Then in the evening I'll be joining Steve for another edition of the Skwigly Animation Quiz, where teams are invited to put civility and decorum to one side as they pillage the prize table in as vicious and depraved a manner as possible. The quiz is free but you might want to book a ticket to make sure there's a space for ya - also worth mentioning that it will now take place at 8:15pm rather than 7pm as I'd originally stated on here.
Also among the various screenings are some brilliant films by recent Skwigly interviewees and general animation chums such as Kim Noce, Anete Melece, Sara Barbas, Chris Shepherd, Liam Harris, Luc Gut and many more, so be sure to check out the full programme. We'll be milling in and around Chapter over the Saturday and Sunday so if you see us come say hello.
Don't forget that a week today, in celebration of Saturday being the film's 100th screening, Klementhro will debut online! Keep 'em peeled.
As some may recall, last yearKlementhro followed in the footsteps of its predecessors Ground Running and The Naughty List by getting itself screened at the Skepto International Film Festival. I've just been informed by the lovely folks over there that it will screen again on April 29th for a special pre-festival 'Best of 2016' event in Sassari, North Sardinia. Exact venue/time info a-comin' soon.
As a little bonus bit of good news, these recent additions to the upcoming screenings means that, come the film's appearance at the Cardiff Independent Film Festival in May, it will have cleared 100 public screenings, which was my self-set target to hit before putting the film online. So assuming nothing changes in the interim, the date it goes up will be Monday May 8th. Pencil it in, people - this time Klementhro's coming to you!
Some updates to brighten an actually-quite-sunny-already weekend. Sunscapades is making slow but encouragingly steady progress. I've been blessed with having some absolutely fantastic background and close-ups painters who've really been helping to nail that 90s series vibe I'm going for with it. If you want to keep up with how it's coming together and get some sneaky peeks as they go up you can now follow me on Instagram. Here's a wee smattering of the goods you can come to expect:
It's also worth reminding y'all that there's a Skwigly Instagram that's been set up for a while now so if you're in a followin' mood then why not get in on that too.
Speakin' o' Skwigly, the end of March officially marked five years of the Skwigly Animation Podcast. It's been quite a half-decade, with co-host Steve and myself amassing literally days' worth of exclusive interviews and insights from the best and brightest of the animation industry. So naturally to mark the occasion I've put together a selection of bits where it's just the two of us pissing about in between interviews.
Traipse down memory lane in this compilation of conversational “highlights” including:
The second season of mine and Laura-Beth Cowley's more recent Skwigly podcast series Intimate Animation is continuing on also, with Kim Noce of Mew Labjoining us for episode 2. Since graduating from the NFTS with her 2005 animated documentary short After,
Kim has gone on to direct eight independent shorts, seven commissioned
films for the BBC, C4 and the BFI among others, as well as ten animation
installations, including The Evening Her Mind Jumped Out of Her Head for Watford Borough Council. Recently Kim was among several directors commissioned to direct Love in Idleness for the Shakespeare400 Still Shakespeare
series. The films took inspiration from original research by Sally
Barnden and were produced in partnership with London Shakespeare Centre,
Film Club at Th1ng and Sherbet.
Also discussed in this episode is Kirsten Lepore's curious new film Hi Stranger, made for the second Late Night Work Club anthology Strangers. Her contribution went viral in a big way a few weeks back and you can learn more about how it came together in my interview with her: Stranger Things: A Conversation with Kirsten Lepore
You can hear a longer version of the interview as well as more from the other Strangers contributors in a podcast special that will be going up soon (I'd originally planned to time it with a public screening event I'm involved in but as that's been pushed back until later in the year I'm aiming to get it up sooner) so watch this space.
In the meantime there's a new episode of my video interview series Lightbox in which I meet Kyle Carrozza, a nice fella whose frenetic contribution to the Cartoon Network series line-up Mighty Magiswords just made it to the UK this weekend. Have a watch and learn more about how it came together, it's quite interesting how its path to becoming a full series was a somewhat atypical one.
I know at this point you're all literally screaming "But what's happening with Klementhro?!" until your voice boxes are raw and bloody, so I'll put you out of your misery. I'm happy to report the film's getting a surprise screening in competition at Cortoons Festival Gandia. The festival takes place in Valencia, Spain and while I'm not 100% clear on the exact time and venue info just yet I can tell you it's held from April 27th to 30th and that my film will be part of the 1-4 minutes screening category. More when there's more.
Don't forget that shortly afterward it will screen on May 6th at 5:15pm as part of Cardiff Animation Nights' competition strand at the Cardiff Independent Film Festival at Chapter. Immediately afterwards at 7pm Steve and I will be hosting one of our inimitable Skwigly Animation Quizzes that are always good fun, so be sure to check that out also.
That morning Laura-Beth's new film Boris-Noris (on which I helped out hither and thither) will also be playing at CIFF as part of the Animated Family Shorts screenings put together by Cloth Cat. Keep your eyes on the online program in the coming weeks for more specifics and ticket info. The film has had a great start so far, already having screened in the States and the UK with other upcoming screenings including 7 Petits Cailloux (Tinqueux, France) and Zlín Film Festival (Kudlov, Czech Republic).
Eef, that was a big one. Okay folks, go back to enjoying your Sunday.
Latest festival updates for Klementhro, the little paddlin' ginger that could (even though nobody asked him to). First off in April you can catch the film in Paris at this year's edition of Le Court Nous Tient. Our man Klementhro will be poking his head out during the Competition 2 screening at 4pm April 11th. In keeping with the quasi-nautical theme of the film the event takes place on La Baleine Blanche. Très bon!
Also an update on the film's participation in the Cardiff Animation Nights competition strand of CIFF in May. In anticipation of the announcement of the full schedule soon, it's looking like Klementhro will play in the Animation 2 screening that will take place on Saturday May 6th around 5:15pm (TBC) at Chapter Arts Centre. Will keep you posted with more events when the time comes, but all told it's shaping up to be another fun weekend.
With Klementhro soon to be old news, here's the YouTube version of the Sunscapades clip I put up over the weekend. This is an ever-so-slightly longer excerpt, see if you can spot a line that I've ultimately jettisoned from the final film:
Poking my adorable furry head out from the avalanche of work and wedding plans with a couple updates regarding Klementhro's latter days on the festival circuit. Coming up first are some more details on the film's screening as part of Friday Night Shorts at Short Waves Festival in Pozan, Poland. The venue will be the Kino Rialto and the programme will kick off 10pm March 24th. Check it out, my Polish pretties!
I'm also happy to confirm that the film will still be out and about come May of this year, as part of the official selection of this year's Cardiff Independent Film Festival. It's in the company of some grand films by animation pals including Anete Melece, Chris Shepherd and Sara Barbas among others. This is the second year that the festival has teamed up with the fabulous folks at Cardiff Animation Nights for their animation strand - last year's was tremendous so I'm really looking forward to heading back.
Elsewhere I'm hearing murmurings that the sequel to The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle (the animated point-and-click game from Rumpus to which I contributed some character voices) is coming together spiffingly. Adding to those murmurings are my own murmurings, which you can check out below. Fulchmuckle rides again!
