The latest PSST! animation project goes live with LA screening and online launch in March.

Launched three years ago by Bran Dougherty-Johnson of Grow Design Work, the annual PSST! project sees a host of international animators collaborate on a series of open brief short films. With no cash incentive and no prize to speak of, PSST! has flourished as a forum for the creatively minded to come together and fuse ideas with no preconceptions and no rules.

This year PSST! has ballooned to produce a total of 17 films with the help of more than 175 contributors - no mean feat by anyone's standards. The new collection will be launched with a screening at the Hammer Museum's Billy Wilder Theatre in Los Angeles on February 25. The premiere will be followed by a series of international screenings, which are currently being lined up.

"I'm amazed at how big PSST! has become," Dougherty-Johnson told shots.net, "both in terms of the amount of participants but also how far everyone stretched out and created great new work."

shots.net was given a sneak peak at some of the films from this year's line-up and, as expected, the results are as weird and wonderful as ever. From a Michael Jackson-inspired bunny dance-off in the woods to a Studio Ghibli-esque atomic catastrophe, the range of work spans all genres of storytelling and aesthetic styles.

"My goal has always been to create a bit of community amongst us and I think this project is one step in that direction," mused Dougherty-Johnson.

For more info on PSST! 3 see shots 113 out now. Check out the gallery for the invite to the LA screening.