Tomorrow night, Marv’s got a gallery opening of postcards in Serignan, France. If you can’t make it, you can check out some of the cards at his Marvcards site (and those who know Marv best can marvel at the fact that there’s a website!).
We’ve mentioned before that Frederator was producing a short film of Marv’s over the last couple of years, and, lo and behold, the subject matter is… postcards! Well, Postalolio is finished (complete credits are below the fold) and started it’s festival run. It started at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this past Saturday, and continues on to Brazil’s Anima Mundi Festival throughout July.
I wanted to give a taste of what you’re missing, and assure you I’ll let you know the rest of the worldwide screening schedules where you might see the film yourself in person.
We just got the sad news that our old friend Jaime Diaz passed away this Saturday.
His daughter Claudia wrote:
“My dad was born on Jan. 6th, 1937, and passed away on Jun 20th on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. His full name is Jaime Reyes Diaz; born in Saenz Pena, Chaco Argentina. He married Maria Ines Aguero on June 8, 1961. Children: Claudia Zambon, Annabelle Diaz and Bill Diaz. Grandchildren: Nicholas Lalli, Andres Diaz, Amanda, Clara and Felix Tonconogy, Rocio Belen Diaz, Bryana Diaz, Steven, Anne Marie and Michael Zambon.
“He arrived in the States in Nov. 1963. Please ask to pray for his soul. He was a hard working talented man who provided for is family all his life. He was passionate about cartoons and was highly creative. He will be deeply missed by his wife, her first and only love, and by his children who are still living.”
As you can tell by looking over his incredible resume on imdb, Jaime was an active and passionate part of the cartoon industry for over 40 years, from Hong Kong Phooey to Duckman. What a list can’t tell you is what a sweet, wonderful guy he was, with a completely puckish sense of humor. And talented, way talented. In addition to working on a lot of our series over the years, Jaime created shorts for Frederator; an Oh Yeah! cartoon with Russ Mooney, and a Random!cartoon with Bill Burnett.
We were introduced by his close friend and my long, close colleague, Larry Huber, who writes this moving tribute at his blog. He also produced Jaime’s cartoon, Gaucho Pampa (above), which was screened at the Taiwan International Film Festival.
Adios Jaime, we’ll miss you.
Kameleon Kid, 2000, Created & directed by Jaime Diaz & Russ Mooney
I met author/artistJames Proimos when Frederator didn’t get a chance to make Generation O! as an Oh Yeah! Cartoons short. He came by the other day to show us what he’s been up to. Shorts for Nickelodeon, picture books, young adult novels, James is a machine.
The very talented artist/writer Dave Smith was at Frederator/Burbank last week, introducing himself and his work to Eric and me. Funny enough, we’d never met, even though we were like ships passing in the night on many of the same projects, and it took my Adventure Time co-executive producer Derek Drymon to introduce us. Thanks Derek; it was great meeting you Dave.
Thanks to Dave for his kind permission to post some of his artwork.
Illustration by Andy Rash
Illustrators/writers Dan Yaccarino and Andy Rash came by Frederator/NY to talk with Carrie and me about some new television and movie projects they’re working on. I’ve known and admired Dan for quite a while now but I was meeting Andy (and seeing his work) for the first time. It won’t be the last.
Thanks for Andy for kind permission to post his art.
The other day I was enjoying some of the interviews Eric and Bailee have been posting, which kicked me to reading some of Jeaux’s and Mike Milo’s and Floyd’s, and it got me wondering. I know we’ve run almost 400 films on Channel Frederator and that we’d interviewed a lot of under exposed filmmakers and artists… But, how many exactly?
One hundred and forty five. Right, 145. And they keep on coming.
There aren’t too many places that play such close attention to the people making animated films, unless they’re Walt Disney or John Lasseter (not that there’s anything wrong with that). And while we can’t begin ton compare our archive to some of the in depth work done by folks like Michael Barrier, Amid Amidi, Jerry Beck, and others, it’s a darn good start I think.
We’re going to keep it up. In addition to the weekly Channel Frederator animated filmmakers, I’ve always thought the dedicated folks who work day to day in our crews deserve a spotlight, and we’ve started that up with the Fanboy & Chum Chum crew. Adventure Time’s crew will be coming up, and we’re going to try and backtrack into our shows like The Fairly Oddparents and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
And don’t be surprised when you start reading interviews with some of the (truly) misunderstood production crew and network executives that work on our shows. It takes a lot of people to make even one film, and I think we should try and get to know a little more about them all.
If you’re interested in getting in on the action, we’re always looking for new interviewers too, it’s a lot of work to keep this effort going. If you’re interested, just drop a note to our New York producer Carrie Miller, and she’ll try and get you going.
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery — celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from — it’s where you take them to.’”
Eric, Kevin and I went over the Casa Butch at Nickelodeon Studios where Butch Hartman told us a little about some of the movies he’s been developing. Thanks Butch.
Year of the Ox. Series 11, 2008, painting by Randy Saba
Randy Saba’s a filmmaker and artist who’s been a FOF (Friend of Frederator) since he worked as a production assistant on Oh Yeah! Cartoons and ChalkZone in the late 90s, and as he continues as production manager on The Fairly Oddparents. His film Wishy Wormy was featured on Episode 24 of Channel Frederator.
For the last couple of years I’ve been honored to receive his wonderful, annual paintings dedicated to the Chinese New Year. This year Series 11 is the Year of the Ox. Thanks Randy!
