Make-A-Wish Kid Creates and Directs Animated Film

Neshama, an 11-year-old who has battled cancer since kindergarten, loves art and movies. When she was told that she was eligible for a wish from Make-A-Wish, she blended her two passions and asked to create and direct her own animated film. Neshama worked with FableVision, a Boston-based animation studio, for a year; meticulously handling each part of the film creation process to ensure the final result aligned with the vision Nehsama had for her film. 

According to Good Morning America:

Neshama Ryman, of Riverdale, New York, created the characters and storyline for her movie, “The Klumz,” while she was undergoing treatment for the alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma she was diagnosed with while in kindergarten.

The now fifth-grade student knew during her treatment that she would have a wish granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Once her health improved, the Foundation paired Neshama with world renowned animators at FableVision Studios to make her wish to create her own movie come alive.

The FableVision team corresponded with Neshama, their director, frequently and even traveled to her hospital bedside in Maryland at one point to keep the movie moving forward.

“Animation is a very cumulative process and we couldn’t take a step forward until our director said, ‘Yes that’s good, go forward,’” said Tone Thyne, FableVision’s vice president of creative. “We would go on a plane and go there and sit on a hospital bed with her and do storyboards and whatever we needed to do to keep the process moving.”

Thyne added, “We realized that it was the journey itself – the film was going to be magnificent – but it was the making of it that really was the gift.”

Ryman said her family’s experience with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and FableVision went “above and beyond” her expectations.

“As a parent going through this with a child, it gave me so much strength and positivity,” she said. “It became a template for something I created in our family, the idea that if you’re going through something difficult, follow the joy.”

She added of the movie, “It’s reminding us all that messes are part of life and we need to try to do what we can to find the joy and the hope in life no matter what we are dealing with.”

Now, for the first time, Neshama’s film, The Klumz, is being shared with the public. You can watch the film here (and get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film here). Next time the Klumz make a mess in your life, listen to Neshama and find the beauty in the chaos. 

***No compensation received***