The Little Red Hen
Several years ago I worked for a studio which, during slow periods, would put the help onto a short film of their own called "The Little Red Hen." The hope was that when the production was completed it would be shown in theatres. As far as I know, neither of those events ever took place. Eventually we all moved on to other desks at other studios where there where other down time films on the shelves. No matter what the title of these productions, we always referred to them as, "The Little Red Hen."
Now the possibility of getting a short subject into a theatre has ceased to be a desirable reality, studios still carry the glint of an idea that can be turned into a short subject for some form of distribution. The battle cry has changed from theatre release to cable release, which sounds like the little device that photographers use to trip camera shutters.
More often than actual distribution, a film finds its way to one of the international festivals where it can bump up against similar productions from all over the globe and jockey for prizes and recognition. Once a film is screened at such an event it may tickle the interest of distributors who whisk it off to be enshrined in their catalogues for dissemination to schools, television stations and various and sundry organizations.
Charles Samu is one of the people who is tickled at seeing animation films that can be shown in all of these areas. Presently he is with Home Box Office where his concern is to satisfy the voracious needs of a large cable network and so he spends his days looking at endless reels of "Little Red Hens." Just a few short days ago Samu returned from Lucca, Italy, where as a distinguished guest, he proudly presented three 90 minute shows of American animation for the enlightment of gathered cartoonists and filmmakers. Lucca has hosted a comics exhibit and festival for the past 15 years. Part of the event is set aside to pay respects to animated films along with the preponderant display and discussion of the world's best comic art.
The Italian animators had just recently formed their own chapter of ASIFA, the international animation organization, and were happy to be able to see the works of the American studios and independent artists. Max Massinino Garnier, a distinguished Italian animator was the host for the animation segment of the Lucca conference. Gamier has been active in the field for a good many years and was nominated for an Academy Award last year for his film "Dedalo."
The audience at Samu's showings were very interested in the films that he presented representing East Coast American animation. Most people in other parts of the world think only of the Hollywood product, or what they imagine to be of California origin when thinking of animated films. Also they were surprised to learn of how many women were directors of animation, either on their own personal productions or for commercial studios. In Europe women are not yet working in the area of creative control of animation as is the case here on the East coast. Some of the works of Faith Hubley, Kathy Rose, Candy Kugel and Emily Hubley, were shown as examples of East coast independent production along with the films of Eli Noyes, George Griffin and John Canemaker.
The second surprise for the European filmmakers was that the American independents very often did commercial production and were not solely working on personal efforts. One of the advantages of international festivals is that they help to destroy the myths that we all harbor about the realities of production in each country. For us it is a surprise that European commercials are very often so soft sell and for the animators over there it is interesting to learn that there are commercial studios that have a "Little Red Hen" on the shelf while the guys who spend most of their time creating "Little Red Hens" are out looking for commercials.
After the event at Lucca, Samu visited Turin and Genoa where he showed the films to other audiences. He found that the cartoonists and animators in Italy were quite interested in our underground cartoonists, the proponents of a design genre often overlooked by the slick school that pervades our own advertising. Samu mentioned that the Lucca conference is sponsored by the town government and was one of the few nods that animation gets from an administration that prefers to back other forms of art and entertainment. Though there are many animators in the country and there is commercial production, animation gets short shift. One ironic incident occurred the day that a group of college students gathered to protest the conference because they felt that the government was misspending money on trivial cartoons while more important needs were not being met. This must have come as a shock to a lot of gray haired cartoonists at the Lucca event, who thought all the time that they were drawing their pictures for the kind of people who were now massed outside the hall yelling curses at them. I always appreciate having Charles Samu share his experiences with me, as he gets to see many of the events that I can't cover. Charles gets to travel, while I must remain here to complete commercials, informational films and oh yes, "The Little Red Hen."
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