Highlights from Annecy

Hi everyone! Last week I went to the Annecy International Animation Festival in France. I had a great time. Here are some of the highlights:

* I gave a presentation about my short film "Stripes" to a room full of people. I'm pretty proud of how it came out. I also watched the other six presentations in the short film category.

* I was awarded a free copy of the professional animation software Animate Pro and Storyboard Pro courtesy of the company Toon Boom. It's really great software and I wanted it anyway. The software costs several thousands of dollars, so I'm very happy not to have to buy it!

*As part of winning in the competition, I met with three producers and screenwriters in the animation industry who gave me feedback on the Stripes script. I was really grateful that they read the script carefully and gave great comments. There was a lot of positive feedback and some great suggestions on how to make it better!

*Met with a few different production companies who I could hire to produce Stripes if I get the financing. I learned a lot of things about the animation biz this week. One of the companies was a production company from Iran. The guy I met with laughed out loud when he saw a story idea I had sketched. He said that if I wrote it up, their company would finance and produce it into a short series (4 episodes at 2 minutes each). Exciting!

*I had my storyboard portfolio reviewed by recruiters from Sony Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios.

*I met and connected with other cool creative peers - artists, animators and film music composers. It's really nice to meet other people who love animation!

*I watched a few new animated films: 1. "Tezuka Osamu no Buddha -Akai Sabaku yo! Utsukushiku" - A Japanese film based on Osamu Tezuka's "Buddha" comics. 2. "The Tibetan Dog" - a Japanese and Chinese cooperative project set in Tibet. 3. "The Rabbi's Cat" - French film based on a comic.

*I took a few walks around the beautiful "Lac d'Annecy." I saw a beaver for the first time. And an adorable pair of baby swans!

*Ate lots of pain de chocolat and baguettes and croissants. Mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil. Lots of different kinds of prosciutto. Delicious!

*Learned a smidgeon of French: Bonjour. Au revoir. Voila. Bon a petit. Très bien. etc.

*Overall, I feel very inspired by my trip! I'm excited to get back to lots of writing and drawing :D