Conference keynote speaker is legendary animator Glen Keane, who will present his latest short, ‘Duet.’
Presented by the Spark Computer Graphics Society, SPARK ANIMATION 2014 opens on October 22nd with the British Columbia premiere of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. The conference, film festival and job fair runs October 22-26 at the Vancity Theatre in Vancouver, B.C.
Directed and written by Roger Allers (The Lion King), The Prophet features the voice talents of Salma Hayek, Liam Neeson and Alfred Molina. An animated adaptation of the classic book of poetry by the Lebanese artist, philosopher and writer, each section of The Prophet is animated in a different style by nine different award-winning filmmakers, including Paul & Gaëtan Brizzi, Joan C. Gratz, Mohammed Saeed Harib, Tomm Moore, Nina Paley, Bill Plympton, Joann Sfar and Michal Socha.
Other highlights include Song of The Sea (from Oscar-nominated director Tomm Moore), The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (a documentary on legendary studio Ghibli), and Giovanni’s Island (recipient of the Jury-distinction award at Annecy 2014).
The Conference keynote speaker is legendary animator Glen Keane (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty & The Beast, Pocahontas, Tarzan). Keane left Disney two years ago to focus on personal projects and he will be presenting the latest of those: Duet. Keane will be joined by his son Max Keane, who worked as Production Designer on the short film. Duet is part of Google’s Spotlight Stories series, where films were designed specifically for mobile devices with viewer interaction, and is the first film in the series to be traditionally animated.
New this year, the Festival, which runs October 22-26, includes a series of international shorts incorporating a wide variety of techniques and covering everything from student films and music videos to commercials and cinematics. This year was the first time the Festival accepted submissions, receiving 166 films from 30 countries in a range of techniques, including computer animation (2D & 3D), traditional and stop-motion animation.
For more details and the full festival schedule, visit sparkfx.ca/festivals.
The Conference, which runs October 24 & 25, features speakers from Disney, Pixar, Cartoon Saloon and Reel FX, among others. Production sessions include Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet, Song of The Sea, The Boxtrolls, Lava, Big Hero 6, The Book of Life and Duet.
Conference Pass: $225
Individual conference presentations: $25 each
For schedule, info and to book a conference pass, visit sparkfx.ca/festivals.
Source: Spark Computer Graphics Society
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.
