3 Content News Interviews 2013 ASIFA Laureate Recipient An Interview with David OReilly & Joanna Quinn ................. page 5 Robert Seidel: Part 1 ....... page 22 The Dreams and Desires of Make Milk, Not War: An Interview Joanna Quinn ................. page 7 with Amer Shomali .......... page 28 Remembering AWG News Michael Sporn ................. page 12 ASIFA Work Group ........... page 32 The Intrinsic Radical Nature of Handcrafted Animation ... page 15 AWG Colours Project at VAFI and Hiro- shima Festivals ............... page 33 News from ASIFA National Group ...................................... page 35 Contact information ........ page 48 ASIFA Magazine Credits Editor: Vice President of Communications: Design: Chris Robinson Mohamed Ghazala Monica Bruenjes Kara Miller Contributors: Ray Kosarin, Nancy Phelps, Kelly Gallagher, Zsuzsanna Kiràly, Daniel Ebner, and Crysstal Chan © 2014 ASIFA - prior written approval must be obtainedt to duplicate any and all content. The copyrights and trademarks of images featured herein are the property of their respective owners. ASIFA acknowledges the creators and copyright holders of the materials mentioned herein, and does not seek to infringe on those rights. 4 Letter from the ASIFA President Gadzooks! It’s hard to believe that it has been two years since our last publication. Thanks to everyone for your patience and understanding while we transitioned from our semi-annual publication to our new format. The new magazine will be coming in four editions each year. We will have three online editions and one printed edition. This way you’ll never have to go more than three months without an ASIFA magazine to peruse. We hope you’ll find this new format to be friendlier and easier to handle for all of the great animation news and information about our chapters. I want to thank all the volunteers that made this edition possible; Kara Miller and Monica Bruenjes worked tirelessly on the design and layout, Ray Kosarin took care of collecting and editing the ASIFA chapter information, and it was all led by our VP of Communications: Mohamed Ghazala. I would also like to thank one of ASI- FA’s past presidents, Nelson Shin, whose support towards ASIFA and especially the magazine made it possible in the first place. It is wonderful to see everyone working towards such a great cause in today’s world by bringing the animation world to you. Each of our new magazines will now also include a focus. This edition is focused on the ASIFA Prize and I’m proud to present our laureate, Joanna Quinn. In this edition you can find an article by Chris Robinson (also our editor) about Joanna as well as an article by Nancy Phelps which talks about the award and the laureate. We are now entering a new world with ASIFA – it is very exciting. You can check our contact page and see that we’ve divided up much of the responsibilities involved in running ASIFA to our Vice Pres- idents and their teams. We are continually working towards getting us into the next generation of the animation community. We now have a group reviewing and determining where we should go in the online world. This group will figure out what our social presence should be in the age of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Vines, and all. We have a group that is reviewing and re-planning our festival part- nerships. They want to be sure that we are aligned properly with all the festivals and to make sure that the artist’s rights are not affected by any of those partnerships. We are also revisiting our fees and statutes to ensure that our almost 55 year old organization is more nimble than ever. And ASIFA is growing! Yes, we now have almost 40 chapters worldwide. Some of the newest chap- ters include two in China; Xiamen and Jilin, as well as one in Turkey and one in Cyprus. Welcome to all these ASIFA members. We have many more chapters requests currently being reviewed and processed for inclusion in our ASIFA family. But mostly I would like to appreciate you, ASIFA’s Members. Without you there would be no organi- zation. ASIFA is the only international animation organization and you make it possible. As such, I want to remind you all that this is your organization - ASIFA is You! Please don’t hesitate to contact me or any one of your chapter representatives. You can let us know if you want to volunteer on an activity, let us know if you think there is an activity worth pursuing, or let us know if you have a sug- gestion or complaint. We are here for you. Ed Desroches ASIFA President ([email protected]) . November 2014, Colorado 5 News 2013 ASIFA Laureate Recipient Joanna Quinn Beryl series, Dreams and De- International Ltd in their home- Each year ASIFA honours a sires – Affairs of the Art in which town of Cardiff, Whales. Along person who has made a signifi- her heroine decides to take up with their personal films, Beryl cant contribution to animation painting with the usual disas- Productions has become known over an extended period of trous results. for commercial work. Joanna’s time. The 2013 recipient, Jo- distinctive style is immediately anna Quinn, has delighted audi- She and Les Mills, her partner recognizable in the Charmin ences with her beautifully drawn and husband, lecture and give Bear commercials which she animations ever since her first film, Girl’s Night Out (1986), won three awards at the 1987 Annecy Animation Festival. Her unique drawing talent combined with wit and wisdom have earned her numerous top awards including Emmy’s, Bafta’s, the 2006 European Cartoon D’Or and jury prizes at all of the major festivals. Two films Famous Fred (1996) and The Wife of Bath (1998) have earned Joanna Oscar nomina- tions and Britannia, a brilliantly biting view of British Imperial- “Joanna Quinn, has delighted audiences with her beautifully drawn animations ever since her first film” ism, won her the prestigious workshops at Universities and has been drawing since 1999. Leonardo Da Vinci award in festival around the world and In 2010 Ad Week, the industry 1996. Ironically the award was are known for the generous magazine, listed the Charmin presented by Prince Phillip. amount of time they give to Bear as one of the top ten ad- Joanna is a roll model and students in and out of the class- vertising icons of the decade. inspiration to young female room. Joanna is an Honorary animators worldwide. Girls Fellow at the Royal College of Night Out, Body Beautiful, and Art, London and the University Dreams and Desires – Family of Wales, Newport as well as Ties, about the wacky, loveable Honorary Doctor at the Univer- Beryl are films that women of sity of Wolverhampton. all ages can identify with. At With Les, who produces and the present time Joanna is at writes their films, Joanna work on her fourth film in the founded Beryl Productions 6 The ASIFA Laureate Award ASIFA would like to thank was presented to Joanna on Michaela for the generous stage at the Bradford Animation donation of her time to create Festival (BAF) by ASIFA Board the beautiful work of art. We Members Margot Grimwood also would like to thank Deb of ASIFA UK and Nancy Den- Singleton, festival director, for ney-Phelps, ASIFA San Fran- including the award presen- cisco on 21 November. Joanna tation and screening in the was surprised and delighted festival program, arranging for to receive a framed drawing the framing of the drawing, and created especially for her by inviting Margot and I to the fes- noted Czech animator Micha- tival to present it. BAF is held at ela Pavlatova. Joanna has the National Media Museum in previously said that Michaela is Bradford and is the UK’s her favourite animator and that longest running festival. her films have been an inspira- Joanna Quinn has now joined tion to Quinn in her own work. a list of other esteemed mem- CONGRATULATIONS JOANNA! Following the presentation of bers of the animation commu- Nancy Denney-Phelps the award there was a screen- nity who are ASIFA Laureates ing of Joanna’s work. She also and we are very honoured and gave an adult’s only life drawing proud to have her as a repre- workshop on another day. sentative of our organization. 7 The Dreams and Desires of Joanna Quinn animation films. They are ag- her first art job at age 16 doing I’d venture to guess that gressive, edgy, provocative, illustrations for a Magic Shop’s anyone who owns a television saucy, and funny as hell. catalogue. “Davenports Magic has seen the work of English shop was a famous old shop animator Joanna Quinn. I’m not Quinn’s always loved to draw. opposite the British Museum. I talking about her extraordinary Her passion was so strong did diagrams of how to do the short films, Girls Night Out, that her bedroom walls were tricks.” Body Beautiful and Dreams covered with drawings. In fact, and Desires, but her memora- Quinn wanted to draw so much After high school, Quinn took a ble commercials for Charmin that she momentarily dreamed foundation art course at Gold- toilet paper featuring some big of going to prison because smith College in London fol- cuddly bears that like to main- she “liked the idea of being left lowed by a three-year graphics tain personal hygiene after alone to draw.” course at Middlesex University. taking a personal moment in the woods. Of course, most viewers Her first published illustration Animation entered Quinn’s have no idea they’re watching was in a gay magazine.