This year's TAIS SummerJam had some very impressive work. The jury selected a good mix between narrative and non-narrative films. Additionally, there was also a healthy range of techniques--stop-motion, puppet, paint-on-glass, CGI, cutout and cel. Of course, when they announced the prize winning films, it reinforced the fact that I was attending a festival where my tastes were a little more in sync with the jury! I was very pleased that Jamie Metzger's film "Paso Doble" won the Jury Award.
My other favorite film from the SummerJam was "Tara's Dream" by Patrick Jenkins--a film created using the paint-on-glass technique which won both Second Prize and Best Animation Prize in the Toronto Urban Film Festival.
And last, but certainly not least, they had a series of BunnyJam films: 10 second films created and submitted from animators all around the world.
By day, I'm a mild-mannered forensic animator, but during evenings and weekends, I work on my own animated films and various artistic endeavors for clients. I'm a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology's M.F.A. Computer Animation program and a current member of ASIFA, MATAI, and the Toronto Animated Image Society.
Building upon the 2008-2009 project for the NY MET and Bard Graduate Center, I am currently animating gold-and-silk needlework stitches and managing lesson webpages for an online course presented by Dr. Wilson-Nguyen for her Thistle-Threads Historical needlework website.
