Just like Will Ferrell’s character in “Stranger Than Fiction,” you might find “yourself”—or your namesake, your avatar—spinning through a tale told by Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Ken Follett, Hanif Kureishi, Will Self, Alan Hollinghurst, Zadie Smith, Tracy Chevalier, Joanna Trollope, or another of the 17 authors participating in a fundraising event for the UK medical charity Freedom From Torture.
In this Literary Immortality Auction, participating authors have donated a character in a forthcoming work that will be named after auction winners.
Tracy Chevalier, author of the international bestseller The Girl with the Pearl Earring, said:
“I am holding open a place in my new novel for Mrs. (ideally a Mrs.) [your surname], a tough-talking landlady of a boarding house in 1850s Gold Rush-era San Francisco. The first thing she says to the hero is ‘No sick on my stairs. You vomit on my floors, you’re out.’ Is your name up to that?”
According the New York Times, Margaret Atwood is “offering the possibility of appearing either in the novel she is currently writing or in her retelling of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest,’ to be published as a Vintage Books series in 2016.”
Bestselling author Ian McEwan (Atonement) said:
“Forget the promises of the world’s religions. This auction offers the genuine opportunity of an afterlife. More importantly, bidding in the Freedom from Torture auction will help support a crucial and noble cause. The rehabilitation of torture survivors cannot be accomplished without expertise, compassion, time—and your money.”
Freedom from Torture notes on its site: “Seekers of a literary afterlife can place their bids online from 6pm this evening,” so get going.
Click here for your bid for immortality.
The real-time episode of the auction will take place at The Royal Institute of Great Britain in London on November 20th.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Will Ferrell and "Anchorman" director/writer Adam McKay are developing a CGI-animated "Flintstones" pic. Chris Henchy will write the script.
(This episode contains strong language.)
Over the last fourteen years, Aaron Augenblick has built up Augenblick Studios into one of New York City’s most respected production studios. The studio has produced animation—in Brooklyn!—for series such as Wonder Showzen (MTV2), Ugly Americans (Comedy Central), Superjail! (first season, Adult Swim), as well as the festival circuit hit Golden Age. The studio’s current major project is an animated feature based on the Ben Stiller live-action pic Zoolander.
In the latest episode of Frenzer Foreman Animation Forum, Augenblick talks about creating a studio from the ashes of bad advice, how a young studio finds work, the challenges of being a studio owner and artist at the same time, tips for building an artistic community and fostering studio pride, why he refuses to expand his studio beyond a set number of employees, and the importance of submitting animated shorts to festivals even if you’re producing commercial work.
LINKS RELATED TO THIS EPISODE
Augenblick Studios: WEBSITE and FACEBOOK PAGE
Cain’s Tavern: WEBSITE and FACEBOOK PAGE
Golden Age series
Ramblin’ Man:
Cartoon Network is turning 20 this year, and it reveled in its position as the #1 network for 6 to 11 year old boys (during its upfront presentation this week. The network officially announced a few shows that we knew were coming — including... Read the rest of this post
Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book Based on the Film Phenomenon, illustrated by Andrew Williamson, paper engineering by Bruce Foster, Insight Editions, $34.95, all ages, 12 pages. Flying off shelves since its November release, this lush pop-up puts the drama of Harry Potter films into 3-D scenes you'll want to get lost in. Illustrated by the lead concept artist on all eight Harry Potter films and engineered by the creator of this year's
A Christmas Carol: A Pop-Up Edition, the book feels not only wonderfully familiar -- matching up with film footage we've grown to love -- but has a cinematic quality that doesn't often appear into pop-ups. Warm, glowing colors and deep shadows replicate the lighting effects around Diagon Alley and Hogwarts (one of the most dramatic pop-ups, towering above the book with spires and minarets). You feel instantly swept into the drama and want to stick your head down into the locations of Hagrid's Hut and the Forbidden Forest, as if somehow you could shrink to fit inside.
There's also a sense of the impending in every scene. As you open pop-ups for the Triwizard Tournament and a clash between Harry and Lord Voldemort, you feel like the action is only on pause and could start all over again. Sprinkled among five main pop-up are smaller, charming surprises: lift one flap and the red jaws of a howler open to deliver a message or peer into a cage to see Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig. Fun movie facts and three small movie posters add to the magic and by book's end, you're ready to look at it all over again. This is a book you'll be tempted to display open on a shelf.
Disney's Alice in Wonderland: A Visual Companion, by Mark Salisbury, with a foreword by Tim Burton, Disney Editions, $50, ages 9 and up, 256 pages. Fans of renowned director and producer Tim Burton won't want to miss this spectacular inside look at the making of the movie, Alice in Wonderland. Packed with every snippet of artwork you could imagine, the book shows not only stills from the movie, but behind-the-scenes footage, concept artwork, movie stills marked with editing notes, set and costume designs as they evolve, and interviews with Burton and The Mad Hatter himself, Johnny Depp. Every so often, eye-popping photographs are overlaid with quotes by the movie's creators and actors talks about scenes or each other. The most intriguing part of the book is all the artwork that was created to guide the animation -- gorgeous sketches and paintings that never appeared in the film, for which, without this book, we might never see. One of my favorite photographs shows a series of clay heads used to make the prosthetics that give the king's court its facial distortions. Though pricier than most books, this is one that will be treasured long after your child grows up.
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