My latest animated short film Requiem for Romance has been making the rounds to festivals this year. Here's an update on some notable screenings and recent success...

Best of Quebec presentation in Cannes 2012 Film Market and Short Film Corner

I had an unbelievable experience last May in Cannes. It was my first time going to France, my first being attending the festival, and it was quite overwhelming. Each day was about a week's worth of activities. Meetings all morning, wine cocktails all afternoon, screenings in the evening, and champagne parties all night. While I was out there I promoted my short film to other film festivals, distributors, and broadcasters. But I was also out there to promote the feature film idea that I was developing, and I had the privilege to meet four different feature film producers: Kymber Lim, Denise Robert, Marie-Claude Beauchamp, and Roger Frappier. I have managed to stay in contact with Roger Frappier and I have so far had two stellar meetings with him in regards to my feature film proposal. The third meeting is in a few days, and I feel very positive about where it may lead. As for my short film, it was the best way to kick off the festival circuit!

Audience Choice Award at the Athens Animation Festival 2012, in upstate NY

Lisa Thomas, the line producer at Augenblick Studios founded a gem of a festival down in Athens, NY. It's a festival that focuses on the human condition. It's a festival that looks for films with a meaningful message, and even better it's located in a beautiful, hospitable and scenic next to the Hudson river. Hosted in the upstairs space of an old tavern, the festival screened animated films from all over the world to a sold out crowd. The festival provided all of the artists with merchandise booths, not only for animation filmmakers but also for the many Brooklyn-based comic book artists that came up. Everyone that attended submitted ballots for the audience choice award, and my film won, apparently by a landslide, according to Lisa. It was a great honour to be there to accept the award.

AnimAsian Award at the Toronto International Reel Asian Film Festival 2012

This festival has been supporting me since my first student film in 2003. It's been almost a yearly routine for me to head down to Toronto to be a part of this festival, either with a film, or for a pitch or for jury duty. I've met so many talented filmmakers, producers and actors from this festival, and it really feels like a community now. It felt extremely special to win the award in Toronto since I won their "So You Think You Can Pitch" competition at their festival in late 2009, and that kicked off the funding approval of my film for all of the other funding agencies, including SODEC, Canada Council, and BravoFACT. While at the festival I saw several great feature films, including the brand new Japanese animated film, entitled Wolf Children, by Mamoru Hosoda and animated documentary, Tatsumi, about the legendary manga artist of the same name.

During the awards presentation, fellow filmmaker and colleague Howie Shia, director of the NFB film Flutter, presented me with the award, in which he gave me one of the funniest and most entertaining introductions I've ever received. The win comes with a certificate and $500 cash prize.

Best Canadian Short Film Award at the Whistler Film Festival 2012

This festival takes place at the top of the mountains in the ski resort town of Whistler. It is well attended by independent and Hollywood filmmakers alike. My film screening was packed and had a really great reception. The Q&A was cut short but I was able to connect with a lot of the audience afterwards in the foyer of the theatre. I was also very fortunate to be there to accept the award. Monika Mitchell gave me an extremely heartfelt introduction and provided a poignant and eloquent description of my film. Afterwards, the jury members told me that there was no debate, the decision was unanimous, and that it is very rare for an animated film to beat out the live-action films. I take this as my biggest win so far.

Other screenings of my film that took place year include Festival des Films du Monde (Montreal), Les Nuits Magiques (animation film festival in Paris), Cinéma du Québec à Londres (Glasgow & Edinborough), Film North (Huntsville, ON), Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema, Banja Luka Animated Film Festival (Bosnia),

Official Selection in Cristal Film Festival 2012, Switzerland

Later this week I fly to Switzerland to take part in a film festival in Crans-Montana that showcases emerging directors to the advertising industry. A very unique opportunity. I am hoping to make some contacts with advertising agencies and offer them the services of my water ink animation style. More to come on that.