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Cohen’s Cartoon Corner by Karl Cohen
Director Lee Unkrich presenting a preview of Pixar's upcoming “Coco”. photo courtesy Pixar
Careers in Animation
Please come for a free survey of current animation, presented by the Bay Area’s ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d'Animation) show on Sunday, April 30, 2 pm, at SF State's Coppola Theater.
The panelists will include Don Allen, expert in motion graphics, including Guidespark ; Jamie Burton , whose is working on the Skylanders game at Toys for Bob in Petaluma; Norm DeCarlo, art director, sculptor, stop-motion guy whose credits include “Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Toy Story 1 & 2” and “The Matrix”; Janelle Hessig , animator, video editor and social media specialist , who has worked on KQED’s Film School Shorts Program; and Jonathan Lyons, who has worked at ILM, Tippett and more.
Pixar Bringing Films to Annency Festival
Pixar is bringing “Cars 3,” “Lou” and a sneak preview of their brand new “Coco” to the Annecy International Animation Festival, Annecy, France, in June.
The event will include a screening of the studio’s “Cars 3” and the accompanying short “Lou”, plus a sneak preview of footage from director Lee Unkrich’s “Coco”. Called “breathtaking, beautiful, and fun” by Pixar head John Lasseter, "Coco" is about a 12-year-old boy on an odyssey to solve a century-old mystery AND do a family reunion.
They will also have an outdoor screening of the original “Cars” feature, presented for free, although the current cheapest fare on KAYAK is $797 on Air France.
SF International Film Festival
SF International Film Festival, which concluded on April 18, had a lot of shorts and animation. The winner of the best animated short was “Hot Dog Hands” by Matt Reynolds, (USA). It received a $2,000 cash prize.
Tiburon Film Festival
The 16th Tiburon International Film Festival best animation award goes to “Jubilee” from France and directed by Coralie, Piogé, Duvert, El Kadiri, Marmion, quite the team and more unified than France itself today.
Animation Finals at SF State
On Friday, May 19, at 6 pm, the animation finals will transpire at SF State. Again, the affair will be held in the lovely Coppola Theatre, Fine Arts Building, Room 101. It will be followed by a reception for the artists.
ASIFA-SF’s Spring Show
Show your animated work at ASIFA-SF’s spring show in June. It will feature films by independent animators and college students and entries should be under 10 minutes. Demo reels and works in progress are OK and you do not need to be an ASIFA-SF member to attend.
Let us know and latest by May 24, if you plan to show a film and we will list it on the flyer. Our audience will vote for their favorite works and the winners will be shown a 2nd time at our summer party. Location, date and time will be announced in the June newsletter.
Send entries on a DVD in advance for our judges to approve your entry. We may not be able to show works on thumb drives or works in a computer file format (depends on hall booked for the event). Play it safe and send a DVD that will play on a home DVD player to Karl Cohen, 478 Frederick, SF, CA 94117. Thanks for your interest.
Karl Cohen is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached .