Acclaimed animation artist Robert Valley, who is best known for his Oscar-nominated short Pear Cider and Cigarettes, and the acclaimed “Zima Blue” and “Ice” episodes of Love, Death + Robots (the later of which won the short form animation Emmy as well as two individual achievement honors), has embarked on a new long-form venture: a 2D-animated feature titled American Rose, based on the life of songwriter, Broadway producer and social activist Billy Rose.
“Valley is bringing his immense talent and unique artistic vision to this bespoke project and our team is thrilled beyond belief to work with him,” says the film’s exec producer Steven Finkelstein, who has been pursuing this project for over four years. “Not only is Robert both brilliant and creative, he is also a genuinely nice person. He’s a joy to work with. He also has a depth of soul that allows him to access the material and do justice to such a great and little-known true story. We’re so excited, honored and blessed to work with him as a true partner.”
Finkelstein believes 2D animation is the ideal medium to tell Rose’s story. “Animation, especially with the talented Robert Valley at the helm, continues to stretch the boundaries of sophisticated storytelling,” he notes. “It allows us the freedom to expressively tell the story of his incredible life with all its grit and glamor. Despite standing only 4’11”, Billy Rose was a creator of outsized fantasies and spectacles. He was born into poverty, tangled with mobsters during the Prohibition and became a mogul during some of the most tumultuous years of the 20th century.”
Valley has had a colorful and well-respected career in the animation business. In addition to his recent award-winning episode for Netflix’s Love, Death + Robots, he wrote and produced the 2013 animated Wonder Woman series and worked as storyboard artist on shows such as Aeon Flux, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, X-Men: Evolution, TRON: Uprising, Firebreather, Invincible and the famous Gorillaz animated music videos.
Billy Rose was raised a poor child of Jewish immigrants from the lower east side tenements of New York who became a shorthand writing champion, a songwriter and a producer of Broadway shows and massive outdoor spectacles. At the height of his career, he was the largest employer on Broadway, ran the hottest nightclub in New York and was married first to Fanny Brice (famously played by Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl) and later to Olympic champion swimmer Eleanor Holm.
The entertainment magnate was also an unlikely political activist. He spoke out against American silence on the atrocities of the Holocaust, despite anti-Semitic pressure from prominent figures such as Joe Kennedy and Charles Lindbergh. In 1943, he produced Carmen Jones, the first all-Black Broadway grand opera, as a direct response to the racism espoused by the Nazis. Rose also owned venues in Times Square and operated the Ziegfeld Theatre from 1949 through 1955.
