Lots of Stuff

The lots of stuff begins with New York Comic-Con - I've been a loyal attendee and booth vendor since the second time it was held (2007, I think).  I've always liked it because I can catch up with all of my East Coast cartoonist buddies, also it's been a great opportunity to sell my DVDs and books, much cheaper to get to than the San Diego Con, because I live and work so close to the Javits Center.

This year I was able to connect with Bob Camp ("Ren & Stimpy"), Mike Richardson (Dark Horse Comics), Dan Pinto (Titmouse animator), Andy London and actor Jared Gilman ("Moonrise Kingdom").  That was all great, but unfortunately we didn't do a lot of business - which is partly my own fault because I've been so busy that I haven't had time to release a new book or DVD.  It's too bad, because I have plenty of material to fuel several books or DVDs.

                                                                      with Andy London at New York Comic-Con

                                                                                 with Jared Gilman at NYCC

                                                    with the twins from "The Shining", all grown up now

                                                                                Drawing a caricature for a fan

So I sort of felt that I was wasting my time sitting in the NYCC booth all day - when I could have been watching or making movies.  So now I'm not sure if I'll make the time for New York Comic-Con next year.

More stuff - I just returned from the Woodstock Film Festival (my 19th year there, I think) where I screened "Cop Dog" and "Revengeance".  Both films were very well received - lots of positive comments and great applause.  Plus the weather was a great "Indian Summer" weekend, and I stayed at my favorite hotel, the Woodstock Inn at the Mill.  What a terrific room, and what a beautiful setting.  Plus I got to meet Lori Singer, start of "Footloose" and "Short Cuts"!

                                                                             with Lori Singer in Woodstock!

My favorite film that I saw there was "The Ballad of Lefty Brown", with an acting tour-de-force by Bill Pullman.  Watch for him at Oscar time!  Variety published a great article about Bill Pullman winning an honorary award at Woodstock for Excellence in Acting - but later in the article Mitch Myers had some great things to say about "Revengeance" too.  You can check it out here:

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/woodstock-film-festival-bill-pullman-1202591874/

And I finished another music video for Jackie Greene, this one's called "Good Advice" and you can watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4B4G9u2K7c

I'm now finishing up another music video for Jackie - it's called "Tupelo" and I get to animated the King of Rock & Roll - Elvis!  That's been a lifelong ambition for me.  I've got one more music video to do, it's called "Back of My Mind" and I'm just now putting together the storyboards.  Incidentally, I just saw that Jackie will be playing in Woodstock in early December.  Who knows, I may make a surprise appearance...

One more thing, I went to the Academy of Motion Pictures' party to celebrate their recently inducted new members.  What a great time!  Here's a photo of me with Whoopi Goldberg -

I'm off to South Korea for a few days, for the Bucheon Animation Festival - I'll tell you all about it when I get back!

--Bill P.