So what exactly have we learned at MIFA? Have we gained something meaningful? I have to admit I need more time to answer such a question, to see if an event of this kind brings along something worth the effort invested into just coming over. After all, if the animation business is about relationships / partnerships, then there needs to be a lot more work done after the event beside the initial quick flirting.
For the past 2 years, Bill Plympton has had a team of interns busy restoring Winsor McCay’s last short film, The Flying House. As work has progressed, Matthew Modine came onto the project as a producer and with assistance from business partner Adam Rakoff, has launched an online fundraising effort through Kickstarter.com.
There were hundreds of games on display at E3 this year, but we’ve selected five titles that stand out from the crowd. For attendees at the show, these are some of the big games that people will be talking about long after the glitz and glamour of the convention is over.
Do you know what the opportunities are in PC gaming? They’re probably better than you think. The PC gaming market is much bigger than consoles, both in installed base and in money made. Knowing things like how many gaming PCs are out there, how much revenue PC games generate, what the most popular gaming styles are, etc., is critical to deciding what kind of game to build, how to generate revenue from it and how to distribute it.
Another great year of E3 in downtown at the Staples Convention Center. Lots of interesting announcements and events this year. The art exhibition “Into the Pixel” continues to chronicle the ascent of console game graphics from popular culture and street cred to the rare refined air of original paintings inspired by well-known games. It’s a national sentiment, even the National Endowment of the Arts and the Smithsonian have gotten into the act with shows centered around “the art of video games” (http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/).
You may find a trade show to be a common gathering event that any industry has. But what I saw and experienced at MIFA is that this gathering is more than unique. How friendly and open minded everybody is, considering that most of the people are competitors one way or another. It’s actually pretty unbelievable.
The Annecy International Animation Festival just concluded its 51st edition this evening, June 11, 2011. Patrick Jean’s PIXELS Took home the Annecy Cristal as the top short film, while THE RABBI'S CAT, by Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux, took the top prize for feature film.
On Thursday, June 2, 2011, I attended Kidscreen’s day long “everything you wanted to know about apps but were afraid to ask” workshop. It was great! Not only did it cover the basics, the companies attending and panelists were top-notch and the focus was on making better apps for our kids audience. Held at the beautiful Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, the group was small and intimate and there was plenty of time to network.The attendees were an interesting mishmash as we all convened from our different backgrounds—kids programming, gaming, educators, researchers, etc.—to learn about this new, historically expanding space. How does it work? Who are the best companies in the field? What are the best games? What are the problems facing this new fantastically fast-growing field?
First time travelling to Annecy, a place that has such a positive canotation just through people talking about how it was like when they visited the Festival, that thinking about coming myself was tempting for quite some time already. Now I took the chance. We have arrived late on Tuesday, June 7th taking it slowly from sunny bohemian Prague to a slightly rainy, but still pretty warm, French town on a lake under the Alps. That’s one nice and picturesque idea to explore this week.
25 hours after leaving my comfy LA bed, I’ve arrived in Annecy. The calm is in direct contrast to my second flight, from DC to Geneva. Sprawled within 5 feet of my seat were not 1 but 2 families, 6 kids total, 4 parents, 1 nanny and 1 set of grandparents. In an age of fundamental change in airline comfort, service and safety, where the indignities of modern travel begin when you undress to get through security, one thing seems perfectly clear – kids either should be confined in storage or not be allowed on planes at all.
At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, a tablet won the Best of Show award, and the thought crossed my mind: I wonder what this means to the different gaming platforms? Is there a compelling proposition for PC or non-console game developers?
NetDevil, based in Louisville, Colo., is one of those fairy-tale software developer stories: guys who love games start company in basement; work hard; move upstairs to spare bedroom; attempt to save the universe. That would be LEGO Universe, the online game the company recently released in collaboration with the LEGO Group of Billund, Denmark, and NetDevil’s parent company, Gazillion Entertainment.
Marc Petit, Senior Vice President of Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment division, talks about how studios are meeting the challenges of economic uncertainty and workforce globalization and how his company plans to meet future need for technology tools, including adoption of Open Source standards.
This year the sun was shining down brightly on the Trickfilm Festival in Stuttgart in more than one way. Outside, the sky was a beautiful blue and in the screening rooms the films were as brilliant as the sun. While the competition programs were strong and the feature films in competition offered some interesting surprises, and the highlight of the festival for me this year was the large number of special presentation screenings.
My flight to Geneva leaves tomorrow morning at 7:50, an ungodly hour to begin 24+ hours of delirium shuffling through airports, getting groped by stink-eyed security drones, squeezing into airline seats designed for anorexics, all the while wondering why I’m not home asleep in bed, or watching Archer reruns while sipping a delicious Kamikazee.
The debut edition of BE THERE! CORFU ANIMATION FESTIVAL was the first animation festival to be held on this beautiful Greek Island. A large audience from throughout the island enjoyed a wide array of programs and workshops as well as the opportunity to meet Greek and international artists from the world of animation.
Clay Kaytis, a 16 year veteran of Walt Disney Animation,talks about the production of Tangled, meeting the challenge of creating the studio's 50th animated feature, and how Glen Keane's consistent and skilled leadership challenged the CG artists to bring realistic motion, acting and feeling to the film.
Bill Kroyer, animation director, teacher and one of the board of governors of the Motion Picture Academy, shares his thoughts on the original Tron, where it broke new ground and what impact it had on the computer animation field. He also talks about the new digital animation program at Chapman as well as some of the political issues animation faces within the Motion Picture Academy.
Jeff Okun is not afraid to speak honestly about subjects the make some uncomfortable, nor take positions that might rub some people the wrong way. The bottom line is that everyone working in film and television today knows fundamental change is afoot in how shows are financed and produced and that the visual effects industry has taken a tremendous beating the last few years, especially in California. The question is what to do about it.
12 students from nine U.S. colleges and universities and three students from outside the U.S. have been selected as winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards competition.
