Deadline for applications to the NFB’s Hothouse program for emerging Canadian animators is December 11.
TORONTO -- The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is seeking submissions for its Hothouse apprenticeship program for emerging Canadian animators, now in its 11th season.
Canadian filmmakers and artists can apply at films.nfb.ca/hothouse by December 11 for the chance to be one of six participants in a 12-week paid apprenticeship program with NFB animation professionals -- a one-of-a-kind experience working with the NFB’s Oscar-winning Animation Studio.
This year’s mentoring director is Malcolm Sutherland, a Montreal-based director, animator and designer for film, television, web commercials and music videos. A participant in the very first Hothouse, he’s the first alumnus to return as project mentor.
In another first for Hothouse, NFB studios across the country are getting in on the act as well: grassroots filmmaking and community-building are this year’s mantras as participants work remotely through their nearest NFB production centre, while the Animation Studio in Montreal remains the creative engine.
The theme for Hothouse 11 is Found Sound 2.0 -- a reboot of last year’s successful theme, in which organizers trawled the Internet for audio clips that were intriguing, unusual, unnerving, or somehow full of subtext and hidden meaning. This year, there’s a new twist: participants can either use one of 14 pre-selected audio clips or submit an audio clip of their own choice. Found sound begs for satire and subversion, so applicants are encouraged to think of the audio as a springboard for their own creativity: don’t be afraid to re-interpret, comment on or play with the original meaning.
In addition to Sutherland, some of Canada’s most acclaimed new generation of animators got their start in Hothouse, including Patrick Doyon, nominated for an Oscar for his NFB animated short Sunday/Dimanche, and Howie Shia, whose NFB short Flutter received the Open Entries Grand Prize at the Tokyo Anime Awards.
Submissions must be received by 5pm EST on Friday, December 11, 2015, and must be sent via e-mail (no snail mail submissions will be accepted). The six successful candidates will be notified by Friday, December 18, 2015. The program will run from February 1 to April 22, 2016.
Hothouse continues to be about re-imagining ways of making animation: ways that are faster, more flexible, and that embrace the many possibilities in the animation process while maintaining creative and technical excellence. With Hothouse, the NFB is looking for six talents who are willing and able to jump head-first into this intensive experience.
Source: The National Film Board of Canada
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
