In 2009, a nine-year-old San Diego artist and award-winning film critic
Perry Chen (
Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest) met Oscar-nominated animation legend
Bill Plympton (
Guard Dog) at Comic-Con and drew a "Hot Dog" next to the one Plympton drew for him from his acclaimed animation series. A year later, Perry was hired to work on an animation short,
Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest, about a young Holocaust survivor (actress Ingrid Pitt's story), under the guidance of Plympton. The rest is history. A panel of the creative team, sponsors, and distributor, including
Perry Chen (animator),
Kevin Sean Michaels (director),
Bill Plympton (storyboard and character design),
Zhu Shen (producer),
Karina Bessoudo (Toon Boom Animation, vice president of marketing and communications),
Douglas Little (Wacom, public relations), and
Linda Olszewski (Shorts International co-head of worldwide acquisition), share the amazing behind-the-scenes story: how a first-time child animator's film got sponsorship from leading animation companies, went on to premiere at the 2011 Comic-Con and LA Shorts Fest, won multiple film festival awards, was featured in
Animation magazine and on 2011 Animation Show of Shows, qualified for an Academy Award, touched many hearts, and secured worldwide distribution by Shorts International, the distributor of Oscar-nominated shorts and other outstanding short films. This lively panel, moderated by
Tom Kenny (
SpongeBob SquarePants) will share tips and lessons learned not only about getting started with animation, but also how to identify and secure corporate sponsorships; how get your film produced, marketed, and distributed; and how to select the right film festivals for your film.
http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_search_results.php?strShow=33&strRec=4646
