‘Red Stick’ Fest grows

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According to SIGGRAPH organizers, that conference drew more than 28,000 artists, scientists, gaming experts, developers, students, filmmakers and academics to its 2008 event in Los Angeles.

Sunde said those types of efforts have helped Red Stick develop a strong international reputation.

U.S. filmmakers accounted for about one-third of the entries, Sunde said.

A breakdown of the submissions by country: United States, 168; United Kingdom, 48; Canada, 22; Israel, 15; India, Serbia-Montenegro and China, 12 each; Germany, 11; Denmark and Belgium, 10 each; Australia, nine; Spain and the Netherlands, seven each; Taiwan, six; Malaysia, Ireland, Mexico and Brazil, five each; Iran, Italy and Bosnia-Herzegowina, four each; Japan, France and Poland, three each; and South Korea, Indonesia, Finland, Ukraine, Turkey, Switzerland, Greece, Romania, Hong Kong, Pakistan, South Africa, Hungary, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Singapore, Norway, Czech Republic, Chile, Croatia and Argentina, one each.

Kelly Neal, managing director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, said it’s nice to see more venues for animation. The Ottawa festival is North America’s largest and received 2,150 entries from 70 countries in 2008.

The United States has Red Stick, the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Animation Festival, the Platform International Animation Festival in Portland, Ore., and the South Beach (Florida) International Animation Film Festival, Neal said.

“I think once people are introduced to short-form animation they tend to come back for more,” Neal said. “So between our festival, the Internet and touring programs such as the Animation Show, an audience is building.”

The Red Stick festival is sponsored by LSU in partnership with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President’s Office, Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, Louisiana Economic Development and Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium.

For information on Red Stick 2009, contact the festival office at (225) 389-7182 or visit http://www.redstickfestival.org.