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.
It's been a particularly busy week over in Skwiglyville, with highlights including Katie's interviews with voice actor Jeremy Shada of Adventure Time fame and Jackson Publick, creator of the longest-running Adult Swim series The Venture Bros. Plus migraine-riddled worrywart Dani recounts her bank holiday weekend spent devoted to making an animated short from scratch and Laura-Bethinterviews the team at MewLab about their ambitious installation-cum-short The Evening Her Mind Jumped Out of Her Head (which some of you may have seen at our MAF screening last year).
Meanwhile my Lightbox video interview series has kicked off again, featuring a chat with Job Roggeveen and Joris Oprins; two thirds of Job, Joris and Marieke, the Oscar-nominated studio who've made such fantastic work as MUTE, A Single Life and their latest, (Otto). You can hear from remaining team member Marieke Blaauw in our recent KLIK! Podcast minisode.
On the subject of podcasts, we've officially barrelled past the fifty-episode mark and are pleased to welcome back the legendary Bill Plympton, whose divisive (the LA Times call it one of his "most entertaining feature films", the AV Club call it "fundamentally misconceived") new film Hitler's Folly is free to stream from his website as of today. We also chat about other projects including Revengeance, the next fully-animated feature he has lined-up, a collaboration with kindred spirit Jim Lujan. As I've doubtless mentioned before, I credit Bill with my decision to shift my attentions from motion graphics to character animation and storytelling and am always stunned by just how prolific he is (he's like the Mike Patton of animation), so it's always a privilege to feature him on the show. Stream below, download here or subscribe for future listenin'!
Another crucial influence at a key stage in my animation studies was legendary Czech surrealist filmmaker Jan Švankmajer, whose gloriously bizarre work embraces animation's full potential and often tows the line between comedic and nightmarish (an interplay I have a particular fondness for). As such I'm beyond thrilled to have gotten an interview with the man himself, which is up today. This was no easy feat with the language barrier - to the best of my awareness his English is only marginally better than my Czech - so I'm hugely grateful to him and his team for taking the time with their translation efforts.
In the interview we mainly discuss what he has declared to be his final feature film Insects, which he is presently crowdfunding. It looks to be an absolutely wonderful endeavour that embraces everything I love most about his work and process, I hugely advise you all to give it a look and help it become a reality!
