Production Update November 2016
Our 2016 CTNx booth was a big success. We were in the big B tent, with all the artists and major companies. Gwendolyn Arreola and her team; Olivia Gepiga, Terry Wilson, Priscilla Candelas, and Zabrina McIntyre, created a booth that attracted more visitors this year, with more than a hundred signing up for the production crew. So, we hope to get some production moving along even during the holidays and stop using this “production” update spot for marketing news. But, the rest of the year will indeed be full of marketing news too, as we’re sending our pitch reel (https://youtu.be/5M6AfycOw3U) to potential funding sources and animation powerhouses around the world, and we are also working on a second pitch reel that will be the center piece to an indigogo campaign, all focussing on beefing up our crew and raising funds to pay them.
Also, this year, G. Allen Black, our Art Director, created a concise on point overview for the for our CTNx booth on the highlights of UPA and our documentary, that is well worth sharing with you:
UPA Doc Overview for CTNx booth:
UPA was the animation studio that gave us Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing. They opened their doors in 1943 and closed them in 1970. Beyond those characters, UPA’s legacy is art!
While Walt Disney, Fleischer Studios, Warner Bros. were developing realistic styles, UPA brought a stark, bold modern art style into the medium for the first time and people took notice. It wasn’t long before UPA was receiving rave reviews among the critics, they were getting Academy Awards too!
UPA’s time may have been brief but their legacy lives on today. Many of today’s artists have been inspired by what UPA has done and it’s evident. However, to the general public, UPA isn’t as well known as other studios, and that’s what we’d like to change.
Tee Bosustow is the son of Stephen Bosustow, one of UPA’s original founders. Tee has boxes and boxes of his father’s materials on UPA. Stephen himself once had a desire to tell UPA’s story, but now his son Tee has those materials, plus 100’s of his own interviews of the people who made up UPA’s creative team. Rare interviews with many animators that are no longer with us. There’s nobody more qualified and better prepared to make this documentary.
UPA was unique and we want to honor that, so we’re going to be selecting the best stories from the best interviews and animating them. More than that, we’re animating them in the style of that particular animator’s own style! No talking heads here, just a fun and imaginative way to celebrate UPA veterans and their art.
While we haven’t been funded yet, we’re making up for it in excitement. Folks from all over the industry have joined us to bring this extraordinary project to life. We have everyone from students worldwide to seasoned animation pros from Disney and Warner Bros on board. This is a unique opportunity to tell a story that needs to be told and to tell it in a creative way that mirrors what UPA did for the world.
Check out our web site at www.theboingheardroundtheworld.com to follow our progress and learn more about UPA or sign up and join our crew. You can also see our first “historical” pitch reel at https://youtu.be/5M6AfycOw3U.
Skills of interest to us:
Character Designers
Story Board Artists
Layout Artists
Animators
Background Designers
Background Painters
and more
Become a part of our exciting adventure, as a crew member or backer.
Finally, most of us feel the highlight at this year’s CTNx was finally meeting Jorge Gutierrez, writer/director of The Book of Life. Gwendolyn Arreola, pictured with Gutierrez, remembers him on a panel a few years ago, at CTN, where he mentioned that one of his mentors and heroes was Jules Engel, a major UPA artist, and that UPA overall has been a big influence on his work. Ever since then, Gwendolyn, and others of us, have been hoping to talk with him about our documentary project but never got the chance. This year, Gwendolyn spotted him surrounded by a group of fans. She waited for a chance to talk with him, but realized she didn’t have anything to show him. So she ran back to our booth, grabbed a brochure, and a trading card of Jules Engel to give him as a gift, then ran back to find him, and almost missed him again. Anyway, long story short, they did connect, and she mentioned our project to him, giving him the trading card, brochure, and her UPA doc business card. She was more than pleased, when he said he’d love to be a part of our project and would help in anyway he could. They are now Instagram buddies.
So, hopefully, you’ll now see more of Gutierrez and other animation “rock stars” associated with The Boing Heard Round the World documentary feature on UPA.
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