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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 4.1 - April 1999

Events

An Animator's Retreat. The 7th annual ASIFA Central Midwest Animator's Conference & Retreat takes place from April 30 through May 2 in the heart of Starved Rock State Park (Utica, Illinois). The event brings together an informal group of attendees to hear featured speakers, view animation and discuss various aspects of the animation business. Also included on the agenda is a Bar-B-Que, nature hikes and a chance to swim in an indoor pool or relax in a hot tub. The Retreat also features "The Helen Victoria Haynes World Peace Storyboard & Animation Scholarship Competition" designed to encourage student animators. To sponsor, present, volunteer, or receive general information on the event, send e-mail to morgpk@aol.com or call (773) 233-9397 ext. 9.

Star Wars F/X Artists To Reveal Their Secrets. The Visual Effects Society (VES) is presenting the first-ever "VES '99: A Festival of Visual Effects," which will take place June 4-6 at the Leonard Goldenson Theater of the Television Academy. The event is designed to provide an annual platform for sharing creativity and common interests in the production of visual effects for the entertainment industry. The three-day program includes a series of seminars presented by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Jim Henson's Creature Workshop and Sony Pictures Imageworks among others. No doubt, a major highlight for many will be speakers from the production crew of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - Dennis Muren, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor; Rob Coleman, Animation Supervisor; and John Knoll and Scott Squires, Visual Effects Supervisors. Following each of their presentations, a film (e.g. War Of The Worlds) that influenced them to enter the visual effects field will be screened. Another special event is a presentation by the legendary Ray Harryhausen (Mighty Joe Young, Clash Of The Titans). Tickets are available to VES members as well as VES Member Companies. In addition, members of LA SIGGRAPH, the American Society of Cinematographers, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Directors, and other visual effects/production organizations may purchase tickets. The remaining seats will go on sale to the general public in April and May. Visit www.vesmem.org or call (818) 789-7083 for further details.

Last Month in Animation
The following is a list of events which took place since the last issue of Animation World Magazine was published. These listings are published weekly in the Animation Flash, a newsletter which is distributed by e-mail. Subscribe now! Are there animation events going on in your area? Share your regional event news with the international readers of the Animation Flash! Please send announcements to editor@awn.com, at least eight days in advance.

* Friday, February 19 - Friday, February 26. Santa Clarita, California, USA.
The week-long Santa Clarita International Film Festival (SCIFF) took place at Edwards Cinemas, Valencia Town Center. Director/animator Chuck Jones received the 1999 SCIFF "Friz Award" for Lifetime Achievement in Animation and had a selection of his cartoons screened on February 19 at 2:15 p.m. Animated films shown included The Dirt on Mom (Aberle Films), The Blue Shoe (FableVision Studios), A Weekend With Wendell (Weston Woods Studios) and When the Stars Came Dreaming (Will Vinton Studios) among others. For additional information on tickets and schedules, visit http://www.sciff.org or call the SCIFF hotline at (805) 257- 3131.

Animation World Magazine profiled the production of The Blue Shoe in our April `98 issue in "Once Upon a Napkin...The Blue Shoe" by Marcy Gardner.

* Wednesday, February 24. Rochester, New York, USA.
The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) presented their Winter MFA Animation Screening at 7:00 p.m. in the Carlson Auditorium on the RIT campus. The screening was open to all and included screenings of the winter quarter projects and thesis films. For more information, e-mail mkspph@rit.edu or call (716) 475-2754.

* Wednesday, February 24. Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Animaction presented the ninth annual TEAM (Tobacco Education Awareness Message) Awards. The ceremony, which took place from 7 to 9 p.m., included live entertainment and a screening of the award-winning public service announcements (PSA's) created by L.A. area middle school students. Klasky-Csupo founder Arlene Klasky was a presenter. The event took place at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus and was free to the public. For additional information, call Clifford Cohen at (310) 455-9912 or e-mail workshops@animaction.com.

* Thursday, February 25 - Wednesday, March 3. San Jose, California, USA.
The week-long Cinequest San Jose Film Festival IX took place with numerous screenings and special events. Among the events were "PDI Presents: The Making of Antz" and a screening dedicated to recent animated shorts. For additional information visit www.cinequest.org or call (408) 295-3378 for tickets.

* Saturday, February 27. Los Angeles, California, USA.
The Scriptwriters Network annual "Breaking the TV Barrier" conference took place from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Among the numerous panels were the animation writer's panel, which was composed of Alan Burnett (New Batman And Superman Adventures), Larry Wilmore (The PJs), Johnny Hardwick (King of the Hill), Larry Doyle (The Simpsons) and Gordon Bressack (Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys). Tickets to the day-long event were $50 for Writers Guild of America members and students while members of the Scriptwriters Network and Women in Film payed $20. Registration forms are available by visiting http://scriptwritersnetwork.com or calling (323) 848-9477. Questions can be directed to the Scriptwriters Network Animation Chairman Charles Meyer at aj718@lafn.org.

Computer-generated artwork from School of Visual Arts' students was exhibited in the "Animation Stills" show. © Kyunghwa Park.

* Wednesday, March 3 - Saturday, March 20. New York, New York, USA.
"Animation Stills," an exhibition of work from three School of Visual Arts students, Kyunghwa Park, Thossaporn Poonnart and Rodney Zacarias, took place at SVA Eastside Gallery. An opening reception was held on March 3 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Stills from their work, created using Alias, Maya and Photoshop, were exhibited.

* Friday, March 5 - Saturday, March 6. Glendale, California, USA.
ASIFA-Hollywood hosted its 6th Annual Animation Expo on March 5-6, 1999, in Glendale, California. The Expo was a two day animation industry trade show focusing on the exhibition of animation related products and services and the recruitment of related talent and personnel. The Expo included numerous exhibitors, including Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, Hanna-Barbera and Alias|Wavefront, among others. Also offered were numerous seminars and panels, lead by industry insiders that discussed such topics as: Voice Acting, Writing for Animation, Understanding Animation Contracts, Storyboarding, the feature animation process, the television animation process, as well as advice on getting a job, portfolios, resumes, reels, agents and lawyers! Dates and times were Friday, March 5, 9 am - 5 pm; Saturday, March 6, 9 am - 4 pm. For more info, contact Jean Wright at (818) 842-8330 or visit the ASIFA-Hollywood web site at www.asifa-hollywood.org.

During the expo, AWN's Dan Sarto presented "Trends for the New Millennium: Animation on the Internet." From streaming video to Macromedia Flash and beyond, a panel of leading animators and industry experts discussed what lies in store for the creation and distribution of animation on the Internet. In addition, the panel covered the leading tools and techniques of today that are laying the groundwork and helping shape the exciting possibilities of tomorrow. Panelists included Brad deGraf, Protozoa; Dave McFarland, DNA Studio; Shelley McIntyre, Real Networks and Buzz Potamkin, Project X. The panel took place Saturday, March 6, 1999 at 1 p.m. at the Glendale Community College, Room CM.121. AWN also exhibited at the Expo.

* Sunday, March 7. Universal City, California, USA.
Career Boot Camp, presented by the L.A. Chapter's of SIGGRAPH and Women in Animation, was a one-day intensive computer animation-geared event taking place Sunday, March 7 from 9-5 p.m. at the Universal Hilton in Universal City, California. The program was designed to inform people interested in breaking into the computer animation and visual effects industries. The opening keynote speaker was PDI chairman and founder Carl Rosendahl. Registration prices were $45 students, $60 members, $75 non-members. For more information or to register, contact the L.A. SIGGRAPH Chapter at (310) 288-1148 or visit www.siggraph.org/chapters/los_angeles/supp/bootcamp.

* Monday, March 8. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
The Association of Northern Animators (ANA) hosted a celebration of women's animation on March 8 (International Women's Day) at the Telegraph Hotel. The evening included screenings and discussion of women's films produced in the region. Female animators from the Northeast UK region whose films were shown included Candy Guard (Pond Life) and Sarah Kennedy (Crapston Villas). For further details, e-mail alys.hawkins@unn.ac.uk or contact Yvonne Scott at (0191) 265 4932.

Read Jill McGreal's article "Out of the Animation Ghetto: Clare Kitson and Her Muffia," which features interviews with Candy Guard and Sarah Kennedy, in the May 1996 issue of Animation World Magazine.
http://www.awn.com/magazines/animation-world-magazineissue1.2/articles1.2/mcgreal1.2.html

* Wednesday, March 10. San Jose, California, USA.
"Filmmakers and Animators Evening at the Tech," a Bay Area industry gathering designed to help local members of the large format film industry and animation community, took place at The Tech Museum of Innovation starting at 7:00 p.m. The evening included a reception and screening of large format animated shorts including Mark Osborne's MORE, Jules Engel's Aviary, Don MacBain's Fire and Barbel Neubauer's Sky; followed by a screening of the live-action IMAX film, Everest. To RSVP, call Judith Rubin at (510) 595-9664 or e-mail shmata@compuserve.com.

The March 1999 issue of Animation World Magazine features an article by Judith Rubin on the expansion of animation into the large format world, "Coming of Age: Large Screen Formats."

* Wednesday, March 10 - Sunday, March 14. Tampere, Finland.
The 29th Tampere International Short Film Festival featured competitive screenings of over 80 short films from around the world. The special screenings included retrospectives of Frédéric Back and Pat O'Neill, a look at Russian animation in the '90s and screenings of five children's films such as Lotte Reiniger's 1926 film Adventures Of Prince Achmed and the Iranian puppet animation film, Basaaritarinoita. For ticket information direct your browser to http://www.tampere.fi/festival/film/index2.htm.

This issue of Animation World Magazine includes a profile of the Tampere Film Festival by Heikki Jokinen.

* Monday, March 15 - Friday, March 19. San Jose, California, USA.
The 13th annual week-long Game Developers Conference '99 took place at the San Jose Conference Center. A multitude of seminars and roundtables took place in six different areas: Audio, Business & Legal, Game Design, Production, Programming, and Visual Arts. Other events included a large exhibition floor, The Game Developer 1999 Front Line Awards, the First Annual Independent Games Festival, and the GAMEXecutive Conference. Among the keynotes were Bernard Stolar, president and COO of Sega of America, Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, and Zelda, and world renowned illustrator Syd Mead. For details visit www.gdconf.com.

* Tuesday, March 16. San Jose, California, USA.
The Performance Animation Society and the Game Developers Conference presented "Evolving Humans for Games," an evening that took a look at the next wave of tools that are enabling game developers to add photorealistic humans and 3D objects to their game environments. The meeting, at the San Jose Conference Center, took place from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. and is open to everybody. For more information visit www.pasociety.org/gdc.

* Monday, March 22. San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Ideas in Animation presented "Nik Phelps and the Sprocket Ensemble" - an evening of live music set to contemporary animation, as well as live performances. Artists that had new animated films screened include Rock Ross, Michael Rudnick, Colin Manning, David Michalak and Devon Damonte. Special musical guests who performed along with the Sprocket Ensemble were Cindy Rae and Industrial Light & Magic artist Lorelei David. Two shows - 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. - took place at the Minna Street Gallery. For information and reservations, call the Sprockets Ensemble at (415) 681-3189.

* Thursday, March 25. Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.
DH Institute of Media Arts (DHIMA) had a year-end exhibit/screening of works from graduating and current students starting at 7:00 p.m. Demo reels and current projects were shown, and visitors enjoyed beer, wine, snacks and music throughout the evening. Past DHIMA graduates have gone on to work at companies such as Digital Domain, SEGA, Namco and Alias|Wavefront. For info, call (310) 899-9377 or e-mail rsvp@dhima.com.

* Wednesday, March 31. Burbank, California, U.S.A.
Tom Sito and author Jerry Beck (The 50 Greatest Cartoons, Warner Bros. Animation Art) presented ASIFA-Hollywood's "Banzai! Animation and the Pacific War," a series of World War II animated propaganda films from both sides of the Pacific. A rare copy of Mituyo Seo's feature-length Japanese animated film Momotaro's God Blessed Seas Warriors (1944) and the short Spider And The Tulipan (1943) were shown along with such wartime shorts as Friz Freleng's Bugs Bunny Nips The Nips and Famous Studio's You're A Sap, Mr. Jap. The event started at 7:30 p.m. Tickets were $5 in advance or $7 at the door. For additional information, call (818) 842-8330.

* Through April 24. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
A selection of personal paintings and production pieces from the collection of UPA artist and experimental animator Jules Engel will be exhibited at the Tobey Moss Gallery (7321 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036) through April 24. Also included in the exhibit are his sculptures and paintings from Disney's Fantasia. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For additional information, call (323) 933-5523.

Jules Engel, head of the experimental animation program at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), will discuss his teaching techniques in the May 1999 issue of Animation World Magazine.

Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.