Creative Talent Network Expo 2010

About 8 PM Sunday, on my way home from the Creative Talent Network Expo, I saw this fantastic night view over Glendale, CA. I found a place to pull over and grab this shot. Great, eh? Available light, Canon Rebel.

One of the best costume models in the business, my old pal John Tucker poses for artists and photographers at this year's CTN Expo in Burbank.

The Creative Talent Network was founded in 2004 so that professional animators, web creators, illustrators, designers, production artists and other creatives can come together to market their talents, pursue common goals, share their experience, connect with other professionals worldwide and improve the ability for clients to connect with them. Two years ago, CTN founder Tina Price put together the first CTN Expo in Burbank, California. It provided a venue for those people to get together and hang out. This year's CTN EXPO ended last night and I thought it was a terrific three-day event that apparently was enjoyed by everyone.

Check them out at http://www.creativetalentnetwork.com/

Since I'm the new President of the Animation Guild, I got to hang out at our own table to meet and chat with a huge pool of talent as it passed by. Lots of familiar old friends, some highly talented students, and everything in between. I also spent a lot of time walking around the tables and the meeting rooms to see what was going on.

Sherm Cohen gives away (not literally) Storyboard Secrets and other fun stuff. Check him out at http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/

Ovi Nedelcu had a table full of good stuff he's done for publication, but I first knew him as a great story artist at Laika in Portland. Check out his stuff at
http://www.ovinedelcu.com/

This event was small (I'm guessing several thousand attendees) compared to something like San Diego's ComicCon International (150,000 attendees plus), so the CTN Expo was very comfortable and not too crowded. And it was strictly Animation-related. You could actually engage in intimate conversations with people and hear what they had to say. No pushing and shoving, no blasting music (no blasting anything), lots of demonstrations, lots of goodies to snap up and take home.

I did manage to squeeze off a few shots of some people I ran into.

First time I met Jean Giraud, aka Moebius, he was at Disney Studios in Burbank, CA working on the original TRON in 1980. The movie was released in 1982. We had lunch a couple of times and I didn't see him again until the 1992 San Diego Comic Con. I posted a photo of the two of us in an earlier blog entry. I saw him again somewhere in Europe when I was living in Denmark and traveling to various book fairs and comic conventions there. This past weekend I got another one of my silly "WITH MY OLD PAL" shots with him again. Giraud was the special guest at this year's CTN Expo.

At a reception for Moebius he and his friend Bill Stout paused for this shot.

My old pal Rusty Mills, former Producer and Director at Warner Bros. on Pinky and the Brain and Animaniacs stopped by for a quick visit before we headed off to a great three-hour lunch.

With Kent Melton, whom I first met at Hanna-Barbera back in the 70s. Sculptor, painter, maquette-maker to the stars, Kent now lives in a home that's been in his family since the Civil War days. Check out Kent's site at http://kentmelton.blogspot.com/

Let's take another look at that night shot of Glendale. Wow. Makes me think of Maynard Dixon and Pecos Bill.