The Producers Guild of America (PGA) hosted the 33rd Annual Producers Guild Awards on the evening of Saturday, March 19, at the Fairmont Century Plaza. The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures went to Yvett Merino, p.g.a. and Clark Spencer, p.g.a. for Disney’s Encanto. Announced on March 14, the winner of the Outstanding Children’s Program prize was Disney+ special Muppets Haunted Mansion
The evening recognized influential film producers and entertainment icons with special honors including George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy (Milestone Award); Rita Moreno (Stanley Kramer Award); Mary Parent (David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures); Greg Berlanti (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television); and Issa Rae (Visionary Award). Dan Lin was the first-ever recipient of the Vance Van Petten Entrepreneurial Spirit Award.
Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) announced the winners of the 2022 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional categories during a joint, virtual ceremony on Sunday, March 20.
Tuca & Bertie episode “Planteau,” written by series creator Lisa Hanawalt, won the Animation award. The Adult Swim series beat out an otherwise all-FOX toon lineup of episodes from Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy and The Simpsons. See the complete list of nominees and winners here.
The Children’s Media Association (CMA) has planned a special virtual panel in aid of KEPYR‘s emergency fundraising efforts for Ukraine. Dubbed “Crafting HOPE in Times of Conflict and War”, the Zoom session will address how the industry can create meaningful projects that encourage open dialogue and change. All donations ($20 suggested) go to KEPYR to support UNICEF’s work with young Ukrainian refugees.
Speakers include Cinzia Angelini (writer/director of Mila), Grant Moran (Founder of KEPYR) and Kathy Mullen (Artistic Director/Co-founder, No Strings Productions). The session will be held March 24 at 5 p.m. PST/8 p.m. EST.
Sign up for this special CMA session here.
The jury has selected 35 projects from 15 countries to take part in this year’s Animation Production Days (APD). The curated business platform will take place May 4-6 as a hybrid event where, in pre-planned one-to-one meetings, the producers will present their selected projects to potential co-production and financing partners. APD is a joint venture of the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) and the FMX – Film & Media Exchange.
Five outstanding projects have been selected from 20 submissions for the APD Talent Programme, which gives up-and-coming producers and creatives the opportunity to discuss their ideas with experienced industry experts, establish contacts and find partners for their projects. Thanks to the APD’s cooperation with the European training program Animation Sans Frontières, the series project Dark, Dark Woods by Emile Gignoux has qualified for participation in the Talent Programme this year.
An overview of all the selected projects can be found at animationproductiondays.de/en/projects-2022.
Berkeley, Calif.’s GLAS 2022 festival of indie animation has announced key programming ahead of its all-online 7th edition April 6-10. The lineup includes five short film Competition collections, the Family Competition, U.S. Competition and two International Showcase sets. Find the full program and film selections at festival.glasanimation.com. Highlights also include:
- Justin Tomchuk’s surrealist animated feature Interface
- La Casa Lobo (The Wolf House ) screening and director Q&A
- Talk + Q&A with Cesar-winning animator Lucrèce Andrea
- Retrospectives + Q&As for Takeshi Murata and Tomek Popakul
- Live webinars on How to Get the Gig and How to Pitch Your Project
Cartoon Next has revealed the industry experts who will discuss the future of animation at in Marseille, France April 12-15. Register at cartoon-media.eu by March 25 to appear in the event catalog.
Speakers include: Japhet Asher (Polarity Reversal, U.K.), Jean-René Aucouturier (M6/Gulli, France), Lucile Canault (France Télévisions, France), Pascal Charrue (Fortiche Production, France), Sophie Cheynet (CNC, France), Arnaud Delord (Fortiche Production, France), Bernd Diemer (Improbable, Game Lab, Germany/U.K.), Luce Grosjean (Miyu, France), Patricia Hidalgo (BBC, U.K.), Suzanne Kelly (RTE, Ireland), Telidja Klai (VRT, Belgium), Jerome Mazandarani (Anime Expert, EMEA), Luca Milano (Rai & EBU, Italy), Marina Narishkin (Millimages, France), Sébastien Onomo (Special Touch Studio, France), Katalin Radóczy (AMC Networks International CE, Eastern Europe), Maura Regan (President of Licensing International, U.S.), Orion Ross (Disney, EMEA), Andrea Ryder (Ameet, Denmark), Anna Shchur (Zeptolab, Spain), Celeste Surugue (Hachette, France) and Sebastian Wehner (Wonderz, Wolkenlenker, Germany).
The Walt Disney Family Museum will present a Zoom Webinar going Behind the Scenes of Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red next month, offering an inside look at the making the studios’ transformational latest film. Participants include production designer Rona Liu, visual effects supervisor Danielle Feinberg and animation supervisors Patty Kihm and Aaron Hartline. The panel will take place Wed., April 27 at 5:30 p.m. PT. Tickets are $5 for Museum members, $8 for non members, available here.
Calls for submissions, tickets, dates & more:
- MOMOKIN has opened applications for the StopMoLab in Łódź, Poland: a nine month intensive with animation pros. Deadline: March 27, 2022. stopmo.pl
- Through April 3, the New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival is presenting exclusive online programming, including two short film programs (Celebrating Black Stories and Hola NYICFF). nyicff.org
- Celsys (Clip Studio Paint) has opened its 31st International Illustration Contest, inviting submissions from around the world on the theme “Holiday.” Artists can enter over Twitter, Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #cspcontest31 by midnight GMT on April 6 to try for the $2K USD grand prize. clipstudio.net/en/cspcontest31
- Animation Skillnet (Ireland) is launching the Mindset, Caricature and Character Design online workshop with Stephen Silver on Saturday, April 23 at 3 p.m. (3-6 p.m.; €30). animationskillnet.ie
- Encanto star Jessica Darrow (Luisa) will hold an autograph and selfie session at MegaCon Orlando in Florida on Saturday-Sunday May 21 & 22. Passes are on sale now. megaconorlando.com
- Save the date for the 6th Annual WIA World Summit, taking place live and in-person in Annecy. The day-long symposium will tackle the theme Gender Justice: A Global Call for Inclusion in Animation. STD: June 13, 2022.
