Colossal's chairman and CCO Drew Takahashi, CFO Jan Bauman, senior creative director George Evelyn and executive producer Jana Canellos
COLOSSAL PICTURES IS OUT OF BANKRUPTCY - THEY ARE BUSY BRINGING DILBERT TO LIFE in a nationwide campaign of TV ads for Office Depot. The Examiner's Dec. 5 business section ran a large article about the company being back on its feet financially. The article included a large photo of Drew Takahashi surrounded by some of his staff.
Colossal is back in the black after 18 months in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While "bankrupt" the company had a lot of support from its clients, and emerging from Chapter 11 should bring in even more clients.
They still have a suit pending against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland claiming the institution failed to pay about a million bucks for work created for them. Colossal says they were forced into Chapter 11 due to the Hall of Fame's failure to pay their bills.
The Dilbert ads, directed by George Evenlyn, show him promoting the store, not shopping there. He says he was thrilled to work on the series with
Scott Adams, Dilbert's creator. Stephanie Hornish was the series producer and the animation director was Chuck Gammage of Chuck Gammage Animation in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Video post was being done by Western Images in SF and the sound design and music was by Craig Harris Music in Hollywood. The digital ink and paint was by Cha-Pow! Dumont, NJ.
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL MEDIA NETWORK NEEDS VOLUNTEERS TO JUDGE FILMS AND VIDEOS FOR THEIR APPLE AWARDS For details call (510) 465-6885.
COMPASS ROSE MEDIA AND WHITING AND CO. WIN THE 1997 JOEY AWARDS IN ANIMATION The 15th Joey Awards were presented by the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau and its Film and Video Marketing Department on Nov. 1. The award in animation went to Compass Rose Media for Interview with Jordan. It was produced, written, directed and animated by Baron Sartos. Alex Lopez assisted on the animation and Steve Weisser was the executive producer.
In the Electronic Animation openers/closers and corporate logos division, Whiting and Co. won for 49ers Home Games Opener. Steve Whiting was the director and QB White the 3-D animator. The competition for the awards included entries from Fat Box, Compass Rose Media, Metropolis Digital, Tam Communications, Whiting and Co. and Component Post.
RICHARD ZIMMERMAN'S BIRDHOUSE CONTINUES TO GAIN WORLD WIDE RECOGNITION At the first annual Hollywood Film Festival it won a trophy for Best Animated Film and a $19,000 gift certificate in post-production time at a Los Angeles lab. The film is being shown on TV by Showtime and by the Sundance Channel.
VINCE COLLINS MAKES THE COVER OF THE LATEST ISSUE OF TEKNO/CYBERWORLD The Scandinavian magazine says on the cover "Mer crazy stuff fran VINCE!" Inside is a hot story about his work on the World Wide Web. Vince says he now has a lot of fans who are Scandinavian adolescents.
Check out his work at www.vinceworld.com The site contains several fun animated works for Mac and Windows machines. He also sells a CD-ROM for $20 (US) or $25 (foreign) that are "cooked to order." ASIFA-SF treasurer Shirley Smith borrowed a copy of the CD and reports that she spent several enjoyable hours playing with it. When I finally saw it on her machine I fell in love with his unique graphics and clever segments. I spent about an hour exploring it before I had to do something else. I hope to spend more time exploring this brilliant work. A few details about it are on the web site along with a few of the segments contained on the CD. Order from Vince Collins, 2565 10th Ave., SF CA 94122
ON UNEMPLOYMENT? GET STATE FUNDED COMPUTER ANIMATION TRAINING AT CONTINENTAL TRAINING CENTER IN CONCORD They have several high-end systems. For details contact John DeCarolis at 1333 Willow Pass Road, Suite 201, Concord, 94520.
ASIFA-SAN FRANCISCO IS IN THE BOOK "CONNECTING IN SAN FRANCISCO" by Diane de Castro and Ruth Harvey, Ph.D. The book lists "693 great places to enjoy yourself and meet new people." Autographed copies for ASIFA members are available for $10.95 plus $.93 tax ($12.95 plus tax retail) from Offtime Press (415) 292-5230, 41 Sutter Street, Suite 1763, SF CA 94104.
While I consider ASIFA-SF a professional association furthering interest in animation, there have been several relationship that got started when people met at our meetings. One marriage resulted from a woman calling me and saying she needed a ride to the Palace of Fine Arts from the East Bay. I gave her a couple of numbers to call. She later married the man who gave her a ride to the city. There are other cute stories I could tell, but this isn't a newsletter about romance in the animation world despite our being in Connecting in San Francisco.
YOU HAVE A FEW MORE CHANCES TO SEE SPIKE AND MIKE'S SICK AND TWISTED ANIMATION BEFORE IT LEAVES THE BAY AREA If you have never experienced this type of presentation and are curious about this strange new genere of animation, this program is almost worth the price of admission. It plays at the Towne in San Jose through Jan. 8, the Lakeside Cinemas in Santa Rosa Jan. 9 - 15, and at midnight on weekends this month at the Roxie in San Francisco.
The program that I attended began with Frank, the MC, warming up the crowd. When he comes on stage he insults everybody while teasing us with claims that we will see the wildest, sickest selection of films ever. He does his best to mention every 4 letter word you can't say on TV. At some shows he introduces the crowd to a variant of the old carnival ring toss game. He has people toss small round pink swimming pool innertubes (he calls them "vaginas") onto an enormous 3 foot long inflatable penis. He ends by acting as a cheerleader. He divides the crowd in half and has one side yell "sick" and the other side yell "twisted." Then the words are changed to "sex" and "violence." Frank has become quite skilled at this unusual form of entertaining and he puts on a great performance.
I went expecting to be bored by the program. Instead I was delighted with the first half. Most of the films before the intermission were well made and entertaining. Guido Manuli's Use Instructions (Italy) was an intelligent attempt to make a point about the human race polluting our planet. Neil Ishimine's Smoking was a solid anti-smoking message and it made excellent use of a 1950's graphic arts look. Kendall Smith's Jurassic Fart was a well thought out joke that got lots of laughs. Mike Grimshaw, who created Quiet Please, one of the world's most disgusting and outrageous films, is back with Little Rude Riding Hood. It is much tamer. It worked well as the final work before the break as it is genuinely funny and raunchy.
Greg Holfeld's Barflies (shown last spring in Spike & Mike's Festival of Animation) and John R. Dilworth's Dirdy Birdy (show frequently by Spike and Mike since it was made in the early 1990's) also helped make the first half enjoyable. This portion of the show is probably too tame for people expecting really gross material.
The nasty stuff is in the second half and frankly it was a disappointment. Most of the works were poorly drawn, roughly animated and their humor was not well worked out. Hut Sluts, which opened the second half, is gross and disgusting without being clever. I had seen it in a previous Sick & Twisted show and had completely forgotten it.
Next came a film that was even more mediocre, a stupid parody of Speed Racer that might play well to 10 year old boys. Things picked up with Mike Johnson's Devil Went Down to Georgia, a superb film that doesn't belong in the program. It was followed by more disappointments with the exception of The Spirit of Christmas and Sea Slugs. Sea Slugs is a poorly made work, but the joke is funny and original.
Despite the advanced publicity, this Sick and Twisted edition wasn't very offensive. Sloaches Fun House, billed as "The Sickest Film Ever Made," appeared to be a grainy, hard to see student film blown up from Super-8 to 35mm. It features crudely sculpted characters having sex before an audience. The "male" seems to be a transsexual with enormous breasts and a giant penis. The finale of the film shows a performer with an enormous rear defecating. While this may be gross and an animated first it isn't a big deal. Barf bags were not needed despite warnings on the program and by Frank.
There are a couple of things that some people might find really offensive. First, a few films show women as stupid sex objects. Secondly, some of the humor is mean spirited, especially Yes, Timmy, There is a Santa Claus. When Frank opens the show he tells any sensitive or up-tight politically correct types who might be in the theatre to get the "f" out of the hall.
After the show I reflected on its content and wondered about the mental health of the person who selected the films. Why did he show us Illusions of Life? It is a pathetic story about a mother who constantly puts-down her son and watches society destroy him. Why would Spike & Mike print up thousands of BARF BAGS with this ugly immature artwork on them? The grotesque caricatures are of Spike, Mike (his deceased partner) and his recently deceased dog.
One criticism I passed on to Spike at the intermission was the use of films with distorted soundtracks. At times
dialog was impossible to hear and the music tracks sounded awful. Booby Trap looked like an entertaining raunchy film, but I have no idea what it was about as the voice track was impossible to understand. A series of No Neck Joe shorts made by the same company (and presumably by the same lab), also sounded awful. Since some of the films were free of distortion the problem was probably in the prints and not in the projection system. Spike passed the buck and blamed the rented projection system.
Another problem was the theatre was too cold. It appears nobody knew how to turn on the heat in the Palace of Fine Arts' big theatre.
Spike says he plans to be back in the Bay Area with his next edition of the Festival of Animation in either March, April and/or May of 1998. He didn't wish to say anything about what will be in the show. Most producers are proud to talk about their plans for the future. KC
GENERAL CHAOS: UNCENSORED ANIMATION TO OPEN APRIL 1 - 7 AT THE RED VIC and April 3-5 at the UC in Berkeley. The theatre's new calendar announces the show as 18 shorts in 90 min. using a variety of techniques (cel, cgi, stop-motion, etc.) Titles are American Flatulators, Attack of the Hungry, Hungry Nipples; Beat the Meatles, Expresso Depresso, Junky, Performance Art starring Chainsaw Bob, Oh Julie!, Mutilator, Body Directions, Donor Party, Killing Heinz, Looks Can Kill, Malice in Wonderland, No More Mr. Nice Guy, The Saint Inspector, Sex and Violence, Sunny Havens (a.k.a. Meat!!!!) and Zerox and Mylar.
This is the first animation program to be produced by Jan Cox of Manga. The titles in the show suggest it covers a wide range of taboo subjects. It contains several outstanding works including Bill Plympton's new Sex and Violence and Vince Collin's classic Malice in Wonderland.
When the show was given a press preview for a screening at Chapman University Jan Hermann of the L.A. Times wrote of Mike Booth's The Saint Inspector that it is "quicker and more sophisticated than his predecessors in the cartoon underground. Although Booth shares their anarchic spirit of rebellion, this enigmatic work bears a certain literary weight, not unlike a wordless Becket play. In five minutes of stop-action clay animation both brooding and scintillating, The Saint Inspector shows a higher being in a state of pious bliss enduring the (word blotched out by a bad Xerox machine) of a meddling official from some sort of high-altitude bureaucracy." It appears Cox has produced a show that goes far beyond the boundaries and confines of a Spike and Mike production.
SPEND FEB. 13 AT THE FOG CITY FEST This is a benefit for the children's programs of the Cartoon Art Museum. The hosts of the Masque Ball at the Miyako Hotel will be Mayor Willie Brown, Supervisor Gavin Newsom and cartoonist Phil Frank. The event will feature the first annual Sparky Awards honoring Charles Schulz, Chuck Jones and John Lassiter. The announcement also says "surprise celebrities at a complimentary reception. Silent Auction with celebrity and sports memorabilia, cartoon and other art, entertainment, food, trips, fine wines, etc. Music by Suzie Butler and Her Band, Dining, Wine and other Beverages." For further information please call (415) CARTOON or (415) 474 - 0715.
THE BILLY NAYER SHOW HAS A NEW VHS OUT They do cool mixed-media stuff on film and video. Colossal artists and others have contributed animation &/or direction to their past projects. Check their web site www.billynayer.com for details.
INTERNATIONAL FILM FINANCING CONFERENCE NEEDS VOLUNTEERS You get to attend some of the events Jan. 9 - 11 in exchange for your help. Call Nathalie Peterson (510) 869-4360 for details.
LOCAL SCREENINGS
Sunday, Jan. 18, short The Thieving Magpie (Italy, 1974, Oscar Nom., by Luzzati and Gianini, with music by Rossini) and live action feature Rossini's Ghost (Canada, 1996) at the Pacific Film Archive at 1 PM.
Saturday, January 24, Forbidden Animation with Karl Cohen in-person introducing the program and signing books. He will show a few extra films by blacklisted animators and discuss this dark period of animation history. At the Pacific Film Archive, 7 PM. (His book Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators is/will be available at the PFA store. It is also available at Limelight Film and Theatre Bookstore, 1803 Market in SF.)
Saturday, January 24, ASIFA-SAN FRANCISCO'S ANNUAL OPEN SCREENING FOR STUDENTS AND INDEPENDENT ANIMATORS, at the Exploratorium's McBean Theatre, 7:30 PM, free.
Saturday, January 31, ASIFA-SAN FRANCISCO'S ANNUAL OPEN SCREENING FOR COMMERCIAL ANIMATORS & COMPANIES, at the Exploratorium's McBean Theatre, 7:30 PM, free. Our short annual business meeting will be held at 7:15.
Fri. - Sun. Jan. 30 - Feb. 1 Forbidden Planet, new 35mm wide screen print Disney animation & effects. At Red Vic.
Sunday, Feb. 1 Dog photographer William Wegman in-person at the PFA, signing books and showing video clips.
NATIONAL NEWS
LILLIAN DISNEY, WALT'S WIDOW, DIES AT 98 She was not interested in being in the limelight, but she gave millions to the arts including funds for the Disney Concert Hall being built in downtown Los Angeles. She had 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
She met her future husband after moving to Los Angeles in 1923. Her sister had a friend working at the new Disney studios and the friend told her about a job as an inker that paid $15 a week. She married Walt on July 13, 1925. Among her many contributions to her husbands' career is the legendary story that she told him she didn't like his calling a mouse character Mortimer. She suggested Mickey. (info. from NY Times obit)
GENE DEITCH'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, FOR THE LOVE OF PEOPLE, IS NOW AVAILABLE from the author for only $15 including airmail postage from Europe. Deitch considers himself the first major American animation director who was not trained in the Disney style of animation. He worked for UPA in NYC in the 1950's and also headed CBS-Terrytoons for a period (he
won them an Oscar nomination and created Tom Terrific for "Captain Kangaroo"). He eventually won an Oscar for a Jules Feiffer story about Munro (1960), a toddler that gets drafted into the Army by mistake. Around 1960 Deitch visited Prague, fell in love with the woman he is still with, and never left. Together they have worked on a series of unusual animated works including Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.
The book is around 312 pages, includes illustrations (some in full color)
and should make good reading. He lived through 3 decades of communist rule and saw the fall of that system. He is still active in animation.
Deitch has an account in US dollars so send him a check at Mostecka 273/B, CZ-118 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic. His phone # is +420-2-5732-0115
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (NYC) HOLDS THEIR FIRST GALLERY EXHIBIT OF CELS AND DRAWINGS BY INDEPENDENT ANIMATORS The gallery exhibit honors John and Faith Hubley. About 150 works by them are on display. An exhibit in the theatre is also being presented. The film department is showing 49 films over a 3 week period starting January 19. The bookstore is also making available several books about the Hubleys including Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist by Patrick McGilligan and others. It features interviews with over 30 people in the film industry that were blacklisted. According to Faith Hubley, the museum's only other show of animation art on their walls in recent years was on the art of Disney. The theatre program has screened work by other independents including Gene Deitch.
ASIFA-INTERNATIONAL DROPS THEIR OFFICIAL PATRONAGE OF THE 1998 ANNECY FESTIVAL David Ehrlich writes that the board suggests people enter the Zagreb Animation Festival as ASIFA will be there to make sure things go smoothly. ASIFA deals with problems including improperly screened films, lost hotel reservations, lost films, unreimbursed payments that were promised, etc. Copies of the Zagreb entry forms are available from Karl Cohen (415) 386-1004. The Zagreb entry deadline is Feb. 1.
SAVE THE HANNA-BARBERA STUDIO BUILDING? Former Hanna-Barbera employees (now part of Warner Brothers) are worried that their old building at 3400 Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood will be torn down. They are trying to get landmark status for the structure from the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission. A spokeswoman from Warner Bros. says, "We consider it a cherished brand, not a cherished building." Margaret Roberts, who was Joseph Barbera's assistant for 17 years is trying to rally animation fans to support the landmark fight. You can fax letters of support to the L.A. Cultural Affairs Department at (213) 485-6835.
IS WARNER BROS. ANIMATION IN TROUBLE? Some people are wondering about the future of Warner Bros. animation. There are rumors that WB could be in trouble due to poor leadership. They recently killed Chuck Jones' contract. He was making theatrical for them. The shorts were doing very well, but WB was cutting costs after making that awful Space Jam feature (which may or may not have lost millions). Animato! magazine suggested that ending the contract was a major loss for the animation world.
More recently, somebody from the studio was rumored to have been in the Bay Area saying really negative things about their animation department. She was reported to have said that work was behind scheduled on Quest for Camelot, that the film was over budget, moral was down, there were layoffs, etc. Doesn't this get said about most projects? Perhaps things are just messed up as usual (SNAFU - "Situation normal, all f. up"). On the other hand there have been other negative rumors about the studio, so perhaps there will be changes coming up.
ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD HONORED STOP-MOTION AND SPECIAL EFFECTS MASTER GENE WARREN Gere Gulden of the UCLA Archive organized the tribute held Dec. 11. Warren died in August, so he was represented by his son Gene Warren Jr. Warren had worked on several George Pal Puppetoons, won Oscars for his work on Tom Thumb and The Time Machine, and worked on many other features. He also worked on the TV shows Star Trek, Twilight Zone and Outer Limits.
THE WRITERS GUILD FINALLY ACCEPTS ANIMATION The Writers Guild has finally taken animation writers into its arms. The contract was signed with the producers of Pocket Dragon Adventures from Bohbot. Previously animation writers were part of IATSE Local 839. The animation union has stated they will allow writers not covered by 839 to sign with the Guild. (from ASIFA-Hollywood's newsletter)
A NEW VERSION OF ANIMAL FARM is being made using animals, animatronics and CGI. The producer is Robert Halmi Sr. who recently did the mini-series for TV based on The Odyssey.
CAN TELEVISION KILL? Murder by Television with Bela Lugosi (1935), was a rather stupid feature. In December, 1997 a more realistic weapon was discovered by accident. The media reported that about 700 kids in Japan were sent to the hospital after watching the TV show Pocket Monsters. The children became "ill" due to light pulses animated into the show. The jury is still out as to which light pulses sent kids to the hospital; it was either a 5 second blast sequence, the constant use of "paka-paka" flashing lights within the show or a combination of the two effects. Flashing lights are used to build a sense of tension within the minds of viewers.
On NPR, scientists were saying it couldn't happen here because our TVs scan at a different rate from TVs in Japan. An epilepsy doctor tossed in his opinion as did other experts. Nobody seemed to present the final answer as to what happened, but it seems clear that flashing lights and/or colors can effect some minds.
The effects of flashing colors on the mind have yet to be studied carefully. In the late 1970's I met a PhD from UC Med in neuro-anatomy who was interested in the effects of color cycles on the mind. A Dr. Poitzel had suggested cycles of colors might induce an alpha state in some subjects. I was hired to animate color cycles.
What I learned at the time was that nobody had really done controlled studies into the effects of color cycles. I was told there were studies using strobe lights and such lights could create epileptic type reactions in a few people per thousand. The exact frequency of the strobes was noted in reports. I have no memory as to what that was or how long the flashing had to last before somebody might feel the effects of the light bursts. Perhaps the effect of strobe lights was first noticed at discos in the 1960's.
The project I was working on ended when the brain scientist consulted with another PhD who was an expert in alpha research. For our first meeting I had set up projectors with my animated loops of color. As I worked the two scientists began to flirt with each other. I packed up and left as a hot romance began. The UC man had a live-in girlfriend who was both jealous and violent. Her reaction to his not coming home after the first night of tests resulted in some serious bruises and an end to the project. KC
THE WORLD ANIMATION CELEBRATION IS COMING TO PASADENA AGAIN, FEB. 16-21. This is by no means the world's best animation event, but it a good place to study the commercial industry in the USA and to hang-out and meet people who for better or worse are charting the course of commercial animation in our country. Much of the focus is on product made for TV and feature work being done in the LA area. You may get to hear heads of national networks talk about trends and other important issues.
This year there seems to be less hype. At this point I haven't gotten news that somebody is trying to do a silly stunt that might get listed in The Guniess Book of World Records or that some corporation will hold yet another too crowded party and give so-and-so another meaningless award. I'm sure that by showtime several companies will have come up with "creative" ways to get themselves mentioned in the trades. After all, this is Hollywood!
Don't expect to meet your favorite independent animators here, but you will probably see celebrities like Mike Judge, John Kricfalusi and the guys from South Park. Although the festival is associated with the people who once produced the Tournee of Animation, there are no signs that they plan to produce another Tournee. While the celebration will probably honor independents in some token way (another British tribute or...) the real focus will be elsewhere. (I hope this paragraph is wrong and they present the world premiere of the 25th Tournee of Animation.)
At this point the advance publicity hasn't said anything about what will be shown. Since there is a competition you can expect to see some outstanding shorts from around the world along with one or two outstanding retrospectives or tributes. Of course there will be questionable screenings that promote some of the sponsors and backers of the event who don't turn out great work. You quickly learn which shows to avoid or walk out on. Why the celebration doesn't tell us in advance about the good events is something I don't understand. Some festivals in Europe announce the retrospectives and tributes months in advance to entice people to attend.
On the other hand, I did get in the mail a slick catalog promoting classes for the New Animation Technology Conference and Exposition. It seems to offer everything you ever wanted to know about computers. The instructors are said to be people who know what they are talking about. Of course if you want an advanced class on a traditional animation technique, you may be out of luck. Richard Williams, John Kricfalusi, Marv Newland, John Weldon, etc. are not among the instructors. Considering that I get in the mail flyers for computer training classes from about a dozen conferences each year, I'm not sure there is a great need for one to go to L.A. to study cgi in the middle of a film festival. Similar classes are presented right here in the Bay Area and probably for less money.
Eventually literature should inform us about other aspects of the celebration. If you are not on their mailing list contact World Animation Celebration, 30101 Agoura Court, Suite 110, Agoura Hills, CA 91301-4301 KC
"STEVE.OEDEKERK.COM" IS A MOTION CAPTURE TV SPECIAL that was made for NBC. Steve Oedekerk's cast and sets apparently were all created by computers. He is a stand-up comedian and writer ("In Living Color," Ace Ventura, The Nutty Professor and Nothing to Lose) who talked NBC into creating a show that had never been done before. The article about producing the show was in Film and Video, Nov. 1997. It sounded like this was a highly creative adventure. According to Animation Magazine he also did a primetime special for ABC-TV that aired in December called Santa vs. The Snowman.
PUBLICATIONS
ANIMATION MAGAZINE, DEC. 1997 features Anastasia on the cover, contains their 1998 directory of schools, a short list of placement recruiters for 21 medium sized and large studios (from Buzzco to Wild Brain) and other important material. There is a feature section on Pacific Rim animation studios that produce everything from work for hire to major TV series. Other sections cover new computer products, etc.
Subscriptions to this fine monthly trade magazine are $36 for 12 issues from Animation Magazine, 30101 Agoura Court, Suite 110, Agoura, CA 91301-9987
MEDIA MAGAZINE FEATURES JOHN KRICFALUSI'S CHARACTERS ON THE COVER and has a 4 page article inside full of wild illustrations in color plus great quotes by Mr. K. He explains what he believes is wrong with our free enterprise system, why he has a free web site (www.spumco.com) etc. If you love his work (he created Ren and Stimpy), call Media Magazine and see if you can get a free copy. The rest of the issue is full of backstage news about various media companies and individuals. (415) 989-9429, 950 Battery, 2nd floor, SF CA 94111
FESTIVALS
ATLANTA FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL deadline is Jan. 30 (Feb. 13 with $10 late fee), animation category, $30 & up to enter, cash prizes. They will show most film & video formats. May 30 - June 7 event. Contact Image Film & Video Center, 75 Bennett St. NW Suite N-1, Atlanta, GA 30309 (404) 352-4254.
CAROLINA FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL deadline is March 10 for April event. $30 entry fee ($20 for students), cash prizes and film stock awarded. They will show 16mm & video formats. Broadcasting/Cinema Dept. 100 Carmichael Bldg, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC 27412-5001 (910) 334-5360
FORTH BRAINWASH MOVIES FESTIVAL deadline is May 1 for a June or July event. $15 entry fee. Strange awards are presented to winners. Almost everything entered is shown so this is a great event for young or off-beat animators/filmmakers to enter. They like to show really strange experimental and/or funny stuff. Last year the event was at the South of Market Cultural Center. Works should be under 13 min. in length and must be transferred to VHS (stereo sound is ok). Include $3 extra for return of tape. "Do not send your parent's home movies." Make checks out to "International Media" Contact Shelby Toland, PO Box 881911, SF CA 94188 (415) 273-1545.
GOLDEN SHOWER VIDEO FESTIVAL deadline is March 5 for a late March event. This sounds like a really funky event in the spirit of our Brainwash Festival. It is for "experimental narrative, animated, exploitative, documentary, stolen and original" works. Prizes include "a low rider bicycle, a miniature accordion, and a flea market surprise." Send VHS video which will not be returned, $10 cash, director's bio and press photos to: Southwest Craft Center c/o Adam Rocha, 300 Augusta, San Antonio, Texas 78205 (210) 979-1058
LA FREEWAVES CELEBRATION OF INDEPENDENT VIDEO & NEW MEDIA is a traveling show to be shown in Sept. at a variety of S. California venues. Feb. 2 deadline. They show VHS & 3/4" tapes and are looking for animated work. $10 entry fee. LA Freewaves, 2151 Lake Shore Ave., L.A. CA 90039 (213) 664-1510.
DEADLINE REMINDER The following festivals have been mentioned before in this column. See your back issues of this newsletter for details. Their upcoming deadlines are: Ann Arbor Film Festival, Feb. 15. Humboldt, Jan. 30 for video/Feb. 27 for films. Athens, Feb. 9. N.Y. Underground, Feb. 2 with late fee. New Directors/New Films, Jan. 17. International Monitor Awards, Jan. 20. Golden Gate Awards, Jan. 10. Stuttgart, early this year. Hiroshima, March 21. Zagreb, Feb. 1 (Karl Cohen can send you forms, [415] 386-1004). Toronto, March 1. Final call for Society for Animation Studies Conference papers is Jan. 15 for Aug. 6-16 event at Chapman Univ. in Orange, CA.
A FEW CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM OUR MEMBERS AND FRIENDSASIFA-SAN FRANCISCO
P.O. BOX 14516
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114
This issue was written by Karl Cohen and proofread by Barbara Olitzky-Bannerman. Membership is $18 a year or $40 for local and international membership from the above address.
ASIFA-SAN FRANCISCO, THE BAY AREA'S ANIMATION ASSOCIATION
AND THE EXPLORATORIUM'S FILM PROGRAM PRESENT ANNUAL OPEN SCREENING FOR ANIMATORS NEW WORK BY INDEPENDENT ANIMATORS AND STUDENTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 7:30 PM
NEW WORK BY BAY AREA COMMERCIAL ANIMATION HOUSES AND SPECIAL EFFECTS COMPANIES
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 7:30 PM
+
SHORT ANNUAL MEMBERS MEETING AT 7:15 PM
WE WELCOME YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT FUTURE PROGRAMS & OTHER WAYS TO IMPROVE ASIFA-SF
AT THE EXPLORATORIUM'S McBEAN THEATER
Admission is free, public invited to attend.
Anyone with an animated work is welcome to show it. We can show work in 16mm, 1/2" and 3/4" video.
On Saturday, January 24 we will present works by students and independent animators. Bill Flugrath plans to show Flying Beings, a stop-motion production using latex characters with front projection (12 min., 16mm). Gene Hamm plans to bring his computer generated No Hat, No Mask, No Service, and work by some of his students at Cogswell College. Shirley Smith may bring her almost complete Dunderdeck's Machine, a surreal tale based on a song her mother used to sing. Vayshali Koth plans to show Hugs, a film she made while attending Sheradan College. She will also show an earlier work, an animated film on AIDS that she made in India before studying animation. Another work to be shown is Nun of That, a short made by students in a media internship pilot program in San Francisco. The students were advised by staff members from Wild Brain and Colossal Pictures. There is no telling what else will be shown this evening as people are welcomed to show up the night of the show with a work (even while the show is in progress) and we will show it.
On Saturday, January 31 we will present work by commercial animation companies and special effects houses. ILM plans to bring an amazing reel featuring their special effects work for TV commercials. They may show clips of their work for Flubber and other recent projects. Companies like Colossal, Curious Pictures, PDI, Wild Brain and Xaos almost always present work at this event, so come and discover what some of the Bay Area's best production companies have been doing in the last year.
Our short annual meting will take place at 7:15 PM on Jan. 31. We welcome your thoughts about future programs and project and other ways to improve ASIFA-SF.this is Hollywood!
Don't expect to meet your favorite independent animators here, but you will probably see celebrities like Mike Judge, John Kricfalusi and the guys from South Park. Although the festival is associated with the people who once produced the Tournee of Animation, there are no signs that they plan to produce another Tournee. While the celebration will probably h