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ASIFA San Francisco, Newsletter March 1997
SPIKE & MIKE'S 1997 FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION IS AN EXCELLENT SHOW If you want to see a rich variety of works that demonstrate the many things animation can be, this show should not be missed. The program includes several brilliant works including Tim Hittle's Canhead, Mike Johnson's Devil Went Down To Georgia, Greg Holfeld's Barflies, John Wardlaw's Chessmaster Theatre, Karen Kelly's Stressed and Thor Freudenthal's The Tenor. The first four shorts are outstanding examples of stop-motion animation (the first two were made locally) and the last two shorts are exceptional works of drawn and painted art. Freudenthal's line is a joy to watch and the concept of the work is outstanding. Kelly's brilliant work could easily be a top prize winner in an exhibit of contemporary art at the Whitney Museum of Art.
Several other films were excellent in some ways, but were lacking in other respects. For example Stephen Arthur's Touched Alive is a beautiful short computer work, but when the program was over I had to ask somebody to describe the film. All I presently remember about this 2 minute work is that it was delightful to watch the forms move. I have no memory of the film's content.
Pjotr Sapegin's Mons the Cat is similarly nice to watch as each scene is full of rich details. Unfortunately the script is sophomoric and the child-like humor gets dull quickly. On the other hand Anthony Hodgson's Hilary is a brilliant piece of narrative writing, but the visuals are not that interesting.
Spike and his staff have done a fine job putting together an excellent program. For once they didn't include any stupid shorts that insult the intelligence of their audience. This is being pointed out as they used to include awful works that belonged in their sick and twisted packages. If you want to see examples of that kind of animation, their next Sick and Twisted show will play San Francisco in the Fall.
Two or three previously seen shorts will be shown at each show. One will be Nick Park's A Close Shave, the 1996 Oscar winner. At some shows they will show Peter Lord's Wat's Pig, a short nominated for an Oscar this year. The short will alternate with Political Correctness which is new to the festival (it wasn't shown to the press so perhaps it of questionable merit). The show will end with John R. Dilworth's outrageous Dirty Birdy in San Francisco.
A minor criticism is that the flyer proclaims "ALL NEW FOR '97" on the cover, but about a third of the 90 minute show repeats work shown in past years. People have asked me why Spike was claiming the show was all new when the flyer for it mentioned old stuff. I have no idea why or why they didn't quote somebody saying something like "this is the finest animation show in years." Why did they make an obviously false claim?
The films being repeated are exceptional works. I hope people don't say, "I've seen that so I'll skip the show." That would be a big mistake. The hour of new material is a wonderful treat. Don't miss it!
Over the years Spike and Mike have done a great job presenting the work of unknown animators to the public. They have helped make Mike Judge, Bill Plympton, John Lasseter, Nick Park, Tim Burton and others better known as artists by presenting their early works. The 1997 show contains work by several people whom I hope will eventually become well known.
This is the 20th year the company has been in business and to celebrate they will offer different kinds of surprises at selected shows. Some nights they plan to distribute party favors. On other nights there will be free cake. On a few nights they will offer "fabulous discount admissions." At some shows Spike's dog Scotty will delight the audience by going on stage and popping balloons.
The program will be presented on weekends in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre through May 4. It plays at the UC Theatre in Berkeley from April 11 - 17, at the Lark in Larkspur from May 9 - 22, at the Castro in SF from May 2 - 7 and at the Towne in San Jose from May 23 - June 12. KC
ANIMATORS, SPIKE WANTS TO PREVIEW YOUR WORK for either the Festival of Animation or the Sick and Twisted packages. He would like to see your pencil tests or completed work on VHF tape. According to their full page ad in the March Animation Magazine they say don't send your only original as they don't return tapes. Make sure your tape has your name and address on it. Send the tape to 7488 Lay Jolla Blvd., Lay Jolla, CA 92037 or call (619) 459-8707. Be patient. They don't always review tapes right away. If your work needs to be transferred from tape or 16mm to 35mm, they can provide funding for that service.
TODD KURTZMAN'S MARYLOU IS A GIRL WHO CONTINUES TO GET AROUND - IT OPENED THE SANTA BARBARA FILM FESTIVAL AND WAS JUST SHOWN AT TWO OTHER MAJOR EVENTS The short by Kurtzman, Danny Shorago and Luc Longin was a highlight of Spike and Mike's 1996 edition of their Sick and Twisted Festival. Its latest honors include its being shown on opening night at the Santa Barbara Film Festival before the main attraction, Dennis Hopper's new film Frankie the Fly. It was also shown at the New York Underground Film Festival and in Los Angeles (ok, Pasadena) at the World Animation Celebration. In LAY it was included in both an Outrageous Animation program and in competition in the category 1st work made by an independent animator intended for public exhibition.
Marylou does get around. The film has been in a lot of other festivals including The Mill Valley Film Festival, The Film Arts Foundation Festival in San Francisco, Sundance in Park City, Utah; the Cleveland Film Festival, Uppsala Short Film Festival (Sweden) and the Kiev International Film Festival (Ukraine).
RICHARD ZIMMERMAN'S BIRDHOUSE CONTINUES TO BE SEEN AROUND THE WORLD It has been selected to be shown in Atlanta in a program of highlights from Sundance. It will also be shown at the Aspen Film Festival, The SF Film Festival and at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Ron Levaco wrote about Zimmerman's appearance at Sundance in the March issue of Release Print (Film Arts Foundation's excellent newsletter). He said, "Richard Zimmerman's Birdhouse was especially well placed with the overwhelmingly popular The House of Yes. A cool thing that Sundance does, which I have never seen at other festivals, is to give equal time to shorts makers in the introductions and Q&A sessions at each screening. Seeing Richard Zimmerman sparkle as he answered intelligent questions in front of a packed and energized audience gave me such a sense of pride. Maybe it's a hometown thing..."
GENE HAMM'S NO HAT NO MASK NO SERVICE WINS $500 JURY PRIZE AT BIG MUDDY Hamm, who teaches animation at Cogswell College, has just completed a 5 1/2 minute humorous computer generated short that pokes fun at our society's dubious values. The 19th Annual Big Muddy Film Festival was the first festival he entered, and the jury of Trinh T. Minh-ha, Jaromir Sofr and Loretta Smith awarded it a top prize.
Hamm's award is quite an honor as the six films selected by the jury to receive $500 each were all exceptional. Joanna Priestly's new animated work Utopia Parkway, a film inspired by the boxes of Joseph Cornell, won a $500 prize. So did Jessica Yu's Breathing Lessons: The Life of Mark O'Brien. This powerful documentary won the Academy Award this year for best documentary short. Hamm's work is in good company.
Hamm's short questions society's values about sex, nudity and censorship in an intelligent, humorous way. It is a well thought out and designed so it makes its point quickly in a series of short segments. It isn't gross or vulgar. Instead it is a charming, cute and clever creative work. The animation is quite simple. It is the film's controversial content that is important. It should make people reflect upon their own values, a quality rarely found in animated work.
I hope NO HAT NO MASK NO SERVICE goes on to distinguish itself at other festivals and on TV. It belongs on a show like Saturday Night Live or Mad TV, but they may not be able to get it past their network censors. KC
JAY HATHAWAY COMPLETES BEHIND THE LINES This is an excellent computer animated short done by Hathaway at San Francisco State University. The thought provoking work has been 2 years in the making and is a mature statement about war and peace. It features a butterfly flying from flower to flower in a WWI German battlefield. There is a strong juxtaposition between the carefully lit butterfly and the dark war machines and soldiers. The soundtrack is a coral section from the last movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Segments of the work have been shown at past ASIFA-SF open screenings.
Congratulations on the completion of your work and best on its exhibition. Hathaway is presently working part-time at Wild Brain. He recently assisted at Story Animation on a Sears commercial and served an internship at Pixar. He has a BA & MA from State in traditional and computer animation.
WORK BY 11 ANIMATORS WERE SHOWN WITH LIVE MUSIC BY NIK PHELPS IN THE FIRST "IDEAS IN ANIMATION" PROGRAM - A SECOND SHOW IS SET FOR APRIL 21. The first program at Venue 9 featured animation by Kathy Englehard, Jason Shiga, Jeff Nevens, Christine Cegavske, Divya Srinivasan, David Wan, Cass Lehman, Karen Lewis, Lynette Taylor, Bob Carlson and Carmen Arbona. J. Raoul Brody was the featured guest musician at the March 26 event. Connie Champagne will perform at the April 21 date and O-Lan Jones and Pamela Z will appear at future dates.
The musicians in the Sprocket Ensemble who perform music written by Nik Phelps are Nik Phelps on woodwind and brass instruments, violinist Carla Kihlstedt, cellist Matt Brubek, and percussionist Andy Lewis.
If you would like to see your work projected with live music by the Sprocket Ensemble call (415) 681-3189 for details.
SF FILM FESTIVAL HAS A GREAT ANIMATED LINE-UP: JAN SVANKMAJER WILL RECEIVE A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AND SHOW HIS NEW FEATURE. THERE WILL BE A SHOW OF HIS EARLY CLASSICS. PLUS THE RETURN OF "THE YELLOW SUBMARINE" (WITH "THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES"), TWO CHARLIE BOWERS SHORTS AND A SHOW OF NEW OUTSTANDING SHORTS This will be a great festival for seeing animation.
Jan Svankmajer's Conspirators of Pleasure, 1996 is a remarkable and challenging work according to Gene Deitch who attended the premiere in Prague. It is a live action feature with animated sequence (similar to his Faust) Svankmajer will attend the screening on May 6 at the Kabuki at 7 PM (buy your tickets ASAP [$10], the show will sell out quickly) to receive the new "Golden Gate Award for Persistence of Vision." The award recognizes his lifetime achievements as a director who works outsides the bounds of traditional filmmaking. The feature will also be shown at the Pacific Film Archives on May 3 at 9:15 PM.
A program of Svankmajer shorts called "Jan Svankmajer: Alchemist of the Surreal," will be presented on May 4 at the Kabuki at 5 PM. The program of 7 films from 1964-1982 includes his masterpiece Dimensions of Dialogue, 1982. Seeing it in 35mm on a big screen is a rare treat. Also in the show are The Last Trick, Punch and Judy, The Flat, The Ossuary, Down to the Cellar and Jabberwocky.
Two rarely seen gems by Charles Bowers will be shown before The Matinee Idol, a Frank Capra short feature from 1928. Bowers made outrageous comedies that featured exceptional stop-motion work using still photographs and balsa wood. Egged On, 1926 and Now You Tell One, 1926 (20 min. each) will amaze you, "I guarantee it." I saw them years ago at the Pacific Film Archive and I still think about them from time to time. If you haven't seen Bower's work, take my word for it - it is remarkable and a "must see." Castro, April 26, 1:30 PM.
The festival is in its 40th year, so to celebrate they asked several film people to pick their favorite "indelible images." John Lasseter picked The Yellow Submarine, directed by George Dunning, 1968, and The Man Who Planted Trees by Frederic Back, 1988. The program will be presented at the Kabuki on May 7 at 7 PM.
You get 2 chances to see the new Oscar winner in animation and two other nominated shorts plus new works by Joanna Quinn, Richard C. Zimmerman and others in a program titled "Revenge of Saturday Morning." The program features 11 works ranging from a 30 second spot by Charles Canfield and Colossal Pictures called Rock the Vote: Ocean, to Joanna Quinn's half-hour TV show Famous Fred (UK). The Academy Award nominated shorts in the program are Lay Salla by Richard Condie (Canada), Quest by Thomas Stellmach and Tyron Montgomery (Germany), and Canhead by Tim Hittle (San Francisco). Quest won. Also in the show is Anthony Hodgson's Combination Skin (UK), Zimmerman's Birdhouse (Mill Valley), Joanna Priestley's Utopia Parkway (Portland, OR), Nicholas Gessner's Spaceship Earth (France), Jim Keeshen's Monkey Love (USA) and Luke Losey's The Box (UK). Ten of the eleven films are Golden Gate Award winners. The program will be shown at the Kabuki on May 5 at 9:45 and on May 6 at 3:45.
Phil Mulloy's animated Wind of Changes (UK) will be shown before the feature Paper Heads. It screens at the Kabuki on May 4 at 12:15 and on May 7 at 1:15. It plays at the Pacific Film Archive on May 5, 9:15 PM.
Congratulations to Peter Scarlet and his programming staff for bringing an excellent selection of animated works to San Francisco.
PIXAR FINALLY ANNOUNCES A FEW DETAILS ABOUT THE SEQUEL TO TOY STORY Part of the delay in announcing information about this project was their having to wait for their voice stars to sign their contracts. On March 11 the Chronicle announced Tim Allen and Tom Hanks have signed and will voice Buzz and Woody again. People at Pixar say that means the rest of the original cast will probably be part of the project.
Ash Brannan will direct the sequel. He was Animation Supervisor on Toy Story. Jimmy Hayward is the new Animation Supervisor. John Lasseter isn't writing the script or directing, but he is supervising the project by attending production meetings and daily work-in-progress screenings.
The unnamed sequel will be sold directly to the home market. Pixar says the work will be released in 1998. Considering the number of tapes Disney sells (over 21 million tapes of Toy Story were shipped last year) and the number of people that fell in love with Woody and Buzz in theaters, somebody is going to make a great deal of money on this production. Production costs should be somewhat less than the cost of making the original feature as the main characters are already modeled and ready to act again. Being able to reuse them saves Pixar a lot of time/money. Expect the humans to be better developed/animated in the sequel.
SFPG ACQUIRES A DEVELOPER OF CONSUMER AND EDUTAINMENT INTERACTIVE PRODUCTS AND REORGANIZES THEIR SERVICES San Francisco Production Group has acquired SOME Interactive. The latter developed the CD-ROM Wrath of Gods, Connections and Crystal Skull.
SFPG formed The New Media Group with the acquisition of SOME. The company also includes The Editorial Group, The Design Group and SFPG's Audio and Video Post Services.
JOBS - When I spoke with the head of SFPG in March, he was looking for experienced animators to work on several CD-ROM projects. If you are available and interested send them a resume and reel, 550 Bryant, SF CA 94107 or call (415) 495-5595 (or www.sfpg.com)
PDI HIRES WEBSTER COLCORD His work as an independent animator from Portland has been featured in programs of animation from ASIFA-NW. He was also their chapter's president. He was collaborating with Bruce Bickford on an independent animation project and he plans to continue that work.
RICHARD WILLIAMS IS COMING TO SAN FRANCISCO JUNE 6-8 TO PRESENT A MASTERCLASS FOR ANIMATORS! Williams has won over 250 international awards for his work including 3 Oscars and 3 British Academy Awards. His films include Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Christmas Carol and The Return of the Pink Panther. He has trained many of today's leading animators worldwide, and has passed on his knowledge at Masterclasses in London, Wales, Denmark, Vancouver and at the Warner Brothers Studio in Hollywood.
The masterclass will start with the basics and progress over 3 days through the secrets of animation. The course is about how things move. He will discuss specific work methods used to make drawings live and breathe, think, and give a sustained commanding performance. It is also about techniques you can use to increase footage output in order to be good and fast at the same time. Williams will demonstrate his points with drawing, performance and personal and professional film clips (work will be shown in 35mm at the Delancey Street screening room).
Williams' course is based on his studies with several of animation's old masters. One day, after running the premiere television commercial studio in Europe for 15 years, he watched Disney's The Jungle Book and realized that there was a lot he didn't know about animation. His ads were remarkably free of conventions and were artistically stunning, but he decided he wanted to go back to the basics and learn character animation the way it was taught in Hollywood. Eventually, he hired Art Babbit, Ken Harris and Milt Kahl to work at his studio and teach. He also worked and learned with Grim Natwick, Emery Hawkins, Cliff Nordberg and Abe Levitow. Other mentors include Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Chuck Jones.
Professionals who have taken his masterclass have a lot to say about the experience. Peter Lake of Wales says "I learnt more in those 3 days than I had learnt in the past 3 years from books and college courses." An animator from Pixar who was one of several animators from that company who attended Williams' class in Vancouver said "We came back with our brains on fire to apply the techniques and timings you presented in our work." Derek Thompson from Warners said "You make the complex simple and the basics work wonders." Anna Bortas of Sweden said "Very satisfying to get such clarity in things you already should know. Mr. Williams' energy, generosity and skills are wonderful to see and a privilege to be part of." Tony Claar from Oakland says "A once in a lifetime experience."
For information phone/fax (250) 653-4502, Imogene Sutton, Project Manager of Richard Williams' Animation Masterclass. PO Box 2055, Sidney, BC V8L 3S3, CANADA
CURIOUS PICTURES NAMES REBECCA REBER WEST COAST SALES REP Reber has been in the business of representing companies for 8 years. She calls on companies from Seattle to San Diego and as far East as Denver and Albuquerque. She presently represents several other production companies and services in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. (415) 398-4944.
CORRECTION: Kris Moser's title at Living Books is director, not animator. Sam Comstock and Bridget Erdmann are also directors at the company.
DON'T FORGET TO APPLY FOR THE KEN WILLARD MEMORIAL GRANT FOR ANIMATED WORK The fund will distribute $4,500 this year. Deadline is May 2. For details contact Film Arts Foundation. Stop by for a copy of the guidelines or send them a stamped, self-addressed envelop for details. The deadline for FAF's regular annual grants program is also May 2. They give money for new short works, distribution needs and completion of work. FAF, 346 Ninth Street, 2nd floor, SF CA 94103 (415) 552-8760.
BAVAC VIDEO AND MULTIMEDIA MOVES A lot of individuals have used the services of Bay Area Video Coalition over the years. They are moving to 2727 Mariposa Street, next door to KQED. The space was a former Best Foods plant. Protozoa is also moving to this address soon. BAVAC will hold an open house on Friday, April 4 from 5:30 to 9 PM. Everybody is welcome to attend. (415) 861-3282
CARTOON ART MUSEUM BENEFIT TO FEATURE TWO FILMS BY ENKI BILAL He is a Yugoslav-born graphic artist who lives in Paris. He will attend the benefit of his two live-action films and talk about them. The films are Bunker Palace Hotel, 1989 and Tykho Moon, 1997. The films are in French with English subtitles. Shows start at 6 PM on April 9 & 10 at the AMC Kabuki Theater and tickets are $20/$15. A show of his work is on display at the Cartoon Art Museum through May 25. For reservations or details (415) 227-8666.
WEEKENDS IN APRIL, THE ORIGINAL FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Fridays at 8, Saturdays at 7 & 9:30 and Sundays at 4 & 7:30.
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, new 35mm print, features innovative effects by Ray Harryhausen, at the Red Vic, 1727 Haight St., SF. The theatre will show Mars Attacks, May 8-10.
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 7:30 PM, author and cartoonist Trina Robbins will present a slide show and sign her book The Great Women Superheroes at Cody's Books on Telegraph in Berkeley.
FRIDAY, APRIL 11 - THURSDAY APRIL 17, THE ORIGINAL FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION, at the US Theatre in Berkeley. Daily at 2, 4:30, 7 & 9:30.
SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 7 PM, JOHN MATTHEWS IN-PERSON at De Anza Community College, Advance Technology Center. See our April event flyer for details.
SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 1 PM, JOHN MATTHEWS IN-PERSON, at San Francisco State, Arts and Industry Building, Room 101. See our April event flyer for details.
MONDAY, APRIL 21, 8 & 9:30 PM, ANIMATED WORK WITH LIVE MUSIC BY NIK PHELPS and the Sprocket Ensemble with guest star Connie Champagne. For information about the show, to have them show your work and/or for reservations call (415) 681-3189. The event titled "Ideas in Animation" will be held at Venue 9, 252 Ninth St. near Folsom.
SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1:30 PM, TWO SILENT COMEDIES BY CHARLES BOWERS (amazing stop-motion animation, 20 min. each) with Frank Capra's The Matinee Idol. Live organ music. At the Castro Theater.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, APRIL 26 - 27, BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA at the Red Vic, 1727 Haight St., SF.
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