This gallery contains 34 photos.
This gallery contains 34 photos.
Interview by Dave Levy. Longtime ASIFA-East member, Biljana Labovic, the subject of our February interview, originally comes from Yugoslavia, where she studied Graphic Design and Illustration at the University of Arts. Since 1997, when she moved to New York to study animation at the School of Visual Arts, she has worked on many commercial animation projects, and with acclaimed independent animators, including Faith and Emily Hubley, and Bill Plympton. Now putting all those years of training and experience to work for herself, as an artist, animator, filmmaker, teacher, producer (and more), Biljana recently sat still long enough to answer our six questions. So the least you could do is sit still too, and enjoy. 1-What was your relationship with animation back from when you were in Yugoslavia? And, how did you end up studying animation at SVA in NYC? I grew up in a country with a lot of animation tradition, but despite the Zagreb school and its legacy, there was no place or school to study animation in the entre country in the early ‘90s when I was embarking on the art school journey. You have to remember that this was also the time of the beginning of...
This week I had the pleasure of chatting with Signe Baumane who sent along scans from the DOK International Leipzig Festival for documentary and animated catalog. This years program has a bright spotlight on some of New York’s animated favorites, a retrospective of Signe Baumane and master class with Bill Plympton. The Program also featured some big apple darlings; the Rauch Bros, Gary Lieb, Arthur Metcalf, Adam Ansorge, and recent west coast transplant Pes. Signe and Bill also had a great turn out for their own screening/show/competition Battle of the Sexes!! shown in Video HERE as well as the scans from the catalog of the Battle of the Sexes in Leipzig
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of sitting down with the very awesome Bill Plympton who needs little introduction. His 5th feature film to date, Idiots and Angels , is getting its theatrical release this October 6th here in New York at the IFC Center. Plympton’s catalog of shorts and features are often comedic and gag oriented romps while this film is a big change of pace. Idiots and Angels is a handsomely dark tale about a man of loose morals that wakes up sprouting wings on his back, the wings lead him to good deeds which he constantly fights with. For the sake of disclosure, when I graduated college my first real job in animation was coloring on this film for Bill so I’m a little sentimental about it. When I got to sit down with Bill he let me in on the journey from the finished product and festival premiere in 2008 to laborious effort of self releasing Idiots and Angels ; Bill Plympton: Idiots and Angels had its premiere at the TriBeCa film festival in 2008. It was exciting because the reviews were good, people were buzzing about it and the audience loved the film,...
A Worldwide Showcase of International Short Films, Videos, and Digital Works Curated by Microcinema International and Bill Plympton Presented by Panasonic Broadcast Independent Exposure 2010 is the 14th annual showcase for contemporary, progressive, artistic, and culturally relevant short films and videos by some of the most compelling artists and filmmakers from around the globe. Independent Exposure is seeking narrative, artistic, humorous, dramatic, animation, documentary, experimental, alternative, avant-garde, ambient, music videos, and underground works of all genres, formats, and styles. For full program information, rules, selection criteria, prizes, and how to submit please visit www.independentexposure.com
Now for the first time ever – we’re happy to announce THE BILL PLYMPTON SCHOOL OF ANIMATION! Yes, you can now learn the secrets of animation from the Master. Learn how you can make amazing films that can earn money. Learn the tricks of drawing, design, layouts, storyboards, writing, humor, directing, backgrounds and editing. Learn the business of animation, budgets, funding, selling, distribution, festivals and cost-cutting tricks. The class runs for 14 consecutive weeks, every Wednesday night from 6-8 PM, starting from Sept. 16 – Dec 16. at the fabulous Plympton Studio in Chelsea. Limited to 15 students per class, call now before it fills up. The cost is $1000 per student. At the end of the 14-week class, you’ll receive an authentic Bill Plympton School certificate. Call (212) 741-0322 or email at Plymptoons@aol.com for more information.
