The Animation Pimp

Since I took over the festival in 1995, I’ve heard the moanings and groanings of animators. That’s par for the course, but the one bit of bitching that I’ve lost all patience with comes from a few veteran animators. These people have had previous success at the OIAF and other festivals. One even won an Oscar once upon a time.

Rightly, these vets have noted that their films have not been in competition in Ottawa since I took over. Ok. Fair Enough. It happens. Secondly, they seem to believe that I have it in for them. Now this is when I get angry. Now, okay, I could understand that argument IF your films were walloping the competitions at other prominent (I say ‘prominent’ not to elevate the OIAF, but cause some animators like to brag about their esteemed place at the Golden Squirrel Festival in North East Alaska.) animation festivals, then yeah, maybe you’d have a point. However, these guys and gals ARENT fairing any better at the other festivals. So..if that’s the case, why the fuck am I getting pissed on? Seems to me your pee spray should be splashing Zagreb, Annecy, Hiroshima etc…

Also, these animators seem totally oblivious to the changes in the animation industry/community. They did have well-earned success once upon a time; a time when there were few animation festivals and not all that many animation films. When I started with the OIAF in 1991, we received approx. 750 entries for Ottawa 92 and that was for a 2 year period. This year we received 2200 submissions over an ANNUAL period. The competition has become very very steep. It has become increasingly difficult to get your film into a competition. Simple as that. I think it’s a good thing too.

Some might also argued that technology has changed the playing field. Not sure I buy that in terms of film quality. I don’t think the competition films are any better or worse than they were back in 1992.

Ultimately this bitter reaction is a guise for genuine disappointment. That’s okay. I get it in the writing world all the time. It ain’t fun. But, to refurbish this sadness into aggressive anger towards me (or any other festival director) is self-centred and well, kinda, psychotic. To think that I have some list (literal or figurative) of animators who I refuse to show at the festival really is psychotic, paranoid thinking (course, what artist doesnt suffer from mental illness or addiction issues?) –especially when you’re work is not being hailed anywhere else.

Now..okay..let’s say we can’t do anything about this attitude. Well, at least CONFRONT ME about it. Tell me how you feel and perhaps I can explain/reassure that this is NOT the case. Here’s what’s happened instead:
1. In one case, one of these animators attended Ottawa this year. They smiled to my face, enjoyed a free meal on the festival…and then turned around and bitched and ranted to anyone who would listened about how they don’t like the festival. I later wrote that person and asked them to express themselves directly to me (or other OIAF staff) in the future. They never answered.
2. During Ottawa 08, I was accosted by a very drunk vet animator. He cornered me, ranting and raging about picnic buses, about the Salon Des Refuses programming, about the picnic buses, more about the buses and on and on it went till it became VERY uncomfortable and on the verge of physical violence.

Later I saw someone who is familiar with this vet (are they like forgotten war vets?) and I was told that the real reason behind his bizarre ‘attack’ was that he was bitter that his films had never been accepted since I took over the festival (I should also point out that for the first three OIAF festivals during my ‘reign’ we had a selection committee!)

3. A few days ago in far away Moscow, one of my OIAF colleagues was cornered by a vet animator who again bitched about the fact that they’ve never been invited to Ottawa since I took over. This isnt the first time this has happened to my traveling colleagues.

I would respect these people so much more if they just made their complaints to my face so that I could at least try to assuage the intensity of their anger.

Finally, one wonders why these people refuse to look at themselves. If you’re not getting into the OIAF but winning awards world wide then sure, I can understand why you would think that I’m a meanie…but if you’re not getting your films into (m)any festivals, maybe you need to take a good long hard luck at yourselves? Isnt possible that perhaps your film just isnt very good?
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As a bit of an appendix/afterword/epilogue, let me again make very fucking clear to some of you dopes (ie. Anonymous sucker-punch bloggers) I am not the dictator of the OIAF. Yes, I have final say on all programming decisions, but it’s a far more cooperative process than people seem to realize. I will watch all the submissions. I make three piles: a small group of ABSOLUTE ‘yes’ films that I will not be talked out of showing, a BIG ASS pile of films that will not be shown, a pretty big purgatory pile of films that I need other opinions about. The purgatory pile then goes onto a handful of colleagues who watch the films and send me notes. It’s absolutely essential to the process to get these new views….especially coming from younger, passionate colleagues with different perspectives. Yes, in some cases I overrule their votes, but for the most part I rely a lot on their input. It’s far more democratic than some of you lunkheads believe (’course it’s easier to just create a fantasy world to justify your selfish anger than to actually visit the real world) and yet not as bland, compromising, detached and diplomatic as so many selection committees are (films are made with passion. they should be judged with passion).

The end.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 5:46 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.