It’s a Christmas Miracle, Krusty Krew! Roger Ebert did a review of Sita Sings the Blues” and its plight. It looks like there may be a legal distribution of Sita after all! I have a “covert” copy of a festival DVD that I show to everyone I meet. This is independent animation at its absolute best. The fact that US copyright law makes this film illegal is disgusting and criminal. Fingers crossed that you’ll be able to see it soon!
Here’s a shot for a new short I’m working on based on the Tales of Saint Ignatius the Beneficent. First up: The Holy Conception of Saint Ignatius the Beneficent.
Crongrats is due to 15 year old animator Jabril Mack. Jabril is a student from Alpharetta High School and has just beat out a thousand other entries to win the Nickelodeon Greater Creator Award.
I remember a quote but don’t know from where. It went something like,
“The problem with the advertising industry in a capitalist society is that it steals our best artists.”
It’s a thing I’ve been thinking about a lot. Not for personal reasons. I don’t really have to worry about such things. I find the whole thing interesting and am not quite sure where I stand. There is some crass awful commercial animation and the industry seems pretty suffocating from my view. I also have some issues with capitalism and advertising in general.
But I’ve met artists across the spectrum. You have artists like Don Hertzfeldt that reject the advertising industry completely. Artists that embrace advertising but maintain their individuality and personal projects. Artists like Pez, Bill Plympton, Mike Judge. Then there are artists that I know that work strictly in the industry, usually working on projects that they have little input into, are completely happy. I respect them all.
In honor of the upcoming 25th anniversary of 4th Estate (an imprint of HarperCollins UK), Apt Studio produced a gorgeous stop-motion animation. I was blown away when I watched this and I’m in disbelief that the film was completed in under a month. It’s the perfect blend of nostalgia, a love of books, and modernity. The film took a team of 20 animators, and more than 1,000 books were put to use. Has anyone ever seen such a beautiful promotional film for a book publisher??
