Bill Plympton's "Idiots' Diary"

The Idiots' Diary is a bi-weekly, in-depth look at the distribution process of an Indy film, Idiots & Angels. Written by Indy King Bill Plympton, it's a "warts and all" look at the travails of animation distribution on a shoe string budget as he takes the on the big guys: DreamWorks, Pixar and Disney.

Mr. Plympton is considered the King of Indie Animation and is the only person to hand draw an entire animated feature film.

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he graduated from Portland State University in Graphic Design. Bill Plympton moved to New York City in 1968. He began his career creating cartoons for publications such as New York Times, National Lampoon, Playboy and Screw.

In 1987 he was nominated for an Oscar® for his animated short Your Face. In 2005, Bill received another Oscar® nomination, this time for a short film Guard Dog. Push Comes to Shove, another short film, won the prestigious Cannes 1991 Palme d'Or.

After producing many shorts that appeared on MTV and Spike and Mike's, he turned his talent to feature films. Since 1991 he's made 9 feature films, 6 of them, The Tune, Mondo Plympton, I Married A Strange Person, Mutant Aliens, Hair High and Idiots and Angels are all animated features.

Idiots’ Diary #24: Surprises with the Academy Shortlist

Posted In | Blog Categories: Awards | Site Categories: Awards, Short Films

Several weeks ago, I went to the Academy screening of all the eligible animated shorts – about 30 films. It's held at the N.Y. Academy screening room (The Lighthouse) and is attended by all or most of the Academy members living in the Northeast area. Members even come down from Canada.  It's one of my favorite events, because often I discover films I've never seen before and I always have a film that I'm trying to get nominated.

Idiots’ Diary #23: I&A Plays in Chicago

Posted In | Blog Categories: Indie Distribution, Indie Cinema | Site Categories: Business, Films

 

A shot from Idiots & Angels

 

In the third of my trifecta of “Idiots and Angels” theatrical release appearances, I made a trip to Chicago, where it played at the wonderful Music Box Cinema.  Three years ago, Gabe Levinson brought me to the Music Box to run a rough cut of the work in progress to help me make the final cut.  It was wonderfully helpful and important.

Idiots’ Diary #22: The Oscar Qualification Gauntlet

Posted In | Blog Categories: Awards | Site Categories: 2D, Awards, Films

 

A shot from Idiots & Angels
A shot from Idiots & Angels.

 

The most important work for me is the awards season for my two qualifying films, The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger and of course Idiots and Angels. I feel very strongly that “I&A” is my best feature yet, and it has a good shot at winning some prizes this season. So I've decided to enter it in all the competitions: The Gotham Awards (it didn't get in), The Spirits, The Annies, The Golden Globes, and of course, the Oscars.

The big problem with the Oscars is that if there are more than 15 films qualifying, then the number of nominations expands from 3 films to 5. Obviously, with 5 films I have a much better shot, like Secret of the Kells last year.  But with only 3 films nominated, they usually go to the Hollywood Blockbusters.

Idiots’ Diary #21: This is Depressing

Posted In | Blog Categories: Indie Distribution, Indie Cinema | Site Categories: Films
I'm still in LA and I talked to Greg Laemmle of the Laemmle Cinema and he's not very happy. Because of the lack of review for Idiots and Angels in the L.A. Times. The box office is way down, so Greg decided to pull the film after this Thursday. What a disaster!

Idiots' Diary #20: What's With the LA Times?

Posted In | Blog Categories: Indie Distribution, Indie Cinema | Site Categories: Business, Events, Films
It’s Friday, Oct. 29. I’m in Los Angeles for the premiere of I&A (Idiots and Angels). It opens tonight and I’m not a very happy camper. Even though the L.A. Weekly gave my film a wonderful review and a great article, the all-important L.A. Times refused to review the film!

Idiots’ Diary #20: On To Los Angeles

Posted In | Blog Categories: Indie Distribution, Indie Cinema | Site Categories: Business, Films

 

A shot from Idiots & Angels
A shot from Idiots & Angels.

 

Now that “I&A” is a success in New York's IFC Cinema, I have to recreate the same excitement and box office in LA.  It's opening on October 29th at the Laemmle Cinema for a one week run that will hopefully be held over for another week (it's played three weeks in New York).

Idiots' Diary #19: Idiots & Angels Held Over at the IFC in New York!

Posted In | Blog Categories: Indie Distribution, Indie Cinema | Site Categories: Business, Films

 

A shot from Idiots & Angels
A shot from Idiots & Angels.

 

Yeah! Idiots and Angels was held over at the IFC by popular demand!

This is what I dreamed of. All those distributors who rejected “Idiots and Angels” now must realize that there is an audience for an adult animated film. People want to see mature and provocative ideas in cartoons.

Idiots’ Diary #18: The Imperfect Storm

Posted In | Blog Categories: PR | Site Categories: Business, Films

 

A shot from Idiots & Angels
A shot from Idiots & Angels.

 

Call it “Crazy Week” or “The Imperfect Storm”. It seems like everything is happening at once. First of all, in my studio, I'm trying to finish a low-budget commercial for an accounting firm. Then I'm working on animation for John Leguizamo' new feature, “Fugly”. Plus, I'm right in the very critical last week of sending my new Rizzoli art book, “Independently Animated: Bill Plympton”, off to the printers in China.

Idiots’ Diary #17: The Morning After

Posted In | Blog Categories: PR, Indie Distribution, Indie Cinema | Site Categories: 2D, Business, Films

 

A shot from Idiots & Angels
A shot from Idiots & Angels.

 

So, it's the morning after the grand premiere of “Idiots and Angels” at the IFC Center. It was a wonderful evening, lots of old friends and a lot of new fans of Plymptoons.

I can't say it was a smashing success; even though we had good crowds for both evening shows we didn't have a sell-out, and that's the dream of every filmmaker: A nice fat “sold out” sign over the box office window.

Idiots’ Diary #16: The Film Reviews Start Arriving – Demented Moral Fantasy Indeed!

Posted In | Blog Categories: Indie Distribution, Indie Cinema | Site Categories: 2D, Business, Films
It's a crazy day – besides being the day Idiots and Angels premieres at the IFC Center, it's also the day that all the reviews come out. So briskly, at 6AM, I eagerly go to my local magazine shop and buy all the papers...