ASIFA-East in 2023!
Hello, and welcome to the year 2023!
It’s me! Your friendly neighborhood ASIFA-East President, Tristian Goik! We are looking forward to a new year of bringing together amazing animation and talented animators. Last year, our 52nd annual Animated Film Festival adapted to new virtual screenings and concluded with a lovely in-person gathering at the Museum of Moving Image.
But in this post-pandemic return to normalcy, ASIFA-East needs your help! If you are a long time member, or just an eager new fan, there are many ways that you can contribute to ASIFA. We are looking for new volunteers, new board members, new venues, and new ideas! We must fill important roles on the board and bring back key traditions such as life-drawing. If you are interested in volunteering, or learning about what ASIFA-East has in store for the future, please keep reading!
Volunteer Call to Action!
Vacancy: ASIFA-East Treasurer
The ASIFA-East volunteer board is made up of many prestigious and hard-working animators. While we are hard at work rebooting our website and launching new digital practices, we are looking to add new board members and replace some key roles! Critically, a new Treasurer, who would be an experienced financial planner, taking over from our beloved volunteer Treasurer, Masako Kanayama. The Treasurer would thoroughly document our operating and film festival budget, keep track of membership fees, and work closely with the New York Foundation of the Arts (of which ASIFA-East is a part). If you are interested email us at asifaeastpresident@gmail.com! (Current and longtime members preferred).
Share New Venues & Theatre Recommendations!
ASIFA-East is opening up again after the global pandemic shutdown, and we need your help! These days, our university partners are unable to provide public screening spaces, due to keeping their students safe and healthy. But ASIFA-East is not without options, and we have some rainy day money tucked away. If your screening room or gallery space is available for hosting our animation events, or if you have any suggestions, please reach out to us at asifaeastpresident@gmail.com! This is a great opportunity to promote your business and help spread the love of animation. New venues are particularly important for our annual Animation Festival, enabling us to hold in-person screenings for our members and the public.
Tell Us Your New Events & Panel Ideas!
ASIFA-East has hosted many classic animation events over the years, but today we like to focus on some favorites. “International Animation Day” shares animated films from our sister chapters worldwide. “Animators of Color” is a powerful screening dedicated to highlighting diverse creators. “The Queer Animation Show” is held every Pride month in NYC to share LGBT+ animations with the community. Our “Open-House” invites anyone to bring in works-in-progress and get feedback from industry members, while our “Post-Holiday Party” brought everyone together for drinks and networking! And of course, our annual Animation Festival holds a week’s worth of screenings during our public jury voting screenings, as well as a fabulous final awards show screening and reception. If you would live to get involved in any of these events, or have an idea of your own, email us at asifaeastpresident@gmail.com!
Join our Virtual Town Hall!
ASIFA-East will hold a future virtual town-hall so that we can talk to more of our members and share some monthly proceedings from the board. Plus, we are actively looking for new volunteers for the key roles of secretary and treasurer. A private Zoom link will be sent to our subscribers newsletter with further information. There will be a presentation of the agenda and a short board meeting.
Host Live Figure-Drawing Classes!
We all have to keep drawing sometime, so ASIFA-East is looking to restore our live figure drawing classes! Once held in great places such as the School of Visual Arts, The Productive, and Titmouse, we need to find new galleries, studios, or businesses to host our wide and diverse range of models. If your space is available, or if you know a guy who knows a guy, email us at asifaeastpresident@gmail.com!
Become a Social Media Promoter!
#AyCarambaDude! ASIFA-East is in need of Social Media Promoters! Our Facebook group “ASIFA East and Friends” with over 2K members could always use content, but there’s more! All our events need to be promoted across platforms, from Facebook to Instagram (800+ Followers), Twitter (1500+ F), and whatever the future holds. Think of the animated GIF potential… and all the films you can promote during our festival! If you are interested in becoming an ASIFA-East Social Media Promoter, email us at asifaeastpresident@gmail.com!
Wanted! International ASIFA Coordinator
One of the important board positions available is the International ASIFA Coordinator. While the job includes important duties as our representative to the main ASIFA organization in France, more recently it’s crucial to International Animation Day. ASIFA-Central spearheaded the creation of a virtual international database and discussion board for International Animation Day (Oct. 28th). Now we just need someone to run the screening, easily downloading full programs from around the world, as well as putting together our own submission to the short-film collection as ASIFA-East! A perfect program that draws big ASIFA crowds, this event needs a venue, although it is also perfect for university classes. If you are interested in becoming our International ASIFA Coordinator, email us at asifaeastpresident@gmail.com!
Join the “Friends of ASIFA-East” Network!
ASIFA-East has worked with many wonderful organizations right here in New York City. Cross promotion is a key part of our partnerships, so we are launching “Friends of ASIFA-East” on our webpage, listing different animation organizations such as festivals, museums, universities, and studios! There are lots of exciting events in the area, so we are helping you keep track! If you have a suggestion for a new “Friend of ASIFA-East,” tell us about it! Webpage coming soon.
The 53rd Annual ASIFA-East Animation Film Festival!
Submissions are now open! This year we have digitized many of our practices and for the first time ever we are using FilmFreeway to collect films. Read more about all our categories and awards, and stay tooned for more information about upcoming virtual screenings and events. Final Deadline is February 20th, 2023.
Sponsor Our Festival!
Looking to support a charitable organization? Our Annual Animation Festival can always use a new sponsor! Proceeds go to fund the festival’s rental fees, promotional materials, photography, catering, and more. Past sponsors have included Dreamworks, the television show “Our Cartoon President” and Jeremy’s Artarama (Empowering Artists since 1968!). If you would like to make a donation and become a sponsor, please contact us at asifaeastfestival@gmail.com
Become a Blogger!
Do you find the pen mightier than the sword? ASIFA-East is always looking for Bloggers, articles and content for our website blog “The Anymator!” I myself love to write about animation events in New York City, sharing the education and experience to animators anywhere! It’s great to have a first hand account of screenings, exhibits, and more. We also have our running column The Viewseum, headed by Emmett Goodman, where we interview our members about their work! If you have a suggestion for The Viewseum, tell us about it! The Anymator blog is also a perfect way to document our events, so you will have a chance to work with media images as well as write. If you love blogging, email us at asifaeastpresident@gmail.com!
Reach out to Universities!
ASIFA-East’s friendship with local colleges and universities is key to our heritage and future. With a vast majority of students in our membership, they provide much of our festival’s key content. Plus, many of our members end up becoming professors themselves! We would love to talk to any practicing educators about our animation programs and opportunities, so email us at asifaeastpresident@gmail.com!
Member Survey
Stay tooned for a 2023 Membership survey, so we can learn more about our audience! Work in progress, but feel free to email us your comments and ideas at asifaeastpresident@gmail.com!
This concludes our look at ASIFA-East in 2023. ASIFA has always been reliant on the cooperation and coordination of its unpaid volunteers to bring animators together for exclusive events in New York City. I hope you learned a lot about what we have planned for the future, and that it inspires you to pitch in! Happy Holidays and enjoy a Happy New Year!
