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

'Stripes' goes to Annecy Film Festival!

BIG NEWS for my animated short work-in-progress, "Stripes"!

STRIPES is a winner in the Annecy Animation Festival Call for Projects Competition 2011! Woohoo!

The Call for Projects competition is meant for people STARTING animation projects and could use help getting it off the ground. Back in February, I submitted a package of materials regarding the Stripes projects, including an essay of intent, artwork, storyboards and more.

I recently learned that I am one of five short film winners. We will present our projects at this year's festival and be evaluated for further prizes by a jury. One possible prize is 6500 euros!

The presentations will take place Wednesday June 8th, 2011. 10:00 am - 12:30 pm. If you are going to Annecy, please check it out!

Check out all the winning projects on the Annecy website: here

I'm so excited, I can't tell you! :D Yippee!

To learn more about my Stripes project, check out the production blog.

Inspire Days! – Notes from my trip to Disney

On April 8th and 9th 2010, I went to Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California for the third annual Inspire Days. I was invited by the director of the Talent Development Program who I met at the Ottawa Film Festival last October.

During those two days, I heard talks by Disney animators, story artists, visual development artists and many others. I showed my story and character design portfolios to many people and took notes on their suggestions. Needless to say, it was very exciting. I'm posting below notes I took on the general creative process of making a film and comments about my portfolio. Enjoy.

Looking for Funding at the Annecy Animation Festival

This year I'm going to the Annecy Animation Festival in France. I'm very excited. I've never been to an animation festival before, let alone such a big and awesome one as this. I'll be there from June 9th - June 10th. Only two days to cram in so much!

Mainly I'm going in order to look for funding sources for a web series that I'm developing. I'm hoping that it will be a really great networking opportunity. Right now I'm debating whether or not I should get the $630 ticket that gets me the contact info for all the companies that will be coming to Annecy. With that, I could set up meetings with people beforehand and make the trip more productive.

Sounds good, albeit pricey. I'm just a little nervous because I don't know what it'll be like. My other option is to just wait until the Ottawa film festival to really pitch my series, and just use Annecy to scope things out. But that feels a bit like I'm selling myself short. I think I should just go for it! Now I just need to find 630 bucks.

Why I love Miyazaki

My google alerts for "Studio Ghibli" clued me into this article about my main man, Hayao Miyazaki.

A choice quote:

"A stiff, avuncular presence in his tweed suit and maths teacher's glasses, Miyazaki is clearly uneasy dealing with the media circus. It's unlikely the 68-year-old has heard of British pop group Blur, but he would undoubtedly agree that Modern Life is Rubbish. His movies are paeans to the natural world and coded warnings about its perilous state; in a recent interview he fondly speculated on a natural disaster that would return the planet to its pristine state."

The rest of the article talks about what makes him special: his rejection of pop culture and technology, and a strong interests in nature. Despite being friends with John Lasseter from Pixar, the article says he's never even seen Toy Story, or Wall-E.

"I can't stand modern movies," he winces. "The images are too weird and eccentric for me." He shuns TV and most modern media, reading books or travelling instead.

I felt a jolt of Miyazaki love reading this article. I reminds me how important nature and the environment are to me and how much I'd like to make films that are as beautiful and powerful as his.