Baton Rouge Gets Animated Company: Red Stick Animation Festival Product: Red Stick International Animation Festival For those of you who don't know, Baton Rouge was named (by the French) for a red stick. This red stick was a territorial marker placed along borders to warn outsiders to stay away. From what I can tell, the French mistook it for an unusual lawn decoration and moved in regardless. The Red Stick International Animation Festival takes its name from this infamous red stick and, rather than attempting to scare people away, is hoping to attract people from around the globe. And, from what I saw, it did just that. I encountered a wide variety of people from around the local area and from areas as far away as Finland while I was attending the Red Stick International Animation Festival this year. The festival kicked off on Thursday, April 20th at 10:00 AM, with a Directors' Dialogue. Next, there was a Video Game & Animation Industry Panel; something of great interest to myself and the people of Baton Rouge as a whole, as Baton Rouge is working to introduce Video Game Development as a new local industry. Saturday at 10:00AM had another Video Game related item: an introductory workshop on Video Game Design and Development by Clint Ourso of Volition Games. I attended that workshop and found Clint Ourso to be very friendly, open and knowledgeable. It's nice, sometimes, to hear from someone in the game development industry who isn't afraid to speak candidly. Another event that was extra special for Baton Rouge residents was a advanced "In Progress" screening of Over The Hedge, an upcoming Full Length animated film by Dreamworks. It was especially of local interest because it was written by Karey Kirkpatrick and Chris Poche, both of which grew up in Louisiana and attended Baton Rouge High School - and both writers were present at the screening. Karey Kirkpatrick gave a brief introduction before the film and both of them stayed afterwards to answer questions in a Q&A session. The screening was even attended by Baton Rouge's Mayor - Kip Holden... eventually... Another fun item was the somewhat raucous and risque After Bedtime: Spike & Mike's Sick and Twisted Animation. Some was sick, some was twisted, some was both, but pretty much all of it was at least naughty. Some great animation and great fun - that you won't see on a Saturday morning. Additionally, there were lectures on everything from character design to writing, animating to "making of" presentations. There were also workshops on character design and animation, matte painting and writing for TV animation. Those who wanted some high-brow stimulation could attend the Red Stick Awards, which were held on Saturday night from 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm, or could catch the Oscar nominated animations, Classic Mickey, Africa Animated or the Best of the Fest. Others who simply wanted to to watch and enjoy some animation had the opportunity to take in Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the Were Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride, Howl's Moving Castle, Dumbo, South Park: The Movie, Balto, Monsters, Inc., Heavy Metal and Chicken Little. Trippier shows were available at the Planetarium, such as Sonic Vision and Pink Floyd's The Wall. With the addition of Cartoon-A-Palooza, a venue for kids that included breakfast, a talk entitled "Donuts and Dinosaurs", a talk on creating your own "Frankenpet" from Bob the Builder designer, Curtis Jobling, as well as spacewalks, face-painting and clowns - all free and open to the public, it can truly be said that Red Stick International Animation Festival had something for everyone. Hopefully I'll see you there next year. (I'll be the one in the lounge shirt with the GameVortex logo.) -Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins Related Links: Red Stick International Animation Festival