WATCH VIDEO

::Watch an interview with Jerry Levithan on Arts & Minds

::Watch a clip of I Met The Walrus


Embrace John Lennon’s message of peace with the world television premiere of I Met the Walrus, the Canadian production that was a 2008 Oscar® contender for Best Animated Short Film.

I Met the Walrus is “the little film that could.” Produced with a $20,000 Bravo!FACT grant, the short is now receiving international attention.

In May 1969, Jerry Levitan was a 14-year-old Beatles fan who invited himself into John Lennon's hotel room and convinced him to do an interview. Almost 40 years later, Levitan took the audio from that interview and teamed up with Toronto director/animator Josh Raskin. The result is I Met the Walrus, an intricate, animated visual narrative that accompanies John Lennon’s timeless message, featuring the pen sketches of James Braithwaite and the digital illustrations of Alex Kurina.

Following its world premiere on CTV, I Met the Walrus will premiere on Bravo! on Friday, February 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 PT as part of Bravo!FACT Presents. The episode will feature interviews with Levitan and Raskin about their road to the Oscars. The 30-minute special also features Marc Almon’s The Wake of Calum MacLeod, a Genie®-nominated short about the wake of a Cape Breton storyteller full of magical twists and turns; and Simon Ennis’ comedic short Canadian Shield, which tells the tale of a Mountie searching for his missing horse deep within the Canadian wilderness. All three shorts were produced with grants awarded by CTV's Bravo!FACT.

Bravo!Videos sets the stage for the premiere of I Met the Walrus with a 30-minute musical tribute to John Lennon. Airing Friday, February 29 at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, Bravo!Videos includes Lennon’s Imagine, Give Peace a Chance, Power to the People, Come Together, Starting Over, and Rufus Wainwright’s rendition of Across the Universe. 

CTVglobemedia Inc.'s Bravo!FACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent) was established in 1995 by the national cable arts channel Bravo!. The foundation is the largest funder of shorts in Canada. Thirteen million dollars have been awarded in grants for the production of over 1,200 shorts across the country during the past dozen years. The shorts are broadcast in Canada during the half-hour show Bravo!FACT Presents in prime-time on Bravo! and A-Channels, and are often honoured at local, national and international film festivals. For more information, please visit www.bravofact.com.