The Ottawa International Animation Festival

Ottawa, Ontario (July 21, 2010)–Television producers will get the chance to make a name for themselves in the world of animation at this year’s TAC, the Ottawa International Animation Festival’s industry conference. TAC is hosting Pitch THIS!, an event that gives animation delegates an opportunity to learn what television executives are looking for in a new animated series. Pitch THIS! is taking place on October 20 and 21, 2010 at the world-famous, Fairmont Château Laurier in Ottawa, Canada. More than 350 animation producers, buyers, financiers and industry experts are expected to attend.

“This year, Pitch THIS! is being presented by Portfolio Entertainment Inc. as part of the Ottawa International Animation Festival,” said TAC Director Azarin Sohrabkhani. “It is the only pitching event in North America that serves as a stepping stool for animation hopefuls looking to boost their careers. So it really is an excellent opportunity for creators to get noticed and to showcase their creative talents for a potential TV series.”

On October 21, 2010, two creators will have five minutes to pitch their project ideas to a panel of international broadcasters. Following the pitches, representatives from major television networks will provide their insight on the animation projects. The representatives will then assess the projects based on their creative and financial elements as well as their marketability and appeal to each broadcaster.

“Along with this invaluable feedback, each participating producer also gains the type of industry exposure that only can lead to future success,” added Sohrabkhani.

The winners of In Toon With Tweens presented by Pitch THIS! sponsor Portfolio Entertainment Inc., are also going to be announced during the event. In Toon With Tweens is an animation contest directed at kids eight to 12 years old, designed to encourage creativity and out-of-the-box thinking from the new voices of the global animation community. A first prize of $7,500 CDN will be awarded and a second prize of $2,500 CDN will be given to the runner up.

In order to be considered for Pitch THIS! producers must submit their proposals for an original adult or children’s animation series, including a “project bible,” sample episode synopsis, concept art, and biographies of the key creative team.

Submissions should be sent by e-mail to: tac@animationfestival.ca or by regular mail to: TAC Pitch THIS!, 2 Daly Avenue, Suite 120, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6E2. No more than two submissions per production company will be accepted. The deadline for submissions is: September 1, 2010. For additional information on Pitch THIS!, TAC, and the Ottawa International Animation Festival, please call: (613) 232-8769 or visit: www.animationfestival.ca.

About TAC

TAC (Television Animation Conference) is Canada’s only animation business forum designed for professionals in content creation, development, production, distribution and marketing. TAC brings together key players in North America and international markets and provides a forum for active networking, practical information exchange and trade in a comfortable and intimate environment. TAC 2010 will be held October 20 and 21 at the Fairmont Château Laurier in Ottawa, Ontario. For more information about TAC, please visit: www.animationfestival.ca.

About Ottawa International Animation Festival

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is one of the world’s leading animation events providing first-class screenings, exhibits, workshops and entertainment since 1976. The annual five-day event brings art, industry and inspiration together in a vibrant setting. As the largest event in North America, the OIAF attracts more than 27,000 film buffs, art lovers, filmmakers, and cartoon fans from around the world. OIAF 2010 will be held from October 20 to 24 at various venues in Ottawa, Ontario. For more information and to experience OIAF on-line, please visit www.animationfestival.ca.

About Portfolio Entertainment Inc.

Founded in 1991, Portfolio Entertainment is one of Canada’s leading independent producers and international distributors of award-winning television programs for kids, tweens, teens, and adults. Co-Founders Lisa Olfman and Joy Rosen’s commitment to creative excellence and solid domestic and international relationships have propelled their programs onto the world’s most prestigious television networks. The partners have won numerous television industry awards internationally and they consistently rank in Profit Magazine’s W100 list of Canada’s Top Women Entrepreneurs. Portfolio Entertainment’s newest series is, The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!, based on Dr. Seuss’ iconic Cat character. For more information, please visit: www.portfolioentertainment.com.

Deadline for entries is June 1, with preview DVDs arriving no later than June 15.

There is no entry fee.

For more information and online entry form, go to www.animationfestival.ca.

Direct questions to entries@animationfestival.ca or 613-232-8769.

OTTAWA – The Province has announced the recipients of 2010 Celebrate Ontario funding grants, and more than $1.5-million is being invested in festivals and events taking place in Ottawa.

Twelve Ottawa Festival members that include Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, Tim Horton’s Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, Ottawa Folk Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ottawa International Children’s Festival, Ottawa International Writers Festival, Rideau Canal Festival, Summer Solstice Aboriginal Arts Summer Festival, TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival, WESTFEST, Festival Franco-Ontarien, and Canadian Tulip Festival received funding this year.

“This is very exciting news,” says Barb Stacey, Executive Director of Ottawa Festivals, a not-for-profit organization that represents more than 50 not-for-profit festivals, special events and fairs that take place in the National Capital Region, “this represents a substantial investment in our community, especially considering that these investments are leveraged many times over through private investment, sponsorship and funding available from other levels of government.

“This investment will improve our offering to visitors and further Ottawa’s reputation as being Canada’s Festival Capital. This will help attract new visitors to our internationally renowned premier events, and our supporting events will certainly enhance the city’s many tourism and cultural attractions,” Stacey continues, “These events animate the city. They add colour, life and excitement.”

Awarded by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Celebrate Ontario funding helps communities realize the potential benefits associated with increased tourism and visitor spending. “Festivals and events are important drivers of tourism in Ontario. This support will help enhance their offerings and bring more jobs, visitors and spending to communities throughout our province,” said Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture.

A sold-out ByTowne Cinema screened local animator David Cooper’s music video alongside other films at the Ottawa International Animation Festival last night.

His video was showcased alongside other films for the commissioned animated competition, including promotional work, music videos and adult television animation.

“This festival carries a lot of weight with animation industry people,” he says. “It can only help to have a film in competition here.”

The festival chose 99 films to compete out of 2,185 entries this year.

Full story from Centretown News: Music video showcased at animation festival

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) comes to an end with the highly anticipated closing ceremonies held this evening at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau. Organizers announced the winners of the official competition during the ceremonies.

This year’s event, held October 14-18, was a tremendous success with packed screenings, sold out workshops, high profile networking events such as the Television Animation Conference and the Recruiting Fair. The Festival is a major international film event that attracts 1500 industry pass holders from across Canada and around the world with a total attendance of over 25,000. Although the final numbers are not officially in, there are strong indications that this year’s Festival reached the highest attendance to date.

The 2009 international jury for Short Program, Student and Commissioned Films include: Amid Amidi (USA), Jim Blashfield (USA) and Suzan Pitt (USA). The international jury for Feature Film Competition include: Thomas Meyer-Hermann (Germany), Christa Moesker (Netherlands) and Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre (Canada).

The Festival has a special jury made up of local kids to select the Best Short Animation Made for Children and the Best Television Animation Made for Children. This year’s kids jury included: Tallie Doyle, Tegwyn Hughes, Jamie McCormick, Felipe Bemfica, Isabelle Birchall, Aditya Mohan, Paris Mullin, Quinn Murphy and Eric Ding.

 Full story: Ottawa festival winners announced

Mary and Max, directed by Australia’s Adam Elliot, took home the grand prize for best animated feature at the Ottawa International Animation Festival last night.

Kaasündinud Kohustused (Inherent Obligations) by Rao Heidmets of Estonia took home the grand prize for best independent short animation.

The 33rd annual festival featured 93 short films and seven features in competition and 58 in the international showcase, attracting a record 27,000 people, said festival spokeswoman Lindsay Wellwood. The festival had three local entries, including Nick Cross and Dave Cooper, who did a video for Danko Jones called King of Magazines, and Canterbury High School student Benjamin Woodyard.

Source: Metro Ottawa online: Animation fest wraps up 33rd year

More than 150 animated films — from as short as 10 seconds in length to this year’s record crop of feature-length entries — will be screened between today and Sunday evening. Ninety-nine of those films will be in official competition, and 58 others will be showcased outside the competition.

It’s all turning into the biggest year to date in the 33-year history of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, which can say without hyperbole that it attracts the best of the world’s animation, and some of its biggest hitters as guest speakers.

This year’s speakers include Henry Selick, director of Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, who will talk about his 2009 hit Coraline. Story supervisor Ronnie del Carmen will talk about the making of another big animated hit this year, Pixar’s Up!, and David Silverman will talk about directing The Simpsons Movie and 22 episodes of The Simpsons on TV.

Full preview available on Peter’s The Big Beat blog: Here’s what you’ll see at the animation festival

The festival features the competition of animated films, including short films, PSAs, commercials and feature films. Approximately 100 films are selected from 1,000 entries from all over the world each year, says Kelly Neall, managing director of the festival. It also allows animation professionals and fans to get together and network.

More students groups are expected to boost attendance, says Neall. Groups from all over North America have time to organize and are expected to come out, she says. When the festival was held in September, schools did not have time to prepare, she says.

More than 1,500 people have signed up for passes this year and the festival expects to break the attendance record from last year, says Neall. People attend because the festival is one of the largest animation festivals in the world, she says.

Full story at centretownnewsonline.ca: Animation Festival expects large crowds

From the new Wallace and Gromit movie to a new film by The Cat Came Back creator Cordell Barker and appearances by The Simpsons Movie director David Silverman, Up’s Ronnie del Carmen and Coraline director Henry Selick, the Ottawa International Animation Festival has “some pretty heavy stars in animation” here this year, said artistic director Chris Robinson.

The 33rd annual festival, which kicked off Wednesday and runs through Sunday, has “taken over downtown” with screenings at the Bytown, the Arts Court, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the National Gallery of Canada and the Empire Theatre, said Robinson.

With so many film choices – 99 in competition and 40 in the international showcase – and lectures, workshops and networking opportunities for those in the industry, Ottawans have a lot to choose from.

Read the full preview on Metro Ottawa online: Animation buffet

Three short films from the Chinese mainland were selected for competition at the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) which opened here on Wednesday.

“We are very exited to have Lei Lei, a Chinese animator here with three films in competition,” the OIAF’s managing director Kelly Neall told Xinhua in an interview at the opening ceremony in downtown Ottawa.

The three Chinese entries — “Magic Cube and Ping-Pong,” “Pears or Aliens” and “The Universe Cotton” — are all from Lei Lei, a 23-year-old up-and-coming multimedia animator, who graduated from Tsinghua University in 2007.

Full story: Chinese films selected for competition at Canadian animation festival