Two Ships

"Two Ships is a deeply personal story about love and the longing for connection. In a world where our days are dictated by schedules and routines, the film explores the beauty found in the ordinary and the quiet moments that shape our relationships."

"In 2021, I was working as a film production assistant, and I experienced the challenge of an opposite shift relationship firsthand. My call times on set would be at two or three in the morning, whereas my wife, Mackenzie, worked a consistent nine-to-five schedule. During the week, it felt like we weren’t able to have any meaningful face-to-face interactions. Nevertheless, we found creative ways to show our affection: leaving notes, cleaning up after each other, and doing simple acts of kindness to make each other’s day a little bit easier. This became our routine for a while, and even though we never truly crossed paths on weekdays, it felt like pieces of us did — fragments of our love that transcended time and space. That feeling is what we wished to convey in this film."

McKinley Benson
Director of Two Ships

Variety
Animayo Gran Canaria Wins

Film Threat
Two Ships Review

Radix
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Hue Watched It
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ScreenFish
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Animation Magazine
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Radix
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ShortStick
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Great Lines, Beautiful Lines
Review

Film Impact Georgia
Spring 2022 Filmmaker Grant Finalist

McKinley Benson
Director, Writer, Editor

McKinley Benson is a filmmaker and alumnus of the Savannah College of Art and Design, graduating summa cum laude with a BFA in Film and Television. He is a director, producer, and writer responsible for dozens of narrative shorts, television pilots, and documentaries, screening at Oscar-qualifying festivals around the world and garnering three Emmy awards. In 2017, McKinley co-founded the independent production studio Room 330, dedicated to high-quality, storyteller-driven projects. Over the course of his career, he has had the pleasure of working with companies such as Netflix, Amazon Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount, and XYZ Films. Two Ships marks McKinley’s first animated film, which he is grateful to be producing in partnership with the Oscar-nominated production cooperative COLA Animation.

Mackenzie Benson
Producer, Writer

Mackenzie Benson is a photographer and alumnus of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography. She is currently working as a freelance photographer, retoucher, and color specialist. Her portfolio combines soft, ethereal tones with bold contrasts, capturing the unique character of her subjects in both color and black and white. This sensibility extends to the visual style of Two Ships, which marks Mackenzie’s first venture into filmmaking and animation.

Bruno Caetano
Producer

Bruno Caetano is a self-taught animator and a graduate of Lisbon’s Faculty of Fine Arts Multimedia Investigation and Studies Centre (CIEAM) with a specialization in stop motion. Despite having a strong preference for this technique, his professional career led him to participate in several projects with various animation techniques as well as in other areas of artistic interest. He has worked as an animator, producer, and director in productions from various production companies, and is a founding member of COLA Animation, an ever-growing international cooperative of united artists, focused on producing, teaching, and divulging animation. Bruno was the first-ever Portuguese producer to be nominated for an Academy Award, and the second to win an Annie Award, in connection with the animated short film Ice Merchants.

Jodi Benson
Executive Producer

Jodi Benson has received worldwide recognition & critical acclaim as the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Tour Guide Barbie in Toy Story 2, Weebo in Flubber, as well as Thumbelina in Thumbelina. She starred in Crazy For You as Polly Baker, receiving Tony and Helen Hayes award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical. Other Broadway credits include Smile, Welcome to the Club, and Marilyn. Internationally, she has had the honor of sharing the stage with her husband, Ray Benson, at the European premiere of Ira Gershwin’s My One & Only, starring as Miss Edythe Herbert. In Los Angeles, she starred in the critically-acclaimed Reprise/UCLA production of Babes in Arms, South Pacific, Flora the Red Menace, Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, and Chess, for which she won the Best Actress Drama League Award. Two Ships, created by her son, McKinley, and his wife, Mackenzie, marks Jodi's first time as an executive producer.

SPECS

Genre: Animation, Drama, Romance
Technique: 2D Frame by Frame Animation
Runtime: 06:50
Country: Portugal, United States
Year: 2025
Production: COLA Animation, Room 330
Distribution: Selected Films

CREW

Director: McKinley Benson
Writers: McKinley Benson, Mackenzie Benson
Producers: Bruno Caetano, Mackenzie Benson
Executive Producer: Jodi Benson
Animation Director: Ala Nunu
Animation Lead: Olga Branska
Animators:  Ana Iutes, Ala Nunu, Bofan Liu
Coloring: Jakub Kaczmarek, David Mateus
Art Director: Priya Kakati
Background Design: Leah Chun
Layouts: Priya Kakati
Compositor: Luís Soares
Music: Zach Pelham, Mason Palanti
Sound Design: Jérémy Ben Ammar
Editor: McKinley Benson

AWARDS/SELECTIONS

Sydney Film Festival*

Guadalajara International Film Festival*

🏆 Best Story — Animayo Film Festival*

HollyShorts Film Festival*

Edmonton International Film Festival*

Bengaluru International Short Film Festival*

Lebu International Film Festival*

Newport Beach Film Festival

🏆 Best Animated or Experimental Short — Gibara International Film Festival

Animafilm International Animation Festival

Animix Film Festival

Charlotte Film Festival

Weird Market

Animation Nights New York

Chaniartoon International Animation Festival

Sedicicorto International Film Festival

Vila-seca International Film Festival