Channel Frederator Blog

Most of you know all about New Tee Vee, where the knowing go to know more about wassup in the online TV world. But, you probably don’t know about their summer Pier Screenings events in Los Angeles, where the knowing go to see even more, and meet even more.

Well, August 28 is there ‘Non-Human’ screening (”by which we mean anything that doesn’t include human actors on-screen“) and they’re welcoming “animation, puppets, animals, machinima, or whatever other interpretation you have.”

SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS AUGUST 21.

“Animation…”! That means you! Have those in the know know about your films. Great opportunity, great venue, great event. Get your entries in now.

There’s a worthy charity/animation event coming up this fall: The Totoro Forest Project. Over 200 pieces of artwork (many by folks from the cartoon community) will be exhibited and auctioned to raise funds to support the Totoro Forest Foundation. Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki was one of the original contributors to the foundation, which seeks to protect an urban forest, called Sayama Hills, located just outside of Tokyo. The area is known to be the inspiration for his feature film Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro).

This is the official Totoro Forest Foundation website. And go here to learn more about the charity event and view an online gallery of Totoro-inspired images. The project will also publish a tie-in book and selected artwork will be exhibited at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco from September 20-December 7.

The auction is set for September 6 at the Pixar Animation Studio Campus from 5-9 PM. Tickets will go [Read more…]

As the hoards converge on Comicon this weekend (and I sit in sticky, hot Brooklyn, recalling the days when the Gaslamp District was still scuzzy and you didn’t have to book your hotel room two years in advance) let me tell you about an upcoming, far more intimate event that promises to be fascinating: Pictoplasma NYC: Conference on Contemporary Character Design and Art at New York University’s Skirball Center, from September 5-6.

Described as a “character design Mecca”, Pictoplasm will spotlight “the importance of character design in contemporary visual culture.” Today’s popular graphic personalities cross cultural and commercial borders and it’s becoming commonplace to see the same character on both museum walls and pencil sets. This is an opportunity to learn, talk, and schmooze with some of today’s most innovative icon creators.

Guests include Tim Biskup, Gangpol Und Mit, and Friends With You. Saturday has the bulk of the animation talk with Akinori Oishi (Japan) and Studio AKA (UK) appearing.

Registration info and more after the jump. [Read more…]