News & Events

Interview with manga artist and director Katsuhiro Otomo at REDCAT

October 31, 2012
Anime News Network

Katsuhiro Otomo at Platform International Animation Festival

California Institute of the Arts' downtown center for the contemporary arts, a section of the famous Walt Disney Concert Hall known as REDCAT, was the setting for a sold-out evening with manga artist and director Katsuhiro Otomo, as part of a new annual animation and art festival entitled Platform. The night would be his first public appearance in North America in 15 years, and the school would be presenting Otomo with the first ever Platform Lifetime Achievement Award. Read story

Posted by dthatt on Wed, 10/31/2012 - 8:30am

Review of Disney animators' art show mentions CalArts' Thursday night art openings

October 30, 2012
Comics Alliance

Some Kind Of Monster: Disney Television Animation Staff Art Show

The thing about animation is that it's art. I know that seems a little obvious, but what makes an animation wonderful is when you forget that you're looking at something someone drew, painted or sculpted and believe completely in the world of the characters and their story. That's why we spend a lot of time on this site talking about comic book artists, illustrators and visual storytellers, because the great paradox of their work is that one of their best measures of success is how much of it is, in a sense, invisible. They deserve recognition. Read story

Posted by dthatt on Tue, 10/30/2012 - 9:00am

'Gatz' coming to REDCAT

October 30, 2012
Arts Beat LA

Upcoming theater event — 'Gatz' at REDCAT

The New York-based experimental theater company, Elevator Repair Service, will be presenting their highly successful production Gatz at REDCAT late November and early December.

The acclaimed and unusual production, which has played all over Europe and various US cities since 2005, is finally coming to Los Angeles for a limited engagement, Wednesday, November 28, 2012 to Sunday, December 9, 2012. Read story

Posted by dthatt on Tue, 10/30/2012 - 9:00am

Essay by Critical Studies faculty member Maggie Nelson

October 30, 2012
Tin House

Writing With, From, and For Others

For a long time, I worried there was something wrong with me as a writer, because I leaned so heavily on the thinking and writing of others. And further, that instead of wanting to hide that leaning, my impulse has often been to showcase it, to make this thinking-with-others, this weaving of mine and others’ words, part of the texture of my writing. Read story

Posted by dthatt on Tue, 10/30/2012 - 7:00am

Platform International Animation Festival curated by faculty member Irene Kotlarz and students

October 29, 2012
LA Weekly

Why Akira Creator Katsuhiro Otomo Is the God of Animation

Nearly every seat was filled inside REDCAT's small theater on Saturday night when Katsuhiro Otomo took to the stage. The anime auteur was on hand to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for this year's Platform International Animation Festival. Read story

Posted by dthatt on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 12:30pm

Alumnus Scott Collins describes scoring silent film for Gary Mairs' Film History class

October 29, 2012
GuitArchitecture.org

Analysis Of A Film Score

Recently, Gary Mairs, a filmmaker and faculty member at CalArts, asked me to create a score for a screening of Teinosuke Kinugasa’s landmark silent film, Kurutta Ippēji (aka, Page of Madness” aka “A Page out of order”) in his Film History Class. Read story

Posted by dthatt on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 9:30am

'Wreck it Ralph' director cites CalArts in interview

October 29, 2012
Wired

Interview with Rich Moore and Clark Spencer, the Director and Producer of Wreck-It Ralph

As part of the Disney movies event that I attended a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview Director Rich Moore and Producer Clark Spencer. They explained how Wreck-It Ralph came into being, some of the unique challenges involved in the production and shared a few behind-the-scenes stories. Read interview

Posted by dthatt on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 8:30am

Alumni director Rich Moore ('Wreck it Ralph') discusses "the CalArts style"

October 28, 2012
MovieViral.com

'Wreck-It Ralph' Interview: Rich Moore Talks Art Of Making A Disney Movie, Scarcity Of Arcades, & More

CalArts alum and Emmy Winner Rich Moore is the director of Wreck-It Ralph, one of the most anticipated animated films of 2012. Featuring the voice talents of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, and Jack McBrayer, the film centers on a Donkey Kong-like 8-bit character who dreams of being a hero after serving as the villain of a coin-op arcade game for over 30 years. When he decides to game jump to become the hero he always wanted to be, he accidentally sets of a chain of events that could prove to be the end of three arcade games. Read story

Posted by dthatt on Sun, 10/28/2012 - 3:30pm

Writer D. J. Waldie responds to having his book used as a source in James Franco's class in School of Film/Video

October 26, 2012
KCET

Being Read by James Franco

The filmmaker James Franco has been writing about a book of mine that Franco's students at CalArts in Valencia will spend this semester and the next turning into an assemblage of short films. This is supposed to add up to something, rather like the book was supposed to. Read story

Posted by dthatt on Fri, 10/26/2012 - 2:00pm

Alumna director Brenda Chapman recalls being first woman to work in Disney story department

October 25, 2012
LAist

Director Of "Brave" Tells Her Own "Binders Full Of Women" Story

Before Brenda Chapman went on to direct "The Prince of Egypt" and "Brave," she was a CalArts grad looking for a job.

At that time, she came face-to-face with the executive at Disney Animation in 1987, who hired her with those magic words every woman wants to hear from a potential employer: "We need a woman. And you're the right price." Read story

Posted by dthatt on Thu, 10/25/2012 - 6:00pm