What began as a modest three-month experiment has evolved into a visually striking, thematically rich animated short—Machines Learning is now entering its final stages of production. Written, directed, and animated by Anthony Koithra, the film explores labor, control, and empathy in the age of automation, rendered entirely in Unreal Engine 5.4.
Originally intended as a quick starter project (animators, you’ve heard that one before), Machines Learning has been over a year in the making. Along the way, Koithra also developed two additional film projects now in pre-production, as well as Locodrome, a suite of character animation tools. The short has been restarted three times, each iteration shaped by an evolving definition of “good enough”—a familiar arc for many emerging artists.
Created almost entirely solo using Unreal Engine, Blender, Adobe Substance 3D, and DaVinci Resolve, the film has been a deep dive into both storytelling and technical experimentation. “It’s been an enormous learning experience,” says Koithra. “Challenging, obsessive, and incredibly fulfilling.”
Machines Learning also marks Koithra’s first collaboration with a composer on a fully original score. Tyson Cazier brings a distinctive electronic sensibility to the project, transforming the director’s prompt of “industrial Tim Burton movie” into a playful, cinematic soundscape. “If you’re scoring a film or game,” Koithra adds, “grab him up—he’s fantastic.”
With a trailer now live and more behind-the-scenes content to come, Machines Learning is poised for a festival run later this year, with a public release to follow. At once humorous, sharp, and full of heart, the short invites us to reconsider the way we think about labor—and how we treat our machines.
