September 18, 2006
Amid in Ottawa, Eh?
Tomorrow I'm off to the yearly North American gathering of the animation tribe, otherwise known as the Ottawa International Animation Festival. I'm mostly going to catch some fresh contemporary animation, but I'll also be involved in a few events.
On Friday, September 22, at 9am, I'll be moderating a panel about Concept Design & Art Direction. It's going to be a fun panel to moderate because the panelists are both top-notch talents: Erik Tiemens (art director, Lucasfilm) and JJ Sedelmaier (president/director, JJ Sedelmaier Productions). We'll be discussing the challenges of achieving a successful animated marriage between content and design, with plenty of examples to be shown.
Later on Friday, from 6-7pm, I'll be doing a book signing for my new book CARTOON MODERN: STYLE AND DESIGN IN FIFTIES ANIMATION. If you purchase the book in Ottawa, you'll also receive a FREE dvd of some rare '50s commercials and animated shorts that aren't available anywhere else. Copies of ANIMATION BLAST #9 will also be on hand. Both the book and mag will be waiting for you at the Aniboutique during the entire festival (or as long as supplies last).
Let me plug a couple other festival events that I'm really looking forward to. First, is the world premiere of Nick Cross's new animated short THE WAIF OF PERSEPHONE. That's on Friday at 7pm during this screening. I have no idea what it's about, but if you've been following Nick's blog, you know this cartoon is going to be something special. Then, on Sunday, September 24, at 2pm, there's a lecture by JibJab co-founder Evan Spiridellis. It's titled A Brave New World: The Rise of the Independent Creator, and trust me, there's nobody more qualified to speak about becoming a successful independent than the Spiridellis brothers. If you want to be inspired, you're not going to want to miss Evan's talk.