Canadian Animation Resources

Latest Stories at www.canadiananimationresources.ca

2009-05-22T16:05:00.002-04:00

Here's what I've been posting over on the new site:

So if you haven't been over there yet, please go. This blog ain't gonna be around much longer.
Thanks,
m

Moving time!

2009-05-19T14:56:00.003-04:00

To all readers:
This blog address will soon be going stale.
I've been getting things up and running over at www.canadiananimationresources.ca, an address that used to be forwarded directly here.
I'll contiue to double-post at both locations for the next little while, but will be gradually moving all the resources over to the new address.
So please, head on over and get registered, update your bookmarks and links, and keep checking back.
Thanks!
m

Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Final call for entries

2009-05-14T10:26:00.004-04:00

Got this in from the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Act fast, deadline is tomorrow!

Call for Entries, Final Deadline: Friday, May 15, 2009!
ATTENTION: HORROR, SCI-FI, ACTION, ANIMATION AND CULT FILMMAKERS
This is the very last chance for you to submit your short or feature film to this year's Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Last year's event was attended by a record-breaking 8,500 rabid movie fans and over 100 film press and industry members. Filmmakers have been consistently delighted with the response we generate for their screenings. This year's festival runs 8 Thrilling Nights for the first time in Summer, August, 14-21, 2009 and we hope you'll enter your film for your chance to be a part of our thrilling cinematic event in Toronto, Canada!

SUBMIT YOUR DETAILS ONLINE BY MAY 15, SEND US YOUR SCREENER BY MAY 29!
But if you want to enter Toronto After Dark 2009, you'll have to hurry. To be considered, your film details must be entered online by end of day (11.59PM) this Friday May 15. As long as you make that deadline, the good news is that we will then fully consider your film as long as we recieve your film screener here in Toronto, by our May 29 submission package arrival deadline.

TWO FAST & EASY ONLINE SUBMISSION OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM RIGHT NOW:
Full entry details including our festival's own fast online submission form are at the official Toronto After Dark Film festival website here:
http://torontoafterdark.com/2009/submit-your-film/

If you are user of the Withoutabox submission system, alternatively you can quickly enter your film to our festival, logging into your account on this page here:
http://www.withoutabox.com/login/5334

We look forward to your entry!

- Toronto After Dark Film Festival Team

official word on Fatkat closure

2009-05-13T22:50:00.002-04:00

Well, as reported here last night, Fatkat Animation, of Miramichi, NB, is closed.
Word went up on the studio blog today from Gene Fowler. Here's some of what he had to say:
Alot of stuff has happened in the 10 years that the Fatkat brand has been kicking around, though mostly all in the last half. We've produced simply a ton of commercials and interactive spots. We've cranked out series such as Skunk Fu!, Chaotic, SuperNormal and of course the straw that broke the camel's back "Three Delivery". Don't get me wrong, all were good productions, but Three Delivery was the monster, some called it a studio killer (you were right Rick!), I just giggled it off, but I knew they were right. It'd be a miracle if we came out of that one alive. Though it certainly beat the hell out of us all, we made it though. With all 26 episodes delivered to YTV and the other broadcasters just last week. I thank the entire TD crew for that, you did what many could not, you survived the most demanding and torturous production I have ever seen and did it with a smile, albeit a few teeth are missing from your smile; my heart goes out and my hat comes off to you. I'm very proud of the work Fatkat produced and Three Delivery is an awesome show because of it. Extra big thank yoos to Robbie Anderson & Tavis Silbernagel for making it shine and staying committed through all of it. A massive thank you to Stephen Ashe and Carol MacKinley to cleaning it all up in finance, insuring that everyone was paid in full. It was no small task and you did it all with grace and humility. I thank you.

Gene gives personal thank yous to a huge list of people then looks to the future:
I have gathered a few close friends from Fatkat and will be starting a new studio here on the Miramichi. It will be called "Loogaroo" . We'll be reflecting on all we did right, but also all that we lost sight of or totally messed up on. Then retooling our new shop and providing the same great service that we did for so long with Fatkat but with some mighty big changes and improvements. We'll be looking to put the finest ex-Fatkat artists to work as quickly as possible. I urge you all to reach out early and often to keep top of mind. Thank you for staying in the area and for your loyalty to me and Miramichi. We're by no means done yet, as a matter of fact, we're just getting started! I'm off to spend some much needed time with my family, again thank you for 10 glorious years with Fatkat. I look forward to many more as Loogaroo.

Not really much else to add. Very sorry to see the company fold, but these things happen. It's business.
Fingers crossed and best of luck with Loogaroo.

original post here.

Troy Little presents: Angora Napkin!

2009-05-13T17:02:00.000-04:00

Tonight! In Ottawa! One night only!

Fresh off his appearance at TCAF in Toronto, Troy Little is in Ottawa to sign copies of his various printed work… right now actually, at the Comic Shoppe on Bank Street. After that, rumour has it he’ll be screening a sneak peak of his Teletoon Pilot for Angora Napkin. Not sure if Nick Cross’ half of the show will be screned as well, but I’m gonna find out for myself in just a few hours. I’ll let ya’ll know how it turns out!

Fatkat closes doors

2009-05-13T00:54:00.002-04:00

Gene Fowler posted to his LinkedIn profile tonight: closing down Fatkat and wramping up Loogaroo. Oh the life of an Entrepreneur!
Over on Facebook, his work info now lists him as Executive Producer at Loogaraoo, which he describes as: a new start up company picking up where Fatkat left off. But with more deliciousness.
I tracked down Gene on MSN tonight and confirmed that yes, Fatkat is indeed no more.
The company had a very successful run over the past few years, but hit on hard times in 2009. With Fatkat done, Gene will be launching Loogaroo. The official word on the new startup will be forthcoming, but it appears that the company will be comprised of some of Fatkat's key players, but in a far more stripped down working model.
I'll post more information as it becomes available. For now, it's so long Fatkat. You had a good run, produced some excellent animation, and we had some laughs.
Good luck to all the Kats.

changes afoot

2009-05-12T10:08:00.002-04:00

Some of you may have noticed, depending on how you are linked here, that there are some changes taking place. I'm finally going to be consolidating all the various pages here under one roof. Work is underway on www.canadiananimationresources.ca. For the past several months, that url has simply been forwarded here to the blogspot address, but this address will soon be a memory. I'll make an official announcement when the new site has a proper launch and will encourage you all to update your links and bookmarks. I don't want to lose anyone!
Til then, keep reading, keeping commenting, and keep sending me tips and links and films and anything else that catches your eye!
Thanks,
m

Pixar-Vancouver update

2009-05-11T09:14:00.003-04:00

Got a heads up over the weekend on what to expect out of Pixar-Vancouver. This is completely unofficial, know-a-guy-who-knows-a-guy, info.
There's pretty much zero official word on what the recruiting effort will be in Canada. We're being told to simply check out the pixar.com website. It will likely be between 3 to 6 months before active recruiting begins. At that point, there will be info on the site, but more likely, the Vancouver shop will have it's own channels and identity. It looks like it wil be treated as an entity unto itself.
Word is the division will be handling ancillary projects, not the shorts we've traditonally seen supporting the theatrical features. Those will continue to be produced in Emeryville.

Pixar to open Vancouver Studio

2009-05-08T09:59:00.004-04:00

(via Vancouversun.com)
For reals! Pixar is scouting locations for a new studio in Vancouver. The Canadian facility will be responsible for shorts production, a niche that is essentially the building blocks of the Pixar empire and has won the studio countless awards. Word is they will be employing roughly 75 to 100 animators and will be looking to hire mainly local talent.
Great news for Vancouver, a city that has seen it's animation community really struggle these past few months.
Full article at the link.
I imagine this news will be popping up elswhere today, so I'll try to update as we go.
Thanks to Kelly Irwin for the tip.
Update: links to coverage.
Vancouver Sun
Calgary Herald
slashfilm.com
FramesPerSecond
the Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter has the most info. It seems that Pixar is looking for locations to BUILD a 20 000 square foot facility. Not much else to add for now.
m

Mr. Happy wins best short, Babelgum online film festival

2009-05-07T15:00:00.004-04:00

(via thestar.com)
Directed by Michael Patrick O'Hara, Mr Happy took home the "Professional Jury Award for animation" from the Babelgum Online Film Festival.
Michael has made a few other shorts, was assisted on this by his son Aidan, got judged by Spike Lee (seen in picture) and is brother to Catherine O'Hara of SCTV and various Guffmany movies. I'm sure Michael never gets tired of having his sister's name come up in his press.
Babelgum describes itself as a "A free, revolutionary Internet and Mobile TV platform supported by advertising". I've never heard of it before today, but they've got some kind of exclusive on the Gorillaz movie, which I didn't know was being released yet, so show's what I know.
Congrats to Michael.

From the internets...

2009-05-07T13:29:00.002-04:00

NFB and Directors Guild of Canada sign "historic" agreement. This deal apparently recognizes the "central role a director plays in shaping the creative vision of a film" and, for the first time, "animation directors and assistant directors will enjoy the protection and benefits of a comprehensive collective agreement". This only relates to NFB folks, but still a step in the direction the rest of the animation community has been discussing. You can read the whole document at the link.
I'm going to give it a proper read later on.
To those whose lives are actually affected by this deal, congrats.

New page: showcase your shorts!

2009-05-06T13:28:00.003-04:00

Just added a new page on here: a showcase for short animations. It's pretty straightforward, if you have a short, get it up on youtube or vimeo or something similar. If it's any good, which I know is totally subjective, but I get to call the shots here, I'll post it up on the page. All the films will be labeled with the creator's name, so if you like someone's work, you can just click on their name for more. I may spotlight a creator here as well.
So if you've got a film, let me know.
m

Recruiting event , Starz Animation, Toronto

2009-05-04T14:26:00.004-04:00

Thought I'd put this up here along with on the job board.

Fatkat dealing with downturn

2009-04-30T14:27:00.004-04:00

I've had a lot of links sent my way over the past day or so regarding the current situation out at Fatkat in Miramichi.
Here's a few of them:

First of all, full disclosure: I used to work for Fatkat. Gene Fowler is a friend of mine. A lot of my friends work for Fatkat. I like Gene, and I like his crew and his company. I root for them. Gene built a heck of a shop and right now they are suffering from a slump, as is common in this industry. I talk to Gene pretty regularly and have known that they have been struggling to land their next contract for a while. There have been a number of contributing factors, many of which are listed in the various articles. The economy as a whole? Sure. The provincial tax credits? Big time. Fatkat has laid off a lot of people. Is this news? Well, sure. Is this unusual? Not at all. This business is cyclical at the best of times. Most studios have the luxury of being located in large production centre like Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and, to an extent, Ottawa. What usually happens in these places when one studio is between gigs is that the artists head over to another shop for their paychecks. It's called a talent pool, and studios draw from it regularly.
Out in Miramichi, Fatkat is the only game in town. So when they lay people off, there really isn't anywhere to go. This is tough for the artists and tough for the company. I know they've worked very hard to keep people on as full time empoyees in the past, something they did a great job at for a good long time. But sadly, that's a little unrealistic in this industry. Work ebbs and flows, that's the bottom line. Right now, for Fatkat, it's ebbing.
Local media has jumped on this. Some of those headlines are a little misleading and actually contradict the language in the articles themselves. I have a feeling the writers of these articles, for the most part, are unaccustomed to the nature of this industry, and hey, a story is a story.
I'm not going to specualte about the future of Fatkat. Here's what I know:
Fatkat has finished, or is in the process of finishing, the bulk of the work they have had running throught the shop for the last number of months. They have laid of most of their staff. They continue to seek out projects and are currently waiting for the financing to click on one in particular, a European production called Leo and the Pisa Gang. I have a piece on that very show that I wil run over the next few days. Fatkat has not closed and has not moved. Gene himself has said that they are holding on and working with their creditors (who have been very cooperative) to keep things going. That is all there is for now.
Things could change in either direction, for sure. But that's speculation. Personally, I would not count Gene Fowler or his crew out. Until I hear anything to the contrary, Fatkat is open for business.
Good luck guys.
m

From the internets...

2009-04-30T10:33:00.004-04:00

Chad VanGaalen has some new films premiering at Toronto's OVER THE TOP film fest(via quietearth) : EBAY (Canada) - World Premiere BALD STATIC (Canada) - World Premiere Trying to summarize the latest animated shorts by Sub Pop recording artist, Chad VanGaalen is pointless, but expect a skateboarder jumping over a crucified Jesus’ massive erection in Ebay, and a sprawling abstract sci-fi story told with various types of animation (hand-drawn, stop motion, etc.) in Bald Static. Both films feature new music composed and performed by VanGaalen. I'll look around and see if I can find them online.
Cookie Jar is getting into the live-action game. With the success of Canadian cop-drama "Flashpoint", American networks are looking north for their next cheap hit. Traditioanlly a family-oriented toon-shop, Cookie Jar has launched a new imprint, "the Jar" and hired former Columbia TriStar and Paramount TV division boss Tom Mazza. But they're still making cartoons too. This really shows th scale that companies like Cookie Jar and Nelvana(Corus) are playing on. While what most of us would consider successful companies: Fatkat Animation, Atomic Cartoons, and the like, are struggling, these guys are diversifying, spending money to make money and really stepping up to what might be considered the "big leagues". Is this a broadening gap between the classes? It does show how well-positioned companies can capitalize on an economic downturn to increase their position.
Elan Awards. Congrats to Mercury Filmworks, Bardel Entertainment, Shane Plante, Algonquin College, and anyone else I might have missed.

Triumphant Campaigns of Captain Cudney, by Kyle Marshall

2009-04-28T16:37:00.001-04:00

Look what's finally available in it's entirety!
Triumphant Campaigns of Captain Cudney from kmarshall on Vimeo.

Algonquin College, Grad Show and Sketch Nights

2009-04-28T11:31:00.005-04:00

Spent a few hours out at Algonquin College yesterday catching up with old friends and seeing what the latest crop of grads have to offer. The same conversations keep popping up about the industry, but people are hopeful and most are still working. As far as the grads are concerned, this looks like another good year. I haven't had a chance to go through everything yet, but I have to take a moment to single out the work of three students: Collin Tsandilis, Mayrhosby Yeoshen, and Trent Correy. These guys pulled off a great little film called "Charged". Solid design, typical, but well executed animation, and great colour theory. I'd love to stick these kids with a seasoned mentor to work on a film together. The film does reveal their inexperience in small ways, but it approaches professional quality, at least on the level of, let's say, "Eight Crazy Nights". I understand it's been sent off to the Ottawa Festival, and submitted to Disney/Pixar for their intern program.
I really hope these kids get to keep working together and don't get lost in the grind of the TV industry.
Sadly, the other fine work on display was overshadowed by Charged. That's not to say that there isn't an excellent level of quality coming out of Algonquin this year. Solid portfolios full of good drafting and character work, some very promising 3D animation, and a growing number of actual films being completed by the students. Our hometown school has a great program, and everybody deserves a big congratulations on another successful graduating class. Good luck to everyone!

That being said, there's a Tuesday night Sketch group meeting at 7pm at Portable Feast, in the B building at the college. Tonight's the first night, so I'll wait to hear back how the turnout looks.
Rich Lauzon has a Facebook Group running to keep folks updated. Here's what he had to say:

We meet Tuesday nights to Sketch. Just for the fun of it. Bring Friends. Bring food. Bring books! All who love drawing and talking about drawing are invited. FREE PARKING!!!!!! You'll have access to my books in my office. It will be throughout the summer starting Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 up until College kicks in again in September. By subscribing to this group, you will receive weekly updates/changes as they come. Hope to see you there!

And:

Hey guys, Thanks for joining the group!! This Week's Theme: None. We're just drawing, OK? But it would be great if you could post something on your blog/website/whatever and show us what you did. BTW, Bring a book or two that you bought from Labyrinth. We'll compare notes and I'll get to add titles to my book wish list. I'm already in deep trouble from last week... I now accept donations to the Rich's Library fund! For those of you that are new, the rules are simple: 1. Show Up and sign in. 2. Bring Sketching materials, food, books and friends (last three are optional). 3. Draw, eat and talk! 4. When you had your fill... you leave. 5. Don't for get to sign in!! We don't expect you to show up for every Tuesday. But if you can, that is awesome. Encourage others to come. We'll have recent PreAnim Grads, Animation Students, teachers and working artists... A great networking opportunity! PARKING IS FREE If you have any questions, feel free to ask. See you Tuesday!! Rich

Apparently parking is free.

These kinds of groups are great. We've also got a comic jam getting launched here in Ottawa by Sue Marsden. You can find info on that here.

So no excuse not to draw. Have fun everyone.

Kid Koala, Music to Draw to , heads for Toronto

2009-04-27T11:16:00.002-04:00

Kid Koala, DJ and friend of animation, ran a very cool event in Montreal a while back. He spins tracks as backgroound music for an evening of creativity. No dancing. Just drawing, writing, I suppose macrame would be welcome.
Looks like he's taking the show on the road. Toronto, New York, Los Angeles. More info at the link.

From the internets...

2009-04-27T10:14:00.002-04:00

More Bob & Doug coverage. I saw most of an episode last night. Meh. Simpsons wasn't any better though.
Cordell Barker gets quoted. CBC gets a good chat in here.
King of the Hill's Boomhauer will be making a trip to Canada on the series finale, May 17th.
Channel Frederator's compilation of Ottawa Festival signal films gets some interesting responses.

St. Clair College Grad Show, Windsor, ON, May 3rd

2009-04-27T09:33:00.003-04:00

From Rose Bultman @ St. Clair College, in Windsor, Ontario:
If you are in Windsor, ON., Sunday May 3, 2009 be sure to check out the Annual Tradigital Animation Grad Show, featuring 2D and 3D student films from St. Clair College. The show is at the beautiful riverfront campus, St. Clair Centre for the Arts, doors open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm. Tickets are free and can be picked up at the college, room 273 or from any faculty member. Refreshments will be served; program DVDs, tee shirts and hoodies are for sale; come out and meet the students, check out their artwork enjoy the show.

I like the little guy in the snappy sweater, bottom right.

Cordell Barker premiering @ Cannes

2009-04-27T08:57:00.002-04:00

This came in from Melissa Than at the NFB:

Cordell Barker's newest animation makes its world premiere in Cannes at Critics' Week! Info below.
For clips and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Runaway, go to www.nfb.ca/runaway.
Clips also available on YouTube:
RUNAWAY 'Making of : Animator Cordell Barker' : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b60bJkTclqk
RUNAWAY 'Making of : Composer Ben Charest' : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM-OpWS79Sk
RUNAWAY (Teaser 1) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCAF4qi7jwA
RUNAWAY (Teaser 2) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTy3YYvyN3o
RUNAWAY (Teaser 3) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isggdPnlaDQ

Emily Carr Grad Show, May 16th, Vancouver

2009-04-23T10:55:00.004-04:00

Anyone in Vancouver should head to the Vancity Theatre for the ECUAD Grad Show.
Would love a review if any readers are able to attend!

Details:
"Short Fuse" The ECUAD Media Grad Show
The Vancity Theatre will be selling tickets to the show in advance online at www.vifc.org
May 16, 2009
Doors 5:30 pm
Awards 6:00 pm
A: Animation Program 6:30 pm
Intermission 8:45 pm
B: Film Program 9:15 pm
Show ENDS 11:30 pm May 17, 2009
Doors 5:30 pm
B: Film Program 6:30 pm
Intermission 8:45 pm
A: Animation Program 9:15 pm
Show ENDS 11:30 pm
Each Program is $12. $12 to see Program A and another $12 to see program B
We're hoping the Red Bull Girls will show up...

Algonquin College Grad Show, Monday, April 27th, Ottawa

2009-04-23T10:52:00.002-04:00

Grad Show is almost upon us, just a reminder to those who can attend.
Apparently, parking is free this year.

Details

Date:	Monday, April 27, 2009
Time:	1:00pm - 6:00pm
Location:	The Observatory Pub at Algonquin College
Street:	1385 Woodroffe Ave
City/Town:	Ottawa, ON

Animate wacked out little animals for Jessica Borutski

2009-04-21T01:52:00.003-04:00

Here's the skinny:

Attention All Animators!!!

I need help to get this short finished for this years festival!!
Its a fun little piece, that is animated to the fun cute beats of LIGHTS. She is a girl from Toronto that just won a JUNO for best new artist!!The film is about a little bunny trying to make friends, but has a little trouble because of his physical aliment. (: Its a satire obviously....A SILLY SATIRE!

So if you enjoy animating wacked out little animals to fun beats, let me know.....Ill throw a scene or 2 your way. Please send examples of other work you have done.Just so I can make sure you are a great fit for this project(:

I can't pay but I can make you a sweet title card for all your hard work, like this one I made for LIGHTS....

Here's the link to Jessica's blog.

And here's Jessica's previous effort, I Like Panda's.

From the internets...

2009-04-20T14:43:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I erroneously reported last week, that Bob and Doug had premierd LAST Sunday, when, in truth, it ran last night. I still didn't catch it. But here's some more coverage.
Teletoon shows on iTunes.
Bardel Distribution sells Zeke's Pad.
Jordan, of Jordan's really really awesome blog, has some questions for Fatkat's Gene Fowler. Gene?

Canadian Animation Directory

2009-04-17T10:57:00.004-04:00

Normally I would post this over on the Directory page, or maybe in Features, but I wanted to make sure that it got as much readership as possible.
I had a chance to scan through a first draft yesterday of the Ottawa International Animation Festival's Canadian Animation Industry Directory. These guys are working hard to put this thing together and it will, as I've mentioned before, also be available this year in an online format. Hat's of to Kelly Neal and Patrick Cross at the festival for doing the hard work to get this together.
This publication is a valuable resource for our community, and one that doesn't exist elsewhere. AWN has a directory on their site, but it's dated and unwieldy. Playback recently started something called the Blue Pages, but the representation of the animation community is poor, much like their coverage of it. This is our resource. It gets distributed all over the world. Used properly, it's essentially our community's calling card on the international scene.
So why aren't you in it?
Now, to be fair, a lot of you are. But so damn many of you aren't! This thing should be a monster. Sadly, though, it just isn't. We're a huge community and there's no one place to go to find each other. This should be it. I really don't know what you're waiting for. It's free to register at the Festival's site. It's free to get listed in the directory. They've tried really hard to provide a variety of categories that will cover everyone out there, and I think they've done a good job.
Go and get listed! Each and every one of you. Be proud of your industry, your community, and your place in it. Are you a board artist? They've got a category for you. An animator? A producer? A director? A casting agent? They've got categories for you. Independent animator? Again, a category for you. Every one of you newbies out there should be lining up to get your name in here. Set up a blog, post some drawings on it, and get the url and your email listed in the damned directory today! And the studios. Why aren't you in here? I can understand the individual animators to an extent, but aren't you guys in the business of doing business? This is free marketing. FREE! For Pete's sake. You are backwards. Ass-backwards. I am tired enough of people out there whining about the latest downturn in the industry. But I promise you right now, the next person that does so, I will look you up in the directory. And if you are not there, I will post your name on a list entitled "People I Know Whose Asses Are Backwards".
This is the least you can do, the VERY least, next to doing nothing at all, to promote yourself and support your community. I'd love to see accurate representation in that book. A big fat tome that you can slam down on a foreign producer's desk and show, proudly, that this is who we are.
So turn you asses around. Right now. And be counted.
You've got til Monday.
Thanks.
m

Reminder, Labyrinth Store at Algonquin College today, Ottawa

2009-04-15T13:59:00.003-04:00

From 3pm til 7pm today, Labyrinth Bookstore will be set up at Algonquin College.
http://animationroadshow.blogspot.com/
The Animation Road Show blog is part of the Labyrinth Bookstore in Toronto, Ontario Canada. We specialize in books on illustration, animation, as well as thousands of graphic novels and manga. The Labyrinth Store will be part of the General Arts Open House Wednesday, April 15th!!

A better collection of hard-to-find art books, sketchbooks and graphic novels you're not likely to find.

If you have a few bucks burning holes in your pockets and can get out to the college, you won't be sorry.
Particulars:

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Time:	3:00pm - 7:00pm
Location:	ALgonquin College,Main Lobby, Building H
Street:	1389 Woodroffe Ave,
City/Town:	Ottawa, ON

From the internets...

2009-04-14T12:09:00.003-04:00

Bob & Doug premiered last night. Anyone see it? Any thoughts? The previews I saw were funny. Mainstream press coverage here.
Lengthy post about the de-cartooning of Cartoon Network on awesomebydefault.com. Including this mention of the success of Canadian export, Total Drama Island: "the biggest show of the year for Cartoon Network was one they didn’t even highlight, a Canadian animated acquisition called Total Drama Island. And you know what happened? Cartoon Network had its best year-long ratings ever. Total Drama Island ruled the summer and much of the fall."
Great interview with Fran and Will Krause on Cartoon Brew. Not Canadians, but a good read. Upstate Four is an example to everyone working in Flash of what you can achieve. Plus it's a really great cartoon that someone needs to put into production.

Upstate Four 1 from Krause Brothers on Vimeo.

Upstate Four 2 from Krause Brothers on Vimeo.

SuperU.ca animation contest

2009-04-08T12:28:00.004-04:00

This came in from SuperU.ca. Another animation contest!

...thought I would update you about our latest contest. It opened on March 24, 2009 and will be accepting entries until April 27, 2009. This is the first contest we've opened internationally, so we're excited to see what the world has to offer and to see our Canadian contestants step up their game! Grand Prize is $2500.

I'm including a link to our contest page, which contains more information about the contest and includes our most recent entries. Judges for this contest include Kelly Neall, the Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival and Jessica Borutski, the lead Illustrator and Animator at Fuel Industries.

Official Contest Page: http://www.superu.ca/contests/view/49

Go check it out!
m

Digital Henchmen Launch Party, Ottawa, Club SAW, April 9th

2009-04-07T17:35:00.002-04:00

Digital Henchmen is a new studio opening here in Ottawa, and to celebrate, they're throwing a shindig this Thursday at Club SAW.
Here's the press release:

April 9th, 20009, Club SAW, 8pm: Digital Henchmen launch party and music video premiere for Amos the Transparent.

Upstart animation trio, the Digital Henchmen, will be unveiling their freshly-pressed animated music video for local musicians Amos the Transparent. Bands, businesses and arts patrons are all welcome to come to the SAW Gallery at 8:00 to enjoy the show, grab some refreshments, and share the love.

Performances by Amos the Transparent, Jesse Dangerously and the Centretown Cripplers. Tickets: $12 in advance or $15 at the door. Available at Invisible Cinema (Bank and Lisgar) and the Comic Shoppe (Bank Street location)

Contact: info@digitalhenchmenstudios.com

About Digital Henchmen:
Jordan Richer, Steven Sloan and Darren Bird are the Digital Henchmen. Three experienced animators setting up shop under one roof with the humble goal of lighting a fire in the Ottawa animation industry. The trio is staking their territory in the short form market, including: animated shorts, music videos, instructional videos, webisodes, and commercials/advertising. With a wide array of technical know-how, backed up by strong traditional training, the Henchmen can walk the walk.

Their first official collaboration, a fully-animated music video for Amos the Transparent, is the calling card that will show off the Henchmen brand: creativity, quality, and professionalism

Good luck to these fellas and see you there!

Kalamazoo Animation Festival, Kalamazoo Michigan, May 14th-17th

2009-04-07T17:24:00.002-04:00

Got a heads up from Bryce Hallett regarding the Canadian presence that will be in attendance at this year's Kalamazoo Animation Festival. Here, I'll just let Bryce tell you:

Hey Michael,

Do you know about the Kalamazoo Animation Festival?

It's in Kalamazoo Michigan in May 14- May 17

I know it's in Michigan and not somewhere in Canada, but I just thought I'd bring it up because there are a lot of Canucks going to be in attendance there.

For example,

Janet Perlman is doing a couple of panels and discussions. One called "the Anatomy of a Funny Story" another on Music and Animation with Judith Bruber-Stitzer and some other folks.

Aubry Mintz, who is a Sheridan grad just a year ahead of me is doing one called "The Art of the Animatic" and one with Ellen Besen "Ridiculously Great Animated Sequences and Extra Special Storytelling Techniques".

He's also moderating a Panel with myself and Bruce Simpson on going the freelance route called "Bryce and Bruce: Careers Outside the Studio System.

Ellen Besen and I are also going to be doing a presentation related to her book Animation Unleashed. Where I'll be drawing live while she's presenting. It's improv drawing!. or sketch comedy!.. heh heh....ok bad pun.

Other presentations and talks by fellow Canucks, Ishu Patel, John Halfpenny (Angela Annaconda, Eek the Cat, Beetlejuice") Mark Glassman, Sharon Katz, Madi Pillar, Richard Reeves etc etc

Heck, even a group of students from Humber College are among the students competing in a 10 day aniamtion marathon to make 30 PSA's based on a theme. That's pretty cool.

(and there's a bunch of stuff by many notable and interesting American animators and animation producers too of course. heh heh like Gary Shwartz, Linda Simensky (PBS), Jennifer Oxley (Nick Jr.), Mike Mitchell ( Sky High, Shrek 4) Ed Hooks ( acting for animators) etc etc etc)

If you're interested in knowing more this is the list of guests: http://www.gokafi.com/guests/

and this is the list of panels and presentations: http://www.gokafi.com/events/presentations.php

I haven't looked through everything, but it looks like it will be a really great festival.

and it has a number of interesting screenings it seems as well.

Anyway I hope things are busy with you and going well.

Keep up the excellent blogging!

cheers!

-Bryce

Bryce has done this live-drawing show before while Ellen chats. I've heard it's a great presentation, so if anyone can get to this thing it sounds well worth it.

Thanks to Bryce for the informative message.
m

slow news day

2009-04-03T12:14:00.002-04:00

Very busy animation week for me. The usual stuff, plus some secret meetings, the Fuel Job Fair and a meeting of the Algonquin College advisory board. Lots of interesting , though I think off-topic, conversation. I'm trying to put finishing touches on a few pieces that I'll post next week, so please check back. Sorry for the lack of posts today.
Have a great weekend!
m

Algonquin College Grad Show 2009, April 27th, Ottawa

2009-04-01T09:39:00.002-04:00

If you're in Ottawa on Monday, April 27th, that's the day that Algonquin College puts its latest graduating class on display for any and all.
Here's the details:
Monday, April 27th, 2009.
1 to 6 pm
The Observatory Pub at Algonquin College
1385 Woodroffe Ave
Ottawa, ON
613-727-4723-5821 (Neil Hunter)
huntern@algonquincollege.com

There's a Facebook event page for any of you who're on there.

From the internets...

2009-03-30T12:53:00.005-04:00

Stoked, animated sitcom from Fresh TV (the Total Drama folks) developed and produced for Teletoon, sold to Cartoon Network, Canal+ and TPS Jeunesse in France. "Blah blah blah tween market...blah blah blah quality kid's proramming...blah chall enges status quo."
Portfolio and Teletoon unveil Hood, hoodie-wearing teen superheroes. Looks like Fatkat will have to retitle one of their shows. Sorry Gene.
Chris Williams doing PR for Bolt DVD release. Revelations: We're in a golden age for animated features, and Bolt is a movie about a dog. Congrats to Chris though on his success with Bolt, I saw it with my daughter last night and it did surpass my expectations.

Sorry, I'm a little snarky today.

Indieanimatornetwork, bump to features page

2009-03-30T12:44:00.003-04:00

I just want to draw your attention to the left hand sidebar. Up at the top is a link to the features page. I mentioned this previously but added a post this morning. It involves a site I came across called indieanimatornetwork and my confusion over borrowed content. Please have a read and chime in.
Thanks,
m

Hard at work

2009-03-26T13:25:00.002-04:00

I'll apologize right off for any problems that may occur over the next week. I'm working on some upgrades and will be playing with the layout a bit, but will continue to post. So please keep checking back.

Stop-Motion Animation Workshop, Toronto, March 26th, 2009

2009-03-25T09:42:00.002-04:00

Any Toronto folks with a jones for puppets can get their fix tomorrow night courtesy of the Toronto Animated Image Society.

Puppet building, puppet animation fundamentals, and a "How To" intro to independent Stop Motion. Sunday, April 26th, 2009. 10 am - 5 pm At the TAIS Studio, 60 Atlantic Avenue $35 members, $50 non-members (Pre-registration required) To register, contact the TAIS office at tais@bellnet.ca or by calling 416-533-7889

Job Fair at Fuel Industries, Ottawa

2009-03-24T17:05:00.004-04:00

I'm posting this on the job board too, but felt it was worth a little additional attention.
Fuel is looking to fill 30 positions including graphic designers, programmers, illustrators and project managers. Here's the link.

If I were in Miami... aw who am I kidding? South Beach Animation Festival

2009-03-24T16:40:00.004-04:00

The South Beach International Animation Festival starts in a few days. A few months ago I received an invite to this event and deluded myself into thinking I might actually get to go. Well, maybe next year.
In their own words:

South Beach International Animation Festival will again celebrate animation film and other cartoon art forms from around the world in sunny South Beach, Florida.

This entertaining, family friendly location serves as host to SoBeIAF with screenings, parties and special events taking place at a variety of venues around Miami and the Beaches. In addition to film screenings, the Festival hosts art exhibits, hands-on demonstrations, seminars, and workshops about the newest technology and creative software.

The Festival runs from March 26 - 29 and April 5th, 2009, giving visitors mild springtime tempters in the day and balmy Caribbean nights. So, save the dates, book your trip and we'll see you on the Beach, because everybody loves the "Toons".

John Canemaker and Bill Plympton are the featured guests this year.

Noreen Legault Mendoza is the main organizer, and she seems to be doing a pretty good job. My only issue is with the judges. They've gone with local figures and media personalities. Personally, I'd like to see one judge with an animation pedigree, but the result could be interesting. Rarely do we get to see how non-animation folks sort out the variety of films they'll be exposed to. There does appear to be some Canadian representation, with the Triumphant Campaigns of Captain Cudney, The Urge, Wapos Bay, Malaise, Nothing Like Her and Perfectland all competing in a variety of categories.

Good luck to our countrymen, and congrats to Noreen on putting together this little shindig.

Mayerson on outsourcing.

2009-03-23T13:50:00.003-04:00

Via Mark Mayerson:

"My father worked for over 60 years as a machinist. His job was to take a blueprint supplied by a client and figure out how to make the machine part using the tools and crew at his disposal. Often, my father had only the vaguest sense of what the piece would be used for; he rarely saw his piece assembled with any other pieces.

The system worked because of the nature of blueprints. I grew up listening to my father talk about the challenges of making certain parts. The allowable tolerances, meaning the amount that the part could deviate from the blueprint without being rejected, was often as small as four ten-thousandths of an inch. As a child, working with a ruler whose closest marks were one thirty-second of an inch apart, I was amazed that anything could be made so exactly.

It works for machine parts; it doesn't work for entertainment."

Click on the text to read the whole post.
Thoughts?

Animation Scene: Atlantic Provinces, March 2009

2009-03-18T14:58:00.005-04:00

Following coverage of what's up in Ottawa, I'm going to cast my attention to the east coast of Canada, where the industry has grown considerably over the last ten years. My apologies if any feel that lumping all the eastern areas together is an injustice, but for now, that's how it's gonnna be.
I'm just getting to know a lot of the folks out east. I'll openly admit that, until working for Fatkat a few years back, I was pretty unfamiliar with the whole region (at least professionally, I did some schooling out in Nova Scotia as a lad). What I've got here is largely unconfirmed, and I invite anyone reading to contact me to corroborate or correct what I report. I will be following up this week as well, trying to get as strong a picture of what's up on the right hand side of the map as I can.
First, no report on the Maritime region would be complete without a mention of the closure of Collideascope last summer. It was arguably the most stable and consistent and well paying place in the region. Collideascope also represented the region on the national stage as an established place. Huge blow.
As far as the active studios go, I'll start with Fatkat, since I chat with these guys pretty regularly. According to Gene Fowler, Fatkat is in the home stretch on their 26 half hours of Three Delivery for Nicktoons, Canal+, and YTV (among others). The Space Knights Pilot is in post for Teletoon (no air date on that yet though). They're prepping a few other things, including 26 half hours of a german production that should start in the summer. They've been putting up some art from this one over on their blog, feel free to check it out here. There's also talk of a US production and a UK gig, also for spring summer. Once these are locked I'll update.
Cartoon Conrad: completed animation on 13 episodes of Razzberry Jazzberry Jam for Trapeze, in PEI, and CBC in 2008, hoping for season 2 . Maybe a late May start on that one. I've heard very good things about this place. They were good and busy in 2008, and I'm told Luke Conrad did a great job of people happy over there.
Copernicus: I have mixed reports. One report tells me they are ramping up on a copro with Dublin-based Kavaleer Productions on Garth and Bev. 52 11 minute episodes. May startup. The other, that they are in mid production on said production, which should be coming to an end late May or June. I'll try to follow up here.
Helix Digital: Again, unconfirmed, but apparently putting together a very major project for CBC. It would be very high end and long running and is looking to start in May/June as well to run for about two years. It's in the Budget/Schedule phase but will likely be fast-tracked into production. Helix is still angling for full series work on top of this project as well. So, likely slow at the moment, but sounds promising.
Huminah Huminah: Word is that they are turning more towards gaming, with representation by Fog Studios, a gaming agent out of New Brunswick. I'm told they've been managing to keep busy on odds and ends, but no major projects to mention.
Invisible Entertainment: These guys are still mainly supporting the region and servicing the other hops, so they're keeping their fingers crossed for everyone I mentioned above.
So, in a nutshell: it's been quiet, a little too quiet for a lot of people. Even with a big ole' tax credit and more experienced crews, the work isn't pouring into the Maritimes the way it was a few years ago. They've had their boom, which is part of the industry cycle, and now they're competing with everyone else. But there's a lot of talented folks out east and it looks like things will level out. The next few months will be crucial, as work needs to lock in to keep these shops going through 2009 and into 2010, when people think the worst will be over.
Fingers Crossed.

From the internets...

2009-03-17T12:13:00.002-04:00

Claude Robinson VS Cinar, plagiarism case valued at $3 million that dates back to 1996, started March 10 and will run for 3 weeks, via AWN
Because someone demanded it: Amberwood's Zeroman is coming to DVD.
Babar is going 3D. Apparently Nelvana is planning the same thing with Franklin the Turtle.

Animation Links and Resources, courtesy of Ron Doucet

2009-03-15T17:32:00.003-04:00

Ron Doucet, over at Flooby Nooby, while claiming some small reaction to the last post here, has slapped an incredible amount of linkage up on his blog that will be of value to pretty much anyone who reads this. I'm having some technical issues with viewing his blog, and have barely scraped the surface of what's up there, but go and see for yourself.
He's got classic animation tips, clips for inspiration, advice on job hunting, portfolio preparation, salary analysis, just tons of goodies, some of which I may make room for on here as well.
For now, go visit Ron, and be sure to say thank you.
M
Job Hunting Post.
More info.

A Conversation With Mark Cappello

2009-03-13T14:02:00.004-04:00

I had a chance to chat this morning with Mark Cappello, of Nova Scotia’s Invisible Entertainment. Mark is known for being a straight shooter, and some of you may remember him from his open letter to Nova Scotia Animators. Here’s what followed:

Michael: Hey Mark.
Mark: Hi Michael, how are you?
Michael: Busy, which is good. You?
Mark: Only a little busy, but I'm okay. What are you working on these days?
Michael: Mainly the blogsite. It's becoming my full-time job and I got some short-term money from the province for a bit to get it up and running.
Mark: Well that's awesome. It's funny I had tried to jumpstart a professional association a few years back. Basically a central online place with all the features you want to build, plus some more standard benefits as well. People were not terribly interested, of course times were better then...
Michael: Yeah, there is still a hesitation from people in the industry when it comes to committing to anything. ASIFA Cananda, for example, currently has no members.
Mark: I know, it's nuts. Especially when you consider the amount of people in this industry across the country AND the amount of graduates colleges pump out across the country every year.
We've really devalued our professional status, and no one seems to care or want to communicate.
Michael: It's getting a little better, but you have to practically trick people into it. I think the way to go, and I've been talking to a few people about this, is smaller, loosely-organized groups. Once they're up and running, tie them together for some actual industry representation.
Mark: What's funny to me is that every other profession that touches animation is represented. Writers with the guild, producers with the CFTPA, Directors with the guild, Voice actors with Actra, post and sound guys with their association... right down to the janitors that come in and clean the studio. But the artists are not represented. Is it any wonder that only our work gets sent overseas?
Michael: We're strange beasts.
Mark: I'm not a 'union' guy, I don't think a union would work at all, but a professional association? I agree with you, it may be best to form a template and start locally with the idea that these groups will eventually coalesce.
Michael: Toronto has a few different groups already: TAIS, Alexis Victor runs something called Industry Night and always draws a crowd, and now here's a new group started by Barry Sanders: Animatic TO. There's also been talk of something out in Vancouver, just an opportunity for industry folks to socialize semi-regularly. And I'm going to be getting a seasonal get together started here. Start it as event-based, a screening, a lecture, plus something social. No dues, no memberships. Just getting people into a room together every few months, then a year down the road, create a membership, but no dues. Raise some sponsorship to cover the events, then you tie the groups together.
Mark: That sounds great, but it will be amazing how few people show up in a large animation community for free! I think you're right, we're strange creatures.
Michael: Well, it helps to have an open bar, or at least free drink tickets!
Mark: Agreed, but the studios are very fearful when it comes to labour organizing. Booze would work though!
Michael: Yeah, but what you do is make sure they have representation on your advisory board, so the studio interest is represented. You're there to be their voice, as much as the individual. But you have to have the worker bees represented as well. Put them at the same table
Mark: I could see that, but what things would you eventually be going for, other than strengthening the community? What benefits come out?
Michael: A unified voice that can bring issues like the provincial tax credit situation to our policy makers, but for now, I'd be happy with just having more communication in the community, that would be a victory unto itself.
Mark: That's a major one. We need to strike down the laws that make it difficult for us to go where the work is, each province could have it's own rate knowing that when a worker is there his money and taxes are dropping right in the province.
Michael: Agreed. We're competing with ourselves.
Mark: I think we need to talk seriously about group health benefits, seeing as how so few companies offer them.
Michael: Also very important. Without treading into union territory, it wouldn’t be too hard to arrange a group benefits program that members would have access to. I have friend in the insurance business that I've been talking to about this very thing.
Mark: I think we really need every 6 months a wage survey, so people know what the 'going rate' is for services. No one forces you to abide by this, but you can see for every region what the standard rate of pay is and you will feel obligated to follow that.
Mark: We are competing against ourselves, but companies prey on the ignorance of the newbies.
Michael: That's always been the case, that's why all the seasoned talent ends up working in their guest rooms and basements doing boards or sheet direction. There's always someone who will do the job cheaper.
Mark: Haha, it's true.
Michael: Not necessarily better, but cheaper rules the day. The real tragedy is that the current studio model is actually incredibly inefficient. An older model, with the emphasis on a strong director who is also the show runner and experienced talent is much cheaper to run. You pay more for fewer people.
Mark: I find the 'veterans' are often the toughest to reach with this stuff because they have carved a comfy little niche for themselves. They don't see the next generation being taken advantage of as their problem.
Michael: True in many cases. They've been burned, so now it's someone else's turn.
Mark: I agree the current model sucks, there is so much waste.
Michael: And they're usually only too happy to see the snotty, cocky punk straight outta school get the entitlement knocked out of them
Mark: It's true, I just wish they saw those people as themselves when they were full of naive hope and animation industry ignorance.
Michael: Well, the current attitude coming out of the schools, and I'm saying this in the broadest sense, is a lack of respect and level of entitlement the likes of which I've never seen before. No one feels they have to prove themselves.
Mark: It's so true. I've hired at Sheridan for 8 of the last 13 years and it's worse EVERY year. They're talented, but every one of them wants a directing job, or a development design job. It's brutal!
Michael: Well, since animation became a "hot job" (and that's a direct quote from an issue of Entertainment Weekly circa 1994) it began attracting people who are essentially lazy, people who can draw, and think it would be an easy way to make a living. And there are so many schools out there, every one of them will get in somewhere, and be pumped back out into the industry , 10 months later in some cases, thinking they are animators.
Mark: The schools are a big part of the problem. There is one here in Halifax that charges $17,000 a head per year for two years, and I can't even think about hiring them. I've spoken to some of the instructors and they're told not to fail anyone. It's borderline criminal.
Michael: Nick Cross recently said to me that he's only just become comfortable calling himself an animator. And Nick has been making his own films for 10 years.
Mark: Nick is awesome.
Michael: Yeah, arguably the best independent animator working in the industry, and he only just started calling himself an animator. The school situation got bad 10 years ago. In some areas it settled down, but there's always some where else that opens and cranks out kids. I was in Vancouver when it happened there. Fly by night outfits that opened, took your money, and were sometimes out of business before they graduated their first class.
Mark: This is the kind of 'reporting' I would like to see for our industry. Articles about tax credit law, and where you're eligible (because most people don't know), articles about the education problem, articles about successful individuals who have maintained humility and respect for the industry like Nick Cross. Not fluff like Animation Magazine.
Maybe we can start an online news source and build the community and interest that way?
Michael: Hmm… You think?
This is the direction I'm trying to take the blogsite. It's tough. People don't talk too much, so getting those opinions can be tricky.
Mark: I don't know, we all have our routine on the computer, check CHF, check your site, check facebook, then get to work. It can be part of the ritual.
Michael: I hope so. I haven't really pushed the content on the site too much yet, but that's where it’s headed. This would be a great thing to post, this conversation. See if we can get people talking. There are rarely comments on the blog, which I find surprising.
Mark: It will be difficult, in fact it will be tough to keep it from sliding to mudslinging and conjecture. But real reporting is difficult. I think if you had some regional people that got a lot of this info together... you're essentially editing it at that point.
Michael: Yeah, it has to have teeth, and I don't mind REPORTING on mudslinging, but you have to be respectful of all the players in the community. People have to be willing to sit down and speak frankly
and stand by what they say though. It can be done without being offensive. Speaking your mind and being disrespectful are two very different things.
Mark: There are a lot of stories out there that need to be told. Reporting could be cool, going into a studio and asking why the decision was made to send a project overseas, pros, cons, etc. And report that unbiased to give everyone the reasons from that company's perspective. Approach Teletoon and ask why they only put a fraction of shows together last year. The editorializing can come when we discuss why the greatest and most fertile animation country in the world has 'Teletoon' as our official cartoon network. We can ask why the real creatives are not getting opportunity.
Mark: As far as the studios, it allows for them to advertise jobs AND proudly represent any awards, or production deals, or news that they have DIRECTLY to the animation artist community.
Michael: Sadly the reality is more likely just a place to fire off press releases.
Mark: For some. Others may take the opportunity to talk directly to the artists.
Mark: I don't know how to brew more commentary. You would think that if this thread was posted there would be lots of people who agree, disagree, and have ideas of their own, but very few people would comment I think.

From there the conversation devolved into mutual masturbation and appreciation. But I’m going to make this a regular feature and open the door to other members of the community to have some frank conversation, share their feelings about the industry, the larger animation community, and the blog itself. I’m not putting forth that Mark or myself have any answers to the questions of the day, but maybe these types of conversations can at least give us the questions.
Please feel free to chime in: tell us what know-it-all bastards we are, offer alternatives, opinions or links to get rich quick schemes.
Communication furthers our community and benefits us all.
mv

Nerd Corps launches League of Super Evil with CN, YTV

2009-03-12T17:13:00.008-04:00

Nerd Corps announced their new deal with Cartoon Network last week. Here's the press release.

US viewers should prepare for the coming of
LEAGUE OF SUPER EVIL!
Cartoon Network will unleash 26 evil episodes starting this March

VANCOUVER, CANADA (February 25, 2009) –Get ready to root for the bad guys, here comes the League of Super Evil, a brand new comedy series that will soon be unveiled on Cartoon Network.

Produced by the evil masterminds at Nerd Corps Entertainment, this hilarious comedy series follows a team of bumbling super villains in their ongoing quest for total neighbourhood domination, and will launch in March airing four times per week, with new episodes premiering on Monday evenings. The net has picked up 26 x half hours, which will be aired as two consecutive 11-minute segments. Additionally, Nerd Corps will be creating 30-second shorts tied to each episode for use as bonus on-air content of evil.

“The great thing about the League is that they always find a small, delusional victory where everyone else would see a defeat,” says Nerd Corps CEO and creative head Asaph Fipke. “And they tend to lose spectacularly. The fun is in the ridiculous and convoluted course they take in getting there, and the underlying parody in the heroes and villains that the town is full of.”

“Cartoon Network is the perfect home for a show like L.O.S.E.,” says Nerd Corps President Ken Faier. “They really understand the humor and parody in the show, and how it will appeal to their viewers, both in the core kids demo and beyond.”

Collaborating on The League’s plan for complete world domination is YTV in Canada , which will also launch the series in March, as well as the BBC’s children’s channel in the UK, CBBC, Jetix in Latin America and Canal +, Canal J and Gulli in France.

Armed with a whole new approach to badness, The League of Super Evil (a.k.a. L.O.S.E.) follows four Super Villains who have set their sights on nothing less than total neighbourhood domination! L.O.S.E. is helmed by the diminutive Great Voltar, whose grandiose plans are generally miniscule and child-like—and give new meaning to the term lowered expectations. Then there’s gadgeteer Doktor Frogg, whose evil genius is diminished only by his incredible bad luck. Bringing the muscle is fresh-faced former farm-boy Reginald “Red” Menace, who prefers to channel his energy into gardening, cute animals and bouncy castles. And we can’t forget the completely unpredictable Doomageddon, a pan-dimensional creature who brings the term “bad dog” to a whole other level. Between using a Shiruken anime robot to win a playground slam dunk competition, inventing a super-computer to protect Voltar’s sweet new evil BMX bike, or hosting a neighbourhood barbeque and not inviting ANY of the neighbors, L.O.S.E. struggles ever-onward to its goal of total mindless fun! Isn't it time the Villains got their due?

The images look good, hope the scripts can match the visuals. Nerd Corps has been getting things done and building a solid reputation. I haven't had any first hand contact with them yet, but will have to remedy that situation. Need to find out who the talent is over there, get us a peek at what else they're up to.

Boomstone update

2009-03-10T17:12:00.000-04:00

Heard back from Lee WIlliams at Boomstone, here's what they've been up to:
we are currently working on scripts for a series called "Piper McPhee" with "Katie & Orbie" creator Susan Wicks...a young kids environmental series. We have just released a pop CD with record producer partners CdA Group in Miami for “The Weather Girls”…yes, same group who did Homer Simpson’s favorite song “Its Raining Men” and club cult favorite dance song. LOL. From the CD we are developing a girl’s series with “The Girls” which is a live action/animation web-broadcast combo series. We tendered songwriters to give us songs that dealt with all sorts of young girl's/woman’s issues focusing on being confident and happy with who you are. The CD “The Woman I Am” was just released on iTunes, setup their MySpace page, and we are just now setting up the tours and appearances.

Ottawa Animation scene, March 2009

2009-03-09T16:14:00.008-04:00

I'm going to be doing a little more coverage of the various production centres around the country. Seeing as I am inherently a lazy creature, I'm starting with my own back yard: Ottawa.
This is by no means a comprehensive listing, just word of mouth and some chats.
We do ok in Ottawa. It's a relatively healthy industry with a long tradition. Our heyday was arguably somewhere in the late mid nineties. We've had our fair share of cautionary tales, tracing back to the Crawley days. But today, we've got a few mid size shops that generally keep our talent employed.
My list reads like this: Pip Animation, Mercury Filmworks, Amberwood, Boomstone, Big Jump, Fuel, and now: Kratt Bros.
That's really the big news in Ottawa these days. The Kratt Brothers, of Zooboomafoo and Kratt's Creatures. I don't have a ton of details yet, but word is they're opening a 2D shop out in Kanata. They'll be working in Harmony, rather than Flash, same as the folks at Mercury. They're not up and running yet, but May/June is what I'm hearing. The Kratts are known for being very involved in their productions, which can be tough, but a new shop in town, while creating more competition for Harmony-using artists, is great news.
Pip seeems pretty busy. I understand they've moved out of their old digs at the City Centre building, but I haven't been out to the new location yet. Pip are hard at work on Bob and Doug. They're doing 15 episodes, which should keep them busy til June, then a gap and 7 more episodes with hopefully more to come. They're also doing a series of shorts, 60 Second Science, for Title Entertainment, Frank Taylor's shingle. There are 9 on the go right now with maybe 26 in all to be commisioned. I've been told they've got a few demos on the go as well, but the big announcement is, starting in May, 80 episodes of the Cat in the Hat. This one is through Portfolio, and it's a huge feather in Pip's cap.
Big Jump is busy doing full production on Amberwood's Benjamin Bear. Rick Morrison informed me that they're cranking out 13 22 minute episodes which should keep them busy through the bulk of 2009.
Boomstone I'm still waiting to hear back from. I know it's been a bumpy year for them, with the departure of workhorse Rich Vanatte. But Lee Williams always has something going on, so I won't count these guys out.
Rich worked for a little while at March Entertainment's small satellite studio out in Kanata. I hear they've wrapped, but I'll keep asking to see if anything else starts up.
Mercury Filmworks is in a little downtime right now. These guys have been steady employers for a good long time here in Ottawa, and I'm told they'll be ramping up on Kid Knievel. No dates yet for this Disney show. As the other Harmony shop in town, the easily frightened are talking shakeups and a big talent drain as Kratts ramp up, but for I'm inclined to wait and see for myself.
Amberwood has scaled back to mainly being a production office and farming out the art chores to guys like Big Jump and Elliot Animation in Toronto. They're delivering episodes of Rollbots, have Benjamin Bear on the go, and have entered into a copro deal with a Singapore shop (One Studio?) on a 3D preschool show called Rob the Robot. Scripts, music and post will be here, with the rest of the work being done overseas. This is Amberwood's new model, and it appears to be working for them.
I know there's smaller stuff around too. Nick Cross has finished up his half of the Angora Napkin pilot for Teletoon. I've heard rumblings of some animation maybe from Dave Cooper. There's another little shop on the horizon called Digital Henchmen. They're working on a music video right now.
I'm supposed to be heading over to Fuel later this week, so hopefully more to report from them. Grapevine over there says longer form animation to add to their already impressive reputation in games and online services.
That's what I'm hearing right now. Anyone reading who can say otherwise, or add to it, please do!

If I were in Halifax, I'd be here:

2009-03-04T14:27:00.004-05:00

PEI animator and comics guy, Troy Little, will be doing a book signing in Halifax, March 17th, at Strange Adventures. Word is there will be a preview of the Angora Napkin cartoon. I haven't heard about an air date for the show yet, but will post as soon as I hear.

Canadian Animation Directory, Deadline for Registration: FRIDAY!

2009-03-03T15:17:00.002-05:00

Get over to the Ottawa International Animation Festival site and get yourself signed up for this year's Industry Directory. Registration is free! And, as mentioned previously, this year the directory is going online! You guys have been asking about this for a while, here it is. You only have a few more days!
Go.

If I were in Montreal, I'd be here:

2009-03-02T16:33:00.006-05:00

Kid Koala is hosting 3 nights of mellow tracks to inspire your pencil. Here's the link. It's been dubbed : Music To Draw To
Here's the details:

Bring your sketchbook, yarn, or that lump of clay. Floor lamps, pens, knitting needles, and lap desks will be provided. Five bucks admission includes a free cup of hot chocolate or tea. Music will be provided by Kid Koala. Expect a full 5-hour set of some of his favorite quiet time records that he has collected on his travels around the world. Baked goods will be provided by Kid Koala’s wife, Corinne, who dreams of someday opening a bakery in Montreal and would like to try some of her new creations first.

Quiet people are invited. Bring something to work on. No dancing. Hope to see you there!

3 NIGHTS ONLY : 7pm until midnight :
March 2, 2009
March 9, 2009
March 16, 2009
Theatre St. Catherine: 264 St. Catherine E., Montreal, QC

ALL AGES!

This is one of the coolest get-togethers I've heard of in a while. Colour me jaloux.

While we're talking Kid Koala, here are a few of his animated music videos by Monkmus.

Fender Bender:

Basin Street Blues:

From the internets...

2009-02-26T12:09:00.005-05:00

Nelvana expands the Bakugan empire.
Troy Little's Angora Napkin Graphic novel continues to net press for the Teletoon Pilot.
Cookie Jar re-ups deal for CBS Saturday morning.
Ok, so it looks like we did have a Canadian contingent at the Oscars after all. Chris WIlliams, co-director of Bolt, born in Missouri, raised in Kitchener-Waterloo. Congrats on the nomination Chris!
Breakthrough gets noticed. International sales look pretty good. Al-Jazeera!
Canadian trio Immaculate Machine have a stop-motion video making the rounds for their tune, "C'mon Sea Legs". Video by Kimberli Persley and Geoffry Tomlin-Hood.

La Maison En Petits Cubes

2009-02-23T16:51:00.004-05:00

Here's last night's best animated short Academy Award winner (in two parts), La Maison en Petits Cubes, by Kunio Kato.
Part 1

Part 2

And for an extra treat, Kunio Kato's acceptance speech:

81st annual Academy Awards, Wall-E and Maison en Petits Cubes take home trophies

2009-02-23T09:57:00.005-05:00

I guess I should post the winners from last night.
Wall-E took best feature. No huge surprise there, although, for a split second I thought it was going to go to the Panda.
La Maison en Petits Cubes won in the best animated short category. Sadly, I didn't see this one, so I don't feel too qualified to comment. I was glad to see something traditional win, and that the director, Kunio Kato, thanked his pencil.
Presto didn't win. That made me happy. Not that Presto isn't a fun film, but it's a gag film, and a pretty standard one at that. It was nice to seee that the Academy didn't just hand it over to Pixar again.
I love the Animated Short Film category (and the short documentary category). I always feel that this is where the Academy Awards really rewards hard work and dedication. The big categories are all about prestige and politics. These directors are largely little guys, who dedicate themselves, with very little expectation of reward, to the stories they set out to tell. It's cute to see them all spiffed up, more than a little awkward, taking way too long to get to the stage from theire back-row seats and stand in front of the popular kids and get to say their thank yous.
Congrats to the winners.
I'm not going to comment on the 2008 "yearbook" montage of animated features. That was pure bullshit.
Oops, guess I commented.
Also, sorry to see the Canadian contingent absent this year. I hope this means everyone is working on next year's winners.

Canadian Animation Directory, courtesy of the Ottawa International Animation Festival

2009-02-20T10:49:00.005-05:00

Well, I've been promising news, and here it is.
We will be havinng an online directory here in Canada for the Canadian animation community. I've been talking with the good folks from the Ottawa International Animation Festival about this very thing. For those of you who don't know, the festival produces a print directory, an invaluable resource, and they do a great job of it. Well, this year, they will be making that directory available online. We're trying it out for a year to determine how well received it is. They've just sent out an email to everyone on their mailing list to go and register. I've posted the body of the email, along with registration instructions, on the directory page. If you want in, and you should, go and register now! There are different listings available, some of which cost a few bucks, but just go register and get your name in there. Once the directory goes live, I'll be providing a direct link from here.
Now GO!!!!
Sign up!
Take a seat at the table with the rest of us miserable sods.

From the internets...

2009-02-19T13:34:00.004-05:00

Cookie Jar appoints Brenda Bisner SR Manager of domestic consumer products. Bisner moves from Porchlight. Here too.
Nelvana continues to rake in dough with Bakugan licensing. Interesting to see how specific the deals are (AME for hanging underwear).
Reshuffling at Amberwood Entertainment. The torch is indeed passing. Congrats guys.

9th Annual Kingston Canadian Film Festival, Feb25th to Mar1, 2009. Kids animation workshop, and: Vampiro!

2009-02-18T15:16:00.005-05:00

Saw that this event is coming up.
It's a new one for me and seems to be geared towards live-action. Nice to see, though, that the NFB is doing a kids animation workshop. Question: Do they do animation workshops for adult too? Animation is pretty tricky. I know a lot of adults who work pretty hard to make some of their own. Why are these workshops always for kids? Do medical symposiums have brain surgery workshops for kids? Is that analogy accurate?
When looking at the profile given to animation in this festival, it's easy to see how we're perceived. The film festival is for "serious" live action features. They show off locally-produced short films (also live-action) before the feature screenings, which is an idea I LURVE, by the way. And for the kids... and animation workshop.
Now, I have a 7 year-old daughter. I have a couple neices and nephews, and have a lot of kids around in general. Know what the favourite gift for more than a few of these kids was this year? Digital video cameras.
These kids love making movies!
Kids.
Making LIVE ACTION movies.
They are largely hilarious and terrible.
But they love making them. None of these kids were begging their parents for lightboxes, Harmony software or even flipbooks. Live action is immediate. Kids point and shoot and get to laugh at themselves. Animation is deliberate, precise, and time consuming. But it's a "kid's medium". Welcome to the continued sidelining of the medium.
But we do it to ourselves too. We have our own festivals, which I love. But why is this? Don't our films stack up against our live-action counterparts? How many of you out there submit your films to live-action festivals? Better representation in the entries might lead to better representation in the categories, and perhaps, better representation in the winner's circle.
Yes, submit your films to the Ottawa Festival. Submit them to animation festivals everywhere! If you an afford it. But throw your name into other arenas too.
Upon close inspection, there does appear to be some form of drawn imagery in at least one of the films in the shorts package. So some one made some animation "serious" enough for real filmgoers to watch less than 12 minutes of it.

If you are in Kingston during these dates though, go see Vampiro! I caught a screening here in Ottawa a while back and this movie absolutley ruined the Wrestler for me.

Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF), March 18 - 21

2009-02-17T13:40:00.004-05:00

This came in today via the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

TOKYO INTERNATIONAL ANIME FAIR 2009 (TAF) Tokyo Big Sight (March 18-21) Be a part of the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2009 to be held from March 18-21, 2009. This is your opportunity to network with close to 300 companies from Japan’s dynamic animation industry. Take advantage of the Canadian Booth at TAF 2009 to demonstrate your company’s creative products and services in one of the world’s hottest animation markets! The Tokyo Anime Fair (TAF), a four day annual event launched in 2002 is a high profile animation event opened to both trade (first two days) and the general public (last two days). Last year, 289 companies - including 79 from abroad participated in the event which drew more than 120,000 people including more than 20,000 trade visitors during the two business days. When it comes to visitors, the event is also known to draw buyers from a number of countries such as China, Korea and Taiwan. For companies in the animation production field or the animation technology or services sector, TAF presents an excellent opportunity to meet important players from the Animation world, including broadcasters, animation production firms or distributors. For more details on the TAF, please see the official Tokyo Anime Fair Website at http://www.tokyoanime.jp/en/ . This year, the Embassy has secured space for a small scale Canada booth (18 m2) at the venue. This limited space will comprise a reception desk, a meeting area and an audiovisual corner. Some wall space may also be available for the use of posters. We invite Canadian companies interested in promoting themselves to a Japanese and Asian audience to join us to display and use their promotional and audiovisual material. Canadian companies already scheduled to attend the event, or interested in doing so, are welcome to use the Canada booth as their base during the four day event as delegates. This will provide participants with an opportunity to reach out to an audience of contacts from the Japanese animation industry. If unable to attend TAF, companies are welcome to send us promotional or audio-visual material for display on their behalf. As a participating delegate (CDN $250 participation fee), you will have: - exhibitor status (but no booth) at the Canada booth; - an exhibitor pass; - access to a common space at the Canada booth; - an opportunity to present your brochures at the booth, and to have your audio-visual material presented; For those companies interested in joining us, we would ask that you advise us of your participation no later than this Friday, Feb. 21. Once confirmation of your participation is received, we will provide you with more detailed instructions concerning payment of the participation fee. Contact: Pierre Delorme Trade Commissioner Embassy of Canada 7-3-38 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8503, Japan Tel: (+ 81-3) 5412-6232 Fax: (+81-3) 5412- 6250 email: pierre.delorme@international.gc.ca

This would be great to go to.
I'm curious if the readership has ever taken advantage of these types of events or trade missions. I know how beneficial they have been in other times and other industries. When India opened up as a destination for service work, these kinds of opportunities lead to a lot of work between Canadian companies and studios over there. Now, Japan is obviously a very different market, but do you think having a poster up of your latest creation could net some interest? As always, any input and feedback is welcome.
I'm not an anime guy, but I still think this would be a gas.

From the internets...

2009-02-12T23:35:00.003-05:00

Whew.
Took me a few days to recover from my Coraline obsession. Thanks for indulging it.

Cuppa Coffee's Life's a Zoo finding new outlets.
Copernicus teams with Irish people for Garth and Bev. Here too.
More Strawberry Shortcake coming from Cookie Jar.
Apparently I should just put a link to awn.com on here.

Coraline opening weekend! updated sunday

2009-02-07T17:33:00.004-05:00

According to Box Office Mojo, Coraline has made over 16 million so far this weekend. A decent showing. Not exactly a blockbuster, but I think this should do the trick. We could have a sleeper on our hands. I'm going this afternoon.

Tamu Townsend took TEN friends!!!
Great job Tamu!

Rollbots premiere

2009-02-04T12:10:00.006-05:00

Had the pleasure of catching the world premiere of Amberwood Entertainment's "Rollbots" this past Sunday. The gang at Amberwood provided much hoopla for what will most assuredly be a big ole hit. About 500 people converged on a theatre at the Museum of Civilization where we were wined and dined on free pizza, slightly burnt cookies and plenty of soda pop. The event was emcee'd by one of YTV's hosts, who did a good job pumping up the kids in the audience, despite some technical difficulties at first.
This was the first episode in the series, which will be on this weekend on YTV, and really, Amberwood has a hit on it's hands. The story is very similar in tone to the original Reboot episodes. Lots of fun action, easily identifiable characters, a nasty villain with some bufoonish henchbots. It's fast and loud and kids are gonna eat it up.
Talk among the crowd is that there's a Mattel deal, so expect the merch on this sucker to be everywhere.
Personally, I found the event enjoyable, with lots of local animation types in attendance. I didn't feel like pressing too much flesh, but got to say hi to some old friends. My daughter had fun, so that's cool. What I found really interesting is what this says for Amberwood. For the most part, the company has been milking the same stable of shows created by Gerald Tripp 15 years ago. They took a stab at something slightly different a few years back with Zero-Man, which I found, quite frankly, terrible. But this is something new for them. Sheldon Wiseman, Mr Amberwood himself, was there, but he didn't take a bow for this production. Instead, his son Jonathan, Supervising Producer Craig Young, the show's creator McM, and a few others whose names I didn't write down (apologies!) where given the spotlight. This felt like a passing of the torch to me.
Good job guys. And good luck.
(Pics provided by Craig Young, more over in his Facebook album)
McM shares his thoughts on the event here.

Canadian Animation Rumour-Mill

2009-02-04T11:46:00.003-05:00

Some information came across my desk last week about a new studio maybe opening up in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa. Now, Ottawa's seen a few changes the last couple of years: Funbag's demise, Amberwood has scaled back to more of a production office, farming out the actual work on their shows. Mercury is going strong, Pip seems to keep busy, Boomstone I'm not too sure about, Fuel employs a lot of happy artists, now we've also got Big Jump grabbing up service work, and late last year March Entertainment opened up a small satellite studio out in Kanata. My first instinct that this might be an expansion of the March operation. But I've been told different. Perhaps I should have been paying closer attention to the Animators For Hire listings at the Animation Festival these past few years. A little more vague in 2008, so maybe I can't be blamed for the oversight.
Shame about it being out in Kanata. Our animators are somewhat centrally located, so there will have to be some commutes. Still, a big addition to our little community.

More Coraline stuff, updated with review from our pal, Barry Sanders

2009-02-03T22:23:00.008-05:00

I apologize for the hastily written review for Coraline. Here are some better ones:

From FPS magazine's newest contributor, A. Murphy-Hiscock. This is a great review, very thorough, well-written, a good read about a great movie.
From our pal Dominic Von Riedemann at suite101.com, not a review, but an interview with author Neil Gaiman. Nice one.

I've started a Facebook event to try to get people out to this movie. This movie isn't Canadian, but it's worth supporting. I've been gushing about it, but this is the kind of film that deserves our support. Go see it, bring your friends. Opening weekend box office is, sadly, oh so critical to a film these days. It generates word of mouth, it gets the distibutor behind further marketing, which really gives a movie a shot. Laika isn't a service studio, how this film performs will determine whether or not they get to make more. So many shitty movies are getting made these days, why not put your dollars behind a good one?

UPDATE: Toronto-based compadre Barry Sanders saw the movie last night with Neil Gaiman himself, I understand they're BFFs now. What did Barry think? (spoilerish near the end)

Several reviews of Coraline preview screenings have been popping up online so normally I wouldn’t have much to add, but I had the good fortune to attend a very special Monday night advance viewing in Toronto with Neil Gaiman himself in attendance for a short Q&A.
Firstly, the film itself is excellent. Gaiman and Selick do an outstanding job walking the tightrope between their own mad worlds and a broader accessibility without giving in to the temptation to appease everyone. As an animator I was often awe struck by the believability and subtlety of Coraline’s motion and emotion.
As an outsider Gaiman was obviously really jazzed at the opportunity to observe the stop motion process and so he was able to pass on a surprising amount during the Q&A. It turns out the stereoscopic 3D effect was done not with a dual camera rig but with a single camera on a mechanism that would swing the camera from left to right taking two successive shots, one for each view angle.
Selick tried to use the stereoscopic effect to separate Coraline’s two realities with varying degrees of success. All the “real world” sets were built foreshortened (ie: a room that appears 25’ long is actually only 5’) while the fantasy world sets were overcranked so that it would feel deeper, richer and more real than reality.
Gaiman sternly warned us that the window of opportunity to see Coraline in full 3D will be a short one. The Jonas Bros. 3D concert film will be opening 3 weeks after Coraline and it will be snapping up all the theatres that are capable of 3D projection. My sorrow at that news knows no bounds. Seize the opportunity while you can and make a Jonas cry.
There were a lot of questions about the ways in which the movie script diverted from the book and the lack of Dave McKean’s artistic influence on the design of the film. Neil pointed out that in fact he took the first draft of the story to Selick long before he involved McKean in the version that was eventually published. So in many ways the Gaiman/Selick vision of Coraline is the original one, it just took 9 years to bring it to audiences.
Lastly if you see this film and I recommend you do, stay to the end of the credits for 2 reasons. The last text you see says, “For those in the know: JerkWad” which will be the secret online code for the Coraline web site. It will let you buy a pair of limited edition Coraline sneakers decorated with buttons. Only 1000 will be made. But of more interest to me the last thing you see is an animated sequence before the blue screen and support rigs were removed so you can get a real sense of what it takes to make a single beautiful shot.

Coraline Review

2009-02-02T09:29:00.005-05:00

I managed to snag some advance tickets to Coraline.
Please go see this movie.
I will keep this review brief and spoiler-free.
Henry Selick and the crew at Laika have made a truly beautiful film. It dosn't condescend, is genuinely funny, and is a feast for the eyes. The musical numbers are completely non-gratuitous. I was so thoroughly pleased to have seen this film.
There was a moment for me, while watching this movie, in the middle of a musical number, that I imagined what it must have been like for the folks who worked on it, after a a long production schedule, to have all sat down together for their first sreeening of the finished piece. How proud they must be of this film. Laika's been laying off since production wrapped, and each of these people will go on to other projects, but damn! To have been involved in this can't be anything other than a career high.
Laika needs to make more movies like this. This movie needs to sell tickets. It opens next weekend and the marketing has not been too great. Please, take a friend or four and go see this movie.
A word of caution, this movie is not for all children. Exercise some judgement regardinng your own child. There are some pretty scary bits in here, but it's beautiful. I would be surprised if I see an animated film this year that is superior.

Studio B fanpage

2009-01-29T09:28:00.005-05:00

Looks like Vancouer's Studio B has launched a fanpage on Facebook. I wouldn't normally shill like this, but they've posted some behind the scenes videos for their new series, Kid VS Kat. For any newbies looking for a glimpse behind the inner workings of launching an animated series, these are kind of interesting.
Here's hoping they keep the page updated.

I like Chad VanGaalen

2009-01-28T16:24:00.004-05:00

Next to no info here, but you can listen to some of his tracks. I just like what I know about him so far. He is, of course, on Myspace, where you can see some of his animation and listen to more of his music.
Here are some of his home-made animated videos.

Animation Industry/Community

2009-01-27T20:08:00.003-05:00

I've been in a position these past few months to really be considering the purpose of this blogsite, to really examine the reason for it. It would be easy to describe it as a central resource to the animation industry, that's kind of how I started out. But, upon further consideration, I have trouble with the word "industry". By it's very meaning, it's exclusive. If I were aiming this blog at the industry, then I would be alienating everyone out there who isn't a working professional in the field of animation. I'm far more comfortable with the idea that I'm trying to put something out for our community.
We are a big god-damned country, geographically at least. Historically, we've had a few major production centers: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and, to an extent, Ottawa. Over the last decade, the Maritime provinces have boomed, and we've seen work coming out of Calgary, Winnipeg, pretty much everywhere. The NFB has offices in each province, although Montreal seems to be the most active. There are independent animators all over the place, some working, some hobbyists. Co-ops and associations are scattered about, including the Quickdraw Animation Society in Calgary, ABCAP in Vancouver, Women In Animation (also in Vancouver), in Toronto we've got the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) and Alexis Victor's Industry Night. I've just had word that there are a few more movements afoot to unite animators in both Vancouver and Toronto, and it looks like something similar might be happening here in Ottawa soon too. ASIFA Canada currently has no active membership, so I can't count that. We've got festivals all over the place too, including OIAF, WFAC, and others. We are spread out, we are comprised of working pros, hobbyists, fans, students, execs, artists, animaphiles, writers, and so on. We all define ourselves in our own way, but we are joined together as members of a community. I like being a part of this community. I like seeing friendly faces converge on Ottawa each fall to watch cartoons, carve pumpkins, learn, share, drink, laugh, and ocassionally, do some business.
So, as a community, I'm asking you to step up and share. I'm doing this blog thing, but my circle is limited. I've worked for companies on both coasts, I know some people here and there, and Facebook certainly helps, but there's a whole lot going on out there that I know absolutely nothing about.
So tell me.
Tell me about that new project you just sold.
Show me the animation you just made on your computer at home.
Complain about being laid off.
Gossip.
Share a post you just wrote on your blog, or an article you just read elsewhere.
If it relates to our community, I want to hear about it.
Of course, this will all be filtered through my own personal bias, it will often be awkward and clumsy, but it will be out there.
Thanks for reading, thanks for sharing. Keep it up.

The Dark Years

2009-01-23T15:14:00.005-05:00

I missed this when it came on here in Canada (the History Channel I think?), but was very interested in seeing it at the time. Here's how it's described on the NFB site: A look at the impact of the Great Depression years on Canada and its people. What started with an economic crash in 1929 would end only with the guns of World War II. Of the many stories and legacies of the Great Depression, perhaps its greatest is that it created a modern Canada: more questioning of the power of government, inclined toward social policies like welfare and health care, and prepared to play a role in international affairs and economies.
I came across a listing for it from a network in Australia, they had a little more to say: Canadian history has the reputation of being bloodless and consequently uneventful, especially in comparison to the often violent and dramatic events that have shaped other countries. Yet this three-part animated series presents a lively and visually sumptuous look at Canada during the Great Depression, proving Canada’s history to be anything but tepid. From record breaking cross-Atlantic flights, and the birth of the world- famous Dionne quintuplets, to the slow march to war, The Dark Years uses original animation, archival footage and eye-witness accounts to bring to life colourful stories from the 1930s.
The whole series was produced using stock footage and animation, which sounds really interesting, and there are some good names on the production credits, Including Chuck Gammage Studios, so I was hopeful.
Here's the clip: The Dark Years.
There's more over here: Dark Years clips
The second link also has all kinds of other info, including links to an interview with the animation director, John Halfpenny.
Now, to be fair, I judged this pretty harshly based on the forst clip. It's a good story to tell, it sounds well written, and I think that's Maury Chaykin narrating. But the animation left me really cold. The illustrative style just doesn't work in flash. In fact, I was going to just say outright that it looks terrible.
The second clip, featuring Hitler in Mickey Mouse pants, is far more entertaining. Still though, this would have looked a whole lot better done traditionally. The arguments are always going to be there, budgetary largely, but once again, here's a potentially great project that just comes up short on the execution.
But maybe the technology isn't the culprit? Ive seen some very good traditional animation done in Flash. Is this just a question of poor animation? Poor animation done in Flash that just as easily could have been poor animation done traditionally? I can't say. Lord knows we had a lot of terrible animation before Flash, so why should things be any different now?
Animation aside, this still looks like something I would watch, and the animation isn't all terrible, but unfortunately, the parts that are bad, are just that: terrible.

Trapeze Animation struggles to fill positions

2009-01-22T00:08:00.004-05:00

I had this brought to my attention a while back, should have posted it sooner. I wanted to get a comment form Trapeze but didn't hear back from them. Either way, the gist of the story over at cbc.ca is this: Trapeze Animation, of Charlottetown, PEI, can't find enough animators locally to produce their show, Razberry Jazzberry Jam.
This is a problem I had to deal with while recruiting a few years back for Fatkat in Miramichi. Running a studio in a small centre like these guys do has some real challenges. Here in Ottawa, or Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, you have a talent pool to draw from. When work dries up somewhere, there's often another gig available down the street. Not so for these little shops. Fatkat was able to land enough wok to offer their people long term contracts, and even they had to make some cutbacks a while back. Financing through tax credits puts limitations on the amount of non-local talent you can use, but quite frankly, for the geographically expanding industry, information technology and the freelance community is the answer. The same way we once shipped work overseas and ran small prepoduction crews ten years ago, perhaps small, remote shops like this should focus on maintaining a small creative hub and farm out the grunt work to the freelance community. It's a solid model, but you have to adjust your pipeline to accomodate it.
Best of luck to Trapeze.

Ren and Stimpy, lost episode via Nick Cross

2009-01-20T15:33:00.004-05:00

Nick just linked to this over on his blog. It's not the Greatest Cartoon Never Made that I mentioned in a previous post(that's still for another time), but it's up there.

LS2
Uploaded by chuckchillout8

It's been talked about in a few spots around the internet before and would have been a marvel to watch. Mary Blair/Golden Book-styled sequences with the kids, woulda been cool.
Nick talks about it briefly. I believe they just ran out of money before geting to these.
Too bad.

From the internets...

2009-01-20T13:17:00.003-05:00

A report on overseas sales for Studio B's Martha Speaks. The part I find interesting is at the end, when they list the Cnadian broadcasters. No CBC, no Teletoon, no national broadcaster. Cool that they put this together using regional broadcast license fees.
Atomic Cartoons announces deal on Punktuition. No broadcasters yet, we'll have to wait til after Kidscreen for that.
Majority Rules comes to Teletoon.
A little more info on Breakthrough's new show Stay Tooned. Apparently it could feature an animated host.

From the internets...

2009-01-16T11:17:00.006-05:00

Amberwood signs co-pro deal with Australia's Galaxy Pop for 26 half hours of The Sunshine Friends
It's amazing the kind of crap that pops up in a google alert. I have Nelvana listed as an alert and today that yielded countless reports of Gene Simmons being announced as the keynote speaker at this year's Canadian Music Week. Why? because pretty much every article spews about Gene's media empire, which includes My Dad the Rock Star. Now, here's the part that floored me: "My Dad the Rock Star, his own cartoon show created for Canada's Nelvana now in its fifth year". NOW IN IT'S FIFTH YEAR. Have you seen this show? No offense to the hard-working animation types who are forced to toil on it, but it's terrible. I remember when it appeared, which I'm reminded was roughly five years ago. I remember being terribly happy my 2 year-old daughter didn't take to it and that I would be spared at least this half hour of mediocrity. I assumed it would be a high concept that gets a season, maybe two due to the Nelvana-Corus-Teletoon pipeline, and that I would simply dodge the reruns. But no, My Dad the Rock Star is in it's FIFTH SEASON. Remind me to tell you about the greatest cartoon never made sometime, and you might understand why this frustrates me so. Either way, kudos to you Mr Simmons , on your mastery of all media.

From the internets...

2009-01-09T10:28:00.004-05:00

Via our colleague, Dominic Von Riedemann, at Suit101.com: Montreal-based Toon Boom acquires Dublin-based Cambridge Animation Systems. Cambridge is the producer of the animation software Animo. This should mean that whater good mojo the Cambridge fellas have going on in Animo will be incorporated into a subsequent version of Harmony.
Cookie Jar Entertainment, having failed to acquire the house that Strawberry Shortcake built, American Greetings, is eyeing Entertainment Rights. We reported a while back on Mipcom rumours that Entertainment Rights, owner of Postman Pat and other internationally recognized licenses, was in danger of disolution. According to www.telegraph.co.uk, Cookie Jar is one of three potential buyers for the company. Cookie Jar seems dead set on buying someone. They've come a long way from their scandalous end as Cinar. But look what a little rebranding can do.
Fred Seibert writes about Chris Robinson's collection, the Animation Pimp. Haven't read it yet myself, but did follow the articles back when they were on AWN. I did recently read Chris' book on Ryan Larkin, Ballad of a Thin Man and will get around to a review soon.

Why Cartoons Suck, by Frank Zappa

2009-01-09T10:03:00.005-05:00

One of the best damned posts about cartoons I've read in a while, by Amid Amidi, from Cartoon Brew. I'm just going to cut and paste the whole friggin thing here, hope he doesn't mind.

Frank Zappa Explains Why Cartoons Today Suck

January 8, 2009 2:05 am

Want to understand why entertaining cartoons are all but impossible to produce nowadays? You can have the answer in just two short minutes by watching the first part of this interview with Frank Zappa. Though Zappa is explaining the decline of the music business, everything he says is applicable to the animation world as well.

His words were important enough that I made a transcript for my own reference. Here is what Frank says:

“One thing that did happen during the Sixties was some music of an unusual or experimental nature did get recorded or did get released. Now look at who the executives were in those companies at those times. Not hip young guys. These were cigar-chomping old guys who looked at the product that came and said, ‘I don’t know. Who knows what it is. Record it. Stick it out. If it sells, alright.’ We were better off with those guys than we are now with the supposedly hip young executives who are making the decisions of what people should see and hear in the marketplace. The young guys are more conservative and more dangerous to the art form than the old guys with the cigars ever were. …Next thing you know [the hip young executive has] got his feet on the desk and he’s saying, ‘Well we can’t take a chance on this because that’s not what the kids really want and I know.’ And they got that attitude. And the day you get rid of that attitude and get back to ‘Who knows. Take a chance.’ That entrepreneurial spirit where even if you don’t like or understand what the record is that’s coming in the door, the person who is in the executive chair may not be the final arbiter of taste of the entire population.”

His ideas about how old-school execs were better for the music industry than younger “hip” execs directly mirror my own beliefs about why the animation industry’s output nowadays is so creatively spineless and lacking in point of view. Back in 2005, I wrote a piece called “Animation’s Greatest Executives” in which I sung the praises of the Golden Age animation execs like Leon Schlesinger, Eddie Selzer and Fred Quimby. These guys don’t receive much praise in history books, but it’s no accident that the most entertaining industry cartoons were produced under their watch.

In that earlier post, I offered this quote from Tex Avery discussing his relationship with the exec Leon Schlesinger at Warners:

“We worked every night — [Chuck] Jones, [Bob] Clampett, and I were all young and full of ambition. My gosh, nothing stopped us! We encouraged each other, and we really had a good ball rolling. I guess Schlesinger saw the light; he said, ‘Well, I’ll take you boys away from the main plant.’ He put us in our own little shack over on the [Warner Bros.] Sunset lot, completely separated from the Schlesinger studio, in some old dressing room or toilet or something, a little cottage sort of thing. We called it Termite Terrace. And he was smart; he didn’t disturb us. We were all alone out there, and he knew nothing of what went on.”

It should come as little surprise that Avery’s endorsement of Schlesinger so closely mirrors Zappa’s praise for the “cigar-chomping old” music execs. Leaving great artists alone to create great work is common sense. Execs in animation’s earlier days understood their roles. They were the money men and that’s all. It was their job to create an environment where cartoons could be created most efficiently, not to dictate the content of the animation. Today, execs want to noodle with every part of the process, even those aspects about which they are clueless like entertainment and humor. They have gone so far as to give themselves oxymoronic job titles like “creative exec” and “development exec” to justify their interference in the creative process. There are those rare exceptions when something good makes it to air, but look at the history of those projects and in every instance it is in spite of the current system, not because of it.

The secret to creating memorable cartoon characters and successful series is not so much a secret as it is common sense. If any studio ever figures it out, they’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Director Tex Avery and exec Fred Quimby at MGM

(Thanks, Seamus Walsh, for the Zappa link)

Amid's not saying anything all that new here, but he's saying it really well. This isn't just another "Cartoons were better in the old days!" rants, he makes damn good sense.

Thanks Amid.

Cookie Jar deal falls through, sign of the times

2009-01-08T12:46:00.004-05:00

This just in Via Kidscreen:

AG, Cookie Jar Deal Called Off, AG Seeks New Buyers

January 07, 2009

Via Kidscreen: On the heels of announcing an extension of its home entertainment license with Lionsgate, American Greetings Properties has confirmed the sale of its CARE BEARS, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE and SUSHI PACK properties to Toronto's Cookie Jar Entertainment will not go through.

An American Greetings spokesperson told KIDSCREEN DAILY, "These are very difficult economic times and the original deal with Cookie Jar is no longer viable." Furthermore, the spokesperson said, "We are still looking at other options as our intent is still to sell the CARE BEARS and STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE properties at this time."

Care Bears, Sushi Pack and Strawberry Shortcake remain under AG's ownership. Cookie Jar Entertainment had agreed to purchase the three properties from AG in July 2008 for US$195 million. The deal was to have closed on September 30. When contacted today, a spokesperson for Cookie Jar said that the company had nothing new to report at this time and had no additional comment.

As for the Lionsgate deal, along with picking up new CARE BEARS titles, Lionsgate has snagged DVD and electronic sell-through rights to AG's SUSHI PACK.

Lionsgate has been distributing CARE BEARS entertainment, including the classic TV series and direct-to-DVD CGI-animated features, for the past five years. The extended deal also gives the studio rights to 48 eps of the new series CARE BEARS: ADVENTURES IN CARE-A-LOT and a new CGI movie slated for a fall 2009 launch, as well as extended rights to the classic CB catalogue.

Tenacious D Animation by Matt Shepherd

2009-01-08T12:02:00.002-05:00

Via Cold Hard Flash.

There's some pretty good character animation work here. Matt's done a nice job.
Here's his Production Blog with a few stills and his animation blog is over here. His reel shows the usual competent service work for the likes of Helix, Fatkat and Colideascope. Always great to see working animators plugging away at their own stuff. Great job Matt!

Breakthrough Films announces Stay Tooned

2009-01-07T14:23:00.006-05:00

Came across some press release stuff from Breakthrough Films, this time announcing Stay Tooned, described on www.indiantelevision.com as: a live-action factual entertainment series about the world of television animation. A little digging on the Breakthrough site found this:
Stay Tooned is a live-action factual entertainment series about the world of television animation. It takes viewers back to revisit the Saturday morning animated programs that helped define our popular culture. Each episode will be an entertaining, comical mix of interviews with experts, celebrities and fans, alongside cartoon clips and behind-the-scenes footage. The series celebrates how 'toons shaped and reflected our culture — then and now.

Funny, entertaining and touching, Stay Tooned is a love letter to the golden era of Saturday morning cartoons. Stay Tooned is produced by Breakthrough Films & Television in association with Creator/Producer, Dale Burshtein.
Dale is listed on Linkedin listed as the owner of Salad Daze Productions, and I could find her credited as the creator of a show called Pumped! and the Nickelodeon Wildside Show. In 2003, Dale won a Gemini for Best Practical Information Series: Dale Burshtein and Lon J. Hall for The Surreal Gourmet (Salad Daze Productions). I will assume that Dale was the creative force behind the series, because my only expereince with Lon Hall was as Dynomight Cartoons' lawyer back between 1996 and 2000. Lon was a legal bigshot, but I guess he also has a creative streak that needed satisfying.
So, a Canadian making a show about animation. Could be interesting. Could be just another programming time-filler.
Does anyone know Dale? Would love to get a comment from her.
DALE!! If you google yourself (and I know most of you have done it) and come across this post, drop me a line. I invite you to extoll the virtues of your take on the world of animation.

Best of Ottawa 2008, coming to a venue near you?

2009-01-05T16:46:00.003-05:00

Got a note today with the touring schedule for the Best of Ottawa 2008, details at the OIAF site . The collection is playing around the country and internationally. If you're not a stop and think you can host a screening, contact jennifer@animationfestival.ca
Here are the dates:
Best of Ottawa 2008 Screening Venues
Nov. 13, 2008: Columbus, OH, Wexner Center for the Arts
Nov. 22, 2008: Palm Desert, CA, Desert Film Society
Nov. 28 - 30, 2008: Ottawa, ON, Doodle Arts and Film Festival
Nov. 29 - Dec. 6, 2008: Torun, Poland, Plus CAMERIMAGE
Jan. 09 - 11, 2009: Winnipeg, MB, Winnipeg Film Group
Jan. 10 & 11, 2009: Boston, MA, The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Jan. 22, 2009: Vancouver, BC, Pacific Cinematheque
Jan. 23 - 26, 2009: Edmonton, AB, Metro Cinema Society
Apr. 09 - 12, 2009: Dawson City, YK, Dawson City International Short Film Festival
Apr. 17, 2009: Providence, RI, Rhode Island College
TBA: Houston, TX, Museum of Fine Arts / Houston
July 24 - 26, 2009: Cincinnati, OH, Lite Brite Test
October, 2009: Frankfurt, Germany, eDIT 11
Lots of great films, from Canada and around the world.
Check it.

Catching up with County Ghost

2009-01-04T20:01:00.004-05:00

Mike Geiger just posted episode three of County Ghost to YouTube, so I have some catching up to do. Here's episode 2 and 3, enjoy!
Episode 2

Episode 3

Mike talks about his process over on drawingboard.org
On his process: i used flash and then dropped it through after effects to apply the glow to the ghost. the backgrounds are all drawn in flash and then painted with painter and imported back in as jpegs.
On the time he puts in: maybe 250 hours?
its a little skewed because id say about half of my time spent on these is exporting png sequences, dividing layers for after effects, exporting quicktimes for final cut, rendering files, etc,etc,etc.
so minus all that technical stuff, id be guessing maybe 120-150 hours to have it completed in flash?
i sorta set boundaries up front so that i could allow myself to actually complete these on top of doing my normal daytime animation job without losing all of my sanity.
i told myself that i wouldnt allow myself to go back and "fix" anything. once its done, its done and i would just continue to move forward with the trade off that they would actually get finished and out the door.
so far, it seems like a good way to avoid a lot of frustration. it can be a little unnerving to be releasing work that you know have some obvious mistakes. but again, the trade off is that you are actually releasing work, instead of sitting on it tinkering with the small details.

So great to see Mike continuing with these. Just making the first one is an accomplishment, but to have cranked out two more, in a relatively short period of time, is more than admirable. Mike's done something here that I've always tried to share with students, he set out to make the film he could make.
Animation students are in a unique position that they rarely realize, their job is to make a film. That rarely happens again in a career in this industry. Sadly, they usually lack the experience or even the maturity to approach this task effectively. Too often, a young aspiring animator decides to make their opus, the film they've alwasy wanted to make, and usually, under these circumstances, bite of way more than they can chew. I've seen far too much unfinished work over the years. It's too bad. But Mike really nails that issue here. He made the film that his time would allow. He let the limitations of his situation (working a day job and not wanting to go crazy) dictate aspects of his approach. The simplicity works and he ends up with a great couple of cartoons.
Great job Mike, hopefully we get to see more of County Ghost.

www.countyghost.com
www.mikegeiger.com

From the internets...

2009-01-04T11:13:00.004-05:00

Via Sandboxworld.com, the theme music and score from the original Spider-Man show, produced by Grantray-Lawrence Animation, here in Canada.
A little more out of Calgary about Chad VanGaalen. I'm gonna have to be in touch with this guy soon. I like what he has to say. It's a fluff piece, but I'm happy to publicize him.
New programming for YTV, including Kid VS Kat, from Studio B. People seem to be talking abnout this one. In fact, ColdHardFlash has a clip.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T03:39:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Be well.'m

Electronic Arts lays off 1000, MOVES Black Box in Vancouver

2008-12-22T13:41:00.005-05:00

Don't have all the details yet, but more bad news for animators at Christmas. Here's the link.
Update: The Globe and Mail has some thorough coverage.
Reposted from www.globeandmail.com:

EA cuts jobs, moves Black Box studio

MATT HARTLEY

TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
December 20, 2008

Vancouver's world-renowned video game development community is shrinking even more.

Electronic Arts Inc. dealt another blow to the game industry in British Columbia yesterday when it announced plans to shutter its famous Black Box development studio in downtown Vancouver and increase the number of layoffs as part of the company's global restructuring.

EA's Black Box studio operations and development teams will be relocated to its suburban Burnaby campus, which plays host to sister studio EA Canada.

The announcement comes just one week after the video game publisher, based in Redwood City, Calif., said it was shelving plans to open a new, 20,000-square-foot facility in Vancouver's trendy Yaletown district due to slow holiday sales in Europe and North America as a result of the sagging global economy.

Although EA said the studio consolidations and layoffs will produce annual savings of about $120-million (U.S.), analysts worry that it might not be enough to revitalize the sputtering game producer as it battles rising costs and skittish consumers. "EA needs to stop investing in things that are speculative and don't have a proven business model," said Michael Pachter, a financial analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities who tracks the video game industry.

EA's heavy investment in what are known as mid-session games - titles the studio distributes free in the hope that players will purchase upgrades such as new levels and in-game items - and its burgeoning cellphone game business are distracting the company from its core business and pushing up costs, even as consumer spending is waning, he said.

"We have to look at ways of being more efficient, look at ways of trimming from our cost structure," said EA spokesman Colin Macrae. "It was a tough decision, but it's the right decision for the company and our employees."

Although B.C. was long considered to be the centre of Canadian video game production, the province has slowly ceded that title to Quebec, where game companies enjoy hefty tax breaks and wage incentives to set up shop in Montreal and Quebec City. EA's Montreal studio now houses about 600 employees.

"Vancouver, while it may have been in the past regarded as a lower-cost place to operate, that's really not the case any more," Mr. Macrae said.

Also yesterday, EA said it would increase the number of jobs it plans to trim in 2009. In October, the company said it was cutting 6 per cent of its employee base; yesterday, it raised that number to 10 per cent, or about 1,000 people. The company is also cutting the number of titles it plans to release in 2010, but didn't give further information.

EA said it expects the majority of the restructuring to be completed by the end of March, 2009.

The Black Box studio is responsible for the popular Need for Speed car racing games and EA's new Skate franchise.

Announcements

2008-12-22T11:27:00.002-05:00

Thought I'd take a second to aplogize for the cluttered mess in the sidebar. I'm working on expanding this Blogsite and have a bunch of new features I'll be adding, but in the meantime, things are getting kind of messy. I've just added a Paypal button over there (keen-eyed readers may have noticed the blatant plea at the top of the sidebar). In order to expand and provide a greater resource to the community, I need this little piece of virtual real estate to start generating some cash. And so, I am asking you, my dear reader, at this time of giving, to look deep in your hearts and assign a monetary value to the service I provide. Don't worry about insulting me either, I'm comfortable with being worth next-to-nothing. It's nothing that I can't abide.
Now, I understand this kind of action could alienate some readers. But I am nothing if not a sell-out. So there, I said it first. But let me state, for the record, that you're not sending me grocery money. That's something I can handle. The reality here is that if I want to be able to follow through on some of the plans for this site, some revenue is necessary. I will be incurring further expenses that my pocket simply can't handle.
Anyways, there it is. The hat is on the sidewalk and I'm doing my little dance. What's it worth to ya?
Thanks,
m
(I tried to find a humorous image to accompany this post, but the image search for "beggar" got depressing fast)

Rooftop Films call for submissions (and a short rant about making your films available to the public)

2008-12-22T10:56:00.006-05:00

Saw this over on Cartoon Brew:
Rooftop Films, the yearly film festival that takes place across the rooftops of New York City, is currently accepting submissions for its 2009 summer series. Next year’s festival, the 13th anniversary of Rooftop, runs from May through September. The early submission deadline is January 5, 2009. Submission fees are a reasonable $9, and everybody who submits receives two free passes to any Rooftop Films show. They’re a solid filmmaker-friendly organization that I hear only good things about and should be commended for supporting both animation and live-action filmmakers. Complete submission info can be found on the Rootop Films website.
Thanks to Amid Amidi for posting.
This is the kind of event everyone wih a film should be submitting to. It doesn't cost a bucketload, and it's an excuse to take a trip to New York. I can think of probably a dozen people I know who should be taking advantage of this. There are a lot of goood films out there, and a lot of good film-makers. Get some exposure for chrisakes. Get your films seen! We have an industry in this country that keeps most of you employed, but on whose terms? For those of you who aspire to anything other than a layout gig (and I'm not slagging the working artist), get your work into the public eye and build opportunities for yourself. I know far too many artists, very talented folks, who accomplish the minor miracle of actually making a film, and in some cases, quite a few films, but for all the work they put into the films, they do nothing, or next to it, to get their work seen. There are amazing films sitting on shelves and hard-drives all over this country. At the very least, put em up on Youtube and send me the link. If I like it, I'll post it here. But better yet, take a few minutes, click on the link, and fire a copy of your creation the filks in NYC.
Oh yeah, Red Stick International Animation Festival just posted it's last call for submissions. Ever been to Baton Rouge?

Tommy Chong is Canadian, right?

2008-12-18T16:04:00.004-05:00

This report of an animated Cheech and Chong movie. At last! Because you demanded it! In the SEVENTIES!
The article goes on to tell how the man who discovered the Cheech and Chong is basically selling the rights to use their old recorded material as the dialogue track for the feature to Big Vision Entertainment, whose big ideas and forward vision have produced Ghost Hunters, lots of low-rent wrestling dvds, and something called My Baby Know it All. Oh wait! There's a press release! (of course there's a press release):
Dec 16, 2008 As their reunion stand-up tour Cheech & Chong Light Up America fires out nationwide, Big Vision Entertainment said it will produce an animated film featuring the stoned duo with Chambers Bros. Entertainment. The two companies have acquired animated film rights to the classic Cheech and Chong library held by music producer and Ode Records owner Lou Adler and will use those famous comedy bits to inspire "Cheech and Chong's Smokin' Animated Movie." Big Vision founder and CEO Houston Curtis will produce along with Keith, Branden and Eric Chambers, who devised the concept. Adler, who discovered the duo in the early 1970s, will executive produce. Eric and Branden Chambers will direct the animation. The ICM-repped Big Vision, which focuses on direct-to-DVD special-interest material, will finance the project. In the '70s and '80s, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong released several top-selling comedy albums and starred in six films, including "Up in Smoke" and "Still Smokin'." "It's great to be doing a movie where Cheech and I never have to get out of bed or be on camera," Chong said. "It's about time that we got animated because we've been doing animation without the animation for years," Marin said. "Whether you watch it smokin' a fattie or stone-cold sober, it's just plain funny."
I love the comment from Tommy Chong about not having to actually do any work.

Is it just me or do they look like dogs? They had a routine about that though, didn't they? Something to do with sniffing turds?
Usually when I see this kind of thing my thinking at least drift to, "oh well, at least someone will get some work out of this." But these days I tend to drift more into the camp of "couldn't this money have been spent better?" I loved Cheech and Chong when I was a teenager. They were stupid and funny, and quite frankly, The Corsican Brothers was HIGH-larious. But I've worked in studios long enough to know that there is a wealth of unproduced original work out there that will never benefit from these dollars. I'm not so naive, though, as to suggest that Mr Lou Adler should not be trying to make himself a few bucks off these thirty year old recordings, that's business, right? But once in a while it might be nice to see someone make a kajillion dollars off something hollow and reinvest a little into something original. After all, we need something else to rip off in 2038, don't we?
Update: Link to the movie's site. Also, Dominic Von Riedemann's coverage.
And look, another image! mmmmm flashy.

Fatkat working on partnership with Adobe

2008-12-18T14:05:00.002-05:00

Straight outta Miramichi. Looks like Fatkat is putting together a sweet deal with Adobe to become a test studio for their products. This is what I like about Gene Fowler. Whereas someone like myself might have a good idea, Gene acts on it. I imagine the studio itself will save a bundle of dough on their licenses, probably get promotional material made up on Adobe's dollar, and maybe even line up additional sponsorship dollars for particular events or projects, not to mention press from Adobe itself. It also speaks well of Adobe. Flash was never intended to be used for character animation. John K and others worked with it early on and helped push the software into the realm of character animation, but it remains ungainly, with some very serious impediments to the broadcast animation pipeline. This partnership could indicate a willingness on the part of Adobe to really focus the product for the traditional animator, an area they've been taking a beating in. ToonBoom in particular has been making serious inroads into a sector that Flash formerly dominated. So, what's good news for Fatkat may be good news for the industry.

Mike Geiger's "County Ghost"

2008-12-12T21:20:00.002-05:00

Make friends with it.

I'm not always a fan of this particular "cartoony" style. It's quite dominant in Canadian broadcast animation. But it really works here. Mike Geiger has made some entertaining little shorts here. Thanks Mike!

Nick Cross and Dave Cooper!!!!

2008-12-12T15:36:00.002-05:00

These two were made for each other!
Here it is folks: Danko Jones' "King of Magazines"

Danko Jones - King Of Magazines from Bad Taste Records on Vimeo.

From the internets...

2008-12-10T20:54:00.002-05:00

Great promo for the new Bob and Doug show from Animax. They animated the classic "12 Days of Christmas" from Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis' 1981 album, Bob and Doug MacKenzie: Great White North. This tune is found on most self-respecting Canadians' Christmas mix CDs. Watch it via Animation Magazine.
Copyright Promotions Licensing Group (CPLG) opens Canadian branch (CPLG Canada). There's a mention in this article that the CPLG group of companies was recently acquired by Cookie Jar Entertainment. I've been a little sidetracked lately with some courses and personal matters, but this is a big move by Cookie Jar. Licensing is where the money is kids. The big boys all know this. You smaller shops out there, learn the lesson too. Get your distribution lined up for your DVDs and line up some toy deals. We spend a lot of time shmoozing broadcasters for a license fee or some production money, but that's really just the start. Work smart, get your licensing lined up and you could very well finance your next project yourself. You need an example? Toopy and Binou. Trust me. DVD sales that would blow your little cartoon mind.
Thwoop.com from Brand Performance LLC. I guess I should go take a look. Again, licensing driving the industry.
Jimmy Two Shoes clip. Produced by Breakthrough Animation, Jetix Europe and Teletoon. Created by Edward Kay and Sean Scott. I believe the grunt work is being done at Mercury Filmworks here in Ottawa.

Animation Recession

2008-12-01T12:01:00.004-05:00

Ron Doucet has a great post up over at Flooby Nooby. Everybody go check it out. You have to scroll down to November 24th, under "Animation Recession". It seems to have been inspired by an open letter to the Nova Scotia animation community from Mark Capello. I haven't read the whole letter yet, but will be doing so after this post.
Ron provides this quote: "Consider yourself a professional in an actual career as opposed to a collector of Green Lantern comics who works in animation sometimes. Research your field, learn new technologies, challenge yourself to improve your skill-set, create a network and use it, communicate with peers, work on updating/creating your portfolio. All of the tools are at your disposal to make an informed, educated, well thought out decision on the future of your career. A slow period in this industry often has the effect of purging the weaker workers who don’t take their jobs and opportunities seriously, and that’s a healthy thing for the region and the industry. Is this your career, or is it just a job?"
This is a very honest look at the nature of the "professional" inhabiting out industry.
And please, after reading, comment. I'd really like to hear your reactions on this one.
Oh, and Ron? Mark? If either of you guys are reading this, please consider this a standing invitation if you ever feel like contributing something over here, we need more of this kind of open discussion in our community.
Thanks.
m

From the internets...

2008-11-30T12:02:00.008-05:00

Nelvana content goes online. Just not in Canada.
The Future is Wild, from Nelvana and Singapore co-producer Singapore Technologies Electronics. Kids who travel to the future to see how things turn out. Apparently it's based on a prime-time Animal Planet documentary and helmed by Emmy Award-winning director Mike Fallows. I don't know Mike, and he's probably done good work, but from the images I saw, this show looks terrible. Ugly designs, terrible colour-styling, sorry, please prove me wrong.
The holidays are almost upon us, and that means cartoons. Christmas specials can be easy to miss, so here are some listings. The big ones are covered: Rudolph, Charlie Brown and the Grinch. There's something interesting form Cuppa Coffee, "A Miser Brothers Christmas", in the Rankin Bass tradition. I know my daughter is looking for the Shrek special, and I can't find any listing for J. Otto Seibold's "Olive the Other Reindeer".
But I'll keep looking. I've given up hope that we'll ever see Nelvana's "Cosmic Christmas" ever again though. Teletoon Retro should chase that sucker down.

Dave Cooper + Nick Cross = Sweet animated goodness

2008-11-26T22:35:00.004-05:00

Nick has posted this shot from a music video he is animating for the band Danko Jones.
It's a collaboration between Mr Cross and illustrator/painter/appreciator of pillowy women: Dave Cooper. This is my inner fan's dream pairing. I'm so sporting fanwood over this. Anyone not familiar with these two fellas, please go educate yourselves.
Nick Cross
Dave Cooper
There's also a link to a review on AWN of Nick's last film, the Waif of Persephone.

From the internets...

2008-11-24T13:57:00.002-05:00

30 years since Boba Fett got animated by Canadians for "the Star Wars Holiday Special".

From the internets...

2008-11-18T14:49:00.005-05:00

Nat Abraham moves up to Head of Distribution at Breakthrough Films
Janet Heatherington interviews Jay Stephens on his new series for Cartoon Network, the Secret Saturdays.
More on Breakthrough, with a look at My Big Friend.
Animation Insider gives a look at what's going down at Nerd Corps in Vancouver.

Emru Townsend, visitation

2008-11-14T10:31:00.002-05:00

Just got the details for those of you able to get to Montreal and interested in paying respect to the passing of Emru Townsend:

There is no funeral at Emru's request. Instead, there will be two days of visitation.

The general public is welcome to join friends and family in recognizing a life well-lived.

Rideau Gardens
4275, boul. des Sources,
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC
H9B 2A6
Telephone: (514) 685-3344
Toll-Free: 1 (800) 657-5678

Saturday November 15
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Sunday November 16
2:00 pm to 8:00 pm

In lieu of flowers, please learn more about how to get registered to be a bone marrow and stem cell donor. If you are eligible, consider registration, and if you are not, tell someone why it is important and how easy it is to register.

Feel free to find me whether you know me or not, and ask me any questions you may have about registering as a potential donor. You can also message me later on Facebook or via Heal Emru website.

Donations can be made to:
African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust www.aclt.org
National Marrow Donor Program www.marrow.org

You can also visit the Heal Emru Facebook page and join one or more of the Causes listed there. Donations are optional.

If I were in Kitchener this wekend, I'd be here:

2008-11-13T17:29:00.004-05:00

The Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema is the only film festival in the world dedicated to the artistry of the animated feature film.

From the latest Japanese anime blockbuster to the smallest indie production... from 3D CG to silhouettes... the Festival brings the best full-length animated feature films from around the world to North America.

See your favourite films the way they were meant to be seen: with an appreciative audience, on the silver screen!

I'm reposting this for anyone who's looking for some cool films to watch. The event starts tonight! I'm also looking for any attendees who want to do some coverage or post some pics. Have fun!
www.wfac.ca

Goodbye Emru Townsend, 1969-2008

2008-11-12T00:23:00.009-05:00

From Tamu Townsend:

Emru took his last breath just before 10 pm tonight. He died peacefully surrounded by his family. He taught me how to live. He taught me how you are supposed to die. Emru's name means RESPECT. Emru, the person, also means compassion, learning, teaching, sharing, love, integrity, honesty, and inspiration. He taught a lot of people a lot of things, but he spent 2008 teaching people how to reach out to one another in a whole new way. If you carry some of this forward, it will be a year even better spent. Thank you for being part of his journey. Tamu

I mentioned Emru and his battle with Leukemia here a few weeks ago. He will be greatly missed.
Emru was a tremendous friend to the animation community. Read his story please.

Updates:
Reactions to the news are popping up. I'm going to go ahead and post a few as I tumble to them.
Chris Robinson:

Animation lost a pal late last night…and more than that the world lost another good person. And I don’t mean that in a glib, he’s dead so let’s say only nice things sorta way. Emru Townsend was truly a good person. He was compassionate, sharing and positive to the point of making me uncomfortable (hey, that’s just me. It’s easier to be cynical). We weren’t buddies, pals, chums, bros, but we did know each other for about 12 years. I am forever grateful to Emru for being the first person to publish my writing on animation. It was in his beloved magazine Fps. I submitted a piece just for the heck of it and was quite pleased when Emru accepted it. It gave me confidence as a writer and told me that, hey, maybe this is a path I want to explore. So, selfishly, I thank you for that Emru.

What’s with animation losing good young people lately? Helen Hill. Wendy Jackson Hall. Emru Townsend. I guess the gods above, below and beyond don’t like the toons. Assholes. It’s not fair. It sucks.

Meantime… I send all things good to Emru’s family…and especially to Vicky, Max and Tamu.

From the PWAC website:

Some of you knew Emru, while others, like me, never had a chance to meet him, but we all mourn his loss as a fellow writer, former PWAC member and an altogether great human being. He certainly inspired me throughout his courageous struggle to beat leukemia. Although it ultimately got the better of him, he educated me and many others about stem cell donation and how each of us have the potential to save a life of the many others out there still suffering with this disease. We should all appreciate our health while we have it.

Madeline Ashby:

It doesn’t feel real, yet.

Emru Townsend has died.

In many ways, Emru helped initiate me into Canadian life. He asked me to be a contributor to Frames Per Second Magazine, and gave me the opportunity to get to know Canada through the Toronto International Film Festival. (I later volunteered for the same organization.) On his errand, I visited the offices of the NFB, and saw the same Norman MacLaren shorts that many Canadian children see at school. He inadvertently exposed me to a slice of Canadian culture.

Of course, he did even more for a huge amount of people. He and his sister brought the need for minority registrants to the OneMatch bone marrow and stem cell re gistry home to Canadians in the arts and technology sector, especially residents of Montreal. He helped explain anime fandom. He gave a lot of people their start at FPS. He was a writer, a husband, and father.

And now he’s gone.

An amazing post by Mark Mayerson, too long to quote, but well worth the read.
Harry McCracken
Didier Ghez
Cartoon Brew

It's wonderful to read through through the comments people are making. Emru obviously touched so many lives, more than he knew, I'm certain. I didn't have the pleasure of knowing him personally and I think I may be adding that to my list of regrets. Emru's life, and death, are an example.

If I were in Toronto tonight, I would have been here:

2008-11-10T20:59:00.003-05:00

Marc Bell! Marc Bell! Marc Bell!
Cartoon illustration, not animation. But for pete's sake, it's Marc Bell.
Paul Bright Gallery, 1265 Bloor Street, Toronto, Ontario.
Marc Bell, did I mention it's Marc Bell?

From the internets...

2008-11-09T21:58:00.004-05:00

Looks like I missed it, but Jay Stephens' new series, the Secret Saturdays premiered on Teletoon this weekend. I'm a long-time fan of Jay's work, from his original Atomic City Tales comic book. He's a master storyteller and I'm really glad to see something coming out that's so true to his work.
Get Animated coverage in Calgary, including some words form Vancouver animator Jody Kramer.
I like the sound of Teletoon On Demand, but sadly a huge chunk of the programming leaves me limp.
I had no idea that Studio B did the new Peanuts shorts. Cool.
I also had no idea Dave Coulier is Canadian (according to Animation Magazine, reporting on Coulier taking on the vocal chores for Rick Moranis on Bob & Doug)

Animation Unleashed book launch

2008-11-07T09:02:00.006-05:00

Sadly, I could not attend. But I did manage to enlist the always charming Mr Barry Sanders to take some snaps and share his thoughts on the evening. Take it away Barry:
As you know Tuesday Nov 4th was a very important day in history. Author Ellen Besen and Illustrator Bryce Hallet celebrated the release of their book “Animation Unleashed” with a lecture. Oh, and the U.S. elected a new president or something like that. The talk was held in Toronto’s avant garde Gladstone Hotel Ballroom and hosted by the Page’s This is Not a Reading Series and the Toronto Animated Image Society. In an interesting move Ellen screened Norman McLaren’s short “A Chairy Tale” and then proceeded to analyze it while the book’s illustrator Bryce underlined her points by drawing on a computer tablet projected onto a screen. It was a method that sometimes distracted but more often worked in concert and enriched the evening with a lot of humour. Ellen and Bryce are both veterans of the Toronto animation scene. And if you want to know more about the actual book you can check out a review here. http://animatedfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/book_review_animation_unleashed

More pictures can be found here. Including attendee Rick Green! (Google him if the name don't ring a bell).
Bryce got back to me last night as well:
Hey Michael,
Yeah it went very well I was really happy with the turn out. Chris Reed who organises TINARS did a great job getting all this together.
There was a pretty decent sized crowd, I think a full room or at least it looked like it from the stage, despite the elections competing with us. We kept the crowd updated on the results later in the night though. ha ha
But yeah it went very well. Marc Glassman, owner of Pages books introduced Ellen. We screened "A Chairy Tale" and Ellen did a great lecture deconstructing the film afterwards while I drew on a Cintiq hooked up to a projector to help illustrate her points.

It was fun to be sort of improvising as we went a long and just playing off each other. We got quite a few laughs and doing the live drawings while she talked i think added another level of interest and really helped get the ideas across...and just some silliness too as I can't help myself. ha ha

As a friend of Ellen's put it we were literally doing "sketch comedy". heh heh

The whole presentation with her talking and me drawing made it very dynamic. The people there seemed to really enjoy it and they were very engaged and interactive with us as well which was great.

Mostly our presentation was about how anything can be a character and good and bad choices in animation. It also sort of seguewayed in to various other topics of visual storytelling and animation with all the back and forth between Ellen and the audience.
Afterwards we took questions from the audience and signed many books.

We also had a big 3d cake version of our little square character from the book created for us by the bakery Half-Baked Ideas . For some reason we weren't aloud to eat it at the Gladstone so we're gonna have a little party Friday to eat the poor little cake man. ha ha ha

Overall it was just a lot of fun, a great turn out. I would totally love to do more presentations like that. Plus seeing people buying the book and being told how much they really enjoyed the whole thing doesn't hurt the ego either!

Thanks a lot for mentioning it in the blog too!
I saw you had posted a reminder the day of the event as well. It's very appreciated!

Cheers!
-Bryce

Sounds like I really missed out on this one. Good luck to Bryce and Ellen.
Everybody: Go buy this book.

If I Were In Toronto, I'd Be Here Tonight:

2008-11-04T16:30:00.002-05:00

This is Not a Reading Series Presents:

Animation Unleashed: 100 Principles Every Animator, Comic Book Writer, Video Artist and Game Developer Should Know
By Ellen Besen Illustrated by Bryce Hallett

Animation is a powerful tool for communication, both traditional and experimental. At the launch of Animation Unleashed (Michael Wiese Productions), veteran animator/theorist Ellen Besen will analyze clips from a variety of films to illustrate this discussion of exactly how animation communicates. With a special appearance by animator/illustrator Bryce Hallett, courtesy of Frog Feet Productions.
Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St W, Toronto
Tues, Nov 4- 7:30pm (doors 7pm) Free

COPIES OF THE BOOK WILL BE ON SALE AT THE EVENT

I know I posted this before, but I figured a bump wouldn't be a bad idea.