Month: March 2008 (Page 2 of 4)

I’m sad to report that Justin Wright, who had been with Pixar for just more than a year in the story department, has passed away at the young age of 27 from a heart attack.

Justin Wright was a survivor, undergoing a heart transplant at age 12. He loved his job and was a humble man. On his blog, he wrote: “People might get mad at me if they knew how good we have it here. Massages, a gym — all that is true.”

Justin’s credits at Pixar include the 2D line drawings shown during the credits of Ratatouille. He was currently working on a new short that will be released with WALL-E this year.

While I didn’t know Justin Wright personally, I feel like I did. Being, somewhat, a part of the animation industry myself (writing this blog) it really hurt to learn of his passing, especially since he was so young. My condolences go out to his family. May he Rest in Peace.

In his honor, there will be no other posts today at The Animation Blog.

Aniboom and TBD Records have launched a contest inviting all creators and Radiohead fans from across the globe to produce an animated music video for any one of the songs from the band’s latest album, In Rainbows. The contest, to be separated into four stages, will culminate with the selection by the members of Radiohead of a winner who will be awarded a $10,000 prize to produce a full-length animated music video.

The first stage of the competition begins today and continues through April 27, inviting all artists, animators, writers, character designers and more, to submit storyboards that may range from basic sketches with words to more complex submissions in video formats, using the song of their choice from In Rainbows. Artists have the option to compete solo or to ask Aniboom to match them with other entrants whose talents complement their own. More information on the contest can be found at aniboom.com/radiohead.

The storyboards will be posted for viewing and ranking by creators and fans, after which a panel that will include people from Aniboom, TBD Records and Adult Swim will select ten semifinalists who will be awarded $1,000 each to produce a one-minute animated music video. The semifinalist videos will be shared across Aniboom’s web-wide network of distribution partners, and fans will be given the opportunity to vote at aniboom.com and at MySpace. The videos will then be submitted to Radiohead to select the winner. The creator(s) of the winning video will be awarded $10,000 to expand their one minute submission to produce the full-length video. In addition, the winning video may have its broadcast premiere on Adult Swim.