Winner of the best short film Oscar in 2009 for Toyland, Jochen Alexander Freydank is currently prepping his first feature length project. According to THR, Freydank will adapt the rom-com best-seller Macho Man for Walt Disney Germany.
The film will be based off of Moritz Netenjakob‘s novel of the same name, which tells the story of a sensitive German man who attempts to be macho in order to land a sexy Turkish girl. Friedrich Mücke (Friendship!) will star alongside Pegah Ferydoni (Turkish For Beginners). The Experiment‘s Marc Conrad will produce under his ConradFilm banner with Klaus Dohle of Erfttalfilm.
Freydank isn’t the only recent award-winning short director with the opportunity to make his way into the world of feature lengths. We reported just a few weeks ago that Fox has hired Jesus Orellana to direct the feature length adaptation of his own sci-fi short Rosa, after it went viral back in November. Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes, the duo behind the Oscar-nominated short This Way Up, have been tapped to direct an animated feature length titled Cog, which will hit theaters in 2014.
And, aside from the many Pixar directors, it’s hard not to mention one of the most successful short-to-feature length directors Chris Renaud and Mike Thurmeier, who helmed No Time for Nuts starring the Ice Age rodent Scrat. Thurmeier has co-directed the upcoming Ice Age sequel Continental Drift, alongside Horton Hears a Who!‘s Steve Martino. Renaud has also gone on to direct 2010’s Despicable Me, as well as it’s awaited sequel out in 2013, and Dr. Suess’ The Lorax, which opens March 2nd, 2012.
Shane Acker also turned his short into the big-budget, feature-length film 9, but it wasn’t met with as much success. It’s too often that the Academy Award-winning (and nominated) shorts get overlooked by the more accessible feature-length films, so it is nice to see these directors garner recognition.
Macho Man is set for shooting this spring or early summer, with Disney releasing the film in Germany in 2013. Check out his short Toyland below.