The beautiful thing about inspiration is that you never know when it’s going to hit. Case in point – it’s 1989 and I’m working in the equipment checkout room at NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts. The room is where student filmmakers go to borrow the cameras, lights and all the grip stands they’ll need to make their films.

Fantastic Fest will host the world premiere of Disney's "Frankenweenie" on September 20 as the opening night film for the festival in Austin, Texas.

Summer blues bring on a softer mood. This week: "Bubble" (Elliot Dear), "TELEPHONEME" (MK12), "Cherry Blossom Elephant in Forest" (Young-jun Kim/Earth Design Works), "Blue Whale" (Sivan Kidron), "Kali le petit Vampire" (Regina Pessoa)

Eric Fogel, creator of MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch, starts blogging on AWN with a little background on a youth spent at his drafting table creating comic books.

A new trailer has been released for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie. Come October 5th, we'll see how Burton's early live action short translates into a stop-motion feature.

The Friday Five returns with falls, surreal trips, and strange transformations. This week: "Metamorphosis" (BUCK), "38-39°C" (Kangmin Kim), "The Fox" (WINTR), "Black Sun" (Kagemu), "Junkyard" (Hisko Hulsing)

Aardman Animation’s “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” arrives on Blu-ray 3D/DVD Combo Pack, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and DVD on August 28.

Elastic director Andy Hall takes top honors in the Advertising/Promotional Film category at the Annecy International Film Festival for his work on the Red Cross holiday gift donation campaign.

Boinx Software’s iPad app just updated with a new theater featuring the best of user videos, integration with iCloud, better image quality through Exposure and White Balance customization, and more.

Nickelodeon releases a trailer for the network’s first full-length stop-motion animated special, “It’s A SpongeBob Christmas!”