Animation Showcase and Networking Session: Valleywood II
Featuring some of the world’s most renowned children’s authors and illustrators, work from three regionally-based animation studios, a Pelham-based sound studio, a former Hollywood studio executive and more.
The two-part program consists of a networking session from 5 – 6pm, followed by an animation showcase at 6:15pm.
During the networking session in the main theater, participants will be available to speak informally about working in their respective fields. Authors and illustrators will sign books available for purchase from Amherst Books in the cinema lobby.
The cinematic show will feature clips from authors who have turned their work into a digital format for screening, as well as clips from three animation studios. A highlight of the show will be the 1965 Academy Award-winning animated short, “The Dot and the Line,” based on Norton Juster’s book, a supremely witty love story of a distraught straight line who falls in love with a frivolous dot.
The program concludes with a brief question-and-answer session and ends by 7:45.
The program is sponsored by Hidden Tech, the networking association for virtual company owners, and by A – Z International Associates, an Amherst-based global strategic marketing and content packaging business.
Expected participants include:
AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS
Jane Yolen, Norton Juster, Diane deGroat, Richard Michelson, Leslea Newman, Anna Kirwin, Jarret Kroscoczka, Ellen Hopman and Amy Zuckerman
ANIMATION/VIDEO GAME STUDIOS
Raf Anzovin of Anzovin Studios, formerly of Amherst and now in Florence, Mass.
Mike Levine of Pileated Pictures in Shelburne Falls, Mass.
Paul Hake of Paul Hake Productions in Greenfield, Mass.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/BUSINESS ADVISORS
Larry Jackson, a former Hollywood studio executive for major studios, independent film distribution and creator of a downloadable film library
Peter Acker of Radioland Productions in Pelham, Mass., a nationally recognized sound studio
Anna Kirwin, author of children’s novels, a poet, freelance editor who runs writing workshops
Gretchen Siegchrist of Media Shower Productions in Northampton, a videographer with experience with authors
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
Larry Schaffer, Town Manager of Amherst MA
