'Steven Spielberg said he loved it': Irish animator John Kelly on his Oscar-nominated Retirement Plan 

John Kelly already got a taste of Hollywood at the Oscars Nominees Luncheon and has his fingers crossed for the ultimate prize at the Academy Awards next month, writes Esther McCarthy.

John Kelly and a still from Retirement Plan, his Oscar-nominated short.

Filmmaker John Kelly was on zoom with the crew for his short film Retirement Plan when he learned it had been nominated for an Oscar in the Animated Short Film category. Though it had been long listed for the biggest honour in cinema, the film hadn’t been predicted to make it to the final five from the 15 shorts selected - leading to a treasured online catch-up.

“I had assumed it would be a friendly chit chat and get together,” he says. “It took us totally off guard. There is a video of the zoom, a little clip of it online on our social accounts. Someone said it’s the most Irish celebration of an Oscar nomination - we all go: ‘Oh, brilliant, great! Let's stick the kettle on’.”