I'm taking a bit of a break in between my blog series where I'm answering student questions (part 3 and 4 of Ask Jeff is coming up next week) to do a quick update on the success we've been having with my recent animated short film Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam. 

I just found out yesterday that the film has been named one of the top 12 Canadian Shorts of 2013 by The Shorts Report. Here's what the editor, Kellie Ann Benz had to say about the film:

10. YELLOW STICKY NOTES | CANADIAN ANIJAM – Jeff Chiba Stearns et al

    "I’ll admit a real resistance to see this short – not because Mr. Chiba Stearns isn’t one of Canada’s most interesting animators, which he is – but because the title is recycled from his career establishing 2009 short AND it took me a while to figure out that Anijam was shortened term for Animation Jam. Clunky titling aside, this 9 minute festival favorite is a rare gift which uniquely celebrates Canadian animators. Mr. Chiba Stearns has corralled every top Canadian sketch artist to deliver their work via a yellow sticky note. The result is a potpourri of creativity you have to see to believe."

Here's a link to the Top 12 Canadian Short Films of 2013 to see what other films made the list!

 Another cool thing that happened with Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam was that it received a theatrical release in October 2013 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema screening in front of the feature documentary 15 Reasons to Live!  The film ran for a week which is really cool for any short film to get a theatrical run of any kind.  

This partnership came out of my film screening with 15 Reasons to Live at the 2013 Hot Docs.  Robin Smith who distributes 15 Reasons to Live through his company KinoSmith thought both films paired so well that he asked to have Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam screen with 15 Reasons to Live when it went to theatres.  I really appreciate when distributors have these kinds of visions and it's a really cool through-back to the early days of cinema when they used to run short films before the feature.  I hope this trend continues! 

I love keeping track of all the international film festivals that my films screen in.  It's a great moral booster for any filmmaker to look back on the festivals they've screened their films in and good to add to the one sheet.  Here's a list of almost 40 international film festivals that Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam has screened in so far!

2013 Ottawa International Animation Festival – Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

2013 28^th Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Santa Barbara, California, US

2013 23^rd Cinequest Film Festival – San Jose, California, US

2013 53^rd International Film Festival of Cartegena de Indias – Cartagena, Columbia

2013 17^th Animac, Mostra Internacional de Cinema d'Animació de Catalunya – Lleida, Spain

2013 37^th Cleveland International Film Festival – Cleveland, Ohio, US

2013 20^th Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

2013 46^th WorldFest – Houston International Independent Film Festival – Houston, Texas  WINNER: GOLD REMI AWARD

2013 40^th Athens International Film + Video Festival – Athens, Ohio, US

2013 13^th Melbourne International Animation Festival – Melbourne, Australia

2013 67^th Edinburgh International Film Festival – Edinburgh, Scotland

2013 10^th SouthSide Film Festival – Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, US

2013 3^rd DOCartoon International Animated Documentary Film and Non-Fiction Comics Festival – Pietrasanta, Tuscany, Italy

2013 21^st Anima Mundi - International Animation Festival of Brazil - Rio de Janeiro/São Paulo, Brazil

2013 12^th Euganea Film Festival – Padua, Italy

2013 10^th Animation Block Party – Brooklyn, New York, US

2013 9^th World Festival of Animated Film, Varna – Varna, Bulgaria

2013 Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival – Bristol, England

2013 Atlantic Film Festival Festival – Halifax, Canada

2013 Anibar International Animation Festival – Peja, Kosovo

2013 San Diego Asian Film Festival – San Diego, California, US

2013 7^th ANIMA –Cordoba International Animation Festival – Cordoba, Argentina

2013 17^th Vancouver Asian Film Festival – Vancouver, BC, Canada

2013 SPARK Animation Festival – Vancouver, BC, Canada

2013 15^th Calgary International Film Festival – Calgary, AB, Canada

2013 1^st Short Animation Film Festival Oslo – Oslo, Norway

2013 5^th CutOut Fest – Querétaro, Mexico

2013 17^th Reel Asian Film Festival – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

2013 30^th Chicago International Children’s Film Festival  – Chicago, Illinois, US

2013 9^th GIRAF Animation Festival  – Calgary, AB, Canada

2013 22^nd St. Louis International Film Festival  – St. Louis, Missouri, US

2013 London International Animation Festival  – London, England, UK

2013 Sommets du cinéma d’animation, Montreal and Quebec City International Festival – Montreal/Quebec, Quebec City, Canada

2013 1^st Animation Torrent  – Park Ridge, Illinois, US

2013 12^th Anchorage International Film Festival  – Anchorage, Alaska, US

2013 Seattle Asian American Film Festival – Seattle, Washington, US

2013 Flathead Lake International Cinemafest – Polson, Montana, US

2013 Beloit International Film Festival – Beloit, Wisconsin, US

As a lead up to the online launch of Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam I'll be posting interviews with all of the animators who worked on the project along with sneak peeks of their new films!  Please subscribe to keep updated on these new blog posts and new uploaded content where I'll be posting clips from each of the animator's sequences from Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam!