WIA Chicago

October Meeting

2010-10-14T11:00:00.002-05:00

Hi all, our next meeting will be Thursday, October 21st at the Flattop Grill located at 30 S. Wabash. Meeting time is 6:30. See you all there!
Maria

Meeting and other info

2010-05-18T12:29:00.002-05:00

A reminder that our meeting is this Wednesday, the 19th, at 7:00 at the Artists Cafe on Michigan Avenue. We have Ed Hooks as our guest speaker who will be giving us a mini workshop on Acting for Animators. I have a reservation under my name, and I believe they are moving us upstairs for more privacy and room. Any questions please email me at chicagowia@gmail.com

In other news. Domani Studios is in search of freelance animators and interns. Contact Sunny Byers at sbyers@domanistudios.com.

Thanks, Maria

Guest Speaker

2010-04-28T22:06:00.002-05:00

Our guest speaker for our Wednesday, May 19th meeting will be Ed Hooks. See you all there!
Maria

Meeting Change and Info

2010-04-26T12:12:00.000-05:00

Hello Ladies,

Ok its official...our meeting has been rescheduled for Wednesday, May 19th at 7:00 at The Artists Cafe 412 S. Michigan Ave.

To recap our last meeting:

We had a special guest join us, Othello Bach, who shared her wonderful books and story with us. I highly recommend checking out her website at Othellobach.com and reading her story on how she got started, and take a peak into her enchanting books. She is an author as well as a motivational speaker, and boy can she motivate! Also check out Bachmorristechnologies.com, they are currently looking for freelance animators for future and present projects.

We discussed getting started on broadening our WIA horizons and talking to students at the colleges about our group and what we do. I am working on putting together an information sheet as well as membership sheet which we will leave for the students. I also plan on working on getting some contacts at each of the schools, so any suggestions would be great! Members have agreed to visit the schools to talk about our group, our future fundraiser/festival and leave information for the students.

Concerning our fundraiser/festival, we started to discuss how to go about putting this together and what each of us envision for the event. We talked about having a contest with students work where a panel of professionals from schools and studios would judge. Also inviting studio heads to participate by offering portfolio reviews as well as discussing how to get employment with them, etc. Silent auction and raffles. An area where members can display their own work and network with other animators and artists. There is a lot of discussions to be had about all of this and how we are to go about putting this all together. I am awaiting word about the money we raise and how it is allocated. That was one of the concerns which I hope to address at our next meeting.

As far as the money we raise goes, we all shared the same hopes of being able to use some of it to send members to the yearly meeting in California, as well as other events and festivals across the country. That will obviously be in the far future, but we have to start somewhere and I would love to see a Chicago WIA representation at some of these film festivals as well as the WIA yearly meeting.

So, our next one on the 19th will be a continuation of the above as well as any new information or work members would like to share. I am working on another guest to join us, but wont tell you all until it is confirmed...a little teaser. Any questions, concerns, or suggestions please email me..thanks and see you all soon!

Maria Ricciardi

P.S. Also don't forget about Ed Hooks Acting for Animator workshop on May 22nd. It will be from 10:00am to 5pm and will definitely be educational. For more info contact edhooks@edhooks.com

Acting for Animators

2010-04-08T13:22:00.002-05:00

Ed Hooks is teaching an Acting for Animators workshop on May 22nd from 10am-5pm. for more information:
http://www.actingforanimators.com/Classes/

2010-04-08T11:56:00.001-05:00

This was sent to Chicago WIA by Othello Bach:

Bach Morris Technologies Corp is seeking estimates for 30- and 60-second animated commercials. We're looking for ballpark figures only. Detailed specifics are not necessary. We just need a general idea at this point.

Thanks.

Othello

http://www.bachmorristechnologies.com/
othellobach@comcast.net

Meeting on March 25th

2010-03-07T10:41:00.006-06:00

The next WIA meeting is at 7pm on Thur. March 25th at Club Lucky. Hope to see you then!

Club Lucky

1824 West Wabansia Avenue, Chicago, IL‎

http://www.clubluckychicago.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=22

Coloring the Kingdom

2010-03-03T07:59:00.003-06:00

I have a copy of this article and forgot to bring it to the WIA meeting. Kristine, our roommate, found it online-
Coloring the Kingdom

Behind the breakthrough magic of Walt Disney’s first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and his other 30s and 40s classics—Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi—toiled as many as 100 young women, the inkers and painters, working from dawn to dusk on thousands of cels that brought his dreams to life. The author recaptures their white-gloved esprit de corps, and a golden age of Disney that would be disrupted by strike, World War II, and, eventually, the Xerox machine.......

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/03/disney-animation-girls-201003

Meeting Feb. 25th

2010-02-21T19:18:00.001-06:00

The next WIA Chicago meeting will be:

Date/Time:

February 25, 2010 at 7:00 PM.

Location:

Club Lucky

1824 West Wabansia Avenue, Chicago, IL‎

http://www.clubluckychicago.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=22

This is an important meeting- part 2 of the last one. We'll be doing elections. I hope to see you there!

Meeting Jan. 28th 7pm

2010-01-01T10:22:00.001-06:00

Here's the official email Katy sent out regarding the next, and very important meeting:

Our next meeting will be:

Thursday, January 28, 2010'

7:00 PM

in the basement of the Corner Bakery near the Palmer House

35 E. Monroe, Chicago, IL 60603

Hope you all can attend. This is an important meeting for the future of the chapter as we will be holding elections for Chair, Board member, Secretary and Treasurer. I will be stepping down as Chair.

So if you would like to take an active part in our Chapter, please consider volunteering for one of these positions!

As always, please feel free to email me with any questions at katykalata@yahoo.com.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Katy

Meeting Tonight CANCELED

2009-12-09T10:59:00.004-06:00

The meeting tonight has been canceled due to the severe cold. Please check back in a few days for the new meeting date.

Stay warm and see you later! :)

Meeting

2009-12-06T18:07:00.002-06:00

We may have a meeting this Wednesday evening to discuss the state of our Chicago chapter of WIA. Please check back soon for more details. Thanks!

Eric Goldberg Webinar!

2009-11-15T13:49:00.001-06:00

Animation Mentor's holding a free webinar with famed animator Eric Goldberg THIS TUESDAY. Here's the link for more info:

http://www.animationmentor.com/webinar/

Sketchcrawl

2009-11-09T12:38:00.002-06:00

The next sketchcrawl is this Saturday Nov 14th at 11am. We're meeting in the gorilla house at Lincoln Park Zoo. See you then!!

Sketch Crawl: Saturday, November 14th

2009-11-04T16:02:00.002-06:00

We are in the works of planning a sketch crawl for next Saturday. We can meet at Lincoln Park Zoo. But we are open to other suggestions as well. Please let us know and check back here in a few days for more info.

Nice flash animation from Brazil

2009-11-02T10:08:00.003-06:00

Motionographer had this nice clip from a new agency in Brazil called "Samuri." Really cute design and nice animation.

Here's the link to the vimeo: link

This site has some nice stills from the commercial.

Birdo

Girl Guides Film Festival

2009-10-08T09:27:00.003-05:00

A couple of days back I stumbled across a cute short on Motionagrapher, made for the Canadian version of girl scouts.

Here's a link to that clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vmWBthwiZU

BUT they also have a bunch of promotion pieces, done by artist filmmakers, some animated. Once the page loads, if you move your mouse over the bottom, a bunch of them should appear. It tends to hide if you don't hover.

http://www.perspectivesonagirl.ca/

Beatles Rockband

2009-10-08T09:21:00.002-05:00

Boing boing has a short article showing all the animated pieces associated with the new Beatles Rockband. They've even got some background art up. Lets hope that there's a making-of book with more work, that would be pretty good. MK12 studio did the short motion graphic pieces set before all the chapters. This short article has links to clips from the game. It's an amazing undertaking as they're dealing with something with so much history and a huge fanbase. I think they did a phenominal job on this.

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/08/everything-but-the-g.html

Need STRONG female leads!

2009-06-06T20:54:00.003-05:00

Here's a good article asking Pixar to make a movie about a girl who is NOT a princess! ;)

Dear Pixar, From All The Girls With Band-Aids On Their Knees

WIA meeting at Cartoon Network

2009-06-01T15:54:00.003-05:00

If anyone is going to be in CA on June 16th, you may want to check out the annual WIA meeting:

"One World" Annual Meeting

Bill Peet

2009-05-17T21:46:00.003-05:00

We saw the Bill Peet exhibit at the Art Institute this weekend. Bill Peet was a great storyman at Disney who storyboarded all of The Sword in the Stone and 101 Dalmatians. The exhibit has 2 large photos of his storyboards from Sword in the Stone as well as some character sketches for Dumbo and mice sketches for Cinderella. A bunch of his illustrations for children's books line a long hallway. Among the those are some fun illustrations from his autobiography. I really enjoyed the drawings of him working at Disney and in his home studio. The exhibit closes in a week (on Sun, May 24th), so if you're in Chicago and haven't seen it yet, I would highly recommend it. To celebrate the opening of the new modern art wing, the museum is free until the 22nd. Also, the museum is open until 8:00 on Thursdays, so it's a great idea to go after work with friends.

Sita Sings the Blues Opens Tonight!

2009-05-01T15:48:00.000-05:00

Dear all,

This is a final reminder that Nina Paley's SITA SINGS THE BLUES, a remarkable mash-up of musical, comedy and tragedy set around the ancient epic of the Ramayana, opens tonight in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Film Center for a one-week run. The Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 1/2 stars today, calling it "delicious" and noting the film "finds solace in autobiography and an animated gold mine in the caverns of an ancient Sanskrit epic." The film took Nina Paley five years to create using an array of different visual styles, and the film has won critical acclaim and awards at film festivals from around the world (including BEST FEATURE at last year's Annecy!!)

The Siskel Film Center is located at 164 North State Street, and advance tickets and more info can be found on their website, www.siskelfilmcenter.org. You can also watch a trailer and learn more about Sita Sings the Blues at our website,www.gkids.tv/sita. We hope you will spread the word about this unique opportunity to catch a great film!

Thanks!

Best,

Dave

Newport Beach Film Fest

2009-05-01T14:57:00.002-05:00

This is the opening title for the Newport Beach Film Fest and you have to see it. It's got a nice style and pulls together all those animated movie company logos in a clever mashup.

http://motionographer.com/theater/newport-beach-film-festival/

CREDITS

CLIENT: Newport Beach Film Festival
FOUNDER, HEAD OF MARKETING: Todd Quartararo

AD AGENCY: RPA
CITY/STATE: Santa Monica, CA
SVP/ EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Gary Paticoff
CREATIVE DIRECTOR/ART DIRECTOR: Scott McDonald
DESIGN/PRODUCTION COMPANY: Elastic
CITY/STATE: Santa Monica, CA
DIRECTOR: Andy Hall
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Alex Gorodetzki
PRODUCER: Jenny Bright

VFX/ANIMATION/FINISHING COMPANY: a52
CITY/STATE: Santa Monica, CA
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Linda Carlson
PRODUCER: Jenny Bright
FILM/DI COLORIST: Patrick Murphy
CG SUPERVISOR: Kirk Shintani & Max Ulichney
3D ARTISTS: Adam Newman, Paulo de Almada, Christopher Janney

MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN: Robot Repair
CITY/STATE: Los Angeles, CA
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, SOUND DESIGNER: Douglas Darnell
COMPOSER: Kael Alden

FINAL MIX COMPANY: Framework Sound
CITY/STATE: Santa Monica, CA
MIXER: Ken Dahlinger

Freelance list

2009-05-01T14:44:00.002-05:00

I came across this post on Freelance Switch, and I would recommend reading their website. Thursday Bram of Freelance Switch just posted some great tips on how to market yourself as a freelancer.

As a freelancer, you have a wide variety of marketing options available to you. Just which ones will bring you the clients you prefer to work with depends — it’s important to make sure that the methods you use allow you to reach the places prospective clients will be.

It’s worth considering a wide variety of options. For that, it’s useful to have a list of options to consult:

For the complete list check out the article on Freelance Switch:

http://www.freelanceswitch.com/finding/50-marketing-ideas-for-freelancers/

Sketch Crawl Today!

2009-04-25T08:46:00.001-05:00

Yes, it is raining, but the sketch crawl is still ON! If it's still raining, we'll stay indoors and hope the zoo isn't too crowded. ;) See you there!

Sketch Crawl- Saturday, April 25th

2009-04-18T19:50:00.002-05:00

The next sketch crawl will be held at Lincoln Park Zoo Saturday, April 25th. We'll be meeting at 1:00 by the gorillas. See you there! :D

Scholarship

2009-04-10T20:12:00.008-05:00

I just received this email from WIA. Please pass it along to anyone interested. Good luck!

WOMEN IN ANIMATION PHYLLIS CRAIG SCHOLARSHIP ENTRIES DUE APRIL 29TH

Every year, Women In Animation offers a $1,000 scholarship to a deserving animation scholar. The deadline to submit entries is Wednesday, April 29, 2009.
It's not too late to enter this year. If you are a full or part-time student enrolled in an accredited animation program with a career goal of becoming an animation professional and are a U.S. citizen or a registered alien with the right to work in the United States, submit your portfolio or reel, a 500 word essay outlining your educational and career goals and financial need, a copy of your student I.D. and a recommendation from a teacher or mentor.
You can get all the details about the Phyllis Craig Scholarship and an application at the website at www.womeninanimation.org. Entries should be postmarked by April 29, 2009 to: Women In Animation, Phyllis Craig Scholarship, P.O. Box 17706, Encino, CA 91416.

WIA Membership Bonus: We will give a ten day extension to those who first read about the scholarship in the WORKS IN PROGRESS Newsletter.

Female Pioneers

2009-04-07T07:53:00.001-05:00

Here's an article about female pioneers in the animation industry.

http://www.animationmentor.com/newsletter/0409/feature_feature.html

April Sketch Crawl

2009-04-06T22:27:00.002-05:00

The next sketch crawl will be held Saturday, April 25th at 1:00 at Lincoln Park Zoo. Check back later for more details. We have yet to pick a spot to meet up.

April event on the way

2009-03-28T11:57:00.002-06:00

We're going to organize an event for April. Either a sketch crawl or a get-together. If anyone has any suggestions, please let us know. We're always open to new ideas and guest speakers. Please check back on this blog for further updates. See you in April!

Sita Sings The Blues

2009-03-12T22:35:00.005-06:00

For anyone who missed Nina Paley's feature film, Sita Sings the Blues, you can now watch it online! If you haven't seen it, please check it out here: WATCH SITA SINGS THE BLUES!

Or you can DOWNLOAD IT HERE!

Enjoy!

Art by Women

2009-02-06T10:25:00.003-06:00

A friend emailed me this gallery link, Art by Women, a while ago. It's a gallery that showcases art created by women. It's located near the Blue Line Grand stop. Is anyone interested in an outing some Saturday afternoon?

They are also taking submissions for upcoming art shows, but there's a $24 fee.

Annie Awards Sunday Results!

2009-02-02T09:29:00.001-06:00

Kung Fu Panda was the big winner, and Pixar was completely shut out of all categories. James Baxter won for his work on Kung Fu Panda. Check out the list of winners!:

http://www.annieawards.org/

Feb 5th- WIA meeting at DreamWorks

2009-01-18T22:02:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone! I received this email today and am passing it along in case anyone is going out to CA in February or would like to book a quick trip over there to check this out:

"THIS GUN FOR HIRE: Careers In Freelance Animation"

ATTENTION WIA MEMBERS!
Animators are migrant workers. Lifetime employment at a single studio is a mere nostalgic dream. Most of us are freelancers, either by preference or necessity. We must network constantly, keep our skills fresh, and be ready at the drop of a hat to move to the next job. Reinvention is the name of the game. So how do you continually repackage yourself without becoming completely bored or totally insane?

Join us at DreamWorks Animation on Thursday, February 5th, when Women In Animation, The Los Angeles Chapter, presents its first General Meeting of 2009:

"THIS GUN FOR HIRE: Careers In Freelance Animation"

A panel of independent artists, writers and directors will discuss issues of self-marketing, networking and keeping up a skill set. If you're a freelancer, don't miss this event!

To RSVP, please email LAchapterrsvps@aol.com before Sunday, February 1st. For space reasons, we will be closing the list when we reach sixty guests, so don't delay. When you RSVP, please tell us your membership status.

Non-members will be asked for a $10.00 donation: attendence is free for members and DreamWorks employees. We look forward to seeing you!

Stephanie Graziano
Linda Miller

Women In Animation International

Walt Disney Facts!

2008-12-05T16:17:00.003-06:00

Ok I just came across this on neatorama, it's Walt's Birthday, and here's some fun things you might not know about him.

http://www.neatorama.com/2008/12/05/happy-birthday-walt-disney/

Sketch Crawl

2008-11-30T21:22:00.001-06:00

We're having a sketch crawl 1:00 this Saturday at Union Station in the main lobby. Hope to see you there! :)

Thanks Jackie!

2008-11-18T23:47:00.006-06:00

Thank you Jackie for sharing Botnik with us Friday!

And thanks to everyone who came out!

December Sketchcrawl

2008-11-18T19:17:00.002-06:00

We're planning on having a sketchcrawl Saturday, December 6th somewhere indoors. We're thinking Union Station, but are looking for other ideas. Please post a comment with any ideas or send us an email. Please check back for further updates. Thanks!

For you stop motion fans!

2008-11-14T15:00:00.000-06:00

November Meeting- BOTNIK!

2008-11-04T13:03:00.006-06:00

Come see Calabash Animation's newest short animated film, Botnik! Meet and hear from creator, writer, director, Jackie Smessaert Brennan at Columbia College on Friday, Nov 14th at 7pm. Room 502 at 1104 S Wabash Ave.

Fears of the Dark

2008-11-03T14:31:00.002-06:00

Have very many of you heard about this movie called Fears of the Dark? It's by 6 well known graphic designers. Here's the trailer for it-

It looks like it's only playing for a few days at the Landmark, so a few of us are planning on seeing it Thur night at the 7:15 showing. If anyone else is interested in going too, please let us know!!

Free Flash Training!

2008-10-29T10:23:00.000-06:00

Acend has got a free training seminar. I've been to one of their workshops before and they're chock full of info. Register for their Flash training seminar in Chicago here:

http://www.ascendtraining.com/events-detail.php?eventID=37

November Guest Speaker!

2008-10-17T21:03:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! We're working on getting Jackie, the director of Botnik, to be our guest speaker in November. Please check out Botnik at the Chicago International Film Festival if you can!!
http://2008.chicagofilmfestival.org/FilmsEvents/films.php?search=botnik&submit=search

Sita Sings the Blues

2008-10-17T20:48:00.001-05:00

A group of us are going to see Sita Sings the Blues on Sunday at 12:15 at the AMC River East. If anyone else is going to that showing, please look for us and say hi!!

http://2008.chicagofilmfestival.org/FilmsEvents/films.php?title&page=9

Botnik!

2008-10-13T18:41:00.010-05:00

Botnik!, an 11 minute short from Chicago's very own Calabash Animation, will be playing at the Chicago Internation Film Festival very soon! Come see Jackie Smessaert Brennan's cool new film in the Short 1: Illinois Filmmakers program.

Botnik! (USA)Director - Jacqueline Smessaert Brennan When an artist is forced to unveil his newest art installation ahead of schedule, he turns to an untested robot for assistance. Unfortunately, this robot does not come as packaged. 11 Mins

playing:
Sunday- 10-19: 12:00
Monday-10-20: 6:20
Monday-10-27: 6:15

Please come see it!

For more on Botnik!, please visit:
Botnik's MySpace page
Jackie's Facebook page

High Fructose Article

2008-10-09T11:06:00.002-05:00

They've got an interview with designer/animator Chris Reccardi who's worked on alot of shows you've probably watched, including Powerpuff Girls, Ren & Stimpy, Foster's Home, ect. Check out the interview!

http://www.hifructose.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=208

Sita Sings the Blues

2008-10-08T21:59:00.005-05:00

***Edited- I just noticed on the site that the show for this Sunday has changed from 12:45 to 12:15.***

I just found out that Sita Sings the Blues will be playing very soon at the Chicago International Film Festival!!

Here's the info from their site-

SITA SINGS THE BLUES
Nina Paley
Animator Nina Paley interweaves the Hindu epic Ramayana with a modern divorce story with surprising ease in the visually engrossing Sita Sings the Blues. Each aspect of the story has its own unique look, and songs by jazz singer Annette Hanshaw heighten the emotion throughout. The bright colors, easy humor, and vital music combine to make the film an impressive, inventive feat. 82 mins
USA

10/18/08 4:40 PMRE9
10/19/08 12:15 PMRE5
10/28/08 6:15 PMRE9

http://2008.chicagofilmfestival.org/FilmsEvents/films.php?title&page=9

Academy Posts Animation

2008-09-30T09:27:00.001-05:00

This page has video highlights, podcasts, and images from the Academy of Motion Picture's animation exhibits from this year.

http://www.oscars.org/events/past/2008/animation/index.html

Interview with Miss Piggy's Creator

2008-09-26T14:30:00.001-05:00

Smithsonian Magazine has an interview up with Bonnie Erickson, the creator of Miss Piggy!

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/atm-qa-200810.html

Early Animation Screening with live music

2008-09-15T22:44:00.001-05:00

Chicago Cinema Forum presents

MAGIC IN CINEMA
Early Silent Films with Musical Live Accompaniment

Wednesday, September 17
Doors at 7pm / Films at 8pm

- - - - - - - -

Films by Georges Méliès, Edwin S. Porter, R W Paul and Lotte Reiniger

Music by Jeff Parker (of Tortoise) and Shannon Harris

- - - - - - - -

Sonotheque
1444 W. Chicago
312.226.7600
www.sonotheque.org

Doors at 7pm / Films at 8pm / $8 Cover

- - - - - - - -

"Magic in Cinema"

Since Spielberg and Lucas gave birth to the modern blockbuster in the late-70s, mainstream cinema has been addicted to special effects. These days, CGI (computer-generated imagery) is ubiquitous, and the drive to create ever-more "credible" illusions seems so often to be the contemporary blockbuster's ultimate raison d'être.

Yet special effects--or rather the use of magic in all its forms--have been a crucial aspect of cinema since its infancy at the turn of the 20th century. "Magic in Cinema" will showcase some of the most mystical and mesmerizing moments in early film history with a selection of films (1896-1905) by Georges Méliès, the first wizard of cinema, a recently restored print of Lotte Reinger's animated film "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" (1926), Edwin S. Porter's "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" (1906), R W Paul's surreal "The ? Motorist" (1906) and other equally mystifying celluloid treats.

Music for Reiniger's "Prince Achmed" will be composed and performed by guitarist Jeff Parker of Tortoise. The scores for the Méliès, Porter and R W Paul films will be composed and played by producer/musician Shannon Harris. They each, individually, will score new compositions and perform them live for the first time. Both sections are approximately 1 hour with a short break in-between.

Curated by Gabe Klinger

Films Selected by Joe Bryl

- - - - - - - -

Filmmaker & musician bios and more information at www.chicagocinemaforum.org

Acting for Animators Workshop

2008-09-09T14:48:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,
Received this email from Maria Ricciardi for a CHICAGO ACTING FOR ANIMATORS WORKSHOP.
The course being taught by Ed Hooks in Chicago and it's October 4th.

Chicagoanimators.com Interviews

2008-09-03T21:27:00.004-05:00

I've edited and uploaded a few interviews today onto the forums at ChicagoAnimators.com
Including:

Dave Pryor - local chicagoan, alumni of Startoons, and animator of "Alien for Christmas"

Bobby Beck - Pixar animator and one of the founders of AnimationMentor.com

Glen McIntosh - ILM Charater Animator, worked on films such as The Spiderwick Chronicles, Transformers, Star Wars, Jurassic Park

Bob Rissetto - Local Chicagoan, animator and illustrator

Michael Daley - Storyboard and Story artist from San Francisco

Bruno Werneck - Another local Chicago artist, works on film and video game concept art

More Princess & the Frog Pictures!!!

2008-08-27T10:30:00.002-05:00

The character design blogspot has some nice images:

http://characterdesign.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-pics-from-princess-and-frog.html

Cartoon Skeletons

2008-08-19T16:13:00.002-05:00

An exhibition at the natural history museum in Basel, Switzerland, imagines what may lie beneath the skins of cartoon characters. Best of both worlds for me! Check it out!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/2579628/Cartoon-skeletons.html

Art Institute MUST SEE!

2008-08-18T14:27:00.003-05:00

The Art Institute of Chicago's holding a special exhibit on Bill Peet
August 23, 2008–May 24, 2009

There's more info on their website:

http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/exhibition/peet

Found out about this through Mark Kennedy's blog: http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/

New Interviews!

2008-08-06T10:33:00.000-05:00

There's some more Comic-Con Interviews posted now at
ChicagoAnimators.com

Its under the events topic

:)

Many more to come!

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

2008-08-03T13:02:00.002-05:00

OK if you need ANYthing animation...it's going to be in here somewhere. They had a booth set up at comic-con and it was AMAZING.

http://www.animationarchive.org/

LA WIA chapter

2008-07-31T19:00:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday night at Comic-Con a group of us WIA Chicago members got to hang out with the LA chapter for a bit. It was really great meeting with everyone there, especially Jan Nagel and Rita Street. :)

Back from the Con!

2008-07-30T12:01:00.002-05:00

Alright everyone! Fresh back from SanDiego today. I actually got quite a few interviews and will be posting them at chicagoanimators.com as soon as I upload them. I got interviews with quite a range of people from Pixar, Dreamworks, Cartoon Network, Comicbooks, ect. Hopefully I'll be able to post a list shortly, just before posting the whole interviews.

San Diego Comic-Con

2008-07-21T15:30:00.001-05:00

I'll try to take some interviews of artists/animators while I'm at my first Comic-con so I can post them either here or on my blog.

I'm thinking of a three question format, just to make things quick and would love your input. If you have any good potential questions to ask, or any requests on artists/animators to bug with these questions, let me know!

Kristine

Sketch Crawl today!

2008-07-12T09:51:00.005-05:00

We're still having the sketch crawl today despite how hot or stormy it may get. We can sit inside and draw. Hopefully the zoo will be a lot less crowded due to the yucky weather and we can draw without kids peering over our shoulders. ;)

Sketch Crawl Reminder

2008-07-09T07:37:00.001-05:00

Reminder-

The next sketch crawl will be July 12th at 2pm at Lincoln Park Zoo. We will meet inside the gorilla house. See you then! :)

Presto! Pixar Short

2008-07-08T13:41:00.001-05:00

Pixar's got a bit about Presto on thier website.

http://www.pixar.com/shorts/presto/index.html

Chicago Animators- New Online Community!!!

2008-06-23T22:16:00.005-05:00

There's a new online Chicago animators' community! Patrick Cheng graciously created it. Below is his email-

Hello, this is Patrick.

After some preparation, a few others and I have created a new online forum for Chicago Animators known as ChicagoAnimators.com.

We wanted to create a comfortable, online hub for Chicago animators, be they professionals, students and/or hobbyists of any form to be able to speak with each other, and ultimately, to create a tighter knit of an Animation community here in Chicago.

We hope you can join us to help mold a community in Chicago for animators, so please come visit:

ChicagoAnimators.com

Please don't forget to tell others about it!

Attached to this email is a banner sized image of our logo. If you would like, please feel free to put it on your blog or site to help spread the word of this new community.

Thanks!

Sincerely,

Patrick Cheng

July Sketch Crawl

2008-06-23T19:25:00.004-05:00

The next sketch crawl will be July 12th at 2pm at Lincoln Park Zoo. We will meet inside the ape house. See you then! :)

Sketch Crawl June 14th

2008-06-01T18:39:00.006-05:00

I'm reposting the sketchcrawl info because it's buried below so many other posts:

Mark your calenders for Sat, June 14th at 1:00 will be the first sketchcrawl of the year. We're meeting at Millennium Park on the lawn of the Jay P. Pavilion. (the big band shell) The first 15 minutes will be our official meeting. So, please come with any ideas as to what you want WIA to do this year. We are working on scheduling guest speakers, but if there's anything else you are interested in doing, please let us know at the meeting. Thanks. See you then!

Women's Portrayl in Film and TV

2008-05-24T09:50:00.002-05:00

There's an interesting article on AWN about the portrayal of women in tv and movies. Gender In Media: Females Don’t Rule Please take the time and read it. If not, at least read the quotes below-

"Historically, there are multiple reasons why female lead characters are less abundant than males in the television, film, and animation industries. Male writers and/or creative talent were the predominant architects in the building of the animation industry; and, as many writers do, they wrote from the perspective they knew, observes Helppie...."

"'And as more female executives came to the forefront with the power to greenlight productions or oversee creative storylines, stronger female identities and less stereotypic portrayals were encouraged. The networks and children's broadcasters also pushed to have more engaging, leadership-driven, and less stereotypic, female roles in their programming.'"

After giving sad figures on the lack of women in the industry, Dr. Smith adds, "Maybe the answer is that for change to occur even more women are needed in the creative process where key decision-making occurs at the pitch and story development level...."

author- Jane Nagel

The Animation Show

2008-05-23T12:10:00.002-05:00

The Animation Show is in Chicago this weekend (at the Music Box) and Bill Plympton will be there tonight.

"THE ANIMATION SHOW is back with an all new collection of incredible independent animation! This year MIKE JUDGE has gathered together over two dozen of his favorite funny short films from around the world. It's a ground breaking program of eye-popping adult animation from tomorrow's next great animators. Friday, May 23rd marks the all new ANIMATION SHOW 4 kick's off at the Music Box Theatre with special guest BILL PLYMPTON in attendance! The Animation Show crew will be on-hand for preshow fun with give-aways and VJ set by animator Run Wrake. After the show Plympton will discuss his new short "Hot Dog.'"

http://musicboxtheatre.com/animationshow.html

Memorial Day Figure Drawing Marathon!

2008-05-23T11:58:00.002-05:00

Memorial Day Model Marathon
Monday, May 26th, 2008
7 am – 7 pm

12 hours of models in multiple studios for quick sketch drawing. Lunch and refreshments are included. $20 for members, $25 for non-members. No need to pre-register.

"Identify the famous artists in the link below, and move to the front of the line at the BBQ grill."

http://paletteandchisel.org/~files/marathon-masters.jpg

The Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts
1012 N. Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 642-4149

Women Animator at the Cannes Film Festival

2008-05-16T12:48:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to let you all know that I am at the Cannes Film Festival! I have been talking up "the 3 artists" and I even meet some people from WIA-LA. I hope you all have a wonderful summer, I will be at Nickelodeon! But I will keep in touch through the blog! See you all soon, hopefully! Also if we are not friends on facebook, please friend me, I will be keeping in touch through there also. Good luck to all of you! -Jennifer Nelson

Sketch Crawl and Meeting

2008-05-15T15:27:00.003-05:00

Mark your calanders- Sat, June 14th at 1:00 will be the first sketchcrawl of the year. We're meeting at Millinium Park on the lawn of the Jay P. Pavilion. (the big band shell) The first 15 minutes will be our official meeting. So, please come with any ideas as to what you want WIA to do this year. We are working on scheduling guest speakers, but if there's anything else you are interested in doing, please let us know at the meeting. Thanks. See you then!

Sketch Crawl in works

2008-05-09T09:23:00.002-05:00

Check back soon for the next sketchcrawl date!

WMS Open House

2008-05-01T18:40:00.001-05:00

WMS Networking Evening

WMS would like to invite you to its Networking Evening May 5th. This evening will provide the opportunity to tour the WMS facilities and network with your colleagues.

We will have industry professionals onsite from the following groups:

Art
Software Engineering
Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
Game Development
Product Assurance
Project Management
Research & Development

Registration is not required; however we would like to confirm with you the group you will meet prior to the evening. If you know in advance that you are attending please respond to mflanagan@wms.com

We look forward to showing you WMS and discussing current trends in the industry with you over refreshments.

Please feel free to pass this information to other industry professionals who might like to join us.

Looking forward to meeting you,
WMS

Event Details

Monday May 5th
4:00pm-8:00pm

WMS 3401 N California Ave
Chicago, IL 60618

Columbia College Chicago Animation Production Studio Screening

2008-04-28T09:57:00.006-05:00

APS Screening
Friday, May 16, 2008

6:00-Reception
7:00-Screening
1104 S. Wabash
8th floor screening room

Come and join the Senior Animation Production classes of CCC for their senior short animation film screening. Get their early, sitting is limited.

For a map go to: http://www.colum.edu/About_Columbia/Maps.php It is number 3 on the map.

Ollie Johnston 1912-2008

2008-04-14T22:03:00.001-05:00

the end of an era

Pixar Movie Realeases

2008-04-11T12:34:00.001-05:00

Ain't it Cool's got a breakdown of all the upcoming Pixar movies as presented to the press the other day. They go way in depth into the plots of Wall-e and Up which I didn't fully read so as not to spoil the story. The Bear and the Bow is much shorter, and spoiler free really.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36333

Disney/Pixar

2008-04-08T20:58:00.003-05:00

Check this out! This is the line up for Disney/Pixar the next few years. And for the first time a woman will be helming a Pixar film! Seems all the upcomin Pixar movies will also be in digital 3D.

Variety article

Seems the director, Brenda Chapman, comes from Illinois! This is not her first directing credit, she directed The Prince of Egypt.

wiki article

April Get-Together

2008-04-04T18:57:00.001-06:00

Happy Spring everyone! The next WIA "gathering" will be at our apartment on the North-West Side of Chicago Saturday, April 12th at 5:00. Please bring money for pizza and feel free to bring any of your own work you'd like to share with the group (portfolios, animation, artwork...) Look out for an email from Katy about the details. If you're not on the WIA email list, please send Katy an email at chicagowia@yahoo.com.

Hope to see you then! :)

-Catherine & Sarah

Spring :D

2008-03-22T10:41:00.004-06:00

Spring is here! (despite the snow) We're trying to put together more meetings, sketchcrawls, and a social. So, please check back in a week or so for April's event(s).

Also, like Katy said, please think about what you want to do for the meetings- speakers? demonstrations? events? also, where do you want the sketchcrawls?

Thanks.

No March Meeting!

2008-03-10T20:22:00.002-06:00

ATTENTION! NO MARCH MEETING

As you know, for the past few months we have had speakers and demonstrations on various animation topics.

Before we go ahead and try to schedule more, I would like to get some feedback from you - the members - on what you liked (or did not like) about the presentations. Also, if you have ideas for topics you would like to see presented or learn more about - let us know! I know we all have a variety of interests and I think we can all benefit if we began to share our ideas.

You can reply to this blog or email me directly at chicagowia@yahoo.com

Thanks, Katy

Reminder!!!!!!

2008-02-17T10:09:00.006-06:00

Hi everyone. This is a reminder for the next WIA meeting, which will be Wednesday, Feb. 20th @ the 1104 S. Wabash building, in room 413.

Feb. Free at Art Institute!

2008-02-06T21:51:00.000-06:00

Admission to the Art Institute is FREE for the month of February! The Edward Hopper exhibit opens Feb. 16th and it'll only be $11 for the whole month! (it goes back up to $21 March 1st)

Oscar Nominated Animation Shorts Screening

2008-02-03T13:48:00.001-06:00

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/Chicago/Chicago_Frameset.htm

The landmark is screening all the animated shorts nominated for this years Oscar starting the 15th.

3D Animation and Compositing

2008-01-30T12:33:00.000-06:00

Hi all this is when we are having our next meeting.

WIA
presents
Emily Berveiler
A Columbia graduate, that now works in the world of professional 3D commercial animation and effects, will speak about the How to's of 3D animation in a production pipeline.

Wednesday, February 20th
1104 S.Wabash Building
Room 413
6:00 pm

Hope to see you all there. A flyer soon to come.

Flash Meeting

2008-01-23T22:38:00.000-06:00

We had a full house at the meeting tonight. Patrick gave a great presentation about Flash animation- it's history and the basics. Here are some recommended books and links Patrick suggested in his handout-

How to Cheat in Adobe Flash CS3
Hollywood 2D Digital Animation: The New Flash Production Revolution
ColdHardFlash.com
Keyframer.com
Newgrounds.com
Frederator.com
Flashkit.com

We are currently planning next month's meeting. Check back in a week or so for the date.

Q&A with Stevie Wermers-Skelton, Co-Director of the "How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre" short

2008-01-20T19:33:00.001-06:00

The following is a Q&A with Stevie Wermers-Skelton, hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks to everyone who submitted a question for this interview, there were some great questions. It'll be a nice topic for discussion at our meeting on Wednesday. I sent a thank you to Tamara Boutcher, producer of "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater" for helping me get our questions to Stevie.

And now on to the interview:

Did you always want to work in animation or did you start out on a different path?

I started on a different path. Even though I had always drawn when I was a kid, I wasn’t sure I could ever make a living at it. So I aimlessly went to junior college for a few years and worked several office jobs that were uninteresting to me—mostly accounting stuff.

What/Who inspired you to go into a career in animation?

It wasn’t until I saw “Beauty and the Beast” when I was 25 that I decided I wanted to do something else with my life. Obviously, toiling away in an “office space” type of environment had me stuck in a rut—so I then decided “what the heck” and applied at Cal Arts. And here I am. (Who knew??)

How did you find yourself working for Disney, what’s your background?

I went to Cal Arts for two years , but never completed the four year program, because it was the mid-90s – post – ‘Lion King’ era and Disney was aggressively pursuing new talent. So after only my sophomore year, I was thrilled to be offered an internship with them in the fall of ’94 in Florida. I then graduated to a position as an inbetweener on “Pocahontas” and shortly afterward I took a test to move myself to the story department, and have pretty much been at the Company ever since.

Did the idea to use Goofy or the idea for the Story come first?

The idea to use Goofy came first. Our Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter wanted to make new shorts starring Disney classic characters. Kevin Deters (co-director of the Goofy short) and I both thought Goofy would be the most fun. Then Kevin had the idea, and I thought it was intriguing. So we went with it.

When writing/directing the short were there any unexpected challenges, and how did using Goofy as a character influence the direction of the story?

Initially, some of our colleagues thought that using the classic characters might be a bit too old-fashioned and that the public wouldn’t find them interesting. We thought otherwise, obviously, feeling that if we could put Goofy back up on the big screen it would fill many people with the “warm and fuzzy” nostalgia of the old shorts as well as introduce a whole new generation to these characters.

Goofy influenced the story by his sheer good-natured attitude. Instead of getting angry or frustrated like Donald, Goofy just seems to take everything in stride. This made it easier to make the short a bit more modular, because the character doesn’t dwell on things that have happened to him…he just moves on to the next task.

What was the creative process that led to choosing to do a modernized version of a classically styled Goofy short?

Like I said, we wanted to recapture the feel of the classic shorts for nostalgia, but also update it with a new and more relevant subject matter, sort of for a “one-two “punch. Plus, we just really admired the look of those early shorts, and simultaneously thought, hey, why not re-use some of the original backgrounds from them? This way we had a template to follow to keep us on track artistically, and we could save labor by not having to paint new ones. It just made sense.

Were there any other looks to the design of the short you played with or was it automatically decided that it would be stylized after the classic shorts?

It was automatically decided.

Were other classic Disney characters considered for this renewed effort by Disney to do 2-d films?

Yes. There were several fun ideas that were considered.

I read that this was animated on a Cintique. Is this true?

Half of the animators drew on the Cintiq, while the others just kept it “old school” and used paper.

If so, why was this technique chosen and was all the animation done this way or just certain parts?

The Cintiqs were the obvious choice of tool to use (with the “Harmony” software by Toon Boom) because of its ability to recreate the feeling of paper drawing.

How did the animators adjust to using a computer rather than pencil and paper? Did they have to adjust or were they already used to working digitally?

The artists who had animated with the computer adjusted quite well. Dale Baer actually found that he prefers this technique to drawing on paper, simply because it is so much easier to make corrections, and you can see your work instantly. (Although to keep a bit of the old-school feel, he has taped a peg bar onto the bottom of his cintiq tablet! Very cute.)

How long did this short take to create?

The short took about 15 months total with 3-4 months story and editorial and the rest production.

How many animators worked on the Goofy short?

There were six extremely talented and well-known animators who helped us out: Dale Baer, Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Alex Kupershmidt, Randy Haycock and Eric Goldberg. Like Kevin says, it was an embarrassment of riches, “kind of like calling the SWAT team to get a cat out of a tree.”

Did the animators have any particular challenges animating such an iconic character as Goofy?

Only that we wanted the animation to be as good as the John Sibley stuff from the 40’s. Before we started animation on the short, we had a meeting with all the guys and we watched our favorite animated Goofy scenes from that era—analyzing them in trying to figure out what made them so appealing. I think the guys ended up doing a great job, and I think they had a lot of fun doing it as well. They certainly weren’t limited to any realistic movements , (being that Goofy is so pliable) which I’m sure was a welcome change!

How did you feel being able to produce/direct a Disney short, especially with such a beloved classic character?

Quite honored, actually. Like I said, so many people, including myself, have a “warm and fuzzy” nostalgia for Goofy, so you really don’t want to mess it up. We had a certain responsibility to make sure that Goofy came across just right, and do him justice. We had no intention of “updating” him with trendy hip-hop clothes and putting him on a skateboard, if you know what I mean.

What was the best thing about directing/producing this short, and what was difficult?

The best thing was getting to know a whole new set of people, and learning about what exactly they all do in the pipeline. Working in the story department for so many years had given me a very limited and myopic view of the entire process. Not until you start heading up something do you fully realize just how much labor goes into these things. I’ve always known, I suppose, just didn’t appreciate it as much before.
As far as what was most difficult, I would have to say it was just trying to keep track of everything since Kevin and I were working on 2-3 different projects simultaneously. Again, I had been so used to being focused on ONE aspect of the process for so many years, that it was difficult to suddenly be pulled into several directions at once. (But I’m getting used to it.)

What are you working on now?

Right now Kevin and I are in the midst of our second short, entitled “the Ballad of Nessie,” which is a tall-tale Mary Blair-ish style of cartoon. It was my second year film at Cal Arts, so it is really a labor of love for me.
We are also working on some other things, most of which I can’t discuss right now... (sorry!)

What are the plans on future Disney 2-d shorts? Are we going to see more classic characters in their own shorts in the future?

I’m sure hoping there will be more. There hasn’t been any call specifically for 2D shorts, just shorts that are entertaining. We usually let the subject matter dictate in what medium it should be told. And I have a feeling that at some point there will be some new shorts that have other classic characters.

Did you go into the film knowing that you would be the first woman to direct a Disney short or did you find out later?

No, I didn’t know. And honestly, I don’t like to shine any kind of spotlight on it. I just think of myself as another employee, someone who was in the right place at the right time, and is just trying to do her best.

Interview with Tamara Boutcher

2008-01-20T19:14:00.000-06:00

Tamara Boutcher, from the new Goofy short got in touch with me answering the questions that everyone gave me. I will post them shortly!

South Beach Intl Animation Festival

2008-01-18T10:51:00.000-06:00

If any wants to enter, here's the link to the South Beach Animation Festival:

www.southbeachanimationfest.com

"As the producer of the South Beach International Animation Festival and past president of our local chapter of Women Of the Motion Picture Industry, it is my pleasure to invite your members to enter our festival.
Please, find information and entrance form visiting our website at www.southbeachanimationfest.com."
Thank you.
Noreen Legault-Mendoza

FLASH

2008-01-17T19:09:00.000-06:00

Hello all!! This is a reminder about the next WIA meeting.

A FLASH DEMO
by
Patrick Cheng

A local Chicago freelancer, that will give a brief history about Flash and a demo of how to use Flash in todays Animation Industry.

Wednesday, January 23rd
1104 S. Wabash Building
Room 415
6:00pm

I will later post a flyer. Hope to see you all there!

Persepolis

2008-01-17T07:17:00.000-06:00

Persepolis starts this Friday at the Landmark. It's about a 9 year old girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution who has to flee her country. Definitely worth seeing!

Keaton Fans!

2008-01-05T08:16:00.000-06:00

Any Buster Keaton fans out there? If so, The General will be showing at the Music Box next weekend- Jan. 12th and 13th at 11:30 am. :)

Hey! This is the 100th post! Yay! :D

Chaplin Fans!

2007-12-21T12:03:00.001-06:00

Starting next week the Music Box is playing a new 35mm print of Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights". Full info can be found on the Music Box's website.

Citylights info

Showtimes

January Meeting

2007-12-18T18:03:00.000-06:00

The next WIA meeting will be on Wednesday January 23rd. Patrick will be sharing some of his knowledge on Flash with us. 6pm at Columbia College- 4th floor- Check back in a few weeks to see what room we will meet in.

Happy holidays! See you next year!

Interview with the Director

2007-12-14T15:18:00.000-06:00

This is an interview I came across with the Director of Enchanted:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35069

WIA Screening Flyer

2007-12-06T06:04:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone! I now present to you the long awaited flyer. TA DA!!!

Pricilla Olsen Screening

2007-12-02T12:35:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone,
Just a reminder that next Friday is the screening with Pricilla Olsen. There will be some snacks out at 6:00 and the screening will start at 6:30. It is on the 4th floor of 1104 south wabash infront of the 402 screening room. Hope to see you all there!
-Jennifer Nelson
p.s. Amada will be posting a flyer shortly!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T12:25:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday! Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Twin Animators

2007-11-17T11:37:00.001-06:00

This is an old photo of twins named Marylin and Madilyne
Woods. It was emailed to someone at work to show us. It turns out that they were animators/assistants in the 1940s at Warner Brothers. That is so cool to see other twins working in animation together, especially women in the 1940s! We’re totally fascinated by this, but we can’t find any info about them. Does anyone know about these twins?

November meeting notes:

2007-11-17T10:31:00.000-06:00

Medical Animation:
This past WIA meeting we had Katy and Katy talk about the work that they did before hand and show some of their fascinating work that they have done for Medical Animation using both 2D and 3D animation.
The following are the notes that they shared with us:

December Event:
Priscialla Olson, a local animator, will be sharing her animation with us on Friday, December 7th @ 6pm in the screening room 402 on the 4th floor of the 1104 S Wabash building.

January Meeting:
Our next meeting is in January and we will have Patrick Cheng give a presentation on Flash. The date isn't set yet. Check the blog for updates.

Other Events:
Possible field trip to the Virtual Reality Lab and maybe a trip to Calabash.

Goofy Questions:
Kristine has e-mailed the questions to the producer, Tamara Boutcher, of the Goofy short of "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater" We will post the Q&A here.

Flip Books:
I am just going to shoot and post what has been done and if you guys still want to include yours let me know when it will be done and I will do another composite.

WIA Chicago

October Meeting

Meeting and other info

Guest Speaker

Meeting Change and Info

Acting for Animators

Meeting on March 25th

Coloring the Kingdom

Meeting Feb. 25th

Meeting Jan. 28th 7pm

Meeting Tonight CANCELED

Meeting

Eric Goldberg Webinar!

Sketchcrawl

Sketch Crawl: Saturday, November 14th

Nice flash animation from Brazil

Girl Guides Film Festival

Beatles Rockband

Need STRONG female leads!

WIA meeting at Cartoon Network

Bill Peet

Sita Sings the Blues Opens Tonight!

Newport Beach Film Fest

Freelance list

Sketch Crawl Today!

Sketch Crawl- Saturday, April 25th

Scholarship

Female Pioneers

April Sketch Crawl

April event on the way

Sita Sings The Blues

Art by Women

Annie Awards Sunday Results!

Feb 5th- WIA meeting at DreamWorks

Walt Disney Facts!

Sketch Crawl

Thanks Jackie!

December Sketchcrawl

For you stop motion fans!

November Meeting- BOTNIK!

Fears of the Dark

Free Flash Training!

November Guest Speaker!

Sita Sings the Blues

Botnik!

High Fructose Article

Sita Sings the Blues

Academy Posts Animation

Interview with Miss Piggy's Creator

Early Animation Screening with live music

Acting for Animators Workshop

Chicagoanimators.com Interviews

More Princess & the Frog Pictures!!!

Cartoon Skeletons

Art Institute MUST SEE!

New Interviews!

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

LA WIA chapter

Back from the Con!

San Diego Comic-Con

Sketch Crawl today!

Sketch Crawl Reminder

Presto! Pixar Short

Chicago Animators- New Online Community!!!

July Sketch Crawl

Sketch Crawl June 14th

Women's Portrayl in Film and TV

The Animation Show

Memorial Day Figure Drawing Marathon!

Women Animator at the Cannes Film Festival

Sketch Crawl and Meeting

Sketch Crawl in works

WMS Open House

Columbia College Chicago Animation Production Studio Screening

Ollie Johnston 1912-2008

Pixar Movie Realeases

more links

Disney/Pixar

April Get-Together

Spring :D