Alrighty, up at 6:30am to get to the TAC (The Animation Conference), a two day info session packed with panels, pitch sessions, schmoozing, networking, eating and drinking. Got to the Chateau Laurier at 7:30 for the free breakfast buffet (huge spread) and settled in. I don't know anyone yet, so I just pick a table to sit at for the day. I meet 4 guys from Edmonton, in town to pitch a show idea. They're young and full of energy. Very keen on having a good time and learning this business.
Josh Selig kicks things off as that days keynote speaker. He's from 'Little Airplane Studios' and has won a ton of emmys for his work in the early days of Sesame Street. A legend and very inspiring to hear. He hammers on about orginality and has a great anecdote about meeting Dom Deluise as a kid and learning that 'everything matters' when it comes to presentation and entertaining.
Next is a boring and short pitch about a product called 'Cel Action 2D'. Not much was shown and it was too short to make a strong impression.
Next was another panel on Market Analysis. Man there are some heavyweights here from the world of television animation production. Ron Estey - VP of C.O.R.E Digital, Kevin Gillis - CEO of Skywriter Media (a new but busy venture) and Tom Gillis - President of Fresh TV. Lot's of interesting takes on how the industry is making through this economic downturn and how they are going to take advantage of the internet. Nobody has a good solution for that yet and as it stands it is a free for all as the CTRC does not regulate it yet. They talked about surviving with more co-production, improving quality and becoming more cost effective.
Next was a panel on Branding and boy is there big bucks in this. Some guys have figured out how to make money off the internet by doing viral marketing and ads for big companies and brands such as McDonalds and Kraft. Guys like Marble Media and Fuel Industries are tapping into this big time. Some good debates about the selling out nature of developing cartoons to sell stuff and having them built around products.
Alright it's 3:30 and back to the hotel for nappy time until happy hour.
Happy Hour for the TAC members at this really cool bar called Foundations. Free booze and tons of food. A great party and I meet all kinds of people from Bangladesh, Singapore, Australia. This is truly an international event. It took an Aussie composer to introduce me to someone else from Kelowna. He composes for animation and live action and then someone from Saskatchewan mentions knowing Jordan Gaucher who is trying to start a studio in Kelowna. So that sets up some meetings in the near future. I run into tons of old collegues from Atomic Cartoons, Loogaroo, Mercury, etc...
Now it's off to a restaurant called the 'Highlander' for some Scottish grub and music. I have dinner with Rob Davies - VP of Atomic Cartoons (Atomic Betty), Ian Cortlett (creator and writer of Being Ian and Yvon of the Yukon) and Rick Morrison (co-founder of Funbag and now head of Big Jump Productions). We try some Scottish pints and listen to a scottish guy do cover tunes of the Tragically Hip. Interesting! Man oh man, I haven't laughed this much in ages. Stories you won't believe. Next it's off to the Brassierie for the closing party. This is being hosted by Atomic and such and it's open to all passholders. Wow, free drinks and the place is a zoo. I sneak out around midnight but I heard it raged until 3am. This is day one. I hope I can survive. I am definitely taking it easier on day 2.
Josh Selig kicks things off as that days keynote speaker. He's from 'Little Airplane Studios' and has won a ton of emmys for his work in the early days of Sesame Street. A legend and very inspiring to hear. He hammers on about orginality and has a great anecdote about meeting Dom Deluise as a kid and learning that 'everything matters' when it comes to presentation and entertaining.
Next is a boring and short pitch about a product called 'Cel Action 2D'. Not much was shown and it was too short to make a strong impression.
Next was another panel on Market Analysis. Man there are some heavyweights here from the world of television animation production. Ron Estey - VP of C.O.R.E Digital, Kevin Gillis - CEO of Skywriter Media (a new but busy venture) and Tom Gillis - President of Fresh TV. Lot's of interesting takes on how the industry is making through this economic downturn and how they are going to take advantage of the internet. Nobody has a good solution for that yet and as it stands it is a free for all as the CTRC does not regulate it yet. They talked about surviving with more co-production, improving quality and becoming more cost effective.
Next was a panel on Branding and boy is there big bucks in this. Some guys have figured out how to make money off the internet by doing viral marketing and ads for big companies and brands such as McDonalds and Kraft. Guys like Marble Media and Fuel Industries are tapping into this big time. Some good debates about the selling out nature of developing cartoons to sell stuff and having them built around products.
Alright it's 3:30 and back to the hotel for nappy time until happy hour.
Happy Hour for the TAC members at this really cool bar called Foundations. Free booze and tons of food. A great party and I meet all kinds of people from Bangladesh, Singapore, Australia. This is truly an international event. It took an Aussie composer to introduce me to someone else from Kelowna. He composes for animation and live action and then someone from Saskatchewan mentions knowing Jordan Gaucher who is trying to start a studio in Kelowna. So that sets up some meetings in the near future. I run into tons of old collegues from Atomic Cartoons, Loogaroo, Mercury, etc...
Now it's off to a restaurant called the 'Highlander' for some Scottish grub and music. I have dinner with Rob Davies - VP of Atomic Cartoons (Atomic Betty), Ian Cortlett (creator and writer of Being Ian and Yvon of the Yukon) and Rick Morrison (co-founder of Funbag and now head of Big Jump Productions). We try some Scottish pints and listen to a scottish guy do cover tunes of the Tragically Hip. Interesting! Man oh man, I haven't laughed this much in ages. Stories you won't believe. Next it's off to the Brassierie for the closing party. This is being hosted by Atomic and such and it's open to all passholders. Wow, free drinks and the place is a zoo. I sneak out around midnight but I heard it raged until 3am. This is day one. I hope I can survive. I am definitely taking it easier on day 2.
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