‘CTN Road Trip’ expects to draw cartoon fans to Downtown Burbank Arts Festival
It all started with Disney in 1923, then the major studios followed with their own illustrious animation departments, where hilarious and inventive cartoon shorts and feature films established Burbank as the essential center for movie and TV animation.
Later generations of creators and major new media venues like Nickelodeon also settled in Burbank and adjacent cities. “In a 25-mile radius, Burbank has more animation studios, animation creators and animation service providers than any other city in the world,” says Tina Price, a former longtime creator at Disney Animation and now director of the Creative Talent Network.
Price is also producing the “CTN Road Trip,” filling a block and a half of this weekend’s Downtown Burbank Arts Festival with 65 artists “who have contributed to some of the highest grossing films in animation” from DreamWorks, Disney, Nickelodeon and more.
Fans and casual viewers can meet these creators and see and purchase the personal artwork they make outside of their day jobs. The event presents a rare opportunity to see this work up close from the industry’s top visual effects artists, illustrators, character designers and storyboard artists.
“My whole goal is to help turn a spotlight on the fact that Burbank is the animation capital of the world, where the best talent is creating,” says Price of Burbank and surrounding areas. “We’ve got the best schools here — Cal Arts, Art Center, Woodbury University and a lot of trade schools. It’s really a hotbed of talent that feeds the animation and live action world for visual effects.”
The festival is a chance for those hoping to enter the industry to interact with some established professional animators. “Students will come, they’ll bring their portfolios — they want to meet the artists and get some feedback,” Price says.
As part of this weekend’s activities, CTN is hosting the “Doodle Run,” where participants are tasked with gathering small drawings from participating artists at the festival. There is a raffle attached to the contest, but the best prize? “You get to keep the artwork.”
The Creative Talent Network will be marking its fourth year as a participant in the Downtown Burbank Arts Festival. Among the artists who will be on site are Liana Lee and Ron Velasco from Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Disney’s Samantha G. George, plus Nesa Bove, James Lopez, Ivan Mendoza and many others.
“I am a big supporter of Burbank, and Burbank is a big supporter of the Creative Talent Network,” Price says. “We see the value in each other.”
Price began her 23-year career at Disney with 1985’s “The Black Cauldron,” and by 1990 moved into the studio’s computer animation department. She was involved with every Disney animated feature including 1992’s “Aladdin” and 2002’s “Treasure Planet.”
When she began working, there were just 150 working in the Disney animation offices, before the success of the films in the 1990s eventually led to a workforce above 2,000. “In those days we just went from movie to movie to movie,” she remembers. “It was like one big long film.”
The Creative Talent Network also hosts an annual industry expo every November in Burbank. The “CTN Road Trip” is designed more as outreach to the public and offers a chance for these accomplished artists to step into the light as creators of mass culture and personal artwork.
“Animators love meeting the general public,” says Price, who adds with a laugh, “You never see animation artists outdoors. They’re always in their office in the dark. Especially now with computer animation. They just don’t get out much.”
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What: “CTN Road Trip” at the Downtown Burbank Arts Festival
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday
Where: The outdoor festival is on four blocks of San Fernando Boulevard between Angeleno Avenue and Magnolia Boulevard, in Burbank.
Cost: Free.
More info: ctnroadtripburbank.com
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Steve Appleford, steve.appleford@latimes.com
Twitter: @SteveAppleford
