Eric Roberts, Misty Lee, and Sam Humphrey to Star in Catya Plate’s ‘Alma’ Animated Film

Misty Lee, Eric Roberts, and Sam Humphrey are set to star in Alma, Catya Plate’s first stop-motion animated feature film. They join Clarissa Jacobson, Phil Miler, John McBride and Sandrine Morin.

Written, directed, and animated by Plate, Alma is made entirely with handcrafted puppets, sets, props, and costumes to tell a story, or rather, a cautionary tale, about climate change. Alma highlights women’s efforts towards pioneering social progress, empathy, and collaboration in order to achieve global unity.

Misty Lee (The Last of Us, Meeting MacGuffin, Las Nogas) voices Alma, a flightless Vulkeet bird (parakeet-vulture hybrid birds) who jet-sets around the world via hot-air balloons in search of unique plants and herbs for her Apothecary. The character of Alma pays homage to Alma Reville, Alfred Hitchcock’s wife, as Plate makes a nod to Hitchcock’s The Birds, a film that warns about man’s relationship with nature.

Eric Roberts (Runaway Train, Star 80, King of the Gypsies) plays the role of Hitch, another Vulkeet bird. This is Roberts’ first role as a lead in a stop-motion animated feature film, and he plays the role of a renowned engineer who often works alongside climatologists to build rain machines and energy-sufficient tree houses. Hitch can be described as stylish, respectful, and conscientious, who later falls into a romantic pursuit of Alma.

The antagonist Gus is voiced by Sam Humphrey (The Greatest Showman), who is a preserved prehistoric Dragonfly nymph in amber who grows into a large purple insect. Things go south for the characters after Gus wakes up from an “earthquake” in Alma’s house.

Sean Pecknold, Animator: “The universe and characters Catya has crafted burst with color, texture, and detail and left me thinking about the ecological themes she’s exploring but also had me marveling at the way she pulled it off. Do we need more films that confront the ecological challenges of our time? Absolutely. But we also need them to be as imaginative, lively, and charming.”

Alma expands on Plate’s award-winning Las Nogas, a proof-of-concept short film. It is expected to be released in 2030 and is currently in production.