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. I will post more of my favorites in the coming days, but here’s something to watch in the meantime:

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.

Logging into my Hotmail this morning, I noticed a photo of someone who looks to be animator Mike Overbeck. Mike, is there something you’re not telling us?