Alien for Christmas

Here is the video just in time for Christmas! Enjoy!

Alien for Christmas from Dave Pryor on Vimeo.

Big Movies for Little Kids

Merry Christmas everyone! Another festival update for you. "Alien for Christmas" will be playing at the "Big Movies for Little Kids" festival in Brooklyn NY. Check it out on Monday Dec 7th. at 4pm.

Cobble Hill Cinemas is located at 265 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231(718) 596.9113

Big Movies for Little Kids is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc. (BAC)

Little Big Shots - Sydney Opera House

My speaking engagement at the Sydney Opera House was a delight! The festival directors, Chloe Boulton and Nick Place, were more than gracious and really know how to orchestrate a top notch touring festival. The kids at the screening were treated to an excellent array of films from around the globe. Even though the age range was between 2 and 7, they would have eagerly stayed for more films in the program!

Early morning at the Opera House

The festival was held at "The Studio", one of the more intimate theatres within the Opera house

The crowds lines up - waiting to get in. It was a sold out show.

Interior of the theatre as the audience takes their seats. Many kids filled the space by sitting in the open area in the front of the screen.

Festival Director, Nick Place and Me (Dave Pryor)

The next stop on the Little Big Shots tour is Geelong

Geelong Performing Arts Centre
50 Little Malop Street

Geelong October 03, 2009: 11-11.50am: Big shots, small packages 2 Short films for kids aged 3 to 8 (well, OK, you may have missed this one, but December is still coming up!)

December 02, 2009: 9.30-10.30am: Big shots, small packages 2 Short films for kids aged 3 to 7

"Alien for Christmas" hits Sydney AUS

On September 13, AFC will be playing at the Sydney Opera house as part of the "Little Big Shots" film festival. The great news is that since I get to travel to AUS for work a lot, I will get to be there and speak at the showing! So if you live in Sydney and follow my blog, please plan on attending - it should be a memorable one.


Sydney Opera House is Australia's leading performing arts centre and one of the most recognised (and photographed!) venues of the modern world.

- Sydney - September 13, 2009: 10-11am: Big shots, small packages 2 Short films for kids aged 3 to 7

- Swan Hill - September 16, 2009: 11-11.50am: Big shots, small packages 2 Short films for kids aged 3 to 7

Little Big Shots International Film Festival for Kids

AFC is now touring in Australia!
It will be appearing in various places thoughout the summer. Sydney details coming soon.

Here are some of the details:

Screens in:

Melbourne
June 03, 2009: 11.30am-12.20pm: Big shots, small packages 2: Short films for kids aged 3 to 7 at Artplay on Birrarung Marr
June 05, 2009: 11.30am-12.20pm: Big shots, small packages 2: Short films for kids aged 3 to 7 at Artplay on Birrarung Marr

Melbourne
June 06, 2009: 11.15am-12.15pm: Big shots, small packages 2 Short films for kids aged 3 to 7
June 08, 2009: 9.30am-10.30am: Big shots, small packages 2: Short films for kids aged 3 to 7

Adelaide
July 18, 2009: 9.30am-10.30am: Session 8 Short films for 3 to 7-year-olds

Kalamazoo Animation Festival International 2009

AFC will be showing at KAFI, May 14-17.

Check out the festival website for all the events!

Chicago International Childrens Film Festival

I just returned from the last evening of the festival and it was an extremely fulfilling experience. The films from around the world were all unique in their own way. Seeing how this fest brought them all together, with the primary purpose to entertain and inspire kids, made it all the more exciting to be a part of. Being from Chicago, the film houses were not too far from my door, but most of the film making attendees came from across the globe.

Here I am at the Nov. 1st showing of my film at the Biograph theatre - answering questions from the crowd. The crew from the film "Elephants" (to the right of me) was in from London. It was a treat to hear audience responses to AFC first hand, laughing and reacting to the humor and tender moments (and getting the applause at the end of coarse). Thanks so much to everyone that said they enjoyed AFC. Hearing that it connects with kids and adults alike is so rewarding for me. The crew from Facets and all the members of the CICFF were extremely friendly and really had the shows well choreographed. Everything ran like a well oiled machine. Even the children, who were a huge part of the audience, were all well behaved and sat quietly in every showing I sat in on.

It was a delight to be a part of this festival. My wife and I already have the brain juice flowing with new film ideas thanks to the inspiring work we saw.

Chicago International Children's Film Festival

AFC will soon be showing in Chicago. Great for me because I can actually attend this fest since I live here! :) Anyone in the area be sure to save one of these dates to attend. There's a Weekday and Weekend showings. See below and look for these show titles to find AFC.

Saturday October 25, 3:00pm - Facets Cinema

Animation shorts block - "That's What Friends Are For!"

Tuesday October 28, 11:45am - Facets Cinema

Animation shorts block - "It's A Small World After All"

Saturday November 1, 11:00am - Biograph Theatre

Sunday, November 2, 11:30am Wilmette Theater

Both days, Animation shorts block - "Perfect Pedigree"

You can also check these links to check the entire CICFF schedule:

Weekday

Weekend

California Independent Film Festival

The next festival in the lineup is the 10th annual California Independent Film Festival, April 16th-20th, 2008.

AFC will play Sat, Apr 19, 2008 in the 10:00 am block of children's shorts.

Hey, it's on a Saturday so this could be a great start for your weekend :)

Vine Cinema
1722 First Street
Livermroe, CA 94550
(925) 447-2546

You can check out it's own page (where you can even comment on the film if you're so kind).

For a complete line of films showing at the festival look here.

WONDERCON

The next stop on the festival tour will be at WonderCon!

I'm excited about this one because all the comic fans will finally have a venue that's convenient.

"Alien for Christmas" will screen at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. - Part of the San Francisco Bay Area International Children's Film Festival, Feb. 22-24 at WonderCon at the Moscone Center South.

Portage Theatre Event

On June 15th, Chewbone Animation sponsored a private screening of Independent Chicago animation. This was quite an event - probably a few hundred folks showed up, which really showed that there is a strong interest for independent work. "Alien for Christmas" showed, along with 8 other great films. Check out Ben Chow's blog to see the great poster art done for the show.




Here's the marquee. The Portage is a vintage theater, restored recently to preserve it's grandeur.





Here's some of the poster art - B.J. Crawford's wonderful film - "A Time for All Seasonings" and my film.



There was some selling of Sketchbooks and art in the lobby - Here's a shot with Artist Bruno Werneck, Artist Sam Aquino, Artist Jasmin Segarra, and programmer Daren Ng.





A bunch of friends showed up too! Here's a random group in the audience, First Row: Animator Mike Feeney, Animator Kurt Kanellos, Animator Jeff Williams, Programmer Daren Ng, Second Row: Animator Marco Plantilla, Animator John Juarez, Animator Bob Rissetto and his sister Sam. Back Row: Animator John Griffin and friend munching on popcorn.



I really want to thank Joe Merideth, B.J. Crawford, and Lisa Barcy for their hard work putting this together and their consistent passion and support for independent animation. If you have time, check out Mike Owens' blog where he continues to put the Animation community in awe, and expresses the purpose behind Chewbone Animation.