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Rising young animators and filmmakers will be featured prominently in this new Cartoon Brew feature.

The post Announcing Cartoon Brew Next, A Showcase of New Animation Talent appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

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We're announcing two new contributors who will expand Cartoon Brew's coverage of vfx/tech and legal issues.

The post Welcome Ian Failes and Brian Gabriel to Cartoon Brew’s Editorial Team appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

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Cartoon Brew has always been vigilant about moderating the comments section. This year, we're getting stricter.

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Join our growing editorial team!

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We are very excited to announce today the launch of Cartoon Brew Jobs, a new resource for the animation community.

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As long as I've loved animation, I've been fascinated with the personal stories of people who work in the animation business. Not simply, "What character did you make?," but WHY and HOW did you make it? I became actively involved in documenting those stories when I published the print 'zine "Animation Blast," and it's something I've never stopped doing. For me, it wasn't just about talking to a handful of familiar directors and animators, but to talk with everyone, especially those who had worked quietly in the trenches and whose stories hadn't yet been told.

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When we started offering recaps of Steven Universe last November, we were uncertain how readers would respond. Your feedback turned out to be overwhelmingly positive, and in fact, the most common request over the past few months has been to provide more recaps. But what show to choose for our sophomore recapping effort? After I saw the trailer a few weeks ago for Masaaki Yuasa’s new series Ping Pong, the choice became clear. So yesterday we recapped the show’s premiere and will continue to provide recaps throughout the show’s full run. The choice to recap a show by Yuasa wasn’t difficult because he pushes the cinematic language of animation more expertly than arguably any director—TV or feature—working in animation today. As I watched the premiere episode of Ping Pong, I was challenged and rewarded by a filmmaker who masterfully manipulates the frame for narrative and psychological effect and explores the expressive potential of the animation medium to its fullest. To do Yuasa’s work justice, I have turned to anime scholar Ben Ettinger, who is the foremost English-language expert on Yuasa’s work. It’s only fitting to ask Ben to write these recaps since it was through his unrivaled anime website, Anipages, that I first learned about Yuasa’s remarkable feature debut Mind Game way back in 2004. Since Mind Game, Ben (pictured right) has kept atop Yuasa’s work as few others, and has cataloged his output including Kemonozume, Kaiba, and Tatami Galaxy. Not only are Ben’s insights on anime art unparalleled, he is also a professional Japanese translator, which means that he will be reviewing these episodes based on their original Japanese-language versions. If you’re looking for the subtitled versions, Crunchyroll is simulcasting the episodes for American audiences.

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Cartoon Brew is pleased to announce the expansion of our extraordinary editorial staff, which furthers our commitment to covering the wide range of ideas and issues that impact the animation community.

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Please welcome our first international correspondent, Neil Emmett, who will join the ranks of Cartoon Brew’s estimable editorial staff. Since 2009, Neil has edited the indispensable blog on British animation aesthetics, The Lost Continent. Based in the United Kingdom, he is a graduate of the animation program at the Norwich University of the Arts as well as a former member of the BAFTA Youth Board.

Neil has been warming up for the past couple months and has already contributed several notable pieces to Cartoon Brew, including this popular post about pseudo-CGI. His writing combines an encyclopedic knowledge of British animation, both past and present, with a keen eye for animation art and techniques. With his arrival, Neil adds an important voice from abroad that will significantly expand Cartoon Brew’s editorial perspective.

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Pixar storyboard artist Bill Presing will unveil his new pin-up calendar Horoscope Honeys tonight, June 29th, at Gallery Nucleus (210 East Main St, Alhambra, CA 91801). Presing will be in attendance to sign the calendars. All thirteen original paintings featured in the calendar will be exhibited and available for purchase.

Gallery Nucleus is actually holding a dual-opening reception on Saturday. In addition to Presing’s show, they will also host the opening of the group art show “Yesterday’s Tomorrow.” The opening receptions for both shows run between 7-10pm. For more details, visit GalleyNucleus.com.

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Our thanks to the Vancouver Film School and Rhino House, two of the companies that sponsor Cartoon Brew:

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Today the Vancouver Film School (VFS) announced that they will open a new animation and visual effects campus in August of this year. The facilities will be located in the 106,000-square foot space in Vancouver’s Gastown neighborhood that previously housed the Storyeum theatrical experience:

After $4.5 million in renovations, phase one of this new state-of-the-art VFS campus will open to students in August. Every classroom is designed to optimize the learning experience by giving students access to high-powered software, including the leading render farm management system, as well as more studios and lounge areas to foster collaboration and synergy between VFS’s programs. The space’s many groundbreaking features include a 280-degree green screen studio and a new fiber network.

The Animation & Visual Effects portion of the facility is 42,000 square feet, double the size of the current campus, and provides students with two 72-seat theatres, editing suites, sound studios, a customized life drawing room, three design studios, and much more.

They’ve posted some photos of the under-construction space on their Facebook.

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Rhino House is an online video reference library for animators. It has a custom player that offers a host of animator-friendly features like bookmarking key frames, onion skinning, slow motion, frame-by-frame scrubbing, thumbnailing, masking, guidelines and grids.

Their Facebook page offers videos of animators discussing how they use video reference, like this clip featuring DreamWorks animator Jason Ryan:

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Due to popular demand, we’re extending the deadline to submit to Cartoon Brew’s 4th Student Animation Festival until this FRIDAY, JUNE 7. Every filmmaker whose work is selected to screen in the online festival will receive $500 US. This year, guest judge Evan Spiridellis, the co-founder of JibJab, will select one additional film to receive the Grand Prize and a $1,000 cash prize. Go HERE for details on how to submit.

The film selections will be announced next week on Cartoon Brew.

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A reminder to student filmmakers that just SIX days remain to submit your film to Cartoon Brew’s 4th annual Student Animation Festival. We’ve already had a record number of submissions this year, but we’re still looking for great student films to share with the animation community.

Every filmmaker whose work is selected to screen in the online festival will receive $500 US. This year, guest judge Evan Spiridellis, the co-founder of JibJab, will select one additional film to receive the Grand Prize and a $1,000 cash prize. Go HERE for all the details.

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It’s that time of year again. Our annual call for entries for Cartoon Brew’s 4th Student Film Festival, a yearly showcase of outstanding student films from around the globe. We received over 200 submissions for last year’s festival, and aim to top that number this year.

Our mission for the festival is simple: to draw attention to student-produced animated shorts and share them with the widest possible community of industry artists, fellow students and animation fans. And not just any student films, but films of the highest caliber…the most original, the most thought-provoking, the ones that make us laugh hardest and engage us emotionally. Of course, we present student films throughout the year on Cartoon Brew, but we want the festival to draw even more attention to the exciting work being produced by the art form’s emerging talents.

Every filmmaker whose work is selected to screen in Cartoon Brew’s Student Animation Festival will receive $500 US. This year, special guest judge Evan Spiridellis, the co-founder of JibJab, will select one additional film to receive the Grand Prize and a $1,000 cash prize.

Cartoon Brew’s Student Animation Festival is made possible by the generous support of our sponsor JibJab, a company that has shown consistent commitment to supporting young and emerging talent. We are proud to recognize them as the sponsor of this festival.

RULES

1. Your film has to be animated. (Obviously.)
2. 
 Your film has to be a student work. (Even more obvious.)
3. Must have been completed after May 1, 2012.

4. Must be an online premiere. (Films that are accessible online to the public will not be considered.)

5. Submissions due by Friday, May 31, 2013.

HOW TO SUBMIT


To submit, send an email to studentfest (at) cartoonbrew (dot) com with the following info:

• Your name, school and country

• Film title and synopsis

• Private link & password (ex: Password-Protected Vimeo/Unlisted YouTube link).

WHAT HAPPENS IF I’M SELECTED


Up to 8 films will be selected for this year’s festival. We will announce the festival selections in early to mid-June. Screenings will begin on Cartoon Brew in late June. Every film that is selected to screen as part of the Cartoon Brew Student Film Festival will be paid a screening fee of $500(US). One of the selected films will be awarded the Grand Prize and a $1,000 cash award. We don’t assume any exclusivity or ownership of your film. In other words, you are still free to submit to festivals, sell it to distributors, and post it anywhere else on the Internet shortly after it debuts online in our festival.

(Submit image via Shutterstock)

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You’ve read Cartoon Brew for years, but starting next week, you’ll be able to hear it, too.

Welcome Joel Frenzer and Alan Foreman, the rowdy bad boys of the animation podcasting world and hosts of the interview series Frenzer Foreman Animation Forum.

Frenzer and Foreman launched their show in 2010 and have recorded thirty-five episodes to date. Beginning with the next episode of Frenzer Foreman Animation Forum, the show will introduce a new fast-paced HALF-HOUR format with episodes debuting exclusively on CartoonBrew.com every two weeks.

In each episode, Joel and Alan invite movers and shakers of the animation community on their comedy hot-seat for casual chit-chat about animation, art, culture, filmmaking, life, and Joel’s dog.

The Frenzer Foreman Animation Forum is recorded and produced in Brooklyn, New York, but we’re hatching plans to send our adventurous duo on the road to far-flung locales like Los Angeles and perhaps even a major international animation festival or two.

Here’s a little bit about your new hosts:

Joel Frenzer is an independent filmmaker whose films have screened at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. He is also a professional animator with numerous industry credits, voice actor, puppeteer, exhibiting fine artist and sound designer. He has taught and assisted animation classes at Harvard University, Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Pratt Institute, and is currently the full-time professor of animation at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. 

Alan Foreman has worked on numerous TV and web series including Home Movies, Hey, Monie, Time Warp Trio, Word Girl, Speed Racer: The Next Generation and Cat Slap, the latter which he created for Mondo Media. He is currently working as a freelance animator for clients that include Buck, Hornet Inc, TED Ed, Nick Jr, The Electric Company, Six Point Harness, and Michel Gondry.

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Among the most popular features on CartoonBrew.com is our annual coverage of the Academy Awards. Our 2013 Oscar coverage recorded the highest traffic ever in the site’s history, hitting a single-day record for pageviews on Monday, February 25.

The animation community’s interest in the awards is justified for many reasons. Foremost, the Oscars serve as a barometer of the general public’s attitudes toward animation. The films that are nominated (as well as those that aren’t) tell us a lot about how animation is evolving as an art form and its acceptance into the mainstream.

The Oscar’s animation categories, however, have long been marginalized in the entertainment media, and lacked the informed coverage and analysis that accompanies the live-action categories. Cartoon Brew sets out to change that with its new ANIMATION OSCAR TRACKER, which is the animation industry’s first and only resource devoted to year-round coverage of contending films.

Our broad focus on both mainstream and independent films will help the film community parse through the ever-growing number of feature and short entries. We aim to provide Academy voters with an indispensable tool for making informed decisions when it comes time to nominate films and select winners for these prestigious animation honors.

The new ANIMATION OSCAR TRACKER, which is readily accessible through Cartoon Brew’s top navigation bar, will be updated regularly with lists of films in contention. More features will be added in the weeks and months to come including Oscar predictions, interviews with filmmakers, and coverage of other animation-related Academy Award categories like visual effects.

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We’re deeply appreciative of Cartoon Brew’s readers who suggest dozens of films and post ideas to the site every day, through Twitter, Facebook, emails, and especially, our news submission form. This week we’re auditioning a new tool that will hopefully make the submission process both more efficient for us and more interesting for you.

Our News Submission page is now a public forum in which your news tips are shared with the rest of our community instead of being seen only by us. Everybody can vote on the news items they like, and we’ll also be keeping a close eye for items that are suitable for front page posts. And for those of you who prefer to submit privately using the traditional form, you can do so here.

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Our first official post went up on Cartoon Brew on March 15, 2004 which makes the site 9 years old today. Happy birthday to us!

Much has changed since those quaint mid-aughts when the site looked like this, and we catered to just a few hundred daily visitors insteads of today’s tens of thousands.

In the past decade, animation, too, has exploded in size. It used to be that the number of people working in the global animation industry numbered in the thousands, and then, tens of thousands. In the past decade, thanks to digital animation of all kinds, the industry has grown into a workforce of hundreds of thousands. This rapid growth has led to a renaissance of new content and new voices, while at the same time jumbling established areas of the industry into disarray, as we’ve seen with the recent instability of the American VFX field.

Today, I want to acknowledge all those who have helped build the site into what is, including the co-founder of Cartoon Brew, Jerry Beck, the current roster of editorial contributors, our behind-the-scenes tech and sales teams who keep the site running smoothly, and YOU, the readers, who bring so much spirit and verve to the whole thing. Animation will continue to expand in exciting and unexpected ways over the coming decades, and Cartoon Brew plans to be there for every moment of it.

(Party photo by Elzbieta Sekowska/Shutterstock)

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Cartoon Brew is expanding its editorial staff. Today we welcome four contributing writers to the website. The new roster of writers each promise to bring passionate knowledge and a unique point of view into the animation discussion.

Cartoon Brew’s investment in editorial talent allows the site to further position itself as the leading animation news and commentary website while reaffirming its commitment to covering a wide range of ideas and issues related to the animation community.

The four writers will focus on specific areas of the ever-expanding animation art form: Chris McDonnell will explore the intersection of animation and illustration art, Chappell Ellison will look at design culture in animation, Michael Ruocco will explore the development of animation techniques and classic animation created by the art form’s masters, and C.Edwards will provide coverage of industry trends and the lighter side of animation’s impression on popular culture.

As the site’s 9th anniversary approaches next week, we’re thrilled to mark the beginning of a new era in Cartoon Brew’s ongoing evolution. But first, let’s do some introductions:

CHRIS MCDONNELL works on television and book projects. He has created animation for shows such as Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!, Eagleheart, Portlandia, Yo Gabba Gabba, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, and Tom Goes to the Mayor. Chris’s books include Sasquatch’s Big Hairy Drawing Book and Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. He teaches an “Intro to 2D computer animation” class at the University of the Arts and works from his studio, McD Workshop, in Philadelphia. Chris is a founding member of the Meathaus comics/art collective and posts at Meathaus.com and publishes anthologies of sketchbooks and comics.

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CHAPPELL ELLISON is an award-winning design writer and critic based in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to contributing to various publications, she has lent her editorial skills to several visual arts-based institutions and companies, including the Museum of Modern Art, Design Observer, Etsy and the Museum of the Moving Image. Chappell regularly lectures at universities and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts. She blogs often and tweets twice as much.

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MICHAEL RUOCCO is a recent graduate from the animation program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He lives in Burbank, California where he works as an artist in the animation industry. As an aspiring animation historian, Michael has assisted on several animation-related books including The Art of Brave and the forthcoming Full Steam Ahead: The Life and Art of Ward Kimball. He founded and edits Smears, Multiples and Animation Gimmicks on Tumblr, which has over 100,000 subscribers.

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C.EDWARDS is a New York-based writer and cartoonist who has animated on award winning projects for national broadcast on a variety of networks, including ABC, CBS, PBS, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. He served as a contributing writer of arts and culture editorial for publications like the New York Press, CityArts and The West Side Spirit as well as the websites Out and Queerty. He spends his time tweeting, singing songs from Don Bluth’s Thumbelina, hunting down the perfect Ursula statuette, and writing and drawing his nationally syndicated alt-comic strip, Abel Boddy.

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I have rarely—if ever—participated in any podcasts, which is why I have to point out that I recently put in an appearance on the Frenzer Foreman Animation Forum podcast. In the show, we talk about the time I attended an animation high school, how I got into blogging, where Cartoon Brew is headed, and, of course, what’s happening with the Ward Kimball biography.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN AMID AMIDI
BECOMES SOLE MANAGING OWNER
OF CARTOONBREW.COM

February 12, 2013 (NEW YORK CITY) — Award-winning author and historian Amid Amidi announced today that he is now the sole managing owner of CartoonBrew.com after buying out his business partner of nine years, Jerry Beck. As Cartoon Brew celebrates nearly a decade of being the Internet’s most widely read and discussed animation news source, Amidi plans to evolve the site while retaining its candid and authoritative voice for which the site is best known.

Launched in March 2004, CartoonBrew.com attracts an extremely loyal and engaged following, and has millions of monthly pageviews. The site covers the entire spectrum of animation, from concept designs to cutting-edge computer animation and visual effects for both television and film to classical techniques like hand-drawn and stop motion. It also covers trends in commercial animation, interactive apps, blockbuster Hollywood features, crowdfunding, and independent filmmaking. The site is recognized by industry insiders for supporting and promoting up-and-coming artists in the field, many of whom have gone on to acclaim after being featured on the site.

“The independent editorial voice of Cartoon Brew has been one of its greatest strengths, and even as the site grows, I will ensure that that will not change,” said Amidi. Cartoon Brew, which will launch a new mobile platform in March, will also continue to present its popular online Student Animation Festival, currently in its fourth year, as well as expand its video offerings on Cartoon Brew TV.

“The past nine years of working with Jerry to build Cartoon Brew into the premier animation news website have been a tremendous and rewarding experience,” said Amidi. “I am ready to take the site to the next level so that it will continue to reflect the vibrant, ever-changing animation field. Animation is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the global entertainment industry, and it is both a great responsibility and honor to serve as the nucleus of the online conversation about the art form.”

About Amid Amidi
Recognized as one of the leading writers about the animation art, Amidi is the winner of the 2007 Theatre Library Association Award for “exceptional scholarship in the field of recorded performance.” He created one of the earliest daily animation news and commentary sites, Animation and Cartoon Heaven, and served as Associate Editor of Animation World Magazine, the first monthly electronic publication devoted to animation. He edited and published his own print magazine, Animation Blast, for nine issues before turning his attention to writing books full-time. He has written the following seven books:

• The Art of Fox/Blue Sky’s Robots, 2004
  
• Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation, 2006
  
• Inside UPA, 2007
  
• The Art of Pixar Short Films, 2009
  
• A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Seve, 2010
  
• The Art of Pixar: The Complete Colorscripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation, 2011
  
• Full Steam Ahead: The Life and Art of Ward Kimball, 2014

Amidi has curated retrospectives and lectured at the Ottawa International Animation Festival (Canada), Elektra: International Digital Arts Festival (Canada), Anima Mundi (Brazil), Fredrikstad Animation Festival (Norway), Projector Festival (Scotland), Platform International Animation Festival (Portland), Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and Comic-Con International:San Diego. He has spoken at numerous animation schools including NYU, SVA and RISD, and served on award juries for the following festivals: Fredrikstad Animation Festival (2008), Ottawa International Animation Festival (2009), and Animation Block Party (2010). He lives in New York City. For more information about Amid Amidi, please visit http://www.AmidAmidi.com.

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Amid Amidi | Editor in Chief, Owner
CartoonBrew.com
amid at cartoonbrew dot com

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Time flies when your having fun – and this was fun.

Hard to believe it was almost nine years ago when Amid and I teamed up to create a daily blog devoted to bringing the animation community together with a smart source of news, commentary, gossip and ideas.

I’m quite proud of what we’ve got here. Cartoon Brew has ultimately morphed into the premier website for artists, animators, students and enthusiasts. Our readers have shaped this site as much (or more) as we have.

This is my final post on the Brew. I leave the site to my friend and colleague Amid Amidi to begin the next chapter in its ongoing evolution.

For those wondering where I’m going – I’m planning to continue doing what I’ve been doing: animation showings in L.A. (with plans to bring my act to New York as well), teaching cartoon history, consulting with Warner Home Video and continuing my efforts to get classic cartoons out of the vaults and onto your personal screens (on whatever device you prefer). I’m also committed to several new book projects, and have a few brand new ideas I’d like to pursue. I’ll also maintain a presence on the web, through my Facebook page and with my old site, CartoonResearch.com.

It has always been my ambition to work full time in the wacky, wonderful world of animation. My involvement with all of you through the Brew has fulfilled that goal – and then some.

Let me use this moment, right now, right here, to say ‘thank you’ to all the Cartoon Brew regulars who’ve been checking in with us all these years. To all the friends and strangers who read the site and tell me in person (at screenings and festivals, at Comic Con, at Ralph’s, El Pollo Loco, etc.) how much it means to you. It makes me feel great to know I’ve contributed something positive and meaningful to the community.

So to everyone, I’ll simply say “Stay TOONed”.

The best is yet to come.

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Earlier this week, we upgraded our commenting system to the widely used Disqus. Certain aspects of our commenting system haven’t changed. For example, all comments are still moderated so they won’t appear immediately on the site. Also, because of the sensitive nature of a lot of industry-related issues, we still allow readers to comment anonymously without registering through any other site (although, as always, you must provide a valid working email address that won’t be seen by anyone but the moderators).

With Disqus, however, we are introducing a host of new features that we’d wanted for the Brew. For starters, the new system allows readers to log in via Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo and OpenID. The vast majority of readers have at least one of these accounts, and this hassle-free login means you don’t have to sign up for any new accounts to take advantage of the community features.

The community features allow readers to identify themselves with an avatar. Clicking on a reader’s name shows their profile and commenting history. “Liking” and “disliking” another other reader’s comments now helps to determine a comment’s placement on the site, with the most highly-rated ones promoted to the top of the comments and the low-rated ones at the bottom (or hidden from view). If you prefer, you can also view comments chronologically. Also, if you choose, you can be notified when someone replies to your comment on Cartoon Brew.

We’ve always taken a lot of pride in the quality of comments on the site. Sure, there are silly disagreements and dumb things are occasionally said, but at the end of the day, the comments represent the most robust and knowledgeable community of animation supporters on the Internet, from industry professionals to fans to students. You never know who’s going to comment here, and we’re thrilled that so many of our industry greats have participated in Cartoon Brew’s online community throughout the years, including David Silverman, Lauren Faust, Brad Bird, Chris Sanders, Paul Dini, Eric Goldberg, Gene Deitch, Bob Kurtz and Bill Kroyer. As the site continues to grow, we hope that you’ll participate in our community too, and help keep Cartoon Brew the hub of intelligent animation conversation.

We’re still in the transition phase and working out some of the quirks. Send any bug reports to our tech support page and we’ll look into it.

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Beginning tomorrow morning and for the nine weeks that follow, get ready for Cartoon Brew’s 3rd annual Student Animation Festival. We can’t wait to share this year’s amazing line-up of student films with everybody.

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Have an animated film or a piece of news to share? Here are some helpful tips for submitting to Cartoon Brew:

* If you are submitting a news item, DO NOT SUBMIT using our personal contact forms or Twitter accounts. Submissions via our personal forms will be junked. Use our SUGGEST A STORY form, which is conveniently located in the right sidebar.

* An easier way to get our attention is to submit items via Cartoon Brew’s Facebook page. The benefit is that even if we can’t post it, it becomes part of the public discussion among over 5,500 Brew readers. Our FB page is quite active and we look at it regularly.

* If you have a company press release, submit it to our CB BIZ news editor Chris at PR [at] cartoonbrew [dot] com

* Do not send links to film fundraising campaigns. We haven’t linked to a single fundraising campaign in over two years, yet we still get multiple fundraising submissions on a daily basis. We will under no circumstances link to a third-party fundraising campaign on Kickstarter, IndieGogo or any such similar site. We instituted the no-fundraising policy as the fairest solution to deal with the barrage of requests. If a film project is newsworthy for a reason other than the fact that it needs money, we may write about it AFTER the campaign’s completion (or after its fundraising goal has been met), or we’ll post about the project without promoting the fundraising effort.

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