bpx with dark insides

Have redesigned the site a little seeing as it's Spring. I got a bit red and annoyed trying to make things work so can't tell if I like it at the moment. Will decide tomorrow. Hope it doesn't disgust anyone in the meantime.

The new menu (which I think I will add some kind of animated flourish to soon) was my first time using actionscript since AS2.0...

balancedthere.addEventListener(MouseEvent.
CLICK,goTherebalancedthere);
function goTherebalancedthere(e:MouseEvent){
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest
("http://www.balancedthere.com/");
navigateToURL(request, "_self");
}

What happened?!

Francis Cooper in the South West Screen annual report

Francis Cooper has appeared (flipped) in South West Screen's annual report. He takes up over 1/3 of pages 6 and 7 - that's over 1/30 of the entire report: the most he has ever taken up in an annual report.

Please find enclosed in .pdf files (2) the Annecy 2009 selection results.

Keith Reynolds has won his second international award! It was the audience award (ages 12-18) at the NYICFF. Unfortunately he couldn't make it again (ahaha) but Sarah Cox was there to pick it up on his behalf and also collect her own award for Don't Let It All Unravel which won the HSBC Environmental Film Award. Well done.

Also, Francis Cooper has been chosen as part of the official selection at Annecy this year. It's not in competition but I like Annecy and I think I get a free pass so that's ok.

It's pretty sunny too. It has been a good week.
p.s. I think the rss feed stopped working for a little while. It should be working again now.

We know you have a choice of airline and we want to thank you for choosing American

Returned from my trip to the New York International Children's Film Festival yesterday. Was a nice festival and every screening I went to was completely full. My screening and Q&A went ok and I think I even managed to get away without looking like too much of a goon this time so I'm improving. This is good because in April I am doing a talk, with two other directors, at the Watershed in Bristol on comedy. Am slightly nervous because I don't really know what to talk about. The blurb is. "What makes an audience laugh, can you learn comic timing?". I can't think how to answer those questions without sounding like a knob. Hopefully I can just show my films and have people ask me not-so-general questions. Think I'd be ok then. It's at 7pm Thursday 30th April 2009, Waterside 3 Watershed Media Centre.

Keith Reynolds couldn't make it to Brussels last night

Not to be outdone by Francis Cooper, Keith Reynolds won Best Student Short Film at Anima in Brussels this weekend - his first international award. Sadly he couldn't make it (aha!) in person to pick up the prize as he would have been too tired for his trip to New York this week (for his screening March 8th at 3pm, Heebie Jeebies category, NYICFF.) as he is leaving tomorrow.

Francis has got into Cartoons On The Bay 2009 - maybe he will go to that though.

Today I worked a little on Sam Morrison's new film. It's a good one.

Also the Arthur Cox website has been remade. I even have my own page where you can see some of the animation I co-directed and did for CBBC Newsround. And if you click here you can watch the Property Ladder advert and Five ident I animated on.

New York, NY, Arthur Cox

Am off to New York, New York next week for the New York International Children's Film Festival. 'Keith Reynolds...' is in the Heebie Jeebies category showing on March 1st at 11am and March 8th at 3pm. I should be at the screening on the 8th.

Then, the following weekend, Sarah Cox will be there with her film 'Don't Let It All Unravel'. Award winning writer, director and animator, Matthew Walker has his film 'Operator' in as well but sadly old age, and several mild strokes, have deemed him unfit to fly and he is unable to make the trip.

Francis Cooper is not a miserable failure

'The surprise demise of Francis Cooper's mother' won the Best South West Region Animation Award at Animated Exeter this weekend. To celebrate I got to have my photo taken whilst looking like a goon again.

'Keith Reynolds can't make it tonight' was also screened in the World Wide Programme but don't think anything exciting happened to him. But I did see this on the internet the other day...

Thanks to Skillset Screen Academy Wales for the bursary so I could go down.

Francis Cooper clip online

Uploaded a clip of my latest film, 'The surprise demise of Francis Cooper's mother', today. Hope you like it. You can see a bigger version than the one above, along with promotional stills, a synopsis and full list of credits, by viewing it on the film page here. It has also been accepted into Animated Exeter (this month) and the Florida Film Festival (April). I should be at Exeter this Sunday thanks to a grant from Skillset Screen Academy Wales. Bought a ticket to see 'Sita Sings The Blues' which I've been trying, but failing, to see for a while now.

Saw Bolt today as well. Enjoyed it a lot! It is the first film I've ever seen with 3D glasses. Was slightly worried it wouldn't work for me as I am almost a one eyed man but it was really good if slightly alarming.

I'll go get my ball.

Keith and Francis at Animex 2009

'The surprise demise of Francis Cooper's mother' and 'Keith Reynolds can't make it tonight' are, according to a man from The Animex International Festival of Animation & Computer Games named Chris, both being screened at The Animex International Festival of Animation & Computer Games this week. Though they are not in the festival programme so perhaps not. If they are, however, it will be Francis' competitive debut and the second time Keith has been there (he was there in a different category last year).

Snowing outside the window at work today.

a reel

Finished my showreel. It is mostly made up of commercial things I've been working on in the past couple of years but also contains some clips of 'The surprise demise of Francis Cooper's mother' if you are interested in seeing any of that at all.

The music is by 'ok' - the same band who feature in my little 'i can't colour in' animations. Joe Paine is in that band - he is the man who has done the soundtracks for both my films.

Felix Massie 2009 showreel.