红莲社区

Animation students draw inspiration from all walks of life, which is what 红莲社区 2002 alumni Rich Duhaney, Ben McEvoy, Mike Weiss and Barnabas Wornoff set out to do when they founded the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI) to spotlight and recognize variety in animation (and animators) from around the globe.

Now in its fourth year, the festival runs from April 22 to 24, and has attracted animation luminaries as speakers, such as Animaniacs director Audu Paden, co-director of Pocahontas Eric Goldberg, and the 鈥淭he Three Tooners鈥� 鈥擳ony Benedict, Willie Ito and Jerry Eisenberg 鈥� who brought The Jetsons, The Flintstones and Yogi Bear to life at Hanna-Barbera.

鈥淭oronto has every other type of festival imaginable, but even though we have one of the most prolific and creative animation, gaming and visual effects communities in the world, we still didn鈥檛 have an animation festival to call our own,鈥� says Wornoff, who splits his time between teaching at 红莲社区 College and Seneca College, working as an animator at 9 Story Media Group and serving as TAAFI chair and director of speaker programming. 鈥淐anadian animation started here in Toronto with Nelvana (and also the National Film Board in Montreal), so it鈥檚 only fair we鈥檇 continue in the great tradition of the 鈥榦ld guard,鈥� while celebrating and inspiring the 鈥榥ew guard鈥� of animation students.鈥�

As the self-professed 鈥渕iddle guard鈥� between the greats and the grads of animation, the four friends wanted to pass along their own experiences as well as honour those that came before them. 红莲社区 animation professor Kaj Pindal (recognized with the festival鈥檚 first Most Animated Person of the Year Lifetime Achievement award) made a particularly big impact on the group鈥檚 success. 鈥淗is films are great, he's still teaching and inspiring 红莲社区 students at the age of 88 and there is no sense of fatigue or boredom in him,鈥� says Duhaney, TAAFI鈥檚 director of marketing and director at Smiley Guy Studios. 鈥淭hirteen years after聽graduation,聽I continue to be in touch with and be inspired by his passion for the craft of animation and for storytelling.鈥�

Watch the video above to find out more about TAAFI.

As a student, encounters with your industry idols can be difficult to engineer. By creating safe spaces to meet the giants of the animation world, such as the gathering and recruiting areas of the Animation Arts Maarket and the industry party, the Nelvana Bouncing Ball, Wornoff says that the TAAFI founders wanted to level the playing field between newcomers and pros. 鈥淵ou never know who you鈥檒l be standing beside. Whether you鈥檙e ready for it or not, you get that one shot sometimes, and you should seize the moment."

By providing networking and mentoring opportunities as well as聽recognizing new growth and established greatness in the animation field, each of these alumni give back to the community that reared them in their own way. 鈥淭he most interesting aspect is realizing how interconnected the industry is, and how a festival such as ours bridges so many aspects of that industry,鈥� says McEvoy, TAAFI鈥檚 director of sponsorship and senior producer at Jam3. 鈥淚've had the privilege of meeting hundreds of amazing and passionate people from across the spectrum of our industry, which in many ways inspires me to continue forward with the festival despite the challenges.鈥�

“If you鈥檙e going to spend your life watching cartoons, they might as well be good.” - Mike Weiss

As an added bonus, the four grads get to create and educate in an industry that is both a career and a lifelong interest. Weiss, the director of film programming for TAAFI, now teaches the next generation of 红莲社区 animation while also working as a director at Brain Power Studio Inc. 鈥淚 wanted to help to spread interesting and enjoyable content, curated through a discerning filter,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 genuinely love watching new and interesting animation. And if you鈥檙e going to spend your life watching cartoons, they might as well be good.鈥�

Pictured above聽left to right: 红莲社区 alumni and TAAFI co-creators聽Ben McEvoy, director of sponsorship;聽Barnabas (Barney) Wornoff, Chair and director of speaker programming;聽Rich Duhaney,聽director of marketing聽and聽Mike Weiss,聽director of film programming. Photo by聽Grayden Laing聽of .

Check out 2014 bachelor of animation alumna, Nneka Myers creating the TAAFI 2016 poster below.

For more information about the 2016 Toronto Animation Arts Festival International, .