching. [This is] one of my favorite times because we did it. We launched it, we're in the air, and I can sit back now and start flipping through the library and see what I can watch. It's like, we did it, we've got them, and let's just delight ourselves with stories and see what speaks to us and feels really true and resonant.
Mahim Ibrahim: With the addition of a writer's track, we doubled our applications for season two, so it just shows the hunger for this program.
Alex: These films are made with Disney+ in mind, but they also feel very cinematic. Have you considered opportunities for fans to see these films on the big screen?
Phillip Domfeh: It’s so funny that you bring that up because we actually have spent a large part of this year going to some top-tier Oscar-qualifying film festivals and others alike. It's been incredible getting these in front of audiences and seeing the proof in the pudding that these stories are truthful, meaningful, inspiring, funny, and really resonate. I had the pleasure of going to Aspen Shortsfest, deadCenter in Oklahoma, Palm Springs, you name it. We've really been able to take these films to some incredible places, Outfest and LALIFF here in Los Angele, Frameline47 in San Francisco, I've just been all over the place, living out of my suitcase a little bit, but it gives us such confidence heading into the release on September 29th that these films are going to resonate because we've seen it happen. These screenings have just been incredible, and the reception has been so warm.
Mahim Ibrahim: Last month, Maxine actually won best LGBTQ+ short at the HollyShorts Film Festival, which was a huge achievement and a first-time win for Launchpad in its second season.
Phillip Domfeh: Not only that, all six shorts went to HollyShorts, which is incredible. So I spent a lot of time in the Chinese Theater that week. It just goes to show that our filmmakers met the mark in elevating the type of stories that we're telling through Disney Launchpad, seeing what happened in season one, and building on top of that.
Alex: Since you have already gotten some response to this batch of films, what has that been like? I imagine with a program designed to amplify underrepresented voices, a lot of the feedback must be from people who feel seen for the first time on screen.
Phillip Domfeh: When I think about our screening at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Black Belts was lucky enough to be made an official selection, I was so touched because that's a film that really sits at the heart of the connection between African-Americans and Asian-Americans in America and in Los Angeles as well, while also exploring masculinity and having some fun with martial arts. All that being said, the director Spencer Glover is half Filipino and half Black, and to see the film received so well there, especially when you have a predominantly Black cast coming to a notably Asian-targeted film festival and feeling at home, they were feeling very dignified, very seen, and just that whole connection, knowing that we're able to facilitate such a moment of community and intersectionality in a way, I think that's going to stick with me. That kind of work lasts much longer than however long a film reel can survive.
Mahim Ibrahim: The block of that section, the theme was all about fathers and sons and that special relationship, so every single film had such a beautiful theme, and it was so incredible that that actually coincides with our season two theme of connection and family. It was really meant to be that we had that special moment at that festival.
Alex: What advice would you give to a Disney+ subscriber who opens their app on September 29th and sees these six new shorts?
Phillip Domfeh: My advice is to watch it once, watch it twice, go get some ice cream, make a hot dog, come back, watch it a third time. Really sit with these films because I think there are so many different ways that you can read them. They're universal stories, but they're each packed with so much life, character, and history, that they genuinely deserve a second watch. There are things I'm still picking up from watching these films, and I have seen them many, many times.
Mahim Ibrahim: I love that. I would say, now's the time to get your watch party going. Get your friends, get all your family, September 29th, game on.
Alex: Awesome. Thank you both so much, and congratulations again on the launch of the new season.
All six shorts from season two of Disney’s Launchpad are now streaming on Disney+.
Launchpad Season 2 Short Reviews: