(Linda Beck)
I hope your holidays were pleasant and peaceful and that you are successfully keeping up with the new year!
2011 was a terrific year for our organization and your Board kicked off the year making plans to continue bringing you great events and posting useful information on our blog with a number of continuing and new agenda items:
Our aNYmator Blog Editor, Dayna Gonzalez, offers a new series of freelancer resources with quips, tips, and templates. Her newest post on invoicing can be found here. If you have a freelancing issue you’d like to see information about on the blog, here’s where Dayna can be reached: asifaeastblogger@gmail.com
Our Viewseum Curator, Emmett Goodman, continues to wrangle and post intriguing and inspiring selections to our online gallery of member animation. Members, you can submit your shorts for consideration here: asifaviewseum@gmail.com.
Rich Gorey carries on with our interview series. Having started with the student winners from last year’s ASIFA-Awards, he’s open to and enthusiastic about your suggestions for interview subjects. Email me here and I’ll send your email along to him: asifaeast.mailinglist@gmail.com
Our Mailing List Administrator, Katie Cropper, is who we have to thank for whipping up and sending out our digital newsletter every week or so. If you have items of interest or events you think would be appropriate to include, you can let her know here: asifaeast.mailinglist@gmail.com
ASIFA-East continues to keep up news from ASIFA International (the original ASIFA, from which ASIFA-East derived) thanks to our ASIFA-East International Representative, Ray Kosarin. Some of you saw the terrific ASIFA International Program at our International Animation Day Screening last October. Look for something similar again this year.
Our Treasurer, Masako Kanayama, reports that we are “in the black” and that the auction was a success in grubstaking our ASIFA-East Awards Ceremony this coming spring on April 29th. Adrian Urquidez, our Website Manager, keeps our calendar populated and Caresse Singh, our ASIFA-East Secretary, keeps our membership lists up to date. Dave Levy handles our numerous location bookings and logistics and Justin Simonich provides some feed for our mailboxes. As always, we have an terrific influx of ideas from the rest of your distinguished Board and fellow members and we’re lucky to have had a comfortable place to meet in Buzzco and a place to receive our mail in Michael Sporn Animation. And if you haven’t made it to Richard O’Connor’s terrific ASIFA-East Open Screening Series, it’s not too late. Keep an eye on the blog for the next date, which will fall in mid-February.
But some sad news came our way at the end of last year…
On December 1st, we lost animation veteran and ASIFA-East Founding Member, Vincent “Vinny” Cafarelli, who passed away peacefully in his sleep at age 81. If you missed the December 5th link on our Facebook page or the link in Katie’s December 7th newsletter, please take a moment to read ASIFA-East Board Member, Michael Sporn’s eloquent tribute to Vinny now. Vinny adapted and thrived through many eras of animation and will forever be an important part of Animation and ASIFA-East history.
Be sure, also, to take a look at ASIFA-East Board Member, Tom Warburton’s piece, about his experience working with Vinny.
In addition, Vinny’s long time partner and ASIFA-East Board Member, Candy Kugel, has provided footage from Vinny’s January 6th Memorial, which can be found here.
Variety also features Vinny.
Please be generous in sharing these links.
This is my fourth month as your President. On behalf of ASIFA-East, I’d like to once again encourage you to come to us with suggestions for things you’d like to see and ways you think you can help us bring those suggestions to fruition. We have a terrifically unique and lively community. Let’s keep it so!
Your President,
Linda Beck