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Star-studded line up for 2019 Cape Town International Animation Festival
8 March 2019
Proudly presented by Animation SA, organisers of the 8th Cape Town International Animation Festival have announced a star-studded line up for the three-day event, which takes place at The River Club, in Observatory, from 8 – 10 March 2019.
Renowned for presenting world-class content, from animated films to insightful workshops and masterclasses, as well as providing a unique platform to engage with global industry leaders, the festival is the only dedicated African Animation festival. The festival also hosts business-to-business sessions, producer events, networking opportunities and government panel discussions in addition to student competitions, a family programme and an outreach initiative.
The line-up of speakers includes Academy Award-winning producer Aron Warner and Academy Award-nominated director, Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse).
Warner is a writer and Academy Award-winning producer of the animated blockbusters Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, and Shrek Forever After. He also produced the critically-acclaimed animated feature The Book of Life. Currently, Warner is developing a number of projects with Sony Pictures Animation. He previously held the post of vice president of production at Twentieth Century Fox, where he supervised production on such films as Independence Day, The Ice Storm, The Crucible, Alien: Resurrection, Volcano and the number two blockbuster of all time, Titanic.
Ramsey is the Academy Award-nominated director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which was released in December 2018 by Sony Pictures Animation and was announced as the winner of the Golden Globe® for Best Animated Feature Film in January this year. Additionally, the film has taken home the following awards for Best Animated Film: the Critics’ Choice, the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Producers Guild of America and the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society.
Peter Ramsey began his career as a storyboard artist on a notable number of live action feature films, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Boyz n the Hood, Minority Report, Being John Malkovich, Fight Club, and Ang Lee’s Hulk, among many others. He served as second unit director on live action feature films including Tank Girl and Godzilla.
Making a transition to the world of feature animation, he joined Dreamworks Animation as a story artist on Shrek 3, and head of story on Monsters vs. Aliens. He went on to direct the Monsters vs. Aliens TV special Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space! after which Ramsey directed the 2012 feature film Rise of the Guardians, starring Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law and Hugh Jackman.
Other exciting international speakers include Autodesk’s John Paul Giancarlo who has been working in the TV and Film industry for more than fifteen years. He was instrumental in integrating Maya in Brownbags’ Pipeline and has worked on Emmy awarded TV show DocMcStuffins currently on Disney Jr, Octonauts on CBeebies, Peter Rabbit on Nick Jr, among others.
Joining the speaker line up are David Prescott of Skydance Animation who has more than 20 years’ experience in live action visual effects and animation for feature films and commercial production, as well as Archita Ghosh, Executive Producer at Montreal indie animation studio e.d. films whose talk includes discussing trends in the Canadian animation industry.
There’ll be a unique opportunity to learn from teachers at the prestigious Gobelins School of Animation who will be presenting masterclasses and panel discussions at CTIAF.
South African illustrator and animator Marc Moynihan is this year’s theme artist. His work is unique in style and he has always had a passion for drawn animation and picture books.
“The packed programme again includes our pitching competition for Annecy, with the winning pitch taking the invaluable prize of being presented at Annecy as part of the NFVF South African delegation,” says Festival Director Dianne Makings. “Don’t miss the Live Drawing sessions with Wacom!, the popular annual Cosplay Masquerade, the Student Awards announcement ceremony, stop motion workshops, the Artists Alley and our outdoor cinema experiences.
“Last year we saw a record number of visitors and sixty local and international speakers at the Festival and we are proud to have positioned CTIAF as a leading market place for the fast-growing African industry, while giving consumers the opportunity to enjoy the world’s best animated films, which would otherwise not be accessible to them. I urge people who want to attend to note we have moved to the second weekend in March, running from 8 to 10 March. Seats at events are reserved on a first-come, first serve basis and tickets are required to access all events except the stop-motion and Zoetrope workshops held at the Clubhouse.”
Following the incredible success of the past two years of the CTIAF Outreach Programme at the Isivivana centre in Khayelitsha, there will again be screenings of films, drawing classes and various workshops to teach the fundamentals of animation.
The CTIAF is proudly presented by Animation SA and is made possible thanks to generous support from sponsors the Department of Arts and Culture, the City of Cape Town, Wesgro, Nickelodeon, the High Commission of Canada, The Japanese Embassy and Consulate in Cape Town and the French Institute of South Africa. CTIAF has also partnered with Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Animate Africa.
Visit Cape Town International Animation Festival for the full programme details.
