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LCAT To Host International Animation Festival
The Laboratory for Creative Arts & Technologies (LCAT) looks to Europe to gain inspiration for the Red Stick International Animation Festival to be held spring 2005. LCAT's Assistant Director for Business Relations Stacey Simmons and a small group of LSU researchers traveled to the University of Teeside in the north east of England to visit Animex, an animation festival similar in scope to LCAT's initial plans for the Baton Rouge event. It makes perfect sense that this creative lab within the Center for Computation & Technology would be interested in the study of animation. LCAT is dedicated to merging art and science through research in creative fields that utilize technology. Projects at the LCAT center around technically driven forms of human expression such as video gaming, digital art, and animation. Simmons is using her research from Animex to plan for the Red Stick Animation Festival. "Attending Animex was incredible for me for many reasons. The first was that it bolstered my faith in the fact that we are long overdue in the United States for such a festival. It made me realize that for the right event, with the right attitude, people will come—even if you're not in a major tourist city,” said Simmons. Animation production is an art form that requires skill in writing, design, and computer science. Often such productions require entire teams of artists, musicians, and computer scientists working to create character expression and interaction on film. This collaborative quality of the animation industry is precisely why LCAT is taking interest in the field. 
This type of collaboration is evident at animation festivals. LSU Interior Design Professor, Philip Tebbutt is a local animator who attended Animex in Europe. "First and foremost it is a gathering of like minds. Animators usually work in teams so it is very important tobe meeting with peers, colleagues and industry professionals, making contacts, sharing information, and general networking,” said Tebbutt. LCAT's Red Stick Animation Festival will be one of the first events held at the Shaw Center for the Arts, the new creative hub currently under construction in downtown Baton Rouge. The event will take place from April 20 through 23, 2005.  The festival will feature workshops on animation, as well as lectures from the industry's top artists and executives. Confirmed speakers include Mark Walsh from Pixar Studios, who was the directing animator on Finding Nemo. Curtis Jobling, creator of Bob the Builder, will also be in attendance. Jobling plans to give a workshop on character design and share his thoughts on writing and illustrating his book, Frankenstein's Cat. Rachelle Lewis, another confirmed guest, is an animation recruiter based in Los Angeles. She has recruited artists for Dreamworks, Toon Ranch, and Klasky Csupo. Acting coach and author Ed Hooks will also be on hand at the LCAT event to teach animators how to give their characters added charisma. Hooks has coached animators around the world with theories from his book, Acting for Animators. Stuart Sumida, another confirmed festival guest, is a professor of biology at the University of California at San Bernadino. He acts as an anatomy consultant to major animation studios. Sumida's school of thought requires artists to know physiology of humans and animals to create the best animations. Other invited speakers include Tim Martinek, special effects spervisor from Industrial Light andMagic; Don Bluth, animator and director of An American Tail, The Land Before Time, and All Dogs Go to Heaven; Chris Wedge, director of Ice Age; and Louisiana native, Bill Joyce creator of Rollie Pollie Ollie. The animation festival will also feature outreach programs for school groups and families in the Baton Rouge community. Children will create their own 3D animations using Animaatiokone, an animation machine developed by Finnish engineers, Mikko Lindholm, Ari Nykanen, and Perttu Hamalainen.
Screenings and films shown throughout the event will include animations for scientific visualization, family animation, and classical animation, as well as animations created specifically for adult viewers. There will be both a student competition and a professional animation competition. One of the goals for the animation festival is to bring economic development to the state of Louisiana. LCAT administrators believe that bringing animation industry leaders to Baton Rouge, and training Louisiana students in the field will help to generate business development. LCAT is one focus area within the Center for Computation & Technology (CCT) at LSU. The CCT is funded annually by the Louisiana legislature's I.T. Initiative. The center was founded in 2001 to advance education, research, and economic development in Louisiana through the use of information technology. Contact Jennifer Hughes | CCT | LSU
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