I've been preoccupied these last few weeks, finishing the final DCP for "Slide" and that's the reason why I've been remiss in writing the latest chapters for Scribble Junkies.
AMDOCS FESTIVAL, Palm Springs, CA - March 21-25
The next stop on my festival tour was Palm Springs, the AmDocs Festival. Teddy puts on a great show and really takes care of the animators. We had one great party at the Walt Disney Ranch. That Disney guy was taking over the U.S. with all of his projects - who knew he had a ranch in Palm Springs? His main house had a lot of great photos from his early years in California, and Walt playing polo on his horse.
Then, the next night the party was at a pot club. I admit I took a few drugs in my early college years and quite honestly, I believe it was very beneficial to my surrealist style of humor. So the bartender suggested I try their marijuana beer. It didn't taste like a real beer and it seemed like a very watered-down cerveza - but I joined a friendly co-ed pool match and about halfway through it hit! I had to leave the pool game and just watch my bizarre surroundings and enjoy the crazy rock band that morphed into one of my weirder cartoons.
Also, while in Palm Springs I had dinner with a great bunch of folks, including Oscar-winner Joan Gratz, Rose Bond, Chel White, Melissa Marsland and Jim Blashfield. This was kind of like a "Who's Who" of Portland based animation directors and producers! It was so wonderful to hang out with this elite group!
HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - March 28-April 2
The next stop was Hong Kong - because of my films being pirated on the internet, and therefore quite popular in China, I was guaranteed a large audience, but they were mostly students so I didn't sell much merchandise.
One of the great things about these faraway festivals is that the airlines don't want you to get bored so they cram way too many films on the screen. So most of the films in their library are ones I've never heard of. One title was very intriguing, so I had to give it a shot - and if it was a dud, it would be easy to select an alternate film. So I decided to give it 5 minutes, it was called "Apocalypse Clown" - it's an Irish film, however 30 seconds into the film I was laughing my ass off. The premise, as if it needed one, is that the clowns have become very tribal - you've got the circus clowns vs. statue clowns vs. mime clowns, and because they've been involved in turf wars, they've all been thrown into prison, along with one woman, a non-clown reporter, who was shunned by her friends because she had sex with a clown. And during their imprisonment, the apocalypse has wiped out most of mankind, so the clowns take over civilization. But can they keep it, without killing each other? It's sort of in the genre of "Sharknado or "Cocaine Bear" or "Surf Nazis Must Die". But it's ten times funnier than those films. This has to be the funniest film by far in the last decade, it rivals my favorite comedy, "The Producers" - so go and see it NOW!
FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL, Maitland, Florida - April 14-16
I then returned to one of my favorite festivals, the Florida Film Festival. It's great because the center of the festival takes place at the Enzian Theater, which is nestled under these huge Spanish moss trees, to keep the outdoor restaurant cool and shady. So everyone is in party mode all day long. I had bumped into Matt Curtis, the festival's director, back in January at the Sundance Festival, so my film "Slide" had been on his radar since then, that's how this crazy festival thing works sometimes.
John Cleese made an appearance after the screening of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail' and after that very funny film, John talked for an hour about how to make something funny - I was in heaven.
ANIMOCJE FESTIVAL, Bydgoszcz, Poland - April 14-20
More recently I returned from a film festival in Poland called "Animocje". I gave my master class on animation and screened some of my short films, plus the trailer for "Slide". Everybody seemed to enjoy my class and I posed for a few photos after. Then the next day I appeared at the screening of the full movie of "Slide".
I was joined by two very talented musicians, Gosia and Aga, who have an album out now called "Fairies Garden". Their music is wonderful - check it out, you'll love it. They took me on a fascinating tour of Warsaw - most of it has been rebuilt to match the pre-World War II look of that city, with emphasis on the Warsaw Ghetto.
Visit their web-site at: www.fairies.pl
SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL, New Mexico - April 25-28
And now I'm writing from the airport in Santa Fe, New Mexico - where they have remodeled the buildings to look like the old pueblo communities. I love it, but I feel a little like I'm living in a giant sand castle village.
Not only did "Slide" play here in Santa Fe but also an important film that I did animation for, called "Downwind". It's a documentary about the radiation from nuclear testing, and I was able to join the director, Mark Shapiro and producer Matthew Modine for the Q&A after the film. It's a topic very important to New Mexico because that state received a huge percentage of the radiation and zero government money for all the damage it did to the population.
My film "Slide" showed in the Jean Cocteau Cinema, which was a bit weird because only 2 days earlier I watched the classic Cocteau film "Beauty and the Beast" from around 1946, what a masterpiece. I saw that film when I was in college, and it inspired me to make animated feature films. I had a good crowd, lots of laughs and I did my "sign and sell" after.
I was ready to go home and I took a taxi to the airport, but I discovered I had somehow missed my flight by a day - forunately the ticket office was able to book me on a red-eye flight later that night. But the day wasn't a loss, because as I was waiting in the tiny lounge I was able to complete a number of storyboards and some concept art - so what a productive day that turned out to be!
Now on to upcoming events:
BIG APPLE FILM FESTIVAL
We just got word about our NYC festival premiere of "Slide", it will be at the Big Apple Film Festival on Monday, May 20 at 3:30 pm, the location is the Look Dine-In Cinemas on 657 West 57th St. in Manhattan. This is very exciting, for me to see the film play in my own city! I will do my best to be there and introduce the film, or speak after, or whatever they'll let me do!
You can get tickets now at this link:
https://baff2024springedition.eventive.org/films/6630fd2ad47bf300393fde13
BENEFIT AT BEDFORD PLAYHOUSE
Then, just two days later, I'll be hosting a benefit up in Bedford, NY, on May 22, 7 pm at the famous Bedford Playhouse, which is at 633 Old Post Road. We're going to celebrate the new film and have a panel about creativity, art and animation with some very special guests, and it will be moderated by Vanessa Smith.
We'll also sell artwork from the new feature, also art from my "Simpsons" couch gags and the Oscar-nominated short "Your Face". There will also be a performance of music from "Slide" by composer and Spirit Award nominee Maureen McElheron. Refreshments by Nitty's Cider and everyone who comes gets a free Bill Plympton sketch!
For tickets, go to:
https://bedfordplayhouse.org/special_events/why-do-animation-and-creativity-matter/
I hope to see you there! I'll continue on with my film festival travels and keep you up to date on "Slide" news. Thanks for your interest and attention.
--Bill Plympton
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