‘If Anything Happens I Love You’ by Michael Govier and Will McCormack is a poignant story of a couple who have lost their ten year old daughter in a school shooting. The emotions of the grieving parents are portrayed as a flashback of happy events that happened with their daughter. The scene of the mother washing her dead daughter’s shirt by mistake brings tears to the eyes.

We caught up with Michael and Will for an exclusive interview.

Michael and Will met at an acting class in Los Angeles. They are both writers and became fast friends. They say, “We’d meet for coffee and pitch each other ideas and talk about ideas. We both wanted to wrestle narratively with grief and loss.”

They knew they had to do something big together. Mutual respect for each other, and each others’ work, is the foundation of their partnership. “It’s paramount that team members have equal standing. Film is a team sport, and everyone’s contribution is essential to the story,” they assert.

So, how did ‘If Anything Happens I Love You’ come about, we asked. They echoed, “We worked on the 12 page script for about a year to be very specific about what we wanted to communicate.  We had no other resources other than the script - no money, no animators, no equipment. We knew the story had to be great to help build a team. We were lucky to connect with veteran, prolific animation producer Maryann Garger. We were able to finance the film through Film Independent and from contributions from Gary Gilbert at Gilbert Films who was an ardent supporter. When Youngran Nho, our animation director joined our team, it took about nine to ten months to animate. All in all, from when we first met, until our first screening, the film took about two and a half years to complete.”

The topic is serious and relevant to our times. So, authenticity was important. They reached out to the experts for help. They say, “Everytown for Gun Safety has been a friend of the film from the very early stages. We reached out to them initially because this is sensitive material, and we wanted to make sure we were honouring the survivors. We still work closely with Everytown, and are honoured to be aligned with them on this project.”

With Everytown’s help, Micheal and Will interviewed many parents who had lost their children in school shootings in the US. They wanted to tell the story without any words except If Anything Happens I Love You.

The writers use shadows as a means to convey emotions difficult to portray in animation. The shadow effect actually brings a spiritual angle to the story. The classic black and white palette is used to convey the grief and sadness of the characters.

The music was composed by Lindsay Marcus and the ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ sequence was performed by the Inner City Youth Orchestra of LA.

The film created a stir on social media soon after it was released. Within a week of the film’s release, there were more than 30 million hashtag views of the film on TikTok. Michael and Will are grateful for the love the film has received. They say, “The TikTok phenomenon was completely unexpected and surreal and exciting. We have over 67 million hashtag views of the film. The film really connected with a young audience who filmed themselves showing their reactions. We were so moved to see so many people show up to the film and be vulnerable.”

So, what’s next for Michael and Will?

“We loved working together and we have another short film that we are launching now. We are also writing/directing a feature animated film,” they say, in unison.