Animation Block Party

Animation Block Party is an annual animation film festival in New York City, usually held over three days in late July.

Animation Block Party

Location	New York, NY
Founded	2004
No. of films	100+
Language	International
Website	AnimationBlock.com

History

Brooklyn

On September 9, 2004, Casey Safron, the event's founder, curated the first Animation Block Party, held in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The event was rated one of the top five smaller film festivals in the area.^[1] The following year, Animation Block Party opened for international submissions, acquired corporate sponsorship and expanded to become an annual festival with juried awards and prizes for participating animators.^[2][3] In 2006, the festival expanded to its current multi-day format,^[4] drawing an average of over 2,500 attendees per summer.^[2][5] Based in Brooklyn, the event shows animation from both U.S. and international filmmakers.^[6] In 2011, Animation Block Party received 654 submissions, screening 97 of them at their 8th annual festival.^[5][7]

Animation Block Party expanded to a four-day festival in 2013, including an opening night concert with performances by Adam Green, Hooray for Earth, Tim Harrington, and others, and exclusive animation from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Pixar.^[8]

Around the US

Animation Block Party has held traveling shows in Philadelphia,^[9] Austin,^[10] Omaha,^[11] Boston^[12] and Los Angeles, including a 2014 Valentine's Day showcase at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, which included original shorts from MTV Other, Nickelodeon, Six Point Harness, Loopdeloop and Bill Plympton.^[13]

Production

Animation Block Party also has a production division called Animation Block, which has turned several pieces from the festival into series.^[14] In 2008, Animation Block produced the series "Perfectland" for MTV, which premiered on April 22, 2008.^[15] In 2009, Animation Block produced the series "Breakfast" for the Sundance Channel,^[15] as well as a 28 episode web series for My Damn Channel.^[16]

References

1. "Top Five Smaller Film Festivals," New York, May 21, 2005.
2. McCarton Ackerman, "Animation Block Party Arrives in Williamsburg," Greenpoint Gazette, July 28, 2011.
3. Sarah Baisley, "NYC Animation Block Party Screening," Animation World Network, December 1, 2005.
4. Chermelle D. Edwards, "Get Animated About This Film Festival," offManhattan, July 24, 2009.
5. "Person Pinball," CBS News
6. Angela Ashman, "Cartoon Central," The Village Voice, July 27, 2010.
7. Inamdar Shaker, "iRealities: 2D 3D Animation, Visual Effects (VFX), and Top Animation Studio in India," Animation, Oct 17, 2017.
8. Zubair Siddique, "Animation Block Party Opening Night," Archived 2013-08-21 at the Wayback Machine Metro, July 15, 2013.
9. Matthew Schantz, "Animation Block Party: NYC's animated celebration wises up and comes to Philly," Archived September 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Philadelphia City Paper, May 26, 2009.
10. "Best of Animation Block Party," Archived 2014-04-15 at the Wayback Machine NowPlayingAustin.com, November 16, 2009.
11. "Animation Block Party: Animation for Kids," Archived January 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Film Streams, 2011.
12. Jim Landry, "Animation Block Party," Boston's Weekly Dig, March 24, 2009.
13. Laura Gaddy, "Animation Block Party Valentine’s Day Showcase," Racket, February 14, 2014.
14. "Animation Block Party," Archived September 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine The New York Times, July 25, 2008.
15. "Animation Block Party Sets Record, Lou Reed Visits Film Forum, and Lincoln Center Celebrates," IndieWire, July 31, 2008.
16. "Animation Block Proves the Internet Can Be Better Than TV," Clicker.com, March 21, 2011.

External links

• Festival Website