Celebrated Canadian animator Ryan Larkin has created his first original material in almost 30 years exclusively for MTV. Nine months after MTV in Canada launched with a series of branding IDs inspired by Larkin's work, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker has created three, original, animated IDs for MTV. As a Christmas present to the elusive genius, Larkin's five-second bumpers will be the only channel IDs to air on MTV on Dec. 25-26, 2006.
"We are honoured that Larkin agreed to create some original animations for MTV," said Peter Moller, creative director, MTV in Canada. "When we launched MTV in Canada earlier this year, we wanted to create a Canadian interpretation of the MTV brand. We designed several channel IDs based on Larkin's world-famous animations as a nod to Canada's artistic and creative heritage. To have some original designs by the Ryan Larkin appearing on our channel is absolutely amazing!"
"It was a great pleasure working for MTV," said Larkin. "They gave me full artistic control over these little ciné-bumpers. If you're wondering what a ciné-bumper is, think of it as that five-second space between you and the next car. They're little wedges that help programmers shuffle their shows. I had fun and I'm proud to be a part of the MTV creative team."
A world class animator and filmmaker, Larkin was a rising star in the world of animation in the 1970s. He began working for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) at the age of 19 and it was there that he created his most-famous films, WALKING, for which he received an Oscar nomination, as well as STREET MUSIQUE, SYRINX and CITYSCAPE. In 2005, Larkin was the subject of the animated film RYAN, by Christopher Landreth, which won Landreth an Oscar for Best Animated Short. Larkin is working on his new animation film SPARE CHANGE, about his experience as a panhandler on the Main in Montreal, Quebec.
Available for viewing now at MTV.ca, the channel IDs will appear in regular rotation in the New Year.
MTV in Canada is a Canadian programmed and managed business wholly owned by CTV Inc., a division of Bell Globemedia Inc. MTV offers a distinctly Canadian interpretation of the MTV brand across multiple platforms, including a revolutionary broadband service, MTV Overdrive, and across an MTV-branded analog specialty service that delivers innovative lifestyle, talk and documentary programming with a commitment to 71% Canadian programming in primetime. The MTV business is powered by an alliance between CTV, Canada's #1 television brand and MTV Networks, the world's most valuable media brand. MTV in Canada is one of 50 MTV-branded services worldwide serving 171 territories around the world.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
