Emotional 2D Animated Love Story Short Film

I’m looking for a 2D animator to create a 4–5 minute emotional animated short film, The Pinky Promise, based on my real relationship with my girlfriend. The film will rely mainly on visual storytelling and music, with little or no dialogue, and will be shown in a movie theater immediately before a real-life proposal. It should tell our story of meeting, love, separation, reconnection, and building a life together, using a recurring pinky promise as a symbol of trust, comfort, and choosing each other.

I can provide reference photos, story details, memories, and creative direction, and I would like to collaborate on storyboarding, pacing, and selecting scenes. I’m looking for a cinematic, heartfelt 2D style with expressive characters, while keeping locations and complex scenes manageable. The ending should lead naturally from the film into the live proposal rather than showing an animated proposal. The artist must be comfortable portraying a romantic relationship between two women and must create all artwork and animation without generative AI.

Budget range:
Up to $3000

Examples:
These are 3D concept images created during an earlier version of the project. I’m sharing them as references for the warmth, character emotion, cinematic feel, and overall visual tone I liked. I am not expecting the final film to match this 3D style and am very open to an original 2D interpretation that captures the same emotional feeling.

About the client
I’m creating this project as a surprise proposal for my girlfriend. I’m not a filmmaker or animator — this is a very personal project based on our real relationship, and I’m looking for someone who can help me turn the story and emotion I have in my head into something beautiful on screen. I’m very collaborative, organized, and happy to provide reference photos, story details, feedback, and anything else needed throughout the process.