A collection of my interviews with women who work in the field of Animation covering their personal history, views on animation, and advice for women who would like to become animators.
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Well, September was host to the second largest animation festival in the world: the Ottawa International Animation Festival. So since I was in attendence for the fest, I thought I'd share some of the animated films that were either produced or co-produced by women animators.
Most of these haven't hit the internet yet because they're still working their way through the festival circuit, but I've included trailers where possible. Definitely check them out if you have a chance.
"Soup of the Day" was animated by Lynn Smith through the National Film Board of Canada using her animation style mixing paint-on-glass and cut-out animation.
Ottawa also had the world premiere of Eleonore Goldberg's short film "Wandering".
"Virtuoso Virtual" by Thomas Stellmach and Maja Oschmann is an abstract non-narrative animation that synchs a classical score with an animated line of ink. On the big screen during the fest, this film just hypnotized the crowd.
I was very happy when "But Milk is Important" won the Public Prize at the festival. Meaning, this film received more votes from the viewing public than any other film at the festival's competition screenings.
Two films that I can't find trailers for are the student films "Fists of Finance" by Sheridan College's Melissa Allen and "Unfortunately" by Karla Monterrosa from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
"Fists of Finance" is: "The story of when the greatest kung fu master refused to pay his bills and unleashed the math fury of his otherwise mild-manned accountant."
and
"Unfortunately" is about a girl who "After getting her first period, an antsy teenager tries to find her new place in the world as a woman."
I wish that there was more that I could post about these two delightful films, as "Fists" has this really cool "Samurai Jack" look-and-feel to it and I really enjoyed the thoughtful perspective shared by "Unfortunately". But, I'll just have to keep an eye open for them after their festival runs are over and post more info later. Hopefully, I'll be able to track these two animators down and maybe get an interview out of them.
Another set of student animators: Kyra Buschor, Anna Habermehl, and Constantin Paeplow screened all four of their "Rollin' Safari" animations that they produced as third-year projects at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (all of which can be viewed on their youtube page at the following link).
Lastly, Russian animator Anna Shepilova has posted her entire film "It's Raining" on Vimeo. I highly encourage viewers to watch it--though be warned, as this film's themes are a little more mature, it's probably not suitable for viewing at work.
All told, I counted thirty-eight films at the festival competitions and retrospectives (student, international, canadian, etc) that were either created by women animators or where women were prominent members of the production team. One of the things that Ottawa does, which I really appreciate, is that they publish film and bio information on their website for most of the films screened--which you can access via clicking on the hyperlinked animator's names in the above post.
I have to say though, that one of the highlights of the festival for me was when I had the opportunity to meet Lauren MacMullan, Walt Disney's first ever solo-woman short film director.
I'm pleased to present a guest post by animator and musician Anne Beal on her trip to the 2013 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Anne's RISD senior film "Balance and Swing" was accepted to the Annecy festival in the Graduation Films competition program. The following is Anne's report on her first (hopefully not last) Annecy Festival.
* * *
I submitted my film to Annecy knowing my efforts would probably amount to a rejection letter in a few months. But, by that point, I had submitted to over 20 festivals and going through the steps – from online forms to post office trips – was automatic. And there was no submission fee: why not submit to the world's biggest and oldest animation festival, for free?
(l to r) Ainslie, Anne, and Will (1)
When I looked at the selection results in March 2013, I was stunned to see "Balance and Swing" on the list. My film would screen in the "Graduation Films" category among films I had seen at the Ottawa International Animated Film Festival the previous September, including my favorite graduation film from Ottawa, "I am Tom Moody," by Ainslie Henderson. (In fact, I met Ainslie at a screening and throughly enjoyed hanging out with him and his collaborator and fellow director, Will Anderson. Will's film won "best graduation film" at Annecy 2012.)
Though it's been six weeks since Annecy, I haven't fully processed everything. I saw over a hundred films, all of them meaningful to me in some way. So I'll let this post be brief, with a few insights on my experience at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2013.
First of all, I'm glad I brought my fiddle. She was my only companion in a foreign country, and knowing the universal language of music made up for my poor French speaking skills. I was fortunate enough to meet Nik Phelps through a mutual friend, and Nik welcomed me into the "Annecy Plus Band." Every year at Annecy, Nik puts together a group of musical animators to form a band that plays at the "Annecy Plus" screening as well as various Annecy parties. His wife, Nancy Phelps, puts together the Annecy Plus screening in collaboration with Bill Plympton. Annecy Plus is a venue for screening films that were not selected for the festival. You can find out more about it at this link to the Annecy Plus facebook page.
Playing at the Annecy Plus Screening (1)
Above is the Annecy Plus Band from left to right: Daniel Šuljić who runs the animation festival "Zagreb", Anne Beal, Nik Phelps, and Veljko Popovic who is an animator. Not pictured is Rolf who played percussion.
In the video below is the Annecy Plus Band, which includes a special appearance by Michaela Pavlatova (my favorite video ever!! :)
At Annecy I met interesting people who work in the animation industry who I may not have met anywhere else. Directors and sound designers from France, Croatia, Egypt and other places it might take me a lifetime to visit. I plan to keep in touch with them and the projects they're working on. Now I am extra motivated to keep making work and submitting to festivals, to get the chance to see these people again.
The vibrant festival atmosphere, especially the parties, introduced me to animators I connected with on a personal level and whose work I intend to follow. One such animator is Corrie Francis Parks. It was wonderful to meet her at the opening Pixar Party and to run into her throughout the week, a friendly face and native English-speaker. Both of us were operating “off the grid” with no international cell phone data and sparse internet access, so our meetings were always a pleasant surprise.
Florentine and Anne at the Pixar party (2)
Another animator I connected with instantly was Florentine Grelier, a Parisian animator whose film, "Pixel Joy", was selected for Annecy. Florentine and I found each other's work on Vimeo about a year ago. We began a correspondence, each of us writing messages using our French-English dictionaries and Google Translate. When we met in person at Annecy, we realized she barely spoke English and I barely spoke French, but we were able to communicate via gestures, pantomime, and drawing. She introduced me to some of her friends involved in the Parisian animation scene and by the end of our first "café" date, we had all forgotten any language barriers.
I met two animators whose work has influenced me greatly: Michaela Pavlatova and Georges Schwizgebel. Throughout my development as an artist, Michaela Pavlatova's work has encouraged me to embrace the sensual aspects of my work and feel comfortable letting them be present onscreen. Georges Schwizgebel's work inspires me to keep painting – not to be intimidated by the notion that painting is not a sustainable medium for animation. Seeing Schwizgebel's work, and observing his relatively prolific output, has helped me recognize the value in using my own propensity for painting as a vehicle for expression.
I saw many wonderful films at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. A few of my favorites include, but are certainly not limited to:
I went into the festival aware that there would be many conferences, exhibits, parties, and screenings, but I didn't realize the scope of activities that would be going on at Annecy. It was impossible to attend even half of the events I wanted to see. I did, however, see all five short film competitions. I didn't take advantage of the MIFA business conferences as much as I perhaps should have, but I certainly attended all the organized parties. And for someone who doesn't "party" very often, I had a great time! I enjoyed fasinating conversations with animators and animation-appreciators from across the globe.
My only regret was not bringing my sketchbook! I was trying to "pack light" since I would be bringing my fiddle to Annecy, so I took my regular sketchbook out of my suitcase and looked for a more portable sketchbook. When I didn't find one, I got distracted with some other preparations and so I FORGOT TO BRING A SKETCHBOOK TO ANNECY. Since writing and sketching out my ideas and the things around me is an integral part of how I process things...well, it was just silly of me. But maybe there was some good that came out of me not having my sketchbook. I simply experienced things without recording them. I had no inclination to write notes about the films I watched: there was no notebook in my lap to distract me from experiencing the films, and the festival, with all of my senses.
And if you haven't seen it already, head over to the ShortsHD website (www.shortstv.com) where they have a short video interview with Ms. Gratz talking about the 'painting with clay' animation process that she pioneered and used to create her Academy Award winning film "Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase".
On her website: www.gratzfilm.com, Joan has video clips and images of the films and commercials she's produced as well as books and DVDs of her work for sale--including "Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase".
* image linked to from Animation Magazine's article:
"ShortsHD Offers Special Spotlight on Joan Gratz", July 11, 2013.
http://www.animationmagazine.net/people/shortshd-offers-special-spotlight-on-joan-gratz/
Sometimes you go looking for the cause, sometimes the cause finds you...
Design by Erica Perez
So there I was, working at the day job when a young lady by the name of Staci Jacobs e-mailed me out of the blue. It turns out that she had found this year's Women in Animation blog posts on my other website, Smudge Animation, and discovered that we held some pretty common views on filmmaking opportunities. Y'see, Staci is a writer, actress and producer who is working on getting her own webseries off the ground.
Called "Saving Unicorns", the show takes the popular 'man-child' theme and tells it from a woman's perspective with an imaginary unicorn taking the place of Jiminy Cricket (or a stuffed teddy bear that sounds suspiciously like Peter Griffin from Family Guy). While this is a somewhat common theme, what is unique is telling the story from the perspective of a woman who is struggling to find her way through adulthood in modern society. Since I've had a very vibrant imagination my entire life, I can relate to her story. Be it a remnant of society or how we are raised nowadays, I can look at my wall of animation DVDs and understand how it feels like you wake up one day and 'Bam', you're an adult with all the rights, privileges, and (oftentimes overwhelming) responsibilities all the while pursued by the thought "I'm not sure I'm really prepared for all this..."
Staci has made the decision to follow her own unique vision by creating a story that is personal to her (as well as many in our generation). And by using the tools at her disposal, she has decided to go the independant producer route in order to bring her vision to life outside of the established studio structure.
After reviewing her websites, I was intrigued about her project and her motivations behind going the indie route for this hybrid live-action/2d animated project, but more research was needed to satisfy my curiousity--especially since I made a decision when launching this blog to keep my focus specifically narrowed onto women animators, their history, and their films. Needless to say, I didn't want to stray too far from the core mission of this blog.
It was during that initial e-mail that Staci revealed the very pleasant surprise that she is hiring a woman animator to design and animate her sassy imaginary unicorn. Staci stated in her e-mail that she was surprised at how difficult it was for her to find a woman animator--not a big surprise if you've read any of the Women in Animation interviews on my blog over the past couple years. But fortunately she found Erica Perez, a graduate from Pratt Institute who has worked on such shows as Ugly Americans, the Electric Company, and StoryCorps with the Rauch Brothers.
In the following video, Erica tells us about her motiviations for working on this project and shows how she brings imaginary unicorns to life.
But, as this is a blog about women who work in animation, I had to be direct and ask Staci the question:
CW: "Why did you decide to hire a woman animator for your unicorn character?"
SJ: "When the heart of the project became clear, and the focus was about the Woman-Child, I immediately knew that having women on the production team was the way to go. A show created by a woman, telling the story of a woman and having the creative forces behind it being women-just seemed right. Especially when you look at the "big guns" in Hollywood. The movers and the shakers are men. Men telling stories, about men, produced and written by men. Don't get me wrong-I'm a fan [of] great content. I just knew that finding a female animator would add something extra special to the team. When I first posted an ad looking for an animator, every reply I received about the job was from a man. I got very lucky finding Erica. A mutual friend and fellow producer introduced us. Erica got the character and the concept from her very first sketch and I knew she would be perfect. Plus women and unicorns is like bread and butter!"
This strikes to the heart of my argument for creating a blog about women who work in the field of animation. As I state on my 'Why Animated Women?' page:
"women have a unique perspective that we, as men, don’t... we should enjoy our own unique perspectives—and by extension, as filmmakers, we should put that perspective into our films."
I often quote National Film Board director Michael Fukushima to friends, students, on my blog... to anyone who will listen, really, where he says:
"Make a ten-second film and send it to the festivals. Next, make a 30-second film... and send it to the festivals. Next, make a sixty second film... and send it to the festivals..."
What I got from my larger discussion with Michael back in 2012 is: rather than sitting around and waiting for something to happen, sometimes you have to make your own opportunities.
And this is what Staci is doing--hence her webseries and her Indiegogo campaign to get the show off the ground.
But still, I wanted to know more. So, I asked her:
CW: "What prompted you to go it alone and produce your webseries by yourself?"
SJ: "Why did I decide to produce? There are days I ask myself that..haha because it's not easy! I started out in musical theater, which provided many opportunities to perform. While I was grateful for getting work, I knew I wanted something more. I had more things to say and other sides of myself to explore other than the parts that were given. A good friend started producing her own work, I saw how it changed her outlook, her community, her "world". Most importantly it lets you, the actor-take the creative reigns, empower yourself and say I have this story to tell, this character to play, this funny song in my head... Instead of waiting around for others to open doors for you-I decided to open my own. So Jan. 2012, I took the leap. It's pretty incredible to see my notes on that very first day and now see it actually becoming a reality. This process has been the most challenging, crazy, emotional journey. It.Is.Hard. It is also extremely rewarding to say "I did that, I made that." "I created something from nothing." That's pretty special.
As of today (Monday) I have 12 days left of my Indiegogo Campaign. I've got $2600 to go. I am so grateful for the amazing people who have shown love and support. I am a one woman army with amazing hard working, talented women on my team. I don't want to let them down!
Note ALL donations are tax deductible."
So if you have a chance, check out her website and campaign videos to learn more about "Saving Unicorns". See if her story resonates with you. If you want to help encourage independent producers bring their unique visions to life you can do so by making a donation to this project via IndieGogo or by telling your friends about it. And when she completes the show, be sure to check it out and help support women in film and animation.
As you can see by the above video and on her websites, a donation no matter how small (or how big) is a way to fund a project that directly benefits women who are working in the field of animation.
Design by Erica Perez
All images and video are copyright Staci Jacobs and used with her permission.
Last month, my brother, himself a new dog owner, brought a delightful student film to my attention entitled: "Omelette". The young lady who produced this film is Madeline Sharifian, a second year student enrolled in the CalArts animation program.* Well serendipity struck me a week later when on vacation in Toronto, I met a girl at the Toronto Zoo who was drawing a peacock. After asking me to look at her portfolio, she stated that she was interested in becoming an animator and wanted to go to college at CalArts. As a result of that conversation, I decided to reach out to Ms. Sharifian and see if she'd be interested in sharing her experiences, to which she graciously agreed. So, here is what I hope will become a new series here on Animated Women showcasing the work of up-and-coming woman animators.
Name: Madeline Sharafian School: California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
Q: What made you choose animation as a major course of study?
A: I chose animation because of two movies that totally changed my life: 'Spirited Away' and 'Monsters, Inc.' I was pretty young when I saw them, but they completely changed my expectations of animated movies. I was so emotionally moved that I can still remember that car ride home after seeing 'Spirited Away' to this day. The story of Chihiro's personal transformation was so incredible that I think it may have permanently changed my personality (I used to be a very whiny child just like her at the beginning of the movie... so whiny). I didn't learn about CalArts and the character animation program until much much later, but the prospect of trying to make a film was too exciting to ignore!
Q: Your two films "the Mew-sician" and "Omelette" were both produced using 2d hand-drawn techniques, is this your preferred method of animating or do you plan to make the jump to 3d CGI for some of your future student films?
A: I am definitely much more comfortable with 2D animation, whether it's on
paper or via a program! I'm not very savvy with computers in general; I
didn't learn how to use Photoshop until I went to college. The first
time I opened Maya, I felt totally overwhelmed! Now that I'm more
familiar with the controls, I've started to really enjoy CG animation
class, but I don't think I'll ever become proficient enough with it to
make a CG film. Plus I'm horrible at modeling (it's a little
embarrassing).
Q: What was your inspiration for Omelette?
A: Well, I love dogs and food. That's really all there is to it! I came up with the basic concept on a hike over the summer and I stuck to it pretty faithfully all year. I wish it had a cool origin story, but it's really just an homage to my foodie family.
Q: On your Vimeo page, you allow people to freely download your film the Mew-sician in HD, SD, and mobile device formats. As students at CalArts retain copyright to their works, what prompted the decision to freely distribute copies of your film as opposed to seeking a way to monetize it or keep it for a DVD compilation of your future works? A: Can I be honest with you? I had no idea that it was available for download! But it doesn't bother me so much. Also, I would personally find the concept of making money off of my student films very strange! It's definitely not something I think about. I just want to make more films!
"Omelette Designs", by Madeline Sharifian
(click image for larger view)
Madeline currently has two blogs that showcase her work. The first is a portfolio of her character designs and storyboards which can be viewed here on blogspot (maddiesharafianportfolio.blogspot.com). The second, also on blogspot (maddiesharafian.blogspot.com), includes preliminary work for "Omelette" as well as a wider array of designs, storyboards, sketches, and artwork that showcase the depth and breadth of Madeline's artistic ability.
Below are Madeline's first and second year films that she produced at CalArts: "The Mew-sician" and "Omelette"
The images and animations used in this blog entry are copyright Madeline Sharafian and used with her permission.
* Founded in 1961 by Walt Disney through a merger of the the Chouinard Art Institute and the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, CalArts produced another notable female animator: Nancy Beiman, whose work runs the gamut from Ralph Bakshi and Warner Brothers to Walt Disney Animation Studios (source: LinkedIn).
