If you’re an aspiring film director and you want to get your first movie you shot with your friends and edited on your laptop picked up by a major studio it’s easy to know where to go: Sundance, Cannes, the options are nearly endless. But what if you created your own computer-animated short? Where, exactly, are the up-and-coming animators supposed to go to get discovered? Well, this weekend at least, they’ll head to Chicago’s CINEME International Animation Festival.

The festival was started last year by Lee Litas and Brooke English, the co-founders of Dreamation Studios, as an outlet for animation. Their idea was to lure top executives at major studios from their California offices to the Midwest’s crown jewel for a festival and simultaneously put them in contact with the best and brightest of Chicago’s animation community.

“Other places have lots of festivals specifically targeted for animation,” Litas said. “And there are lots of film festivals here where animation is included.” But only certain forms of animation are eligible for the live-action festivals, she explained, and the United States lacks other outlets for animated work.

To fill that void Litas and English brought major players from Disney, Dreamworks, Sony and Pixar to town for four days last November. Litas describes the first year as a “feather” in the festival’s “cap.”

“Despite being a first-year festival, we got attention and support from every major studio,” she said.

“But just getting it off the ground was an accomplishment,” English added.

This year’s jury comprises Frank Gladstone, Dreamworks’ head of artistic development; Peter Gal, Nickelodeon’s development director; veteran Disney animator Randy Haycock; and Cartoon Network director Randal Myers. And in keeping with this year’s gaming focus, CINEME has partnered with the Association of Gaming Professionals to bring in Alex Seropian, the creator of Halo, as well as more than $20,000 in cash prizes for a Halo tournament.

English said she wasn’t sure what to expect from this year’s festival — which she thinks will draw more people than last year, although the event is a day shorter running from Sept. 24-26 — but was confident any changes would be for the best.

“Since animation is changing so much, we are also constantly changing,” she said.

And as animation grows and changes, so are the methods of the creation, distribution and employment of new talent. Litas said the most exciting thing about making an animated film is that, unlike a live-action film which requires a crew, actors and expensive equipment, almost anyone with little more than a PC can make an animated film from scratch. But figuring out what to do with it from there can present serious problems, the founders point out.

“People contact us and say ‘I have a short and there is nobody that will look at this,'” English said.

Because animated pieces are more likely to be created by a single impassioned individual and less likely to be backed by a major studio or production company, they usually have trouble getting face time with the kinds of industry bigwigs CINEME makes available to those attending the festival.

And for those critics who complain that the festival is too commercial, Litas has a no-nonsense answer: “You can’t live in a void.”

“Everybody is doing this to break out,” she said. English and she revel in the idea that their festival could be the “one thing that helps them make it.”

Litas also is quick to point out that the festivals everyone thinks are so “indie” — the Sundances and Cannes out there — really are only open to “industry people.” “You still need a card to get in,” she said.

Not so with CINEME. Anyone can purchase a ticket, then listen to and speak with representatives from major animation and gaming companies. Plus those who were lucky enough to take home a prize in one of last year’s competitions also were provided with free distribution through “The Best of CINEME 2003.” The DVD, which Dreamation compiled for CINEME from last year’s winners, was picked up by Hollywood Video and immediately became their top animation rental. Both founders are proud to point out that many of last year’s winners were students, who wouldn’t normally have had an outlet for their work, let alone at a national chain.

“We are thrilled about that,” Litas said. “To give this sort of platform, avenue to them.”

CINEME is a potential boon, not only for young animators who are looking for exposure from a festival win but, also to those looking for the ever-important job.

“We have a lot of talent here in Chicago,” said Charles Wilcox, an instructor at DePaul University’s department of computer science, telecommunications and information systems. “Why do we keep exporting it to California?”

Wilcox, who has been involved in developing a new bachelor’s degree in computer games development at DePaul, plans to take 13 students and five faculty members to the Video Game Developers Summit (VGDS), which is “piggybacking” off CINEME and distributing its tickets through the company. Wilcox is looking forward to meeting people from his industry here in Chicago, which he hopes will help create a “nucleus” of companies (and, thus, jobs) based here in the Midwest.

Which is exactly what Eric Nofsinger and the other board members of the VGDS had in mind when they decided to debut the summit this weekend.

“We want a sharing of ideas, to pull people together and have them see what other people are up to,” he said.

He also echoes the sentiment of Litas and English that Chicago has the potential to be an animation and gaming hub if they could get people to start thinking of it that way.

“There is a great deal of gaming companies in the area but not much of a sense that Chicago is the force to be reckoned with that it is,” he said. “Our main purpose is to develop a sense of Chicago community.”

Litas said the friendliness and “small-town” feel of Chicago not only strengthens the local community but also helps get the most from those coming into it for the festival’s few days.

“They wouldn’t be as receptive if it were in L.A.,” she said. “Chicago is still considered a town and it opens them up to be more receptive.”

Medill senior Miki Johnson is the PLAY editor. She can be reached at [email protected].

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z More than 5 students get a discount to $75/person for the CINEME festival.

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z Registration at Illinois Institute of Art, 350 N. Orleans, opens at 9 a.m.

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z See last year’s winners in “The Best of CINEME 2003,” now at Hollywood Video.

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z Check cineme.org and vgdsummit.com for more festival and convention details.

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