AWN Blogs
Time well wasted is time well misspent: 10 Till 6 - Your work day almost over, your restless mind wanders as you sit futzing with your cell phone and debating calzone or pad thai for dinner, while re-reading 5 times the same useless post on TMZ about another drunken reality star giving their Pomeranian a Mohawk, or botox, or both. And still you wonder why your parents are so disappointed in you?
Rather than perpetuate your career decline, spend a few minutes expanding your normally limited horizons and check out what other more interesting and talented professionals are doing with their lives. Learn something. Get inspired. You can update your Facebook later – deep down you know no one really cares anyway.
Industry exec John Tarnoff muses about the future of the entertainment business and draws connections between the seemingly disparate and chaotic forces that are transforming the content creation landscape before our very eyes. A 30 year veteran of the biz, John started out as a motion picture literary agent, was a studio exec for most of the 80s and early 90s (MGM, Orion, DeLaurentis, Village-Roadshow), launched a tech startup during the 90s “bubble” and wound up for most of the 2000’s at DreamWorks Animation, where he was Head of Show Development. Now consulting at the intersection of the industry, education and digital technology for clients including Carnegie Mellon, The ACME Network and the AMPAS, John is following his passion to better prepare the next generation (and those lagging behind in the current generations) for the business as it’s going to be, not as it has been.
Larry Lauria is an award winning animator, director and instructor. His animation career spans 35 years and includes animation and direction on feature, television, commercial, interactive and internet projects. The projects he has worked on have garnered over 50 awards including Emmys, Addys, Codys and even a few BAFTA awards. Besides being a working animator and artist, Larry is much sought out internationally as an animation, layout and character design instructor. He has worked in Cologne, London, Dublin, Belfast, Windsor, Lacoste, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and many cities across the U.S. Prior to moving to Wilmington Island, Georgia, Larry was head of animation at the Disney Institute in Orlando, Florida. Before Disney he solidified his reputation as being a renowned educator and curriculum expert as the Course Coordinator and an Instructor at the European School of Animation in Dublin, Ireland - one of the top three animation programs in the world. In recent years, Larry has been recognized by WHO'S WHO AMONG AMERICAN TEACHERS, five times. Larry has been a moderator at Animation World Network since 1999. His website, LARRY’S TOON INSTITUTE is recognized around the world as a trusted animation resource. He can be reached at lanimate@bellsouth.net.
Ambling Around covers all things art and animation from a creative perspective. Prying, spying, and eavesdropping on a wide variety of subjects, this blog seeks to be at the very least informative, opinionated, and meddlesome.
Sharon Katz is a visual artist working in animated and still imagery. Her day job is pursuing the heady elixir of "art," whatever that is at any given moment. Her work can be found screening at film festivals, fixed to the walls of various corporations and institutions, and floating around in cyberspace. You can find her website at http://www.sharonkatz.net and she can be reached at ambling.around[at]gmail.com
Evan Goncalo is a part-time writer and full video game virtuoso who lives and works in Massachusetts. He has worked at several different video game studios including Turbine, Blue Fang Games, and Hasbro Digital Media. Evan is currently employed at Varolii Corporation as an Application Engineer in addition to lecturing on Game Design at Bristol Community College. He is the writer of blog "Analog Control" on AWN.com. The blog covers all the latest and greatest of the game industry. You can email him at egoncalo@awn.com!
Those wildly intrepid globe trotters at AWN have done it again! They are traveling the globe one animation-related festival and event at a time just to bring you gossip, glory, tears, trials, tribulations, geekdom, fandom, toons, awards, news, photos, dreams dashed / realized and more right to your computer screen. Don’t feel like heading out to Annecy but want to know who’s bringing what? No cash for Comic-Con but dying to see the latest in Storm Trooper fashion? We’ll bring you photos from the show floor, news from the circuits and tips on who to see, what to do, what to wear.
Tal Lotan is an animator, director and musician. She has done work on projects ranging from commercials, internet sites and medical visualisation films to TV series and feature films. But she is most passionate about music videos, a field that allows her to fully express her creative vision, which usually involves a combination of various animation and cinematic techniques. Tal is proficient in all kinds of animation techniques, including CG, 2D, Flash, stop motion and stereoscopic films. She is also head of the classic animation department at IAC - the Israeli Animation College, where she teaches 2D and 3D animation, as well as acting for animators.
The blog "Animatorit" has a sister-blog in Hebrew under the same title. "Animatorit" is the Hebrew term for female animator, and by the power of that title, the blog is dealing with Israeli animation news, but also with all sorts of animation news, artists, techniques, projects and great animation shorts. Visit Tal's studio: www.studiopolygon.com and her Hebrew blog: animatorit.cafe.themarker.com.
Follow the animated short film Oscar® Nominees annual big studio screening and schmoozing tour. This annual tour, founded and coordinated by AWN's president Ron Diamond, is an animation industry star studded extravaganza. Various editors, led by AWN's Content Director Rick DeMott, have chronicled the tour since 2007 as they've journeyed to Disney, Dreamworks, Sony Imageworks, ILM, PDI to name a few.
Behind The Deal takes a look at the business behind an animated production. What goes on behind those studios doors? Who are the players and what are the rules of the play? Jan Nagel, Entertainment Marketing Diva, has been offering her insights and experience to clients since 2003, helping them to better understand the animation “business.” Tune in to learn about the dynamics of co-productions, acquisitions, pitching and straight-up production deals.
As a consultant, Jan currently offers her experience and expertise to overseas animation production studios, visual effects production companies and those who have wonderful creative ideas for animated entertainment. It is her job to get them work, find them partners and get the shows pitched. Jan has been involved in the business of animation since 1991, working with award winning feature and television production studios, including Dream Quest Images, Calico Entertainment and VirtualMagic Animation.
She is a founding member and current co-president of the board of directors of Women In Animation, an international professional association, as well as an active member of other entertainment organizations. Jan is a frequent guest lecturer on animation and entertainment business at colleges and universities. She is currently teaching Business of Animation and Careers at Santa Monica College, Otis College of Art and Design and University of Southern California.
The Idiots' Diary is a bi-weekly, in-depth look at the distribution process of an Indy film, Idiots & Angels. Written by Indy King Bill Plympton, it's a "warts and all" look at the travails of animation distribution on a shoe string budget as he takes the on the big guys: DreamWorks, Pixar and Disney.
Mr. Plympton is considered the King of Indie Animation and is the only person to hand draw an entire animated feature film.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he graduated from Portland State University in Graphic Design. Bill Plympton moved to New York City in 1968. He began his career creating cartoons for publications such as New York Times, National Lampoon, Playboy and Screw.
In 1987 he was nominated for an Oscar® for his animated short Your Face. In 2005, Bill received another Oscar® nomination, this time for a short film Guard Dog. Push Comes to Shove, another short film, won the prestigious Cannes 1991 Palme d'Or.
After producing many shorts that appeared on MTV and Spike and Mike's, he turned his talent to feature films. Since 1991 he's made 9 feature films, 6 of them, The Tune, Mondo Plympton, I Married A Strange Person, Mutant Aliens, Hair High and Idiots and Angels are all animated features.
My name is Eric Fogel and I’ve been working in animation for over twenty years. Before that, I attended film school at NYU. I created my first animated show when I was 24 years old -- a 2D animated sci-fi series called The Head which ran for two seasons on MTV back in 1993. I also created a stop-motion series for E! Entertainment, called Starveillance and one for Nickelodeon called Glenn Martin, DDS.
Of all the projects I’ve worked on, the thing I’m most recognized for is MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch. CDM ran for four seasons in its original inception and then came back for a couple more seasons on MTV2. Deathmatch was a hit right out of the gate and the original Super Bowl halftime episode (1998) ranked as the highest rated special in the history of the channel.
I approached AWN about posting a blog because, well, I have a lot of stories and experiences to share. And it occurred to me that there might be a lot of people out there interested in hearing about my creative process and some of the nitty gritty that goes into animated TV production.
And I’m interested in hearing from you guys and answering your questions about Celebrity Deathmatch and the other shows I’ve worked on. I also want a place where I can let people know about cool and exciting projects that are coming up for me and to offer people a behind the scenes look into that stuff.
So, as the esteemed referee Mills Lane would say: “LET’S GET IT ON!”
Carlye Archibeque joined the U.S. NAVY Seabees in 1985 and learned that the acronym stood for "Never Again Volunteer Yourself," but the theme has never really sunk in. A true believer in volunteerism in all areas of life, she began her work in the industry as an intern at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Film Archive helping to process the Technicolor collection of film that had been donated to the Academy’s Archive. Currently, she has been giving time to SIGGRAPH for the past 3-years as the assistant producer (2007), producer (2008) and executive producer (2009) of the yearly Computer Animation Festival.
Ernest Hemmingway said "one cat leads to another." In this case one volunteer opportunity led to another and those opportunities led to global travel, new friends and a feeling of personal satisfaction. Sure there’s no money to be made, but as you read the weekly installments of "Carlye's Digital Cel," you’ll be surprised at the real value of being part of something that could not exist without volunteers. Currently Ms. Archibeque’s volunteer activities include Chairing the Los Angeles Chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH and Co-Chairing the Visual Effects Society’s Archive Committee with 3D supervisor, Rob Engle and acting as the International Outreach Chair for the Vancouver SPARK Festivals.
Carlye Archibeque has been writing reviews and articles for music and film magazines since 1992. She publishes The Independent Reviews Site which covers a wide range of cultural joys including film, politics and music. She was a contributor to "The Video Hounds Guide to DVDs" books 2 and 3 and her interview with Dan Clowes about his film adaptation of Ghost World is included in the book, "Dan Clowes: Conversations" which is available in bookstores now.
From the publisher of AWN comes a blog designed to provide you a nominal amount of information on subjects slightly relevant so you can quickly learn just enough in order not technically to be “lying” when asked in conversation if you’ve heard anything about said subjects. We all strive to be "casually uninformed" - some more successfully than others. We know just enough to nod our heads and avoid looking clueless. I've gotten by that way for years. Maybe this blog can help you get there too. If you've got comments, questions or the need to hurl some choice invectives, you can contact me at dsarto at awn dot com.
Chew On This is an almost daily round-up of animation films, news, ideas, rumors, gossip, humor served with astonishing, unique and raw insight from Chris Robinson, the world's greatest one balled animation writer and thinker. Chris is an author, writer and the artistic director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) and is a well-known figure in the animated film world. His style is lively and direct. He is quick to speak out vigorously on various platforms and is famous for his outbursts and aversion to empty rhetoric. Robinson authors a column entitled The Animation Pimp on Animation World Magazine's website. He has one testicle.
Brenda Wooding specializes in the executive production, financing, co-production and distribution of children's and primetime entertainment. Simply put, Brenda works with creators to help them find alternative markets to sell their ideas to. Her strategy is to tap into her expansive digital rolodex of broadcast and production entities from around the globe, jump start projects then bring them to the US networks for acquisition or co-production. Once in production, she helps manage international program sales, licensing and merchandising, and other ancillary spin off rights sales. Her company, B WOODING Media is a boutique consulting, executive production, and international TV program distribution house based on Los Angeles. You can contact Brenda directly at Brenda@bwoodingmedia.com. Her website is www.bwoodingmedia.com.
Robin King is the CEO of Imagina Corporation, a global consulting company that has been providing visionary services for the education, corporate and institutional animation communities for the past twenty-five years.
A pioneer in digital animation education, he was the founder in 1982 of the Computer Animation Program at Sheridan College, and its director for nearly twenty years. Robin has been involved in the design and development of many ground-breaking educational facilities and government initiatives, and has presented at numerous international conferences including SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH ASIA, ICOGRADA and the Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum in Hong Kong.
For the past ten years he has been working extensively throughout the Far East in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Taiwan, in mainland China as well as in the UAE. He was Chair at Peking University for three years, consulted to the Communications University of China in Nanjing, has lectured at over 20 universities in China and was co-founder of an independent training institute in Beijing 2008. Robin also consults for Autodesk’s Media and Entertainment Division. Prof King is currently the Director of the Institute for Animation and Creative Content at the DeTao Masters Academy located in Beijing and Shanghai.
He can be reached at robin@imaginacorporation.com
David Maas is an illustrator and animator with a recurrent itch to take the reins in various forms of management - first as a creative in advertising, then as production manager for animated films. He also has a passion for education and generally sharing of knowledge and has taught at numerous institutions of learning, most recently at the Institute of Animation at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemburg. He's passionate about the opportunities offered by such diverse disciplines as non-photorealistic rendering, sketch crawls and paleoart.
“I take a look beyond the glory disciplines of character design and animation, revealing no less fascinating jobs and opportunities throughout the medium of animation. I talk about such complex and interdependent issues as look development, team building, techniques and technology, spread sheets, time trackers and education. And sometimes I just ramble.” Feel free to feed the author with suggestions, comments and - if you're a student - films for critique.
ED HOOKS is the author of "Acting for Animators." For the past fifteen years, he has presented master classes in acting theory for animators internationally. This blog for AWN will give you the opportunity to ask him questions personally and to give him your feedback. The purpose of the blog is to shed ever more light upon the mysteries of excellent animation performance. Ed much prefers to discuss than to lecture, so join in.
Joseph Gilland is an animation director, special effects animator, journalist, author and musician. His most recent book "Elemental Magic - The Art of Special Effects Animation," has quickly become a sensation in the global animation community, bringing to print for the first time the magic behind the visual effects animation that has dazzled animation audiences since the 1930’s.
In his long and storied animation career, Joseph has utilized his traditional and digital animation talents at such studios as Walt Disney Feature Animation, Don Bluth Animation and the National Film Board of Canada. At Walt Disney Feature Animation, Joseph served as Supervisor of Visual Effects for the Disney classics "Lilo & Stitch" and "Brother Bear." Joseph also served as Head of Florida Special Effects Unit for the features "Kingdom of the Sun" and "Tarzan," and was Special Effects Animator on such notable titles as "Pocahontas," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "James and the Giant Peach," "Hercules" and "Mulan." His broad experience also includes animating on several short film projects at the National Film Board of Canada, and directing dozens of television commercials as an independent director. From 2003 to 2005, Joseph headed up the world renown animation program at the Vancouver Film School.
Joseph is currently at work on an independent short film and is writing a follow-up volume to "Elemental Magic" that will delve deeper into special effects and also include a DVD with real time step by step "how-to" footage, and clips from live workshops.
His blog, Elemental Alchemy – Animation Insights and Musings, reflects his unique and candid perspective on all things animated.
Full Disclosure: There’s nothing in my head! But that’s a good thing, because writers are the only ones in Hollywood who create something from nothing. And I, for one, have a vast amount of nothing to share with you. Thus, from the void between my ears springs this blog on writing for animation and live action. A blog not just for writers but for producers, directors, animators, storyboard artists, VFX specialists and even studio execs (but not agents), because the single most important creative element of any production is its story, and for a production to be successful everyone must make sure its story is as good as it can be. And to make my blog as good as it can be I welcome your input. Email me at GetJeffrey[at]JeffreyScott.tv.
Jeffrey Scott has written over 700 animated and live-action TV and film scripts for Sony, Warner Bros., Disney, Universal, Paramount, Columbia, PBS, Sesame Workshop, Marvel, Hanna-Barbera and others. His writing has been honored with three Emmys and the Humanitas Prize. He is author of the acclaimed book, How to Write for Animation. To learn more about his craft and credits visit his website at www.JeffreyScott.tv.
Fan Services is a weekly blog by Animation World Network chief revenue officer Donna Bulford. Dedicated to paying homage to start-ups with an "Animation Flare." Please send an e-mail to fanservices@awn.com if you have or a know of a start up to suggest for next week.
The FMX Conference brings together each year some of the most creative and accomplished professionals in animation, visual effects, gaming, visualization and education. Thousands of people from around world attend the conference in Stuttgart’s Haus der Wirtschaft to find out about current trends, innovative approaches and latest achievements in the world of digital entertainment. AWN has been an enthusiastic media partner of FMX for 8 years, chronicling the event in the hopes of sharing with our readers a sense of how important the event has become and how much it has to offer everyone in our community.
This blog will introduce to you some of the key participants, through intimate interviews where they discuss themselves and their work, as well as through recordings of their presentations and panel discussions, where they share with you their insight and their knowledge.
The Frenzer Foreman Animation Forum is the only comedy podcast about animation featuring Joel Frenzer and Alan Foreman; two of the world's most foremost premiere official expert masters of comedy podcasts about animation. With nearly six combined decades of animation experience, including directing, writing, designing, acting, producing, suffering, under-paid work, sound-design, musical scoring, festival going, cel-painter's elbow, digital fatigue, and teaching in and around and all over the international and local animation industry, college, and fine-arts world, Frenzer and Foreman deliver their unique know-how to you each week through in-depth interviews with world animation leaders, technical animation advice, surprise "radio games", and personal tales of tragedy and triumph. Animation on the radio; it's like photosynthesis on the moon. Welcome to the Forum!
Douglas Larmour's blog, From Where The Color Spaces Meet, gives insight into the day-to-day challenges that compositors face, as well as the thoughts that crop up in his head while working at the sharp end of the VFX pipeline in one of the best VFX houses in the World.
Douglas Larmour has been working in the Visual Effects industry as a digital compositor on films including Lara Croft:Tomb Raider (2001), Troy (2004), Sunshine (2007) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005). For the last 5 years he has taken on a more senior role as supervising lead on shows including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010) and The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010).
He has also been a Visual Effects Supervisor on a number of British films (Stage Beauty (2004)/ Suzie Gold (2004)/ The Other Man (2008)) and was recently nominated for an Emmy for his work on the TV series Rome, Series 2 (2007). In addition to his work for MPC, Doug also worked for a year with Weta Digital on the Oscar winning King Kong (2005).
The International Animation Consulting Group (“IACG”) is an unparalleled group of executives assembled to provide first-hand knowledge of how to develop, produce and distribute animated content for feature films and television. IACG’s experience includes building curricula for training, recruiting, studio design and all aspects of the production process including development, budgeting, producing, directing, marketing and distribution.
The team collectively has over 75 years experience in animation including experience at the very highest levels for some the world's foremost motion picture studios. IACG’s principals have collaborated on over 20 animated feature films and numerous television shows, shorts, and specials. Find out more about IACG by visiting their website at: IACG.biz.
IACG - William (Bill) Dennis - Max Howard – Frank M. Lunn
GOING MOBILE provides AWN readers with new and exciting information, perspective and advice on the latest in mobile computing platforms, apps, games and development, as well as the people and companies on the leading edge of innovation.
This blog is for people immersed in digital art and technology geared towards mobile communications and technology who want to stay current.
I’M GAME provides AWN readers with new and exciting information, perspective and advice on the latest in computer games, including profiles, reviews and interviews. This blog is for people who are immersed in digital arts and the ever-changing convergence with technology, who want to know even more and interact with other experts in the field. Contributors include Scott Steinberg, John Gaudiosi and Janet Rae-Dupree.
Brian J. Pohl has over 16 years of experience as a visual effects artist, technical director, and previs supervisor. His blog, Idea Pioneers – The Practice of Previs, will not only provide an insider's view on the previs and preproduction process, but provide the reader with tips and techniques towards improving one's film making style.
A veteran of George Lucas’ personal previsualization team and Industrial Light and Magic’s art department, Pohl is credited for creating or supervising previs on over 22 films including Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), I, Robot (2004) , Open Season (2006), Star Trek (2009) and Battle: Los Angeles (2011). Recently Pohl participated in the formation of the Previsualization Society and acts as its secretary and chairman for its web and educational committees. With the advancement of new CG technologies, the process of previs and virtual filmmaking is becoming more and more prevalent. In addition to being a previs artist, Pohl currently teaches at Gnomon School of Visual FX. For more information on Pohl and the art of previs, check out Brian's website at: www.brianpohl.com.
Musings and adventures of Ron Diamond, Animation Executive Producer and World Traveler.
Bringing his unique perspective to covering the art and business of animation, AWN contributing editor and OIAF artistic director Chris Robinson – formerly known as The Animation Pimp – serves up a thrice-weekly dose of independent animation here at Let's Go Eat the Factory. On Mondays, we get 'Pictures from the Brainbox,' where Chris digests and dissects relatively new short films. On Wednesdays, it’s ‘Keep it in Motion – Classic Animation Revisited,’ which is actually fairly self-explanatory. And on Fridays, things get weird with ‘I Have a Question...’ in which Chris asks animators profound and inane questions that have little to do with animation. There's also the odd ‘Cheer and Loathing’ column, where Chris gets to vent about stuff. Isn't Chris doing a terrific job? Yes, he is. Drop him a line and tell him so, or send him a pitch for your new film here.
As a cognitive scientist, I explore the world of animators’ thoughts, finding signs of intelligent life. Actually, I got my PhD proving that animators use more complex thinking in developing animations, videogames and CGI-infused live action films than rocket scientists.
I look closely at the ways filmmakers plan, problem solve, sketch out and communicate ideas as they develop their projects. I’m also interested in how animations and CGI depict thinking, memory and dreams.
I will be scouring science and cognitive journals, watching many animations and searching for bits of wisdom and insights you can use to develop your lines of thought.
Ivanka Hahnenberger started her professional career as an investment-banking analyst. From there she became a production accountant, working on commercials then feature films with a specialty in special effects and animation. She became an associate producer and eventually a producer for international film and television productions and co-productions, primarily in animation with some live TV and feature work as well. Then, in 2003, she co-founded Roving Stage Productions, a production and consulting company focusing on Mobile and new media content, which she still manages. In the Fall of 2008 she partnered with Grégoire Parcollet in the rescue of VIP Licensing, a merchandising agency in liquidation. Ivanka’s Made 4 Mobile blog will keep a sharp eye on both the business and creative side of the world of Mobile communications. Ivanka can be reached at ivanka at rovingstageproductions dot com.
Nina Paley is the creator of the animated musical feature film Sita Sings the Blues, which has screened in over 150 film festivals and won over 35 international awards including the Annecy Grand Crystal, The IFFLA Grand Jury Prize, and a Gotham Award. Her adventures in our broken copyright system led her to copyLeft her film, and join QuestionCopyright.org as Artist-in-Residence. Prior to becoming an animator Nina was a syndicated cartoonist; she is now re-releasing all her old comics under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license. A 2006 Guggenheim Fellow, Nina is currently producing a series of animated shorts about intellectual freedom called Minute Memes.
Nina’ AWN blog will bring together her newest work, her keen eye for the ironic and her unique perspective on how artists can navigate the controversial, often painful, but always colorful world we inhabit. You can find more of her work at: www.ninapaley.com, www.sitasingstheblues.com, questioncopyright.org and mimiandeunice.com.
Milt Vallas is an industry executive with over thirty years experience in the development, production and distribution of animated properties. He is a multiple Emmy nominee and Emmy winning producer. He has built and managed animation studios throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America and is considered highly knowledgeable in the areas of offshore co-productions.
He has taken an animation company public on NASDAQ and has structured a number of international partnerships working in China, India and Europe.
He currently is a senior partner at Media Vision Consulting, a professional firm that represents the interests of a number of clients and properties in the field of animation. He can be reached at miltv@sbcglobal.net.
Toss out your model sheets and pack up your prejudices; the real party is on the fringe, not at the box office. Off-Model covers what's new, unusual, and decidedly off the beaten path from mainstream animation. Whether it be in the fine art realm, in technology, education, or hybrid media, Off-Model wants to bring the innovative to the forefront, and open a larger discussion about animation's place in the cinematic and art worlds outside our carefully guarded clubhouse. Here you'll find hidden gems, uncovered artifacts, and less archaeological current coverage of the people, ideas, and projects that are pushing our industry forward. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan, a film student, or a seasoned professional. If you seek inspiration in the avant-garde, if you get a thrill from pushing the limits, if you idolize the risk-takers, and wish there were more, this rallying point is the place for you.
Zoe Chevat is an animator, graphic artist, and writer based in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of the Masters in Experimental Animation program at CalArts, and anticipates explaining what the 'experimental' part of that means for the rest of her career, with pleasure. Follow her on Twitter @zchevat.
Parallax is the animation and games blog of David Surman and Ian Gouldstone. Together they work as Pachinko Pictures in Melbourne Australia. You can follow them on twitter.
Parish the Thought is a wry look at the wonderful world of visual effects and animation, written by Steve Parish, the Director of CG at Nice Shoes Creative Studio, who has a knack for melding the technical and the magical, all with a tasteful restraint. Steve has vast experience in both television and film, having led successful campaigns for Pepsi, GE, AT&T, HBO, Coca Cola, Spike Lee, and The Beatles Rockband “Abbey Road” commercial. At Industrial Light & Magic, Steve worked on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and more recently Elysium and Thor: The Dark World while at Whisky Tree.
Perry S. Chen is a 16-year-old award-winning film and entertainment critic, artist, animator, TEDx speaker, and entertainment personality, currently in 11th grade from San Diego. He started reviewing movies at age 8 in 3rd grade using a kid-friendly starfish rating system, and has been featured in CBS, NPR, NBC, CNN, CCTV (China Central Television), Variety, Animation Magazine, The Young Icons, The Guardian, The China Press, etc. He was a presenter at the 2010 Annie Awards for Animation, and has written movie reviews for Animation World Network, San Diego Union Tribune, Amazing Kids! Magazine, and his own Perry’s Previews blog, as well as restaurant reviews for DiningOut San Diego Magazine and San Diego Entertainer.
Perry won the San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 for his movie and restaurant reviews. He is widely recognized as an authoritative spokesperson about movies for his generation, and appears frequently at red carpet movie premieres, awards, and film festivals, interviewing prominent directors from such films as Inside Out, Toy Story 3, Up, How to Train Your Dragon, and Kung Fu Panda. He was a presenter at the 2010 Annie Awards for Animation in Hollywood. Perry and his mom Dr. Zhu Shen are featured in a book about parenting and youth entrepreneurship, “The Parent’s Guide to Raising CEO Kids,” published in Aug 2011.
Perry is currently writing, animating, and directing his most personal film to date, “Changyou’s Journey,” produced by his mom Dr. Zhu Shen, about his beloved father Dr. Changyou Chen, a cancer researcher who passed away in July 2012 from terminal cancer after a long, brave battle, please watch trailer and support Perry’s animation film, and follow the Facebook page:
He can be reached at perryspreviews@gmail.com.
Peter Rizkalla is a life-long enthusiast of videogames and the videogame industry. He has worked in various videogame companies such as THQ, Namco/Bandai and 2K Games and avidly attends many game conferences and events. His formal reviews can be seen in AnimationWorld Magazine. "Press Start" is Peter's new blog on AWN, filled with his insights and views on the latest in gaming. He can be reached at PRizkalla@gmail.com.
Jessie Nagel is the real person behind the blog known as Pretty Persuasion (you be the judge) and is Co-Founder/Special Agent of the sassy communications agency Hype. Jessie also co-founded HypeFest - the short subject film festival turned special events division of the company.
A founding member of Women in Animation, Jessie was the editor for the organization's newsletter "Work in Progress" for nearly 10 years. She also helped produce the indie 'zine "World Famous Crazy Wild" which had an admittedly small but loyal fan base and a random publishing schedule. She can be reached at jessie@hypeworld.com.
REALITY BITES features musings on the art, technology & business of animation, immersive media, extended reality and artificial intelligence.
Kevin Geiger has over three decades of experience in the arts & entertainment, including 15 years with The Walt Disney Company in Burbank and Beijing as an animation supervisor and creative executive. Kevin was an instructor at Cal Arts, Distinguished Professor & Acting Vice Dean of the Beijing Film Academy’s Digital Media School, Executive Director of the Beijing Film Academy’s International Animation & Virtual Reality Research Center, and a Professor at Taipei National University of the Arts.
Kevin has developed animated features & immersive media as a founding Partner of Magic Dumpling Entertainment, creates children’s books as the Founder of Peewee Frog, and works in real-time animation & virtual production as the Head of Production at tellretell.
You can find Kevin’s website at www.kevingeiger.com and he can be reached at holler@kevingeiger.com (link sends email).
Thus far, Edward Bakst has led a life of a wanderer. He has lived and worked in lands of diverse cultures, politics and socio-economics. There he designed and directed created media projects, as well as academic initiatives dedicated to creative ideation and interdisciplinary explorations.
As a designer & director, Edward has created short animated films for such clients as: Smithsonian, MTV, SCI-FI, Nickelodeon, Noggin, ABC, Ajinomoto, NBC, VIASA, HBO, UNICEF, Showtime, Sesame, etc. These projects won international awards for creativity and originality. SIGGRAPH Electronic Theatre presented 3 of his shorts; others won IMAGINA, NY Film Festival, ASIFA, WORLDFEST, BPME, NCGA, British ONLINE, US Film Festival, HOUSTON International Festival, GUGGENHEIM Fellowship and so on.
In an academic career Edward designed, lead or consulted on launching of programs at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, art colleges in Colorado and Michigan. Invited to Singapore to spearhead founding of the School of Art, Design & Media, and design of its unique building, he then consulted on launching of the School of Technology for the Arts. As Professor, he has mentored students in the USA, Latin America, Europe and Asia. He is now concluding his Visiting Professorship at Kyoto University.
Via infinite powers of imagination, Edward has realized worlds that inspire by breaking away from “reality and gravity bound thinking”. His metamorphic ideas now ignite conceptual designs exploring interactivity and technology as a “magic wand” fusing reality and virtuality. You are invited to visit http://www.ideaforia.com or write to Edward@ideaforia.com.
Todd Resnick is a Casting Director (Mattel, Blizzard, Marvel, Simon and Shuster and many other storied franchises) and head of Resnick Interactive Group, a full service voice over casting company.
“Professional networker, student of life, and student of myself. I've been told, ‘holding me back is like holding a horse back.’ My romance with audio production goes back to my deep roots here in Los Angeles, CA. Born and raised in Santa Monica, my passion for sound was sparked as a young boy while at a concert with my father; the engineers were amazing to watch while seeing Guns and Roses live. I was instantly passionate about anything with knobs, buttons, or lights... and the personalities of each. Locating the source and determining the destination became normal to me...and continues in everything that I do today. With fifteen years in the music production and video game development industries, I've been a Business Owner, Pioneer, Teacher, Producer, Engineer, Casting Director and inspirational Team Leader with some of today's well known networks, publishers, voice and musical artists, and students. Relationships spanning the globe feature a meticulously tailored resource network of worldly professionals and marquee content providers. I'm literally the sum total of everyone I have ever met.”
Find out more about Todd and Resnick Interactive Group at resnickinteractive.com.
Rick DeMott is the Senior Content Associate for Barbie.com at Mattel. Previously, he served as Director of Content for AWN. The animation writer, film school graduate, movie geek reviews from a story-based perspective, giving pros and fans a different perspective from your typical mainstream reviews. Read more non animation and visual effects related reviews at Rick's Flicks Picks.
AWN's Asia Bureau provides a window into various animation-related companies, productions, schools and events through reports, stories, profiles, data gathering and translation provided by numerous people throughout the continent. Their insight and efforts helps AWN publish information on new shows, films, games and the companies who produce, distribute and license them.
Spotlight on Korea is a central place for information on the top Korean companies and their latest work.
Nik Phelps and Nancy Denney-Phelps are both deeply involved in the animation world. Nik composes music for film and conducts workshops on film music and composition, and Nancy writes about animation, animation events and animators. They travel the globe seeking out the freshest, most interesting and unusual animated works.
StashTV covers outstanding animation and VFX work in advertising, music videos, title design, gaming, and short films. Curated for AWN by Stephen Price, the founder and editor of Stash.
In the spirit of Hunter Thompson, Nick Tosches and Richard Meltzer, The Animation Pimp is an outrageous, funny and ultimately truthful account of the chaos and glimmers of illumination in an art form and a life.
"Writers who don't, so to speak, pull off their britches when they write don't write anything worth reading. It is good, in a pathetic sort of way, that writers do, so to speak, pull off their britches when they write. Otherwise, there would be far too much to read, and life is far too short.
But Chris Robinson's writing should be read. His honesty, what he has to say, and how he says it are enthralling. This is the real thing by a real writer.
It's uncanny, very uncanny, that if you're looking for writing about animation, you'll find it here, and if, like me, you're not, you won't. I don't quite know hot this can be, but it is."
Nick Tosches
Reviews, news, interviews, events: The Anime Beat covers the anime world. But even a little feature film and gaming will appear from time to time. Subjected to far too much education, James Brusuelas is a scholar and writer at large. Raised on an iconic diet of Voltron, Robotech, Megazone, and Bubblegum Crisis (amongst many others) he spends most days dodging the piles of anime and books engulfing his room, or just plotting the next venture to Caesar's for dinner at the Palm and a little roulette. You can reach him at theanimebeat@gmail.com.
Lisa Kaye, the Career Rebel, is an expert in the fields of recruitment and human resources management. Lisa is the Founder & CEO of greenlightjobs, an innovative online recruitment website targeting the placement of media and entertainment professionals within animation, gaming, film, digital, television and new media. Launched in 2002, greenlightjobs has attracted an A-list clientele such as Microsoft X-Box, G4 Media, ABC Media Networks/Disney, Time Warner, Focus 360, Blue Sky Studios, Yahoo! Media Group, and Lucas Films. The site offers employers the ability to post jobs to the site for free and to subscribe to a premium service whereby they mine the database for pre-screened professional, creative and technical talent. greenlightjobs offers job seekers the ability to post resumes, media including, online portfolios for free and offers enhanced Career Services such as resume writing, portfolio review and career guidance with an upgrade to a Premium Membership.
In addition to launching the successful online business, Lisa consults with top entertainment and media companies in the areas of Human Resources business practices. Some of her clients include, Pixar, Stone Canyon Entertainment, Teletech, Scripps Networks, g4 media, Live Nation Entertainment, House of Blues, Disney Corporate Human Resources.
Lisa gained her reputation as a seasoned Human Resource executive with 20 years of experience working for top entertainment companies including Lifetime, ABC Television, Pixar & Pure Management . Prior to launching greenlightjobs, Lisa held the post of Senior Vice President, Human Resources for E! Networks, and served as a member of the Operating Committee for over seven years. Lisa was responsible for implementing and directing key "best practices" initiatives for the company including re-engineering of its senior management team. While at E!, Lisa was responsible for assisting with the staffing and organizational development of E! Online and assisted with the strategic launch of the style network.
She currently serves on the Board of Directors of “CTHRA” The Cable and telecommunications Human Resources Association, which supports and serves cable television and telecommunications industry. For CTHRA, Lisa serves as Co-Chair of the Compensation Industry Committee – which produces the leading resource for HR professional on trends in compensation. Kaye attended St. John's University and is a graduate of Fordham University, with degrees in Media Communications and Journalism all obtained while working fulltime at ABC Television Networks.
She can be reached at lkaye@greenlightjobs.com or through www.greenlightjobs.com.
The Making of a Dream showcases every aspect of Mark Simon’s goal to get his “Dream” project on the big or small screen. Mark details the long fight, the successes, and the failures of pitching his project, The Dream Factory. He also covers the business specifics, his plans, and production details as he moves into production on the show. #Thisismydream
Mark Simon is a story artist and director with over 4,000 production credits, including 44 features. Mark spends most of his time boarding and directing projects, having boarded projects like Universal’s Woody Woodpecker, Universal’s Chucky 7, Rainmakers Untitled Barbie, as well as classics like Spielberg’s seaQuest DSV, Dexter and thousands of commercials.
He has written best-sellers like “Storyboards: Motion in Art” and the “Facial Expressions” series of books. Mark lectures around the world and after securing dozens of deals for his own projects, co-founded www.SellYourTvConceptNow.com. In his free time he….aw, who are we kidding. He has no free time, but he is always looking for his next big project (hint, hint).
You can find his storyboard and animation samples online at www.Storyboards-East.com.
His books can be found at www.MarkSimonBooks.com.
His DIY TV Pitch Kit is at www.TvPitchKit.com.
His Storyboard Pro course at www.Lynda.com/MarkSimon.
Joe Strike, aka “The Miscweant” has written about animation for the New York Daily News, Newsday, the New York Press, Fanboy.com, and since the year 2000, Animation World Network. He produced and hosted “Interview with an Animator,” a series of public conversations with animation notables held at New York City’s Society of Illustrators, the Paley Center for Media and other Manhattan locations. (www.animatorinterviews.com).
Joe has taught Mass Communications at St. John’s University, scripted the Nickelodeon series Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, adapted anime scripts into English and worked on the children's TV series The Great Space Coaster and Pee-wee’s Playhouse. After helping launch the cable service formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel, Joe wrote and produced programming for the network featuring celebrities like Stan Lee, animator Ralph Bakshi and the cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000. His first book, Furry Nation: The True Story of America’s Most Misunderstood Subculture was published in October by Cleis Press.
Marc Weigert is an Emmy-award winning visual effects supervisor, producer and 2nd unit director. He is the CEO of Uncharted Territory in Los Angeles, founded in 1999 with business partner Volker Engel. Under the “Uncharted” banner he has produced and co-produced several TV movies, mini-series and feature films, most notably Roland Emmerich’s “2012” and Dean Devlin and Bryan Singer’s “The Triangle”. Marc was recently executive producer and vfx supervisor for Emmerich’s “Anonymous” and is currently co-producer and VFX supervisor on "White House Down" for Sony Pictures.
Richard Kerrigan was born in White Plains, New York and moved to Los Angeles when he was eleven. After his discharge from the U.S. Navy he acquired a degree in architecture. He began his career in the entertainment business as an assistant visual effects cameraman on The Empire Strikes Back. Deciding to stay in the San Francisco Bay area after Empire concluded, he worked in several capacities on various industrial and commercial projects. He spent almost two years on The Right Stuff and followed that up by relocating to Los Angeles to work on Ghostbusters. Following Ghostbusters in 1984 he worked for Digital Productions that then boasted the Cray super-computer as it’s primary render engine. During the past twenty-three-years he has worked primarily as visual effects supervisor and visual effects executive producer at various post houses. Crossing from features to television in the mid nineteen-nineties he has worked on such series as Power Rangers, Felicity and Ally McBeal, where he supervised the Dancing Baby episode. Overall his career spans over thirty years. He has been guest speaker at The California Institute of the Arts in Santa Monica, California and at Western North Carolina University. Richard has two daughters: Anna, living in Manhattan and pursuing a career as a playwright and film director & Lily who lives in Los Angeles and is in pursuit of a master’s degree in landscape architecture.
The VIEW Conference is the premiere international event in Italy on Computer Graphics, Interactive Techniques, Digital Cinema, 2D/3D Animation, Gaming and VFX.
VIEW focuses on exploring the increasingly fluid boundary between real and digital worlds. Through lectures, meetings, tributes, exhibits, screenings and demo presentations VIEW reveals the new digital frontier sweeping from cinema to architecture, from automotive design to advertisement, from medicine to videogames.
This blog will introduce to you some of the key participants, through intimate interviews where they discuss themselves and their work, as well as through recordings of their presentations and panel discussions, where they share with you their insight and their knowledge.
Steve Pitzel is a recovering animator and animation/model-building tools instructor, who has taught artists and animators from Walt Disney Feature Animation (currently known as Walt Disney Animation Studio), Rhythm & Hues, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and other studios. A session vocalist as well, Pitzel has been a strong evangelist for digital content creators at Intel Corporation, where he created Intel's Visual Computing and Artist/Animator Communities. He currently hosts Digital Arts, an online Intel TV show dedicated to digital art and music techniques and technology. Visually Speaking will cover a wide variety of topics and issues involving digital content creation.
