KPop Demon Hunters Directors Join Parkinson’s Documentary

Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans have joined the production team of the animated short film Living With a Visionary as executive producers.

The directors, who recently won Academy Awards for KPop Demon Hunters, are attaching their names to a documentary that examines a poet’s 50-year marriage to an art curator with Parkinson’s disease.

Stephen P. Neary wrote, directed, and animated the film, which adapts John Matthias’ memoir of the same name. The narrative follows John as he adjusts to his wife Diana’s medication, which causes vivid and often beautiful hallucinations.

The film has earned recognition from major industry festivals. It took home the grand jury award for animation at AFI Fest and previously received the short film jury award for animation at the Sundance Film Festival.

Neary created the piece over three years, working nights and weekends while holding a full-time job as a story artist and teaching at the California Institute of the Arts. The production consists of thousands of hand-drawn illustrations on intersecting layers of vellum.

The short film is part of The New York Times Op-Docs 2026 slate, which includes eight other titles positioned as awards contenders. Other films on the list include The Revolution Against Death by Joshua Oppenheimer, The Tuners, and A Wolf in the Suburbs.

James Cromwell provides narration for the documentary. Neary, who is known for creating The Fungies! and serving as supervising producer on Clarence, also worked on projects including The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.