From the vault...

... or should this be called "Gossip Squirrel" and I'd get a cute cartoon squirrel for a mascot... or maybe "Kibbles 'n' Bitch"? Do I need a "clever" name for a rumour column? Is anyone even reading this?

Word out of Toronto (where else?) has Corus Entertainment putting all it's eggs in one basket, or rather moving it's many divisions: radio, television, animation all under one roof in some kind secret base/corporate headquarters. Anyone with word on location or pics, we'd love to hear from you.
Rumour is the herd will be much much thinner when Nelvana moves into the new digs.
Expect press releases from Nelvana soon announcing a deal they're working on with American toy giant Mattel ...first series out the gate will be Hot Wheels, with the hope of other properties to come. One cog in the machine drew comparisons to the "CBS debacle".
Am I just fearmongering now?
Apparently, Mattel turned down three experienced directors at Nelvana and decided to go with a yes man.

Elliot Animation just worked a little street magic by selling three seasons of a new show, to be directed by Faruk Cemalovic (designer of 16) without animating a single frame. Congratulations!

News Roundup, Sep 24th, 2008

Here we go folks, latest bits and pieces:

• Teletoon announces 2008 Scholarship winners.
• Season two for Bakugan.
• Looks like I get to be lazy! I found people posting about their Ottawa Festival experience! How about this guy: David Levy! Or this guy: Phil Lockerbie! What about this: Michael Sporn! And Barry Sanders posted pictures. OOooo... pictures. Wait! There's more. Nancy Beiman shared her expereince too.
  
• Ottawa winners announced.
• A grain of something afoot in Ottawa (sorry to keep mentioning my hometown this time around). There's a small mention of "an opportunity to create animation". Might mean nothing, might be significant. Time will tell.

'Kay... gettin' sleepy.
m

post-festivus

Good-bye OIAF 2008, hello real world.
A great coupla days full of great people, some cool cartoons, a couple of interesting panels, the world's tiniest movie star, and a reaffirmed sense of one's position in this odd industry. I'm working on a post but might just cheat out and throw some links up. Depends on how much work I actually have to do over the next few days.
I do want to say a huge thank you to the organizers: Kelly, Chris, all the staff, particularly Azarin, Jennifer and Dominique. This is a huge affair to put together and they have all earned a rest.
m

News Roundup, Sep 17, 2008

Latest dirt from around the internets:

• Fatkat seems to be up to something at the at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. Stay tuned.
• Worldscreen.com has a press release for Total Drama Action, the follow up to Total Drama Island. Does anyone actually report real news in this industry?
• Ricky Sprocket also sent out press releases this week.
• Coverage of the SPARK Animation Fest in Vancouver.
• Ward Jenkins, of Portland, Oregon, and Wardomatic fame is going to the Ottawa Festival. Apparently he will be doing some coverage, so check back. If you aren't familiar with Ward's work, then you should be.
• A review of Edison and Leo that pretty much sums up the general consensus of those I've spoken to who have seen it.
• Mainstream media coverage of the Ottawa Festival from the Ottawa Citizen.
• John K continues his analysis of the "Canadian Style". He's got some interesting things to say about Mok.

Cintiq 12WX review by Mad Magazine's Tom Richmond

Twice in one day from Drawn.ca
Now it's a review of the Cintiq 12WX. Check it out.

Artist Survival Skills

Not exactly animation, but it sounds like a great read. "Artist Survival Skills: How To Make a Living as a Canadian Visual Artist", by Chris Tyrell looks like it's worth checking out. I'm gonna grab a copy.

News Roundup, Sep10th, 2008

From the internets:

• Scherba promoted to VP of Distribution at Decode
• Channel Frederator has a whole bunch of old signal films from past Ottawa International Animation Festivals.
• Nick Cross shares some stills from the Angora Napkin pilot he is producing with Troy Little for Teletoon
• 9 Story Entertainment takes Fugget About It to Mipcom
• Life's a Zoo gets some coverage.

I'll try to post more tonight.
m

Ottawa International Animation Festival Looms Ever Nearer

Have you got your tickets to OIAF yet?
It's coming up fast, September 17th to 21st. If you've never been, you should really do something to change that.

From the Archives

Newsfeed: September 5, 2008

Here's the roundup of news related to the Canadian Animation sector for today:

• Decode goes Greek
• Danny Antonucci signs exclusive deal with W!LDBRAIN
  
• Marketing positions filled at Teletoon
• Cartoonist waits 13 years for Cinar lawsuit, coverage here, and here.
• John Kricfalusi does his damnedest to describe the Canadian Style of animation: here, here, here and here, where he discusses my childhood favourite, Cosmic Christmas.
• Positive review for Studio B's : Martha Speaks
• Will French humour translate for Tac.tv?
• ReBoot, rebooted.