It isn’t every film festival that boasts a batch of furry Cuisinarts as its opener, but last night The Los Angeles International Short Film Festival did so in style. Launching into its sixth year, this premiere event selected the wacky all-CG cartoon The Chubb Chubbs as the lead off to its first night of programming at the glamorous Arclight Theater on Sunset.
The six-minute short about a little alien named Meeper and his unexpected friendship with some really tough little aliens easily earned its share of cackles and applause. No newbie to first-act stardom, The Chubb Chubbs garnered national fame last summer as the lead-in to Men In Black II. Directed by Eric Armstrong and produced by Jacquie Barnbrook, the short was created by Sony Pictures Imageworks as a ramp-up test to an all CG feature. (Obviously, this test turned out to be gold.)
After the Chubb Chubbs sang (or growled) their way off-screen, the audience was particularly pumped for a special tribute presentation of Harold Lloyd silent films accompanied by a live band.
The Los Angeles International Short Film Fest continues through the weekend at the Arclight and the Los Angeles Film School. Programs of particular interest to animators are “Distribution: Who’s Buying Short Films Today and What is the Short Film Marketplace Looking Like in 2002?” (Thursday, 7:00 p.m.); “Producing with No Money Down” (Saturday, 4:00pm); “Animation Technology” (Saturday, 6:00 p.m.); “Digital Filmmaking” (Sunday, 4:00 p.m.). For more info check out www.lashortfest.com.
