Adam Parrish King works on armature from his film, The Wraith of Cobble Hill. For King, the festival system is the best venue for an independent filmmaker to showcase new work.

At the halfway point of the 2006 film festival season, we took time to reflect on the film festivals and the life of an independent filmmaker from some recent award winners. We discuss their backgrounds, process and the award experience with:

Gaëlle Denis (U.K.) City Paradise: Grand Prize, Stuttgart ‘05

Adam Parrish King (U.S.) The Wraith of Cobble Hill: Best Animated Short, Sundance ‘06,

Anthony Lucas, (Australia) The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello: Best Short Animation, AFI ‘05 and nominated for an Academy Award in 2006,

Lev Polyakov (U.S.) The Piper Goat and the Peace Pipe: Best High School Film, Ottawa ‘05

Joanna Quinn (U.K.) Dreams and Desires — Family Ties: Winner, Grand Jury Prize, Zagreb ‘06

Marisa Materna: The festival experience… do you like this system as a way to promote your work?

Adam Parrish King: The festival system, in my mind, is the best venue for an independent filmmaker to showcase their work. The venues that you can find online are wonderful in that they open up your film to a much broader audience that, otherwise, wouldn’t have the chance to see it. However, nothing can compare to seeing these films in the theater environment, on the big screen, with good sound and a responsive audience.

Lev Polyakov: If you stuff enough producers and animators in a confined space for a week, the act of promotion will naturally occur.

When she won at Annecy, Joanna Quinn felt she was at the right place, right time. Now that she’s sat on juries and understands the festival process, winning awards means a lot more to her.

Joanna Quinn: Yes, I adore festivals. My first film in 1986 was called Girls Night Out. I didn’t really know the animation community until I went to Annecy and saw all of the films from all over the world, not just cartoons, but these wonderful pieces of art, it completely blew me away. When I showed my film, I met Terry Thoren and Ron Diamond and got acquainted with Acme Filmworks and that’s where I’ve been ever since. If I hadn’t had shown my film, I’d probably be working in a supermarket or something. (Editor’s note: Ron Diamond is the publisher of AWN.)

MM: Joanna, how has the festival experience changed for you since that first Annecy to Zagreb this past June?

JQ: It’s completely different. When I first won in Annecy, I felt like I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and now I recognize that and I know a lot more. I’m more fearful, more anxious, worry about failure more. You know everybody now, having been on a jury I know what they are saying about me. Now, winning awards, deep down, means a lot more to me. Winning awards, particularly Annecy because a lot of people go there, is terrific because you know who is watching and the buyers are there. So we made some sales recently. Zagreb doesn’t have the big commercial aspect but seems to have more tradition. Annecy is much more manic, while Zagreb seems to be more calm and focused.

MM: Adam, what was the Sundance experience like? Did you feel like the animation filmmakers and community was included in the star-studded atmosphere?

APK: I had such a great experience at Sundance. I had expected a much more intense, business scene with everyone running around promoting themselves, but, instead, I found a gathering of down-to-earth cinephiles that had gotten together in this beautiful, snowy mountain landscape to check out and share some interesting ideas in film. I think my experience there was a little bit atypical, because I was editing the sound for a TV show back in my room in Park City during the day, then every night, I would try to check out a film and grab some dinner somewhere in town with family and friends, so I missed the skiing and the round the clock parties this time around. Sundance screened the majority of the animated films together in a program called the Animation Spotlight, and all four screenings, including the one at the 1200 seat Eccles Theater, were packed. So though we didn’t have paparazzi following us down Main Street, I felt like the animated films had a visible enough presence there.