Yes, believe it or not, I'm still alive. I've been amazingly lost for the last few months. Lost in the deep light box in my studio, trying to finish my latest production, called "Slide". You may have heard of it, I've been in production on it for the last six years, maybe more!
So here's the update. I'm so close to being finished. The scanning, coloring, animation, voices, music and editing are essentially all completed - however, the bottleneck is the compositing. That, I can not do, I'm a No. 1 klutz when it comes to computers. And all the interns we hire (and I love interns) have left my studio because they need to finish their own thesis films. And I have no more money to hire extra help.
I did do a test screening of the rough cut of the film, back in March, at the SVA Theatre, and even though the film was in terrible shape - no lip sync, half the film was uncolored and scenes were missing - to my surprise, it scored very well. WHAT?!? So I've now corrected the small weaknesses and I've started to send the rough cut to the festivals. Lo and behold, it got accepted into one of the most prestigious festivals around, the Annecy Animation Festival, in their "ContreChamp" features competition! Only one problem, can I finish the film in time?
So, I'm calling in all my friends, to pitch in and help me finish the damn film. I must say, it looks really good now, I'm using a new technique that I developed that looks fantastic - also, I believe the story is very interesting and funny. So, it should perform well.
To learn more about the upcoming screening of "Slide" at Annecy, please visit the festival's web-site:
https://www.annecyfestival.com/the-festival/competition/2023:lmcc
We are still accepting donations to help with finishing funds and promotional costs for "Slide", I've partnered with Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization based in Boston - so if you can spare any amount for a donation, it will be tax-deductible! Here's their web-site:
https://filmmakerscollab.org/films/slide/
In April, I made a presentation at the acclaimed National Arts Club, located in Gramercy Park, here in NYC. They wanted to screen my first animated feature, "The Tune", and have me then discuss the film with the audience after. I was thrilled to see such a large crowd turn out for the event, and it was fun to see the old film I made 30 years ago and hear such enthusiastic laughter from the audience. Someone suggested it should be a Broadway musical - yeah, why not?
After I autographed a bunch of postcards for fans, we we put up some original cels from "The Tune" for sale and people raced to buy them! The other reason I mention this event, besides the fact that it was a lot of fun, is because a company called Deaf Crocodile is going to re-release "The Tune" later this year, for its 30th Anniversary. And then after screening the film in select theaters, they want to finally get the restored version of "The Tune" released on BluRay!
It's another bit of good news that the film holds up very well after so long - people still laugh and sing along with Maureen McElheron's wonderful music.
So, watch for the re-release of "The Tune" some time this fall or winter -
And here's the link to the trailer for "Slide" on my YouTube channel:
I think you'll like it! Now that I've delivered my "child", "Slide" I believe I can devote more time to this Scribble Junkies blog and to my fans.
Thanks for your collective patience -
Bill P.
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