Dave Mullins Wiki: Freediver, Net Worth, 'Lou' & Facts To Know

Have you by any chance watched the animated film “Lou?” If yes, probably that’s one of the best Disney’s short film that you watched. To those who haven’t watched it, you need to catch up with it. “Lou” was directed by Dave Mullins and produced by Dana Murray. It was nominated for Oscar 2018 on short animation film category. There is so much about Mullins that you need to know though. He is not just a director, but he is also a freediver. So who is this Dave Mullins? Dave Mullins is a freediver from New Zealand and a world record-holder. He has broken several records including his. In September 2007 he set a new world record in Dynamic apnea breaking the previous one by Stig Severinsen. The same month, he broke his own record of 244m in around 4 minutes. Mullins has lived to see his dream as a world record-holding freediver, but also a director of one of the top grossing short animation films, “Lou.” His film has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Film(animated). Mullins is active on Twitter and Facebook. In fact, Mullins perfected his career as a freediver by watching online demos and practicing. Back in the days, the most popular social media sites were Facebook and Twitter, and he used the platforms to build that career. He has made a decent net worth from diving, and he is one of the most successful divers in the world and the leading in New Zealand.

The heartwarming Disney short, “Lou” play before “Cars 3” and everyone who has watched it can admit that it was terrific. The film narrates what happens when a bully who steals toys ruins recess for a playground that is full of kids. The kids on the playground are really sad because they don’t have their toys. Due to that situation, the Lost and Found box decide to take action against the bully. The 6-minute film shows the Lost and Found box teaching the bully and toy thief a lesson. The movie was not made to eradicate bullying but just to be funny and teach the kids something without being hard on them. The funny thing that people are not aware of the film is even though it is just six minutes long, it took Mullins and Murray long to create it. That’s why it was nominated for an Oscar 2018, and it probably earned Dave Mullins a net worth. At the “Cars 3” press day, Mullins and his partner in the making if the film gave a presentation about their long journey and struggle before making “Lou” a reality. Before settling for the title, Mullins had named the short animation film “Lost & Found” but decided to change afterward. Lou is the only red character in the film, and the bullies name is JJ, a short form of Joyce John, the name of Mullins real-life mother. The music was made by the composer of “Frozen.”

Mullin stated that there were a lot of times he looked at his life as a point of reference and used as an emotional core for a film. When he was a kid, he used to move around a lot, and when he joined a school, he felt awkward and just felt like hiding because he felt invisible. It’s from that perspective that he thought it was important to create a character that was on the playground but could not be seen, and so he came up with the character that could hide in plain sight. He also thought of a kid that wanted to be accepted but hadn’t socialized with other kids yet. Mullins said that the kid had not set his moral compass and so he put that idea into consideration. He then gave the character the responsibility of saving the kids to look friendly to them and so he called the character Lost and Found box and later on Lou. It was a perfect antagonist/protagonist kind of situation. After Mullins had lined up the characters, he felt his film was halfway done.

When it comes to animation, it’s usually not a 28-day shoot. Mullins pitched stories for a very long while, and it made the entire project take longer. He and his producer were in development for nine months. After that, they took another nine months to fit in the feature films. At the time, Mullins was working on a feature alongside “Lou,” and so he would work on the film then go back to the feature.

Initially, Mullins was passionate about calling the character Lost and Found. He looked back at it and thought that they would call the character a short name and that’s how the name Lou came to be. They had a character they could call by that name and JJ as well.

Dave Mullins net worth is still under wraps, but if we rely on the success as a freediver and a director of an animated short film, he has a net worth to hold on to.

“Lou” put Dave Mullins on the map. He has become famous with the film being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Film (animated). Hopefully, he will scoop the Oscar 2018 award.