Review: 'A Monster In Paris' at LAAF
Part musical, part action, all comedy, A Monster in Paris is a fun, yet convoluted, Disneyesque animated feature.
Animated Travels
Have The Annies Become Relevant Again?
If you asked me whether the Annies had become irrelevant a few years ago, I, and many in and around the animation industry, would have quickly said, yes. But see what a few years have done. The Disney boycott really forced the hand of ASIFA and put them into a position to fix the problems many had been complaining about for years. Moves such as keeping Annie voting to professionals and forming the member's favorite category for the larger membership have gone a long way in bringing a sense of legitimacy back to the long running awards show.
2012 Kidscreen Summit: Key Market For Those That Hustle
To get the most out of KidScreen, you need to set up as many meetings as you can ahead of time and on the fly with other delegates and/or companies. In order to have meetings, you need to have something to talk about and that's usually a property you'd like to pitch or an idea of what you'd like to option with which you'd like to partner. The opportunities are there, but dance cards fill up quickly.
Feb 4, 2012 at 7 pm PST - Live Stream of 2012 Annie Awards!
Join us for the Annies Awards - watch the live stream from Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA, in Los Angeles, California - 7 pm PST on Saturday, February 4th, 2012!
Become a SIGGRAPH 2012 Student Volunteer
Are you science? Are you art? Do you daydream of computations or calculate in creativity? Are you a student? If so, you will find yourself right at home at SIGGRAPH 2012. Science and art will come together in one outstanding international conference to explore computer graphics and interactive techniques from both points of view, and YOU can be a part of it!
A NORDIC – BALTIC ADVENTURE - Fredrikstad Animation Festival
For five days every year the historic town of Fredrikstad, Norway becomes the center of Nordic/Baltic animation. The festival brings in an illustrious roster of names from the international animation community and this year was no exception.
Asia Television Forum 2011: An Animation Creation Hotbed
If you’re from South East Asia, China, Japan or Korea, Singapore’s modern architectural skylines may not wow you as much as a Westerner. And I imagine, if you are from the region, the proliferation and impact of Asia’s animation production isn’t news to you either. After all, Asia’s “animation moon” has been full and shining brightly for many years, decades even for some countries.
SIGGRAPH Technical Papers – More Evidence of My Downfall
If you wish further evidence of your own lack of smartness, sit through a SIGGRAPH technical paper Fast Forward presentation. This was not your typical gathering of wily-old geezer scientists in smocks and meerschaum pipes, ruefully rubbing their beards while thoughtfully using 10 sentences to explain things where one sentence would completely suffice.
On The Road to SIGGRAPH ASIA 2011
18 hours in planes, 8 hours in airports, 2 hours in shuttles, all in the quest for a chance to meet some of Asia’s brightest computer graphic technologists and to once again eat roast pork overlooking the majestic Hong Kong harbor. A worthy goal, I must say.
Review: 18th KROK International Festival of Animation
In Ukrainian, KROK means “step”, but to animators, KROK means watching animation, making music, dancing and meeting friends, both old and new. For me KROK is summer camp for animators and the best ten days of my life every year.
CTN-X: A Student's Perspective
CTNX is for the young and hungry, boasting a crowd of current students and the recently graduated, who are looking at an angle into their beloved, but notoriously tough, contemporary animation industry. There’s no doubt the event will keep on drawing in professionals, studios, and students, but it remains to be seen whether it can live up to high expectations. Seeing young talent engage with their idols, and feeling their way into a field they are clearly passionate about, is where CTN truly shines.
CTN-X Is Back in Its Third Year
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.
Review: ANIMATION VOLDA 2011
ANIMATION VOLDA is a unique festival run by animation students at Volda University College in Norway. Volda is a town of roughly 7,000 people of which 3,000 are students and the festival is primarily for students and festival guests.
Workshops and Masterclasses Set for VIEW Conference
Weta Digital’s Wayne Stables, Digital Domain’s Eric Nash, Pixar's Sharon Calahan, ILM's Scott Farrar, ILM's Roger Guyett, DNeg's Gavin Graham and PDI Founder Glenn Entis are some of the speakers slated to present next week at VIEW, Italy's largest computer graphics conference.
Digital Domain's Erik Nash to Present Real Steel at VIEW Conference
In a surprise addition to an already powerful roster of speakers lined up for the VIEW Conference, October 25 to 28, overall visual effects supervisor Erik Nash from Digital Domain has chosen to give the world’s first presentation of that studio’s work at VIEW Conference.
CTN is Bringin' it On to Pass it On - One Artist at a Time!
Coming November 18-20, 2011 to Burbank, California, CTN brings you a variety of business, creative, technical and inspirational presenters from various walks of life to reaffirm that CTN-X as that jewel in the crown, that "one of a kind" show where we get to rise out of the production trenches for 3 whole days to experience visual stimulation, fantastic connections and powerful inspiration.
World's First Tintin Presentation coming to VIEW Conference
Wayne Stables, visual effects supervisor at Weta Digital for Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin has chosen to give the world’s first presentation of that studio’s work on the film at the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy.
Paradigm Shifting at the VES Production Summit
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.
Financing Sparks Fly At Europe’s Cartoon Forum
An upbeat Cartoon Forum, recently ended September 16th in Sopot, Poland- seems to have made a tremendous impact on the European animation business scene.Sixty-six new animation series from 19 European countries were presented to over 800 participants at this year’ three-day event. “The best Cartoon Forum in years” reverberates in post-Forum conversations with broadcasters, co-producers, distributors, investors and creators. It’s unanimous. Everyone loved Poland, and has had little time to go home and catch their collective breaths before heading to Cannes, France.
Final Thoughts on Ottawa 2011
The festival brings together everything uniquely interesting about the animation industry. Art, commerce, tattoos, the best and worst of kids cartoons, unintelligible films from Asia, alcohol, great student films and big studios walking hand in hand with little studios, agreeing they'll refrain from poaching talent except at the parties. The Ottawa festival brings together big and small, have and have not, legend and newbie together in a unique way - cozy, intimate, unpretentious, inviting.
Ottawa 2011 – Scenes From The Closing Ceremonies
Another OIAF Grand Prix gets awarded, another Phil Mulloy feature takes top prize, another grumbling voice can be heard complaining about the winners. Much like the start of Ontario’s moose hunting season, which I watched in awe Sunday on a TV at the back of a bar, as the Nelvana Grand Prix is announced, "second-guessing the judging" season once again begins in the province. Hopefully, you won’t see too many animators hanging upside down, suspended from a crane over the bloody bed of a pickup truck. But you never know.
Ottawa 2011 – I Feel So Old
The Animator’s Picnic is inspired event programming – stop all proceedings, go to a park, eat, drink, see and be seen. On this unseasonably beautiful Autumn day, as I gaze out on the crowd of young animators, I can’t help but think…I feel so old. Nothing like a large gathering of energetic young hipsters, free from the burdens of metabolic decline and hearing loss, to remind you just what a sorry-ass geez you are. The crowd gets younger, the walk to the Bytowne Cinema gets longer and no amount of Advil or Scotch can change that. Sometimes I wonder, if I start talking to a young female animation student, am I perceived as someone who has something useful to say, or just a perve? Can one be both?
Ottawa 2011 – And So It Begins…Again
I know it must be Ottawa Animation Festival time because it’s been roughly a year since my last verbal manhandling by an airport customs agent. Happy Anniversary! I seem to be a magnet for every disaffected flak vested agent looking to brush up on their 12-step time mismanagement drill.
Action On Film International Film Festival Screens Over 500 Films
I recently was introduced to Action On Film International Film Festival located in Pasadena by my friend, Alex Ballar.
At MIFA the Movement for Creator Driven Contents Begins to Spread Abroad
US networks like CN, Nick and Disney have been producing creator driven shows for years. With few exceptions, it is a fairly new approach abroad. At the Annecy International Animated Film Festival this year, it was apparent that this method is starting to catch on abroad and regional channels from US studios like CN and Disney have been leading the charge.
