Just like the other Blender 'open movies,' the film was made using Blender, a free and open source software application for animation, created and supported by the Blender Foundation. The plot follows the character, Sintel, who is tracking down her pet Scales, a dragon. It was made at the Blender Institute, part of the Blender Foundation.
It was produced by Ton Roosendaal, chairman of the Blender Foundation, written by Esther Wouda, directed by Colin Levy, at the time an artist at Pixar and art direction by David Revoy, who is known for Pepper&Carrot an open source webcomic series.
Sintel, code-named Project Durian during production, is a 2010 computer-animated fantasy short film.
