Rob Gardner knew that Amazon Studios would be awarding $1 million to the Best Test Movie of 2011. But as he spent the past year working on his project, 12 Princesses, he tried not to think about it.

“It was one of those things where I was like, ‘I have to just do this for myself.’ It’s a good opportunity, Amazon’s doing this thing, and I just gotta try,” he said. But as for winning, well, “I didn’t want to dream that it could happen, and then have it not happen.”

Yesterday, it happened. (See the winning moment here.)

Gardner’s animated musical adventure was selected Best Test Movie by a panel that included Alexander Payne (writer/director, The Descendants, Sideways) and Trevor Groth (Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival). Learn more about the Amazon Studios Annual Awards here.

“To win is pretty mind-blowing,” Gardner said. “I’m still just totally stunned.”

Gardner originally considered making 12 Princesses as a live-action movie. “I was thinking we’d do it ourselves, all indie-like. But as I started to write it I realized that’s not what it should be.” Then he heard about Amazon Studios and realized it might be a good place for his project to develop — especially since Amazon Studios was looking for “test movies” — visual rough drafts of what the movie could be. Gardner taught himself to animate using a program called 3DS Max and submitted his first test movie version of 12 Princesses to Amazon Studios last June. Then, after feedback from Amazon Studios and others, he created an improved version (a million-dollar version, as it turns out.)

“I think my favorite thing from this new one is that there just seems to be more life to it, the hero Yannick is just so much more likeable,” he said. “He’s always just so wanting to do what’s good and what’s right and to help people and it always fails until the last time, so we want to root for him because he just tries so hard!”

            — Stephanie Reid-Simons