CTN Animation Expo
I realize I never made a post on here about my trip to Burbank. Things have been stressful and I've been exhausted so I am writing now.
CTN was absolutely AMAZING. As a young and aspiring animator, everything about it was a dream come true.
I got to kick-off the convention at Walt Disney Animation Studios and saw some exclusive sneak peeks of upcoming Disney animated series. We also got to see an exclusive Pixar short that I'm not even sure will ever be released to the public? And the main event was getting to see this year's Disney animated feature film a week before it premiered in public theaters!
And really being able to see the screening in a room full of other animators made it all even more exciting. All the reactions and enthusiasm in one room from so many like-minded people really made my day and warmed my heart. We were all crying at the end of the movie.
It was also just really incredible getting to clap for the creators because they were right there in the theater!
They even gave us free buckets of popcorn for the movie and we got backpacks with posters and goodies inside. The whole Disney experience was really crazy too since we were on the Disney lot and seeing such exclusive top secret things, we had to lock up our phones in these little pouches before entering the theater. Then, at the end we got security to unlock them for us.
By the time we got back to the hotel, we both crashed. This was the first time I've ever hopped time zones so the whole day just seemed extra long. In total, we were traveling for about 16 hours and up and running for another 3 or 4 hours after that. It was 3 different flights to get there and then 2 different flights on the way back home.
We got up and did registration where I got glitter bombed by the CTN fairy for it being my first time there. Buying the VIP passes really paid off as we were guaranteed seats and GOOD seats to every event we wanted to attend. We saw so many panels Friday and Saturday and then Sunday ended up being a bit more of a chill day as we walked around the tent and did portfolio reviews. Also I got a lot of freebies!
I got to review with Blue Sky, Reel FX, Cinesite, AnimSchool, and iAnimate. It was so amazing and cool and it felt so great being able to take the advice straight from the companies to apply to my work. I know for next time to sign up in advance to be able to review with companies like Dreamworks and Pixar. We also attended a Polishing workshop and a more personal lecture by Pixar veteran animator, Michal Makarewicz that was so incredibly inspiring. He gave us the kind of pointers and advice that we'd never get from school.
Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to explore any of Burbank. The only time we left the hotel was taking the Uber to Walt Disney Studios, and it was dark at that point so didn't really get to even see much of the city.
But I would be more than happy to visit California again and get to actually see it. Food was undoubtedly pricey as we were only able to eat in the hotel. It was really all we had time for. But finances aside, I am beyond happy with the decision to take the plunge and go on this trip. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time now. I don't know where I'll be at this time next year or if I'll be able to do this again by then, but if I can I'll be more than happy to.
