NFB’s Hothouse Program For Emerging Animators Goes Geek

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgPress Release from National Film Board of Canada

Montreal, December 15, 2011 - Got an idea for an animation project created with new technologies? For its eighth year, the National Film Board of Canada’s Hothouse program is issuing a call for submissions for emerging animators across Canada, one that will feature an emphasis on digital technologies and a Genie-winning animator as mentoring director.

Hothouse offers new filmmakers, creative programmers and artists intrigued by animation art a 12-week paid apprenticeship at the NFB’s Oscar-winning Animation Studio in Montreal, where they can create their own short work with help from animation and digital media experts, as well as top-notch NFB technical and post-production personnel.

This year, the mentoring director for Hothouse is Theodore Ushev, whose 2010 film Lipsett Diaries received the Genie Award for Best Animated Short. He’ll be joined by associate producer Jelena Popovic and producer Michael Fukushima, who founded the Hothouse program in 2003 with former Animation Studio executive producer David Verrall.

Called “Sheep Dreams,” this eighth edition of Hothouse is designed for creators who are looking to use emerging tools and technologies, and take maximum advantage of new hardware, software or platforms in their projects. These projects can be anything from a traditionally animated story on an interactive mobile OS, to integrating sensing devices for spatial tracking and gesture/facial/voice recognition, to hacking a meaningful micro-narrative into existing game engines.

The goal is to help emerging artists create their own compelling 60-second experiences, driven by great animation storytelling and shaped by technology.

The Hothouse apprenticeship will take place in Montreal from March 5 to May 25, 2012. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 5 p.m. Submissions must be e-mailed to <hothouse@nfb.ca>. The six successful candidates will be notified by Friday, February 3, 2012.

For complete info, visit <films.nfb.ca/hothouse> or contact Jelena Popovic at <hothouse@nfb.ca> or 514-496-5466.

Forty-four short films have been produced through Hothouse over its seven-year history. Hothouse alumni include Patrick Doyon, whose animated short Sunday is currently nominated for an Annie Award by ASIFA-Hollywood, and Howie Shia, whose 2006 film Flutter received the Open Entries Grand Prize at the Tokyo Anime Awards.

About the NFB
Canada’s public producer and distributor, the National Film Board of Canada creates interactive works, social-issue documentaries, auteur animation and alternative dramas that provide the world with a unique Canadian perspective. The NFB is developing the entertainment forms of the future in groundbreaking interactive productions, while pioneering new directions in 3D stereoscopic film, community-based media, and more. It works in collaboration with emerging and established filmmakers, digital media creators and co-producers in every region of Canada, with Aboriginal and culturally diverse communities, as well as partners around the world. Since the NFB’s founding in 1939, it has created over 13,000 productions and won over 5,000 awards, including 4 Webbys, 12 Oscars and more than 90 Genies. Over 2,000 NFB productions can be streamed online, at the <NFB.ca> Screening Room as well as via partnerships with the world’s leading video portals, while the NFB’s growing family of apps for smartphones, tablets and connected TV delivers the experience of cinema to Canadians everywhere.