‘LUKi & the Lights’ Director Toby Cochran Illuminates Us on His Poignant ALS Short

This article was written for the December '24 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 345).

A charming, spirited robot has to face new challenges when he starts to malfunction and is diagnosed with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in director Toby Cochran’s lovely short LUKi & the Lights. The project is inspired by the true story of Sascha Groen and her husband, Anjo Snijders, who was diagnosed with ALS about seven years ago. When the couple realized there were very few educational tools available to help explain the disease to their kids, Sascha started to draw a robot to help illustrate the disease’s progression, allowing their children to follow along by filling in the light bulbs as it advanced

“After Sascha created the robot, they had the wild idea of turning it into an animated short to explain ALS to families,” recalls Cochran. “LUKi found his way to our company, Big Grin Productions, in early 2021 through a referral. Since we focus on stories that make a positive impact, Sascha and Anjo’s mission aligned perfectly with ours. Given that a story like this had never been done through animation, we were eager to take on the challenge and bring LUKi to life.”

Cochran delivered the short’s script, based on the story written by Sascha and Anjo. “We spent months building out the world and visual style with our production designer, Marie Thorhauge, and in early 2022, we received an Epic MegaGrant that kicked production into high gear,” he says. “After nearly three years of remote collaboration across different countries, we finished the film in October of last year.”

The production used a variety of animation tools, including Epic’s Unreal Engine, Autodesk Maya, Basecamp, SyncSketch, AWS, Perforce, Nuke and AnimBot. “We had over 100 artists from17 countries, with nearly half of our team having personal connections to someone affected by ALS/MND,” says Cochran. “Every artist was proud to contribute to this film.”

Cochran, who is a storyboard artist on Netflix’s upcoming movie In Your Dreams, and producer Adrian Ochoa, a Pixarv eteran, worked on a shoestring budget. “We’re a small indie production company, and I managed all the artists remotely,” says Cochran. “We faced plenty of challenges, but we ultimately crossed the finish line thanks to the support from Global Neuro Ycare and the ALS Association. It was truly a massive endeavor.”

The world of LUKi draws inspiration from Sascha and Anjo’s home in the Netherlands. “We aimed for a softer, warmer color palette, avoiding the heavy metallic tones that are often associated with robots,” says Cochran. “We wanted LUKi and his world to feel grounded and storybook-like, with everything having a hand-painted, handcrafted quality. The handcrafted choice was deeply inspired by Anjo, who was always hands-on — building  his own furniture, sculpting D&D characters and even repurposing his own bookshelf into his coffin, which was the very last thing he built as his hands began to fail. That personal story inspired LUKi’s journey, including how he built his own wheelchair in the film. It’s a reflection of Anjo’s spirit and craftsmanship.”

‘LUKi shines a light on this underfunded disease, but ultimately it is a film that celebrates the human spirit, emphasizing the importance of hope and living life to the fullest, regardless of the challenges faced.’

— Director Toby Cochran

One of the toughest aspects of the project was that the team wanted to finish the short before Anjo passed away. “What began as a client project quickly grew into something much more significant,” says the director. “My goal became keeping the team on track while staying transparent and focused. I relied on our talented team to make key decisions, enabling us to deliver a film that would make Sascha and Anjo proud. Anjo passed away earlier this year, but he was able to see the film and have a mini premiere with friends and family.”

Now that the short has been making the rounds at festivals around the world and has won numerous prizes along the way, Cochran says he’s very pleased that he and his team were able to hit all the requirements from Sascha and Anjo. “That was a tall ask, because they requested that the film be medically accurate, have worldwide appeal, have no known language, be educational and entertaining,” he says. “I love that when I watch the film, I can see the fingerprints of every artist in the final product. Each person poured their heart and soul into it, and you can really feel that. I’m especially proud that we created something that will help raise awareness for this terrible disease, and we’ve included so many Easter eggs to honor Anjo.”

Cochran says he has also been blown away by audience responses to the short. “The film has resonated with a wide range of audiences,” he says. “The ALS/MND community, in particular, has embraced it wholeheartedly, which means so much to us. We’ve also seen a deep connection with people who’ve lost loved ones to other diseases, especially in how they relate to the caregiving aspects of the story. The film has won several audience awards at festivals like Animayo, SIGGRAPH, Heartland Indy Shorts and the Florida Film Festival, with many of those votes coming from children. What’s been truly incredible is hearing from people who had no idea what ALS was before watching LUKi, and now they finally understand.”

The director hopes the short will inspire audiences to learn more about ALS. “LUKi shines a light on this underfunded disease, but ultimately, it is a film that celebrates the human spirit, emphasizing the importance of hope and living life to the fullest, regardless of the challenges faced,” he concludes. “I hope viewers become curious about ALS and realize that LUKi’s journey doesn’t end with the film. If anyone resonates with the story, they can visit GlobalNeuroYCare.org to learn about the foundation’s initiatives and access educational materials for youth programming.”

For more information and to watch LUKi & the Lights, visit instagram.com/sandiegosff/p/DB4McbxS04C. The short has qualifying for Oscars consideration through award wins at the Burbank International Film Festival and N.Y.Animation Film Awards.