I'm sitting here in the KLM lounge in Toronto waiting for my flight to Paris so I can make my connection to Rome where I'm on the jury of this year's I Castelli Animati.

At the entrance door to this lounge is a reproduction of Rembrandt's "Night Watch." How ironic. Rembrandt died pretty much a pauper, rejected by the cognizenti and collectors who hungered after work that was more fashionable. It wasn't always like that for Rembrandt. His work was popular in years previous. But fashion changed, while he stuck to his vision.

For everyone used to the grandeur and immense scale of the U.S. SIGGRAPH, it is important to explain that the inaugural SIGGRAPH Asia in Singapore is planned to be much smaller. ACM has taken a big risk in bringing the conference abroad, no one could be certain if it would work. With the last conference day still ahead of us I would already like to call the show a success. From what I see and hear, everybody seems happy at SIGGRAPH Asia in Singapore. The exhibition floor is busy; the quality of talks is as high as we are used to, the Electronic Theater has been praised for its quality selection, and whether speaking with SIGGRAPH Committee members or attendees, everyone notes the intimate feeling, “stars” of the community become more approachable and there is a family flair in the air.

Special projects like Ultramarines are keeping animators animating.

OIAF’s Chez Ani Café was transformed from a peaceful koffeeklatch to the crowded, boisterous AniMarket as throngs of job-hungry animators jostled to get in line and chat up recruiting companies.

Exhibitors included Walt Disney, Rainmaker, Nelvana, Pipeline Studios, Starz and Studio B, as well as such schools as Algonquin College, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Sheridan College, Carleton University Interactive Media and Design, Vancouver Film School and Durham College.

VFX producer Randy Starr

Last Saturday the VES hosted its third annual Production Summit, this time at the quaint Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. Despite all about VES 2.0 and the Bill of Rights to help facilitate quality of life improvements for artists and VFX companies, the purpose was to address the paradigm shift going on and to discuss better biz practices.

The latest wrinkle was starting with a series of breakfast roundtable discussions, ranging from animation trends and open source development/trends to partnering with international companies to the challenges of 3-D stereo, 48-60fps, digital color.

SIGGRAPH winner - Wojciech Matusik

Well, there’s been a lot of anticipation and curiosity about SIGGRAPH returning to New Orleans (or Nola), not only since this marks the first major conference since Katrina but also because of the severity of the downturn. Yes, attendance may be sparse, but, you know what? A light turnout is in keeping with the quaint vibe here. And, despite the predictable heat and humidity, it’s not as bad as I remember growing up in nearby Ocean Springs, Mississippi (near Biloxi) back in the early '70s. And this new Convention Center (though very long) is beautiful, clean and easy to navigate -- so far.

This wonderful building becomes like Everest after three days.

written by Johannes Wolters

Okay, there is one minor flaw in fmx. I had to go through three days of fmx09, but then I found it. Or better it found me. The house of commerce, this big old wonderful building, where fmx is placed is a truly great place for all the things going on. But the event has now conquered four floors of the place and every floor has very high walls. So if you want to run downstairs and upstairs to catch your next meeting, to get to your next discussion, whatever, you climbed in the end all together the Everest. Or at least your legs begin to revolt. So on the last day of fmx you notice more and more people (and not only the elderly ones), who take the elevators, a little bit hidden and a little bit slow. But that’s the only flaw I have found on this years edition of fmx. I have to admit this stairs-sport is also very healthy. May be not, with all the coffee you need to drain every piece of information from this awesome conference. Again the creators of the fmx, Renata and Thomas Haegele topped the event from last year and again the numbers of attendees increased. Again more and internationally renowned speakers came to Stuttgart, again for four days the sunny town became animator’s land And that in those dark and gloomy times of worldwide economic crisis. And I did not discover one unhappy face during all those days. Must be heaven!

It's standing room only at GDC.

The Game Developer Conference, also known as GDC, is the end-all be-all event of the year for game developers. You’ll find no fan-boys here! Once a year thousands of developers, students, and press descend upon Moscone Center in San Francisco for a weeklong chance to network, learn, and most importantly, play.

MIPTV is always a draw, but how has the economy affected this marketplace?

Wow, was it easier to get from meeting to meeting this past MIPTV. Considerably smaller in scale both booth wise and in attendance, it was a noticeably quieter MIPTV. “Yeah, well, this is what it looks like when several trillion dollars disappears overnight…” a seasoned market-goer told me. While there is no denying that the world is in the midst of a major fiscal re-order, a lot of the people at MIP weren’t necessarily crying the panicked, frantic song they were at last fall’s MIPCOM. The sky is no longer falling, business is just slow…really slow. “I am only here for a few days and only meeting with the people that I might actually do business with,” I heard over and over. I also heard, across the board, in every meeting, the words, “new media” and “diversify.” New media is the given, with not only producers unveiling elaborate cross-platform ideas with every pitch, but also a number of new players coming to the event and starting some interesting, brain-bending conversations. And “diversify” came into play as players scramble to have as many arrows in their quivers as possible to stay afloat. An animation producer with a new board game? An animation company plunging into live-action? A television producer suddenly pitching a feature? An animation production house moving into online world creation? ‘Why not!’ is the attitude right now. When times are slow, you have to start thinking of other places to sell.

Walt Disney was just one of the big studios at this year's CTN-X.

Now in its third year, CTN Expo has gotten over some of its growing pains. Gone was the hectic chaos that was last year's event, replaced with the efficiency that so impressed in its inaugural year. Los Angeles has been in need of a quality animation gathering and this fills the bill nicely.