I'm so close to finishing "Slide", I can smell it - and it smells sweet!
We have a new producer, Owen, who's really taking charge and wrapping up the production after about 7 years. Of course, there are still some last-minute shots and editing changes and sound mixes to take care of. But already we've booked the film into a number of festivals:
The International premiere will be at the Seoul Indie Ani-Fest in South Korea, starting September 14. By the time you read this, I'll probably be in South Korea, to present the film and also do an animation Master Class. Then there will be a special screening, the Spanish premiere, in the Canary Islands on September 19-21, sponsored by the Animayo Festival.
Then the U.S. premiere will be at the Woodstock Film Festival, one screening at the Woodstock Playhouse on Friday, September 29 at 11:30 am, and another at Upstate Films in Saugerties on Saturday, September 30 at 10:30 am. If you want to go, you can get tickets here:
https://woodstock2023.eventive.org/films/64af03c398cdfc0084e62db2
The Woodstock pre-festival party was last night in NYC, just down the street from my apartment, so I just HAD to go. Also, I designed the poster for this year's Woodstock Festival, I'll include it here so you can see how great it looks!
https://www.mvff.com/program/slide/
After that, the film will screen at the Taiwan International Animation Festival, which takes place October 13-21. I'll be appearing at ALL of these festivals to introduce the films and do a Q&A after. So if you're around any of those festivals, please stop by and say HELLO!
In the middle of all of that, I'll also be appearing at the New York Comic-Con, at the Javits Center, which is October 12-15. Travel is important, but so is staying close to home and going to Comic-Con! You can find me in Artists Alley, I think I'll be at table G-08. We'll have art for sale, and also my DVDs and books and some special surprises!
Since I've pretty much finished my work on "Slide", I am now free to take on other projects. One of the more interesting is a feature compilation of animated sci-fi stories, put together by a gentleman from Poland. The story I chose is very compelling, both visually and dramatically. I've already done the storyboards and I think it could be a whole lot of fun to animate. I can't really say any more because it's still under wraps. I'll definitely let you know more about the project as it develops.
But the coolest event lately was my winning the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award from the prestigious National Cartoonists Society, who hand out the Reuben Awards! When I got the phone call about the prize, I was somewhat dumbstruck, flabbergasted and even gobsmacked! I've been out of the cartooning business for 15 years! What the hell? I do create an occasional gag cartoon every so often, but I'm now immersed in animation. But hey, I'm not going to turn it down, it's a BIG DEAL!
The Reuben Awards were held on September 7 at the luxurious Hyatt Regency in Jersey City. It was tremendous fun, because I get to mingle with some of the biggest names in cartoons - Brian Bassett, Peter Kuper, Mike Peters, Jim Davis ("Garfield"), Bill Griffith ("Zippy the Pinhead") and of course, the great Peter de Seve (whose new large art book is now being released) did my introduction and presented me with the award. Peter and I go way back, although he doesn't look it, we hung out in the late 1970's and early 80's.
The award is really important to me, although I was a print cartoonist 30 years ago and am now an animator, for the comic and illustration world to celebrate my career like that is really a life-affirming (and art-affirming) event. This is the highest award I could hope to get, except perhaps an Oscar!
See you all soon,
Bill P.
