Elizabeth Shin talks with ASIFA-Easts president Linda Simensky about the way ASIFA celebrations are done, New York style!
Signe Baumane (left center) and Bill Plympton (right center) cool off with exotic-looking drinks and an entourage of friends. All images courtesy of Toni Tyson.
Everyone who went to the Canter Center at New York University to celebrate this year's ASIFA-East animation festival experienced some heat. Held on Sunday, May 7, 2000, the festival united more than 250 talented animators, producers and fans from all over the east coast to enjoy its festivities. With most of the attendees in shorts and T-shirts, the ambiance of the festival was both "fun" and "casual" in a very "New York" kind of a way, as Linda Simensky describes it. The event was spread out over a total of five nights, one evening for the award presentations and 4 nights for the judging. Somewhere between 50-75 jury members were present per evening to evaluate the submissions.
Animator Fran Krause (left) and Linda Simensky, President of ASIFA-East (right). Animators Maria Scavullo (left) and Shawn Atkins (right).
Linda Simensky, President of ASIFA-East and VP of Original Programming at Cartoon Network, opened up the final nights presentation with a brief speech, thanking the people who helped make the evening possible and then proceeded to hand out the awards. "The talent pool has really grown. There's a little bit of everything going on...2D, 3D, series and independent film people were all there." The audience was a creative powerhouse with directors like Bill Plympton, George Griffin, Ward Sutton and Mo Willems heating up the arena. Coupled with the humidity, the actual temperature of the event was sizzling.
One of the gems of this year's productions is Life by Mo Willems, winner of the Independent Film Category. It is "an animation jam," as Simensky describes it, "the New York animation community had an opportunity to honor its own people" through both the production and celebration of this film's achievements. The film features vignettes from numerous New York-based artists all revolving around the central theme. Another highlight of the evening was when Oscar-winner <Frank Morris> won with Frankly Caroline for Best in Show. "It was exciting to see Frank Morris give his speech when winning...it was the first time that an American festival had recognized this film."
Vincent Cafarelli of Buzzco (left), Alex Gorlin, a.k.a. Mr. Debby Solomon (center), and Candy Kugel of Buzzco (right). Dave Levy (left), Nancy Keegan (center) and Jen Oxley (right) of the ASIFA-East Festival committee.
Dave Levy (left), Dan Nord (center) and Toni Tysen (right). Oscar-winner Jimmy Picker greets friends.
All in all, the festival as compared to previous years was not only warmer (in the literal sense, as festivals were often held in the winter months), but it was also more "well-rounded" according to Simensky. Historically known as a center for commercial production, New York wasnt considered to be a hot spot for the animation community. However, now home to numerous companies such as Curious Pictures, MTV Animation, Nickelodeon Animation Studios and Buzzco (just to name a few), will New York become a central breeding ground for animation production? One thing for certain is that the influx of animation companies to New York is helping to establish it as a place for creative individuals to thrive in animation series, as well as Web production, in a community that is making an effort to support, and celebrate, its artists.
Elizabeth Shin is the Editorial Administrator of Animation World Magazine. She holds a master's degree from U.C. Irvine and speaks four languages including French, Korean and Japanese. Previously she served as Romance Administrator for New Times and Advertising Coordinator for LA Weekly. She also acts as a facilitator for the University of Phoenix, giving lectures on written communications and has had short stories published in the Berkeley Campanile.
