Pitched Out

It's been a mostly sleepless week living off cornflakes, yoghurt and instant coffee (my digestive tract is both anxious and befuddled) as I'm gathering pre-production materials for two short film pitches. Hoping to stick with my pattern of producing one short of my own per year, I'm leaning toward the more developed, easier-to-pull-off "Bullies". I have a script and a large chunk of the storyboard done, plus I can get on the asset building while I wait to hear back from potential backers. That way if I don't get any bites I'll have enough material in place to pursue other opportunities or possibly just take more time to knock it out myself.
I'm really excited about this one as it's shaping up to be a completely different visual experience than my previous films, relying more on the production processes of certain commissions and slightly more contemporary character design work. To that end I'm torn between showing off or keeping under my hat the proposed designs I have now. So here's my concession:Speaking of short films (which I guess is pretty much all I do on here) Sophie Klevenow's 2009 short "Noesis", for which I did the sound mix, just got accepted into the AG Kurzfilm German Shortfilm Catalogue, which is excellent and well-deserved news. It really is uniquely remarkable for a student film and has been very well-received with good reason. If you've yet to see it I'd recommend you check it out.Some screening news to end on - "Ground Running" will be getting another showing at this year's Skepto after its inclusion last year. It's part of a 'Best of 2010' pre-festival screening on the 25th which is pretty flattering.Elsewhere - Tamil Nadu, specifically - "The Naughty List" will be part of the 2011 International Short Film Festival of India which starts on the same day. Given the country's increasing relevance within the animation industry it's very encouraging to get a screening over there.
Now to prepare for a weekend of scanning and compositing, fueled by my 18th Müllerlight of the day...

Debuting all over the place

If Tesco can get away with pulling the xmas crap this early on, then screw it, so can I! The holiday season starts this month with a trio of international screenings for "The Naughty List"!
As I already blathered about, it'll be part of the Cologne Comedy Festival but now I know that the specific screening is Friday 15th at 8pm, as part of Screens of Comedy. I will be there! I'm usually not as my films tend to get accepted by festivals far, far away, but this one's a special circumstance. It will also at some point be broadcast on WDR, which will be a nice first for me.Before then, though at a time I've yet to determine, I can now confirm that the film is indeed included as part of the animation strand for the IASI International Film Festival. Hurrah!But before any of that I'm pretty stoked to say that it will also be shown at this year's European Animated Film Festival Balkanima, which screened "House Guest" last year! Screening this Wednesday (the 6th) as part of the European Panorama at noon. The following day it will also be screening Sophie Klevenow's superb short "Noesis" which I did some sound work on, so there's two reasons to get your ass over to Belgrade. More info at their official site and Facebook group.

Adieu, rotting duck thing.

I woke up this morning to the dramatic thump of something large and cumbersome being pushed through my letterbox. Turned out to be the bulky (and very pretty) program for Anima Mundi along with the return of the last 'House Guest' screening copy. Thus ends my zombie duck's reign of terrifyingly adorable shenanigans on the international festival circuit. As I have so vainly documented, it's had an astoundingly good run given that it was both my first film and a student film made for literally nothing. A little over two years since its completion I cannot really explain what a humbling experience it's been seeing it do the rounds alongside other films by friends, contemporaries and even some of my heroes in the industry. I know that on here I write like a self-aggrandising ass most of the time, and maybe some people who don't know me in real life might not pick up on the irony, but the truth of the matter is that we're living in pretty rough times where to keep afloat in the industry you have to drink the Kool-Aid for the most part. Sometimes it can be a lot of fun but generally speaking when you work for a company or someone else's project there are plenty of moments of second guessing and self-doubt. As 'House Guest' was always mine its completion and positive reception have kept me inspired to keep hammering out my own projects, hopefully with an equal balance of confidence and self-awareness. So thanks once again to everyone who selflessly helped with the film, all the festivals (big and small) that gave it a chance and everyone who contacted me personally to say nice things about it.

They also threw in a 'participation' certificate. Which is both a new one on me and pretty nice of them.

So moving on, first I want to mention the Babelgum Animation Film Festival which currently has a whole bunch of shorts online you can watch and vote on. Nothing of mine in there but some friends' films such as 'Wherever You Go There You Are' by Sara Barbas, 'Ami' by Dominique Bongers and 'Noesis' by Sophie Klevenow are all worth a look. I haven't had time to watch the others but some that I'm familiar with and enjoy include '8-Bit Waterslide in Real Life', 'Marcel the Shell With Shoes On' and 'Pigeon Impossible'.Finally, yesterday was the last day you were able to hear my new Struwwelpeter song 'Set You Free' as part of BBC Introducing. If you missed it, I of course recorded it myself and you can forever listen to it here.
If you want to hear the song without the intro and strange backhanded editorialising at the end it's part of 'Digital Stimulation', a download-only EP available now and completely free. It includes three songs from 2006's 'Agnosticaust' and three from the forthcoming album 'The Book of Women'. All the tracks are alternate mixes/edits to the ones that appear on the albums themselves and as such are completely exclusive to this release. So download it and spread it around like a delightful musical compote!Download 'Digital Stimulation' by Struwwelpeter
Alternatively you can stream the EP on SoundCloud.
Now for a weekend of showreel editing and updating. Try to contain your envy.

Houseguestski

Have just found out that 'House Guest' will be returning to Serbia for the Belgrade Documentary & Short Film Festival. This is the second Belgrade-based festival to include the film after Balkanima last year, and will run from March 30th to April 3rd. Aside from that I don't have any info on when the film will be shown, as their website is down at the moment (presumably being retooled for the 2010 edition, although there is some useful info here) but I'll be sure to post an update when I know. I never miss an opportunity to talk about myself like the self-aggrandising ass that I am.Some non-me news to balance out the universe, this week is Animated Exeter, a festival I've yet to be eligible for but has included some friends of mine in the past as well as this year. Putting aside the big boys like Plympton et al, films of note include Jo Hepworth (main assistant on 'House Guest')'s new short 'Dinnersaurs', Seb Burnett & Joe Wood's 'Julian Sweeney & His Teenie-Weenie Genie' and Sophie Klevenow's 'Noesis' which I did some sound work on (See? I brought it back to me again...I'm a coattail-riding fool). They're all worth checking out.

Update: 'Sweeney...' received a commendation and 'Noesis' won the Student Animation award. Congrats y'all :)

Forever Blowing Bubbles

Sophie Klevenow's film 'Noesis' (for which I did some work on the sound mixing and mastering) is playing at this year's Canary Wharf Film Festival. It's part of the Mix:UK screening, which runs every day of the festival (3rd-7th September). Times vary, so best to check out the website for details. It's a great film, very Robert Morgan/Quay Brothers-esque and I'm glad I was able to get involved with it. I'm hoping to be at the festival on the 3rd, from the trailer it looks pretty interesting.
For more info on the film have a look at the 'Noesis' website.