Read the first The Beginning of The End of The Beginning and The Beginning of the End of the Beginning— Part 2: Revolver.

Illustration by Andreas Hykade. Courtesy of Chris Robinson.

Well, you know the saying: be careful what you wish for… Things began to change in 1994/1995. First, the CFI president laid off some deadweight and I ended up inheriting the job as director of non-theatrical services. It meant more hours, money and responsibility. It was a joke really. The film rental division was sagging. Hardly anyone rented 16mm films anymore. We housed a collection for UNICEF and the National Research Council. Real dull science films. UNICEF eventually cut our funding, as did the NRC. I spent most days going through the massive amounts of film just to see what was there.

We had a lot of animation prints on 16mm (Hubleys and NFB stuff mostly)… but the real thrill was discovering these old “educational” films from the 1940s to 1970s. I found so many that, with a friend of mine, Lee Demarbre (Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter), we ended up starting a monthly movie night in Ottawa (Reel Mondays) where basically we got drunk and showed off the wall films (and gave away prizes like chocolate ass balls from the nearby sex shop. As Lee said, “They melt in your ass, not in your hands.”).

Okay… so [Tom] Knott left. That left me, [Tom] McSorley and the president’s son (who had been put in charge of the CFI). It was a very awkward time. First, the son offered me McSorley’s job. As much as I wanted that job, I refused and told McSorley what had happened. Did this happen then or earlier? Can’t remember. Not important. Do remember that I was made interim director of the OIAF in late ‘94 or something… six months later… I conned my way into the position when I pressured the boss’ son by saying that I had to have an answer about the OIAF job cause I was gonna go back to school (actually… maybe it wasn’t such a con)… so, having no other options I was given the job of running the OIAF.

It was spring 1995. That gave me a year and change to get my shit together. In hindsight it was probably a stupid decision on the son’s part. There were more qualified people (Kelly [Neall], for example!)… but so be it. I got it and except for a drinking problem, fights, panic attacks, firings, and the office fire, things turned out okay.

Being director meant travel. June 1995. First trip abroad. Annecy. Kelly made me buy a suit (sorry, a blazer, she says). I was so naïve. Felt that the director should be dressed for the occasion. Hell... I remember in those days thinking how important ASIFA was. I was scared shitless of ASIFA and especially that grumpy David Ehrlich (who is now among my closest friends). I actually printed out about 25 copies of our report and budget to present to the ASIFA board. I really thought they were powerful and had an active role in our organization. What a laugh. That was my first airplane ride. Some charter flight with a lot of middle-aged Quebec folk. I remember that takeoff. Holy shit, man, I thought I was gonna die. I was gripping the seat with all my strength… I was sweating… shaking… convinced we were gonna die (that ol’ death phobia again). Fortunately, the free booze eased things up.

What a pain in the ass getting there (still is). I had some heavy-ass boxes and had no idea where I was going. We got into Paris and I had no idea where I needed to go. Fortunately, Michele Pauze of the NFB was there with some other NFBers and they guided me along. I had some nasty arguments in later years with Michele, but I’ll never forget how sweet she was to me during that trip.

Annecy was overwhelming. I knew maybe 5-6-7 people. It was a scary experience. Fortunately, Knott and oTTo Alder and Linda Simensky were there and they introduced me to some folks (including rockin’ Ron Diamond. He was telling me about some crazy idea to do some big animation “website” for the World Wide Web… whatever the hell that was!). It was maybe the purest festival experience I had.

Because I didn’t know anyone, I went to all the screenings. I hardly drank and went to my room early most nights (at least till I met a posse of Aussies, including Dennis Tupicoff, and Irish animators — then the nights got longer and blurrier). The craziest experience was getting lost in Annecy. The hotel was at least a 1-2 miles away and I just kept making the wrong turns. It took me about an hour to figure it out.

Hah… I remember Candy Kugel. That was the year that someone entered her room while she was sleeping. Freaked her out. Was also the year of the infamous Annecy closing ceremony, which was totally disorganized and out of whack (hah… unlike the OIAF! Kidding.) Hung out with Maureen Furniss a lot. Went to see what’s his name’s films… Stareowicz… really got off on those films. Dead bugs committing adultery!