That Gumball you like is going to come back in style

Here's an interview I've been sitting on for ages that I hope you all get a kick out of. As part of 2017's Annecy coverage I got to meet three folks who've been on my interview wish-list for a good long while now: Creative duo Becky & Joe (who created the brilliant, Rainbow-meets-Requiem For A Dream horror series Don't Hug Me I'm Scared to tremendous viral success) recently brought their penchant for puppetry to The Amazing World of Gumball's season 5 episode The Puppets, and MANOMAN director Simon Cartwright of Cartwright Gantz who directed the accompanying webseries Waiting For Gumball (Simon previously appeared on episode 32 of the podcast).
Also at this junket were James Stevenson Bretton and Tom Stuart of Blink Industries as well as Ben Bocquelet (marking his second Lightbox appearance) and Mic Graves, Gumball's series creator and director respectively.
I'm still a little in the dark as to whether or not The Puppets and Waiting For Gumball were released/broadcast here in the UK, but they definitely came out in the States a few months' back. Either way they're great fun and it was a treat to chat with everyone involved. If you dig it you might want to check out the other interviews from this particular junket - with Simon Landrein (guest artist) and Ben Locket (composer).

"Satirico, grottesco e oltre"

Zürich ho!

As March wraps its sweet little self up I'm happy to be able to bring you folks up to speed with what awaits paddling troublemaker Klementhro this coming April.

This Friday (the 1st) he'll begin his involvement in the first of two touring film programs that will be playing throughout Switzerland. The first - Kurzfilmnacht Schweiz - will be focusing on Swiss-German speaking cities, with its first screenings taking place in Zürich at two venues, the Arthouse Le Paris at 8:30pm and the Arthouse Uto at 9pm. Klementhro will be part of the Happy Aging program, more info for which can be found by clicking here.

Later on in the month I'm happy to say the film will be playing at the Skepto International Film Festival, an event I'm well-acquainted with as it has screened both Ground Running and The Naughty List in the past. It's in some excellent company this time around, screening alongside such terrific filmmakers as Simon Cartwright, Job, Joris and Marieke, Konstantin Bronzit and Réka Bucsi. Klementhro will play as part of the Skeptyricon (Satire, Grotesque and Beyond) screening and the festival itself will run from April 13th to 16th in Cagliari, Italy. More specifics to follow, but in the meantime you can check out the festival website here.

Puppet Masters

In the latest episode of the Skwigly Animation Podcast we go primal with recent NFTS graduate Simon Cartwright, whose short MANOMAN is a joyously dark, twisted (and to some of us, curiously relatable) marriage of animation and live-action puppetry. Steve managed to get some time to interview Simon at EIFF this year and a darn enjoyable listen it is too. Also joining the podcast this episode is puppet specialist, technical instructor and animation author Mary Murphy, discussing the Bristol Festival of Puppetry (whose 2015 edition kicks off this week) and her exclusive workshop Stop Motion on a Shoestring.
Also discussed in this episode are the latest developments from Skwigly’s ongoing series of animation screenings This Is Not A Cartoon, sex education via animation as well as the pleasing success of previous guest Signe Baumane‘s independent feature film Rocks In My Pockets and its recent screening as part of the Bechdel Test Fest.
Stream the latest episode above or direct download here.