EVANGELINE THAN

Yesterday evening I attended my first animation writers’ group meeting.

Kate Vyvyan, an animation writer and producer, chaired the meeting and kept the conversation flowing.

Also present were Adam, a physician turned filmmaker with some unusual ideas for a new animated TV series, and Jeff, a cartoonist with a dark sense of humour who wanted to turn his ‘toons into a short film. Adam treated us to a special viewing of the opening credits for his show, and Jeff passed around sheets and sheets of hilarious Gary Larson-esque cartoons.

I seized the moment and showed the others an idea that I had pitched for our Diploma of Animation final project, and received some excellent feedback, filling up a page with notes on increasing my character’s appeal and engaging the audience.

Kate also spoke about what was going on in the animation industry, events that she had attended and would be attending (SPAA! MIPCOM!), and we also had a look at this month’s topic, adapting children’s books for animation.

Many heads are better than one and I found the writer’s group meeting encouraging and invigorating. It looks like I have another event to mark permanently on the calendar!

When: Meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of every month, but it is best to check with WAnimate beforehand.

If you receive an invitation to the next meeting, RSVP as soon as possible to confirm your attendance. Meetings are cancelled if there aren’t enough attendees.

Where: The Australian Writer’s Guild HQ, 196 Oxford St, Leederville.