Will and I just got back from the Ottawa Animation Festival, and I am very happy to say that the Upstate Four won the top prize in the “TV for kids” category! Holy Cow!
I’m especially proud that the prize was awarded by a jury of local kids, one who couldn’t see over the podium, and another who read a synopsis of the whole cartoon. Nice. This feels good.
As far as the rest of the festival, it was a blast. I’m always sad to leave Ottawa.
With all the news lately about AIG, I was reminded of the worst thing I’ve ever made. There wasn’t much animation work in Brooklyn back in 2002, and I was called by an employment agency to do a one-day Flash job. It was right after the collapse of Enron, and AIG wanted a reassuring video to show at a stockholder’s meeting. They wanted their logo, several screens filled with text information, and specific images. They also wanted several different songs. Then they wanted to see their logo again. This is what happens when you give the client everything they want.
Horrible.