October, 2002
"SUPERWACKY: ANIMATION ON TELEVISION, 1949-2002" AT THE CARTOON ART MUSEUM. The exhibit, featuring animation art from the Glad Family Trust, will be on display October 5 to January 12, 2003. Superwacky examines the rich history of television cartoons and their social, artistic, and economic legacy. There are over 125 vintage production cels, drawings and rare painted backgrounds in the show. Most have never been shown before. Superwacky features art from television shows as early as 1950 (Crusader Rabbit made in the Bay Area), through the 1960s and '70s (Astro Boy, The Jetsons, Super Chicken, Super Friends, and Bullwinkle) up to the present day (Pinky and the Brain, Ren and Stimpy, and the Powerpuff Girls). Also on display are cels from memorable TV specials including Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Horton Hears a Who, plus cels from classic animated commercials for breakfast cereals. The Cartoon Art Museum is located at. 655 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) CAR-TOON Tues.-- Sun. 11:00 - 5:00, :$6.00, students & seniors $4.00, children 6-12: $2.00, members & kids under 6 free. cartoonart.org, HAVE A SUPERWACKY SATURDAY MORNING WITH BREAKFAST AND CARTOONS AT THE CARTOON ART MUSEUM. In the best tradition of the Saturday morning television cartoon shows, the Museum will host an opening reception from 10:00 a.m. until noon on Saturday, October 12. There will be cartoons, breakfast food, activities for kids, special appearances and more! The suggested donation for the event is $8 per family, or $4 per individual. "GONE BAD" BY SOME OF THE MONDO MEDIA GANG IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM ATOM FILM. The show was part of the Sundance Online Film Festival and was a hit at 2 of our open screenings. Now you can see it at Atom Films on the Internet. WILD BRAIN'S "POOCHINI" IS NOW IN TV SYNDICATION IN THE USA. The family-oriented animated children's series began to air in the U.S. September 7. The program produce with EM-TV in Germany has been syndicated in the US in over 50% of the country including New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. It premiered in several foreign countries last year. Jeff Ulin, CEO of Wild Brain said, "Breaking into the U.S. television broadcast market is challenging for an independent so we decided to take advantage of our international relationships to launch in the global market first. We are thrilled with the response we are receiving from U.S. stations and are confident that American kids will join Poochini's other worldwide fans." Poochini is a dog story about a mutt who was adopted by the Whites, a "normal" family stuck in the '50s. Poochini's life as a common canine is full of excitement and mischief. The adventures that occur in this half-hour TV series are slightly irreverent, sometimes bizarre and hopefully hilarious. Poochini points out the positive value of accepting oneself and one's situation for what they are, while at the same time doing one's utmost to improve both. An educational consultant told Wild Brain, "As a vehicle for conveying the educational values of pro-social behavior and meaningful self-awareness, as well as core-knowledge learning, Poochini is a classic" (Miki Baumgarten, Ph.D). The series was created by Emmy Award winning Supervising Director Dave Marshall (Tiny Toons, Freakazoid), Director Dave Thomas (CartoonNetwork.com's #1 show Mantelope), the late Academy Award winning Art Direction Consultant Maurice Noble and Emmy nominee Story Editor Jim Gomez (Universal's The Woody Woodpecker Show). Poochini features the voice talents of Billy West (The Ren and Stimpy Show). Poochini was honored with the Gold World Medal in the world's best animated program for young adults category at the International Programming & Promotion Awards in New York ALAN ORCUTT WINS A BEST FILM PRIZE AT THE TELLURIDE INDIE FEST. Sunnyvale animator, Alan Orcutt won a Best Short Film award at the Telluride IndieFest 2002 for The First Vegetarian, a stop-motion piece. It is the story of a caveman who eventually chooses the "healthy" alternative. The First Vegetarian is Alan's first work since graduating from Cogswell College (June, 2001). He has since finished a stop-motion short, Got Insurance? and The Best Laid Plans, a Flash animation. The First Vegetarian can be seen on iFilm.com. While it wasn't in the big Telluride Festival, being in the Telluride Indie Fest is still quite an honor. They only showed 74 works selected from about 1000 entries. Only 4 were short films under 10 minutes in length! tellurideindiefest.com IT'S AN UPSET!!! AT OUR SCREENING OF THE 2002 ASIFA-EAST ANNUAL FESTIVAL, OUR AUDIENCE VOTED THE TOP PRIZE TO A STUDENT FILM - CONGRATULATIONS TO CORRIE FRANCIS, CREATOR OF "ASH SUNDAY". Frances won the top $100 prize despite the competition including works by several well know animators. It was a triumph for originality. Frances' great looking experimental work begins with loose pen and ink lines slowly forming a black and white figure of a woman. The woman slowly defines her space, fights with its borders and eventually discovers a world full of color. The black and white drawn woman eventually emerges to become a colorful well-rounded individual. It ends with her discovering a black and white drawing of a male in a tiny space and her beginning to bring him to life. Corrie Francis, who lives in Moraga, CA, made the film at Dartmouth College. There was a three-way tie for second place. The $75 prize money will be split 3 ways. The winners are Bill Plympton for Parking, John R. Dilworth for The Mousosochist, and Curious Picture (NYC) for The Narrator that Ruined Christmas. The last film was a really funny segment made for "Saturday Night Live." The Dilworth and Plympton films are funny theatrical shorts. Honorable mentions go to: Dan Blank, Shadowplay; J.J. Sedelmaier Production's Grieving on a Jet Plane; Fran Krause/Cartoon Network's Utica Zoo, Bill Plympton's 12 Tiny Christmas Tales & Michael Sporn's Mona, Mon Amour. Our audience also voted for the best work in the 9/11 tribute. Steve Dovas will be sent a $25 prize for Not Gone. Other entries getting several votes each were Leyla Modirzadeh's Body and Soul, David Billings Change and Ward Sutton's The Fear News Network. EX'PRESSION STUDENTS CREATED MARBLE MADNESS FOR TECH TV. Ex'pression Center for New Media opened in the East Bay in 1999. Five of their Digital Graphics Design students worked on Marble Madness, a 10-second station ID. It shows the Tech TV logo (silver and red balls) becoming marbles. Then, a human child and a robot play a game where one by one the marbles are tossed on to a board, until finally a large marble scatters the contents of the board to reveal the Tech TV logo. The Ex'pression students responsible for completing the project are Kyle Carasso, Dustin Gates, Michael Lopez, Carolyn McDonald and Krissy Munroe. The ID began airing in September and was made using Maya and After Effects. Ex'pression Center for New Media has 3 degree programs: Sound Arts; Digital Visual Media (including animation, 3D modeling and visual effects); and Digital Graphic Design. "STAR WARS: EPISODE II" TO BE SHOWN IN 70MM IMAX, OPENING NOVEMBER 1. Apparently it was relatively easy and inexpensive to convert the digital film into the 15/70 IMAX format. A minor problem may exist as IMAX does not uses sprockets. Synch may not always be perfect. Animation works well in IMAX theatres as the variance is less obvious. The run of Star Wars: Episode II is set to end on December 25. Coming up next, Disney's The Lion King. DON'T MISS OUR WED. OCT. 23 EVENT ON THE MAKING OF "STAR WARS: EPISODE II" AT S.F. STATE. The film's two animation supervisors, Christopher Alan Armstrong and Hal T. Hickel, will discuss how they used ILM's amazing digital technology to create a photo-realistic cast of thousands. At 7:15 PM. Coppola Theatre. Free. See event flyer for details. DISNEY ISN'T COUNTING ON PIXAR TO SIGN ANOTHER PICTURE DEAL WITH THEM. DISNEY HAS SIGNED VANGUARD TO PRODUCE 4 CG FEATURES. Pixar's current five picture deal ends after the release of Finding Nemo (summer, 2003), The Incredibles (Nov. 2004) and John Lasseter's Cars (2005). Disney has signed Shreck's producer John Williams and his company Vanguard Animation (now being formed with their main studio in England). Williams will be the CEO and Neil Braun the president. Valient will be their first project for Disney (2004 release). It will be an animated comedy written by George Webster and George Melrod. The film, which will start pre-production this month in L.A., will move to London's Ealing Studios for production. It stars a misfit pigeon that enters boot camp during World War II. Co-producers are Eric M. Bennett of Vanguard and Barnaby Thompson of Fragile Films and Ealing Studios. Williams says, "We will make these films for under $40 million each, and they will be delivered within two years of their start date. We will deliver Toy Story-to-Dinosaur-to-Shrek-level animation. We came to Disney with confirmed financing, completed scripts, completed budgets, multiple CG tests for each film, advanced character designs and production design concepts." MARTHA GORZYCKI HAD HER WORK EXHIBITED AT ARTS BENICIA GALLERY IN BENICIA. She teaches animation at SF State. She was in a group show of talent from Bay Area colleges. The show ran Aug. 3 - Sept. 8. RES FEST CAME AND WENT WITHOUT MUCH ADVANCE PUBLICITY. I was invited to a press screening and was impressed by the 5 short films shown. All used new technology in some manner and looked quite contemporary. The most impressive work show was Terminal Bar by Stefan Nadelman. It was an exceptional study of a truly seedy bar at 42nd Street and 8th Ave. in New York City. Be glad it closed in the mid-1980's. A computer motion graphics system was used to manipulate thousands of still photos used to make the film. The stills, which almost danced across the screen, were combined with old and recent film footage and a very lucid dialog by a former bartender who took the photos. I got an announcement for the event after our September newsletter went to press. The festival's program wasn't even available at the press screening. Since the festival was in mid-September, all I can say is go see the 2003 edition if it comes to San Francisco. You wont be disappointed if the selection is as good as what I saw. KC After the above was written I went with a friend to the final show of Res Fest. It was the design program and while I was glad I saw the new aesthetic experience, I disliked it! It was 90 minutes of "music" videos. All but one had techno music tracks (drum machines, industrial sounds, repetitive, boring) and most of the visuals looked liked recycled stuff from student cg projects and low-end corporate or informational video cg projects. There was rarely any content (only a suggestion at times that the images were a parody of the straight corporate world) and even less emotional evolvement. I think "cool" sterile images + "hot" techno music = boring, but I'm not 20. A RADIO INTERVIEW WITH KARL COHEN FROM WCBM, THE CBS STATION IN BALTIMORE, MD, IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET. It is a lively 30-minite interview about his book Forbidden Animation with Dr. Bob Hironemous. Sept. 22, 2002, www.21stCenturyRadio.com "WINKY DINK AND YOU" ARTICLE COMING IN OUR NEXT ISSUE An interview with Edwin Brit Wyckoff, the show's co-creator and animator. This was the world's first interactive TV show. It dates from the early 50's. MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL EXHIBITS A DIGITAL MEDIA WORK BY JAN MILLSAPPS at 1337 4th St. in San Rafael, Oct. 8-12. She teaches at SF State. At. Oct. 5, 1 PM, Rafael and Sat. Oct. 12, 11:15 AM, Sequoia, Mill Valley Fest., JOHN WELDON'S "THE HUNGARY SQUID" and other recent animated work from Canada and Norway. $9/$7 See the festival's program guide for other animation (mostly for kids). Monday, Oct. 7, 7:15 PM, Rafael and Sat, Oct. 12, 12:45 PM Rafael, INDEPENDENT SPIRITS: FAITH HUBLEY /JOHN HUBLEY a 55-minute documentary plus Hubley shorts. Director Sybil DelGaudio in person. I've previewed this work and it is terrific. It explains why their animation is historically important and it really captures Faith and John's love for the medium. This is a really important film. Sat. Oct. 12, 2 PM MEET THE MUPPETS! BEHIND THE SCENES OF "KERMIT'S SWAMP YEARS" Artists in person plus screening of the new film. Mill Valley Fest, Rafael Center, tickets $15 and $12 for kids. Sat. Oct. 12, 9:15 PM Sequoia and Sun. Oct. 13, 8:45 PM Rafael, MICHAEL MOORE'S "BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE" A funny, brilliant, powerful documentary that includes an interview with the creators' of South Park (they grew up near the school that got shot-up) and a long impressive animated segment on the history of gun violence in the USA. It should win lots of praise and awards. Sun. Oct. 13, 10 to noon, HOW'D THEY DO THAT? "STAR WARS" SECRETS REVEALED! Mill Valley Fest, Rafael Center, tickets $10 and $8 for kids. (Our event is free.) Saturday, October 19, 8:30 PM at ATA's Other Cinema. ERIK DAVIS TRIPS OUT! Program notes say, "Filmmakers have long attempted to translate psychedelic visuals (and, less literally, psychedelic experience) into celluloid through special effects, animation and montage. Come join fringe scholar Erik Davis for an evening of trip sequences and psychedelic imagery culled from cult films, experimental cinema, propaganda and mainstream cheese. Kool-aid provided." 902 Valencia in SF. Almost every Saturday night the Other Cinema presents new underground work that is fresh and exciting. It often raises hell or challenges our society. Coming up Nov. 30 is a tribute to the Billboard Liberation Movement (for 25 years they have been changing them to make them politically correct). On Oct. 26 is a show on modern Pagens (work by Miriam Walace, George Kuchar, Charles Gatewood and others). Animation and special effects appear from time to time in some of the works scheduled. Tuesday, October 22, 7:30 PM ALTERNATIVE REQUIREMENTS 2002: EXPERIMENTAL WORKS FROM BAY AREA SCHOOLS The program was selected from work sent in from several Bay Area colleges. Artists in person. At the Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley. Wednesday, October 23, 7:15 PM, ASIFA-SF and SF State's Animation Program presents THE MAKING OF "STAR WARS: EPISODE 2 ATTACK OF THE CLONES" Members of ILM's staff will take us behind-the-scenes and discuss how they used some of their new technology in this amazing digital production. At SF State's August Coppola Theater, Fine Arts 101. Free, everyone welcome.
A FRESH LOOK AT WARNER BROS. CARTOONS. A friend wrote her son, "will be two in a few weeks. He watched his first Bugs Bunny cartoon a few weeks ago, and he loved it! Then, I forced him to watch the first cartoon from WB's newest abomination, Baby Looney Tunes. (ugh) He watched for about five minutes, and then burst into tears and yelled "watch other tape!" He has good taste already..." Baby Looney Tunes. Is a new series on the Cartoon Network. BILL PLYMPTON MAKES INTERNET HISTORY. For the first time in animation history, the public can watch an entire animated feature being drawn before their eyes. On Monday, Sept. 16, Bill Plympton began drawing his new animated feature Hair High live on the Internet. There's a camera over Bill's shoulder, and from 10 am to 6 pm (E.S.T.) every day, you can watch as he single-handedly draws his new animated extravaganza. See it at highhair.com When I got his electronic press release, I clicked on the address and what did I see? First, I saw his fingers! Then I saw a drawing being worked on. He, or somebody with fingers was actually at the other end of the Internet and every 10 or 15 seconds the image changed. Exposures changed suggesting a backlight on his drawing table was turned on as suddenly I could see his rough drawing under the one I had been looking at. Sound exciting? Then go to the above web address and check out this moment in history. MICHAEL DUDOK DE WIT WINS THE GRAND PRIZE AT HIROSHIMA. It also won the festival's audience prize. Father and Daughter has won almost every major prize since it has been released. Other top prizes include the Grand Prize at Annecy in 2001, the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2000, the Grand Prize at Zagreb 2002, the 2001 Cartoon D'or and many others. The Hiroshima Prize was awarded to Suzie Templeton's Dog (UK). No film from the US won an award at Hiroshima 2002. They did show Leslie Iwerks' important documentary about her grandfater, Ub Iwerks.. RAY HARRYHAUSEN FINISHES A FILM STARTED 50 YEARS AGO. His stop-motion The Tortoise and the Hare was previewed at the Academy Little Theater in Beverly Hills on Sept. 27. It was completed by Harryhausen, Seamus Walsh and Mark Caballero. screen-novelties.com DIRECTOR MIKE SMITH JOINS VINTON STUDIOS. He has won lots of awards and recently opened a studio in London with Wild Brain. Now I'm told he is the latest addition to Portland, Oregon-based Vinton Studios. He once worked here at Colossal Pictures and later at Wild Brain. "ILLUMINATION #1" BY ROSE BOND PREMIERED IN SECOND STORY WINDOWS OF A HISTORIC 1881 BUILDING IN PORTLAND. The flyer for the work says it is a multi-projection installation conceived and animated by Rose Bond. Ends Oct. 5, 315 NW 3rd and Davis. BETTY BOOP LOTTERY TICKETS The Connecticut Lottery is hustling Betty Boop Bingo. It appears King Features, who owns rights to Betty, will do almost anything for a buck. Each ticket costs $2 and gives lottery players the opportunity to win cash prizes of up to $10,000. Betty Boop games have also been offered by the Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin lotteries. I hope Zippy can explain to me how Betty's managers can let her be used by the gambling industry. She used to be so virtuous. KC DISNEY SEEMS UNSURE ABOUT "SPIRITED AWAY" BEING A SUCCESS IN THE US, EVEN THOUGH IT BROKE BOX OFFICE RECORDS IN JAPAN. It only opened in 10 cities in North America on September 20th: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Boston, Washington, DC, Seattle, Chicago. The film opens in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, Vancouver and Montreal on Oct. 4. It opened well, grossing about $450,000 in 3 days. ASIFA-NW PRESENTED PUPPET MAN: BILLY JARCHO in Seattle in September. He is an animation director, designer and puppeteer. He was the "Jar" in Olive Jar Animation Studio, which he co-founded with Mark D'Oliveira in Boston in the 1980's. After selling the company, Jarcho moved to the Northwest five years ago, and is currently involved in an art-puppetry movement called Monkey Wrench Puppet Lab. At the ASIFA event he present some of his commercials, IDs for MTV and Nickelodeon, excerpts from Will Vinton Studios' The PJs and several short films. This fall he will teach a master-class in animated short spot production at 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle. <http://www.asifa.net/usa-northwest>www.asifa.net/usa-northwest Their September newsletter lists lots of other animation related events. A student animation celebration in Portland showed work done by over 50 students, grades 5-12, enrolled in classes taught by Sharon Neimczyk. ASIFA-NW will screen the Northwest Animation Festival at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Friday, October 4, 7pm. The program includes Machine Song by Chel White, Thought City by Stefan Gruber, Hike Hike Hike by Anouck Iyer, Salmon in the City by Wendy Jackson Hall, Insect Poetry by Marilyn Zornado, Mallacht Macha by Rose Bond and Reign of the Dog by Ruth Hayes. ASIFA-ATLANTA'S LATEST NEWSLETTER MENTIONS EIGHT ANIMATION STUDIOS IN THEIR AREA. Their clients include the Cartoon Network, Disney, AT&T and a Donald Trump development company. Sarah Fay Krom who studied animation at DeAnza is president of their chapter. Visit them at asifa-atlanta.com ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD, THE ANIMATION GUILD LOCAL 839 AND WOMEN IN ANIMATION PRESENTED "THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY: INDEPENDENT ANIMATION" IN SEPTEMBER The panel discussion covered possibilities that exist for animators who strike out on their own and bring their creative visions to fruition. Piet Kroon, an award winning independent animator of DADA and T.R.A.N.S.I.T., and co-director of Osmosis Jones, moderated. Some of the panelists were Bruce Smith, director of the Warner Bros. feature Space Jam; Charles Zembillas, independent animator and founder of Animation Nation and the Animation Academy; Dave Spafford, owner of Spaff Animation; Sari Gennis (James and the Giant Peach and Fantasia 2000) who is working on an independent production and Mike Nguyen (supervisor on The Iron Giant) who is producing his second independent feature. HOW TO GET AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF HOWARD BECKERMAN'S "ANIMATION, THE COMPLETE STORY" Howard writes, "Tell anyone interested in the book that they can contact me by email: howard.beckerman@gte.net or write to me at the following address: 35-38 169th Street, Flushing, NY 11358. The price is $30.00 plus $3 for postage." "ANIMATED DOCUMENTARIES" AN EVENING WITH SHEILA M. SOFIAN IN LOS ANGELES, coming Wednesday October 23, 7:30 PM, at EZTV, 1629 18th Street (enter off Olympic Blvd.), Santa Monica, free (310) 829-3389 Sofian combines documentary narrative with animated visuals. Her work has been shown throughout the world in festivals and on TV. She is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. At the screening/lecture she will show her recent works exploring domestic violence, the war in Serbia, and other subjects. She is the Chair of the Animation Program at the College of the Canyons. She is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and has a MFA from Cal Arts. PAUL NAAS HAS FOUND TWO VALUABLE ANIMATION WEB SITES He writes, "The first is <http://www.animationproducts.com.>www.animationproducts.com. This site is kind of a clearing-house for news about all things animation - movies, tools, product reviews, etc. It's just getting going, but it's being run by the same guy who runs digitalmediafx.com, and he's a terrific guy. I have a couple of reviews I've written up on the site - one is of the Richard Williams book, and the other is for Toon Boom Studio software." "The other site, <http://www.frankandollie.com.>www.frankandollie.com. is said to be designed and executed by the remaining two "nine old men." This site features "Nilknarf and Revilo", two new characters created by Frank and Ollie. I've only poked around a bit on this site - if F&O really did put this site together, they need some advice on building an efficient website. I have a T3 line here at work, and it still takes the page quite a bit of time to load. Still, it's nice to see a web page by two of the few remaining animators from the golden era." MORE ON THE FLOODS OF PRAGUE FROM GENE DEITCH - THE PRAGUE ANIMATION STUDIO IS SAFE. The studio is managed by Zdenka, Gene Deitch's wife. He writes, it "is up on the hilltop Barrandov movie studio lot, and suffered no flood damage whatever! The animation studio is very high & dry indeed, and up and running normally!" Gene and Zdenka used to live in a building on Mostecka Street. He still has an upstairs one-room studio there for his personal work. It wasn't damaged, but there was flooding in the building's basement. The water ruined seats and carpeting in a movie theater in the building that was built two levels underground. He says for a time the entire street was closed off due to flooding and fears that old structures might not be stable. Several buildings did collapse in Prague due to the floods. Deitch has posted a report on the flooding in the Prague area complete with photos at genedeitch.com MINIATURES OF DANNY DE VITO, JAMES BROWN AND OTHER STARS WERE ANIMATED BY LOOSE MOOSE IN LONDON for a Lipton Brisk commercial. In the ad the characters use baseball bats to destroy a truckload of Brisk. It got a rave review in the magazine Creativity. WHY GO TO THE OTTAWA FESTIVAL, OCTOBER 2-6 By Prescott J. Wright, President Emeritus of ASIFA-San Francisco. I've been attending almost all the ASIFA endorsed festivals since 1965.They are the best venues to see fine selections of animation with appreciative audiences. The competition element adds to the excitement. Today there are only a few venues left where we can see beautiful and intelligent animated films. Master animators and storytellers put their lives and souls into their productions and when that happens, so does Art. There are many fine museums hanging art on walls, but only a few places that honor the fine art of animation. Producing an animation festival is not an easy endeavor. If it is to have good films, good guests and a good audience you must do ads and send out thousands of informational mailings to promote it. People need to know in advance some of the films that will be shown, who will be there, how they can get there, where they can stay and other details. The Ottawa International Animation Festival has many marvelous features. They present several programs at each festival honoring master animators and their work. They present shows of rare work from the first hundred years of animation. There are also seminars, exhibits and a chance to meet a lot of interesting people. Another of Ottawa's fine attractions is their mid-festival picnic. It is a great time for everybody to meet each other to discuss animation. Since this year's festival is in the fall, you may see a magnificent show of color at the picnic site. There are thousands of trees around Ottawa. Having a million dollar budget to produce an exceptional animation festival may not be enough to do an appropriate show today. Ottawa rents The National Arts Centre as it is a great space and it has excellent technicians and equipment. It takes the support of the Canadian government, the National Film Board of Canada, corporate sponsors and others to make it happen. The festival has grown a great deal since I worked with other brothers and sisters of the international animation world to found and promote this festival. I hope I'll see you in Ottawa. Right now SouthWest airline has the cheapest tickets. NorthWest and others have competitive prices. United has several flights a day to and from Ottawa. At Ottawa's airport there are Blue Bird buses out front that can take you to your hotel for a small fee. You may wish to change some money inside the terminal, but local banks will give you a better deal. Right now the US dollar buys you around $1.50 so you may want to do some shopping at the stores facing the theatre complex or at the Sparks Street Mall. Be sure and take business cards, resume and possibly a portfolio reel/tape. You never know. By the way, all Canadians don't say "eh" at the end of a sentence." NIK AND NANCY PHELPS AT THE 9th KROK INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED FILM FESTIVAL by Nancy Phelps. Nik Phelps was honored to perform for the opening night ceremony of the 9th KROK International Film Festival on August 15th at the Dom Kino Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Nik and Nancy brought 35mm films by two Bay Area filmmakers, Rock Ross and Nina Paley, that were screened to Nik's live accompaniment. We were also invited to present a one-and-a-half hour program the next evening on the KROK boat. Since the Sprocket Ensemble was not able to travel to Russia, Nik pre-recorded live performances and accompanied the tape live to the animation. The program was a retrospective of contemporary American animation and featured many fine Bay Area animators including: Jim Swanson, Jason Shiga, Jason Leonard, Marian Wallace, Michael Rudnick, Alphonso Alvarez, Richard Zimmerman, and Victoria Livingston. Even though our program began at 11:45 P.M., it was very well attended and the audience gave the films a great reception. After the show there was a question period that lasted almost an hour, until the translator had to end it because she was exhausted. Nik was honored again with an invitation to perform at the closing night award ceremony on August 22nd at the "American Cinema" theatre of the "Radisson Slavyanskaya" hotel. For this appearance he created and played music to accompany a short film created by young animators over the ten days of the festival on the boat. Nik and Nancy spent many hours on the boat in the screening room watching fabulous animation, some of which we will be bringing back to the States for our Ideas In Animation series. KROK wasn't all work. Almost every night was spent on the top deck playing music, drinking beer, wine, and of course vodka with fellow ship mates until the sun rose over the river. After a brief sleep it was back to the screening room for the 9:30 A.M. competition screenings. There are so many wonderful memories that it is impossible to relate them all or talk about all of the wonderful new friends we have made but here are a couple of highlights. After a night of music by Nik and a wonderful Ukrainian folk guitarist who performed Bob Dylan, Jerry Jeff Walker, etc. in Ukrainian, Nik was made (at sunrise) an honorary Ukrainian because "even though you can't speak the language you have the heart and sole of a Ukrainian." For the first time a non-Russian or Ukrainian group tied for first place in the shipboard Carnival talent contest. The theme was advertising and an international group of 2 Hungarians, an Estonian, a Spanish-Finn, a Russian, a Frenchman, an Australian, and Nik and Nancy walked away sharing top honors with a Russian group for our performance of the Ky Ky (Coocoo) Song. Ky Ky is a brand of Russian condoms. To add to our act we all cross dressed (Nik looked fabulous in one of Nancy's dresses!) Leaving all of our new friends was very hard after the wonderful ten days we shared together. If you would like more information about the KROK Festival and the films screened this year you can visit their website: <http://www.animator.ru.>www.animator.ru. After leaving the ship we spent five days in Moscow (a city we both fell in love with). It is very cosmopolitan, like any major world city, except the language is so very difficult. By the end of our stay we had mastered the Moscow subway system, discovered where to get good coffee, and had spent hours walking and looking at the marvelous architecture. Our friend, Irina Margolina, threw a lovely party and did so much to help make our visit a very memorable one. We are now in Munich visiting our son and daughter-in-law for a few days and then we take off to visit friends from this and last year's KROK around Europe. After a trip up to Belgium we will wind our way through France, Switzerland, Andorra, Spain and finally spend several weeks in Portugal. After Portugal we go to Italy where Nik will perform at the Silent Film Festival in Sacile, Italy on October 13th and 14th. We hope you all have a wonderful autumn. We will return to San Francisco late October in time to start getting ready for Thanksgiving. PS There is no way I can convey in words the fun we had and the warmth and generosity of our Russian and Ukranian hosts --this year we were treated as part of the KROK family and have already been invited back for next year.
COGSWELL POLYTECHNICAL COLLEGE, a WASC accredited institution based in Silicon Valley, is looking for a Chair for the Computer and Video Imaging Department. Offering Bachelor of Arts degrees with specializations in Computer Modeling and Animation, Web Design, Character Design and Game Design, the selected candidate will work effectively with academic administration to achieve institutional goals, as well as be a liaison between CVI and industry. Teaching experience and both strong aesthetic and technical skills are essential. The successful candidate will have attained professional achievement, a graduate degree or equivalent, will possess administrative skills and have experience in undergraduate instruction. Send CV to Jennifer Prugh, Cogswell College, 1175 Bourdeaux Drive, Sunnyvale CA 95089 cogswell.edu Job is open until filled.
LARRY KILTY, A DISNEY ANIMATOR AND LABOR LEADER, DIED He was 80. He died of kidney failure July 3, 2002 in Monterey, California. He was born Aug. 10, 1921, in Minnesota. After serving in the Navy during WWII, he moved to LA where he worked for Walt Disney Studios as an animator on many of the classic Disney productions. After 11 years at Disney he became a business agent for the animators union. He also served on several entertainment industry committees including PBS's Board of Directors. and the Motion Picture Health & Welfare Board. In the 1970's he published poetry, novels, and photography. His real-estate career began in 1976 in Monterey. He is survived by Marti Kilty, his wife of 61 years, and their family. GENE MOSS, WRITER AND VOICE ACTOR DIES AT 75 He was the voice of Smokey the Bear for a 10-year period, he co-wrote the TV cartoon show Roger Ramjet and he co-wrote and hosted the satiric LA television children's show Shrimpenstein in the mid-1960s.
JOB HUNT AND NETWORKING TIPS AWN LAUNCHES THEIR ANIMATION INDUSTRY DATABASE-AIDB.COM It lists thousands of companies in almost 80 countries, making it the most comprehensive, searchable resource of its kind. It is free to look at and free to list! AWN.com also lists jobs as soon as they come in. A list of recent positions is also published in their Spotlight edition that comes out every Thursday. LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ABOUT BAY AREA COMPANIES? VISIT ASIFA-SF.ORG Our web site tries to include everybody, but if you are not on it contact our webmaster for your free listing. We get thousands of hits a month. webmaster@asifa-sf.org If you submit copy, keep it short (100 - 500 words). We can provide a link to your web site if you wish.
JOB HUNTING? A FEW TIPS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR NETWORKING SKILLS These tips were modified from tips intended for scientists. I hope one or more prove useful. KC Start close to home. Practice on friends or family to overcome awkwardness. A career psychologist suggests, "Talking frankly to the boss can be the best thing to do, especially if you're planning to move within the organization." ASIFA-SANFRANCISCO P.O. Box 14516 San Francisco, CA 94114 An original Ren and Stimpy drawing. One of the amazing images that awaits you at the Cartoon Art Museum's new "Superwacy" exhibit. Develop a script/plan. Nail down your approach to the people you need to enlist in your career development. Plan on talking to them about their work. Most animators and animation directors enjoy talking about their work. Get active with ASIFA-SF, go to conferences like SIGGRAPH and get involved with your animation community. When you're friendly and well known it's a lot harder for someone who knows you to say no to you. Give your contacts a time limit. Try asking, "When might we have 10-minutes to talk about working for ILM?" Do your research. Use the Internet, trade publications, conferences and personal contacts to find out what the company does and about people who are important there. Aim high. People in more senior positions often have time and interest in helping others. Seek introductions from credible people who can help you. Call or write first, but meet face-to-face. Some people don't respond to e-mails from strangers. Ask for information, not a job. The most effective way to network is to communicate with professionals in your field of interest as an animator/artist rather than as somebody who is looking for a job. Don't give up. Be persistent and give people a reason to call you back.
IMAGINA 2003. held in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Deadline is November 15, 2002 for Europe's top event for digital images. For rules and information www.imagina.mc ASIFA-SAN FRANCISCO AND SAN FRANCISCO STATE'S ANIMATION PROGRAM PRESENTS THE MAKING OF STAR WARS: EPISODE II "The Attack of the Clones" WITH CHRISTOPHER ALAN ARMSTRONG AND HAL HICKEL, IN PERSON THE FILM'S TWO ANIMATION SUPERVISORS WILL TAKE US BEHIND-THE-SCENES AND EXPLAIN HOW THEY USED ILM'S AMAZING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE A PHOTO-REALISTIC CAST OF THOUSANDS. WHEN: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 7:15 PM COST: FREE, EVERYBODY WELCOME WHERE: AT SF STATE'S AUGUST COPPOLA THEATRE, FINE ARTS BUILDING 101 CHRISTOPHER ALAN ARMSTRONG worked as an Animation Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic on STAR WARS: EPISODE II "The Attack of the Clones" (2002) and GALAXY QUEST (1999). His feature animation credits also include MEN IN BLACK 2 (2002), STAR WARS: EPISODE I "The Phantom Menace" (2000), JACK FROST (1988), FLUBBER (1997), THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (1997), MARS ATTACKS! (1996), DRAGONHEART (1996), CASPER (1994) and THE MASK (1994). He has also worked for LucasArts Games on BOUNTY HUNTER (2002) as a Computer Graphics Animator. He joined ILM's staff in 1993. Prior to joining ILM he worked for several animation companies including Spin Productions, Nelvana and Canimage in Toronto and Hanna-Barbera in Los Angeles. He graduated from the Classical Animation program at Sheridan College, Toronto in 1978. In addition to being an animator, he has held a variety of positions including cameraman, layout/storyboard artist, commercials designer and animation director. Armstrong's work on STAR WARS EPISODE II included the amazing arena battle sequence. HAL T. HICKEL is currently working as the Animation Director of DREAMCATCHER (currently in production, set for a 2002 release) and is in pre-production of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN (set for a 2003 release. He will be the project's Animation Director). He was one of two Animation Supervisors on STAR WARS: EPISODE II "The Attack of the Clones" (2002). He was the Animation Director of A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001), an animator on SPACE COWBOYS (2000), and a lead animator on STAR WARS: EPISODE I "The Phantom Menace." He joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1996 to work as an animator on THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (1997). Hickel attended the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied Film Graphics. Prior to joining ILM, he worked at Will Vinton Studios as a clay animator and motion control operator. In 1994, he worked at Pixar as an animator on TOY STORY. Hickel's work on STAR WARS: EPISODE II included the droid factory and clone war sequences. |
This issue was written by Karl Cohen, Prescott J. Wright, Nancy Phelps and Paul Naas. Mailing crew included Shirley Smith and Laura Tulloss. Copies are part of your $22 local membership from the above address. |
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