The Tower documents a 20,000-frame independent doll stop-motion production

Independent filmmaker Leia Everett has completed principal photography for The Tower, a roughly 30-minute stop-motion film built around American Girl dolls. The production grew from an idea developed after her 2022 college graduation and follows Eloise, a character approaching graduation whose alarming tarot reading triggers a chain of bad luck. Everett described the story as a way to work through uncertainty, rapid life changes, insecurity, existentialism, and self-perception.\n\nThe production used almost 20,000 photographs and approximately 15 story locations, including a graduation ceremony, office cubicle, car, park, and house interiors. Everett built one doll-scale set at a time, shot the required scenes, and then dismantled it before moving to the next; cardboard, hot glue, scrapbook paper, existing props, and limited purchased materials kept the self-funded film achievable. Filming stretched across weekends and was interrupted by a move, while post-production now covers editing, sound design, voice recording, additional animation, and an original score. The planned release is on Everett's rockstar13studios YouTube channel later in 2026.