Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Tag: film making

May 3, 2019

Furry Film Festival (F3) welcomes guest judges Jib Kodi, Jesse Cox, Freddie Wong of RocketJump

by Patch O'Furr

Here at Dogpatch, if there wasn’t a Furry Film Festival to report about, we’d start one. Not even kidding. It’s been discussed. I’ve organized furry screenings and shaken my fuzzy tail as a performer in them. So seeing this long-overdue idea come to life means news about it will get shared with great fan love.

New guest judges are being announced since Freddie Wong – now, a fandom animation star is adding support. (Previously seen on Dogpatch: How furry animator Jib Kodi found his art: “When I saw that tail move, I was instantly hooked.”)

FROM THE FURRY FILM FESTIVAL (F3): Jib Kodi Announced As Special Guest Judge

The Furry Film Festival (F3) has announced their second guest judge: Jib Kodi! Even though he only became active in the fandom in 2017, he’s become one of the most well-known animators in it, thanks to his short 10-20 second animations released on Twitter to great popularity. These represent some of the most prevalent themes and subjects in the fandom, from quirky humor or beautiful tributes that bring tears to the eyes (like honoring the late DogBomb).

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a comment
April 9, 2019

Furry Film Festival (F3) launches official video series, reveals special guest judge

by Patch O'Furr

Immigrants are seeking asylum. There’s an ominous threat of war. Is this the regular news?

No, it’s science fiction about furries landing on earth, created especially for the Furry Film Festival (announced here in March). The event is landing in Utah in late 2019. But today you can watch the F3 Official Series, Episode 1: ‘Provenance’, just released by film maker and event organizer ChronoWolf.

Furry fandom has great power to gain attention (as seen with billionaires wanting to get in the party… can we trade Elon Musk for space furries?) But it’s still a very niche indie community for creative production. There aren’t big budgets or sponsors for new events outside of the con box. The community is still reaching the potential to support an ongoing film festival.  Is it ready for the first one?

Read the rest of this entry »

1 comment
March 26, 2019

Furry Film Festival (F3) launches new site and opens for film entries.

by Patch O'Furr

Announcement – until March 31, vote for the Ursa Major Awards to support the best works of furry fandom!

These are good times to be a furry and a film maker. First there was news about something I’ve waited a long time for (no it’s not getting myself a dog bath). Utah is getting the first festival for all the creatively choreographed con videos, documentaries, animation and more that are burgeoning with online viewers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a comment
March 18, 2019

Animation and documentaries break ground for an indie furry film scene.

by Patch O'Furr

Announcement: Until March 31, vote for the Ursa Major Awards to support the best works of furry fandom!

Hollywood favors big-budget explosion-based movies. For small indie makers, the epic approach doesn’t seem like an easy path to getting support. Instead, those in furry fandom might go for niche, weird and being real. Think of artists with bedroom studios. Think of high furry talent at low fandom cost. Think of making documentary with ingredients already available, like costumes worth millions in show-value, and a cast that needs no practice to feature their passion. There’s so much raw energy here waiting to come out.

With documentary, excitement is rising for The Fandom, a series in the works from Ash Coyote, Chip Fox and Eric Risher. (The first episode is out on March 22). Ash’s co-director and editor, Eric “Ash” Risher (Furryfilmmaker) already made a well-received documentary and won a regional Emmy. At this point in fandom growth, such projects seem viable to go wider. Furries have recently risen to pro Youtuber status with 100k+ subscriber channels. (Call them “pro-fans”, which may be a unique status for this kind of grassroots fandom). Meanwhile a CNN news feature earned good mainstream notice, and furries spawned two good feature films; Fursonas won an award at the Slamdance festival and Rukus screened at SXSW.  And for the first time in 2019, a furry film fest is coming to Utah (an idea I’ve been wanting to see for years).

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a comment
June 23, 2016

Furry fans of indie animation, the Animation Show of Shows deserves your attention.

by Patch O'Furr

Co written by Patch and Fred Patten.

Happy Pride month!  Check out this short animation, Flamingo Pride.  It screened in the 2012 annual Animation Show of Shows, an international touring festival. Read on about why the festival deserves your attention, and what this means to furries.

Ron Diamond, producer of The Animation Show of Shows, contacted Fred Patten:

Dear Fred, I want to thank you for the great write up on The 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows. I was delighted about the kindness you extended to me and the filmmakers in covering an otherwise unorthodox medley of quirky international animated shorts. I’d be grateful if you can share this with your readers, to help build awareness of alternative animation that has a message that pleases and inspires. Warm regards, Ron

The 2016 Animation Show of Shows will be the 18th annual edition.  Fred has previously reviewed it for various animation websites (here’s reviews from 2013 and 2015.) Diamond is president of Acme Filmworks, an animation studio in Los Angeles that produces animated TV commercials in a wide variety of styles. His curation of the Animation Show of Shows is well known. It consists of about a dozen short films, some from big studios like Disney and Pixar, but most by independent animators and students from colleges around the world. Most or all are prize winners at international festivals.  Many have gone on to win next year’s Academy Award Oscar in the Short Film (Animated) category.  They show Diamond’s stellar record for predicting success.

Up to now, Diamond has shown this festival at major animation studios and animation colleges mostly in North America, but also in some other countries with large studios or chapters of ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation; the International Animator’s Association). Now Diamond is trying to raise enough funding through a Kickstarter campaign to get it into theaters where it can be seen by the public.

What does it have to do with furry fandom?

Read the rest of this entry »

1 comment
December 2, 2014

Dawgtown and The Saga of Rex: updates for standard-bearing indie animation.

by Patch O'Furr

The five-decade tradition of Saturday morning cartoons is gone.  On Flayrah furry news, Ringtailedfox shares a thoughtful story about  the demise of “animation on over-the-air television”. It marks a cultural shift. Times are changing communication business, media and fan culture.

The specialized art of hand-drawn animation seems gone in Hollywood.  But not to artists.  Some world-class artists are boldly working to produce 2D animated feature films outside the system.  They don’t bear standards, in the sense of status quo… they’re carrying the flag of pioneering indie spirit.

Two such indie productions have new updates.  They’re of high interest to furry fans.  Directors of both did interviews for Dogpatch Press.

Dawgtown update

header_home Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a comment
August 11, 2014

Update on DAWGTOWN, 2D animated feature film in production

by Patch O'Furr

DAWGTOWN is a rare breed in indie movies: a hand-drawn, 2D animated project – with as much promising talent as ambition backing it.

Director Justin Murphy gave me an interview about it’s use of anthropomorphic animals, and voices by George Foreman. (Part one, part two.)

Since then, DAWGTOWN has shared a new website, and spirited character designs for Athena (love interest of movie protagonist Max, a pit bull forced to fight for freedom in the cruel dog-fighting underground.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a comment
June 12, 2014

DAWGTOWN interview part 2: Director talks about casting George Foreman

by Patch O'Furr

Interview series:  Artists, animation directors, DJ’s and event organizers, superfans, and more…

Continued from Part 1, here’s more from Justin Murphy, director and producer of Dawgtown. It’s an ambitious 2D animated, indie feature film in pre-production that just announced casting George Foreman as voice actor. Here’s part 2 of his thoughts about movie making and more.

DAWGTOWN’S CASTING:
Casting choices so far indicate confident directing. IMDB shows:
Mauler (voice) – Jason Beghe – “Trademark: Deep, gravelly voice”.
George Foreman is “Vicious Vic”- a dog with a warm personality behind the name. Foreman’s bio promises depth for such a character. He grew up from childhood poverty and constant trouble with the law, making a monumental rise to heavyweight boxing champion of the world and olympic gold medal winner. His retirement led to preaching for 10 years (not a bad credit for a voice actor). An unlikely boxing comeback re-captured a World Heavyweight Champion title at age 45, bringing a real underdog to the acting part.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a comment
June 11, 2014

Q&A with director of DAWGTOWN animated movie – George Foreman announced for cast

by Patch O'Furr

Dogpatch Press interview series:  Artists, animation directors, DJ’s and event organizers, superfans, and more…

DTOWN POSTER1

Here’s a Q&A with Justin Murphy, director and producer of Dawgtown. It’s an ambitious 2D animated, indie feature film in pre-production. I’m excited to grill him about it, especially with this week’s big announcement that George Foreman has joined the cast as voice actor.

The movie synopsis promises action: “As a competitor in the most well funded pit-fighting organization in the world, a young Pitbull leads a revolt in a dangerous break for freedom.”

Justin’s award-winning production record promises action, too. Here’s part 1 for his thoughts on movie making, “talking animals”, and more. Part 2 is here.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 comment