Mark your calendars! The ANNY Best of Fest is a TWO DAY symposium (Fri & Sat, Sept 29-30, 2017, 12pm-10pm) featuring animation screenings, fine art installations, virtual reality animation experiences, professional panels, and industry events at 180 Maiden Lane in the Seaport District of NYC.

Enthusiast Packages (FREE) and Industry Packages ($30) are available now! Reserve your tickets, today!

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
ANIMATION SCREENING EVENTS
(Saturday, Sept 30, 7pm & 8pm) 
Congratulations to our ANNY Best of Fest Winners! This year our panel judges picked 20 films from the 175 selected for our monthly curated screening events. http://www.animationnights.com/screening25/

The 2017 ANNY Best of Fest Panel Judges are Debra Solomon (Independent Animator, Academy Member), Phil Weinstein (Disney), and Dayna Gonzalez (Jumping Tadpole Productions, Former ASIFA East President)

2017 ANNY Best of Fest filmmakers are up for our Grand Prize Award (selected by Andrew Gordon (Pixar)), our Animation for Adults Award (selected by Chris Perkins (AFA)), and our Art in Motion Award (selected by Ronni Anderson (Anderson Contemporary)). The results of the final portion of the competition will be announced closer to the festival date. Grand Prize and Animation for Adults Winners each receive a prize from Wacom!

Our 2017 ANNY Best of Fest Filmmakers receive an industry pass to our 2017 annual festival,  a free one year subscription to Toon Boom(https://www.toonboom.com/), as well as a free one year subscription to It’s on Craft (https://itsoncraft.com/). 2017 ANNY Best of Fest filmmakers may also be eligible for distribution via Shorts HD, if applicable.

2017 ANNY Best of Fest Filmmakers:

• YÙL AND THE SNAKE. Gabriel Harel. France, 2015. 13:00
• SISTERS. David Chontos. United States, 2016. 3:58
• PUB CRAWL. Hayden Browne. Australia, 2016. 1:37
• OSSA. Dario Imbrogno. Italy, 2016. 3:55
• GINGER BEER. Macchia Ornella, Medard Simon. Belgium, 2016. 2:39
• RADIO WAVE. Ryotaro Miyajima. Japan, 2016. 3:09
• MOVING OUT. SeoHee Choi, John Han. United States, 2016. 2:56
• HANGING. Nick LeDonne. United States, 2016. 5:37
• PACKAGE OF MOVIE TRICKS. Nemjóova. Czech Republic, 2015. 2:00
• ALL THEIR SHADES. Chloé Alliez. France, 2015. 5:46
• SCAPEGOAT. Gal Haklay, Shulamit Tager. Israel, 2015. 8:28
• ORCA. Shulamit Tager. Israel, 2014. 2:36
• OUR WONDERFUL NATURE – THE COMMON CHAMELEON. Tomer Eshed. Germany, 2016. 3:32
• ONCE UPON A LINE. Alicja Jasina. United States, 2016. 7:05
• TICKING AWAY. Michael Sewnarain. Netherlands, 2015. 9:25
• AS A LITTLE BIRD I… Yyhely Hälvin. Estonia, 2016. 7:05
• IN THE DISTANCE. Florian Grolig. Germany, 2015. 8:00
• IT’S A DOG LIFE. Julie Rembauville. Canada, 2012. 7:47
• BEER BY CHARLES BUKOWSKI. Nerdo. Italy, 2016. 2:15
• CHANGES. Bob Los. Netherlands, 2016. 3:41

FINE ART INSTALLATION 
(Friday & Saturday, Sept 29-30, 12pm)
Anderson Contemporary is curating the second installment of Art in Motion for 2017 featuring an installation celebrating animation! Opening Reception: Wed, Sept 13, 6pm-8pm

VIRTUAL REALITY SHOWCASE
(Friday, Sept 29, 12pm – 8pm & Saturday, Sept 30, 12 – 6pm)
Our showcase is happening on the 29th Floor Showroom at 180 Maiden Lane. It’s a 26,000 sq ft space with 360-degree views from 500 ft above Manhattan. We will be presenting work from a number of amazing creators including Chris Milk, Penrose Studios, Jakob Steensen, Pirahna / Hey Mister!, Midas Touch, Artella / Sketchfab, Third Wish Media, High Fidelity, and NYU MAGNET among others!

PROFESSIONAL PANELS
(Friday & Saturday, Sept 29-30, 12pm – 9pm)
Panel, presentation, and industry participants scheduled include Kickstarter, The Molecule, ASIFA East, Penrose Studios, The Mill, Sesame Studios, Artella, SketchFab, SVA, VR Voice, Tommy Stathes, John Dilworth, Stash Media, Max Rothman, John Dilworth, Augenblick Studios, Abelana, Children’s Media Association, High Fidelity, and Framestore are just a few of the organizations on board.

• Pitching Animation (Sept 29, 12pm) – Featuring: Kickstarter, The Molecule, and Children’s Media Association.
• History of Animation (Sept 29, 2pm) – Featuring: Tommy Stathes and David Kay.
• Film Festival Strategy (Sept 29, 3pm) – Featuring: The Productive and ASIFA East.
• Cinematic Campfire Poetry (Sept 29, 4pm) – Featuring: Max Rothman.
• Artella Virtual Studio: Sketchfab, Lily & Snout, and the Future of WebVR (Sept 29, 5pm) – Featuring: Artella Virtual Studio and Sketchfab.
• VR Voice Panel: Storytelling in Virtual Reality (Sept 29, 6pm) – Featuring: VR Voice and Nice Shoes with Bob Fine as moderator.
• Surviving and Thriving as a Freelancer (Sept 29, 7pm) – Featuring: Kalika Sharma, Stephen Brooks, Livia Beasley, and John Schnall with Dayna Gonzalez as moderator.
• The Philosophy of Animation Style (Sept 29, 8pm) – Featuring: Stash Media, Renrose Studios, Max Rothman, and Cartoon Brew.
• New York Film Lot Panel (Sept 30, 12pm) – Featuring: Devin Dixon, Valerie Lisyansky, Brandon Henriquez, and Daron Jenkins as moderator.  
• Animation in VR: Pipelines and Workflow (Sept 30, 1pm) – Featuring: Penrose Studios, SVA, The Mill, and Nice Shoes with Kiira Benzing as moderator.
• Puppetry and Motion Capture in Animation (Sept 30, 2pm) – Featuring: Sesame Studios, Handmade Puppet Dreams, and Matt Witham with Tristian Goik as moderator.
• Animation: New Models for Business (Sept 30, 3pm) – Featuring: GKIDS, Frederator, and Sesame Studios.
• Pre-Production and Planning: The Importance of Developing an Idea (Sept 30, 4pm) – John Dilworth, Paganomation, and Jimbo Matison with Nina Balton as moderator..
• Animation Tech: Multi-User Experiences in Virtual Reality – (Sept 30, 5pm) – Featuring: Abelana VR Productions, High Fidelity, and NYC Magnet with Mark Sternberg as moderator.

INDUSTRY EVENTS
(Friday, Sept 29, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & Saturday, Sept 30, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm)
One-on-one Speed Pitching Blocks (Invite only. We will be putting out a call for artists, soon!)Animators/directors will have an opportunity to talk one-on-one with Industry reps!

2017 ANNY Best of Fest Wrap Party (Saturday, Sept 30, 10pm. (Venue, TBA))

We hope to see you at the festival!