Anomalisa is a 2015 American stop-motion adult animated comedy-drama film directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, based on a play written by Charlie Kaufman (under the pseudonym Francis Fregoli) in 2005. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, after premiering at the Telluride Film Festival. The film is scheduled to be released on December 30, 2015 by Paramount Pictures. Michael Stone, an author of books on the subject of customer service, struggles with his inability to connect to people. One night, while on a routine business trip, he meets a stranger who changes his world view. Kaufman wrote the original play under the pen name Francis Fregoli for Theater of the New Ear, a series put on by composer Carter Burwell composed of what are described as "sound plays." Initially Kaufman was against the idea of turning the play into an animated film, saying that the play had "a disconnect between what’s being said on stage and what the audience is .. …