November Update: Festivals, dubs, sketches and more!

Dear Patrons,

Another month, another update! And although Flickering Light's release is now well behind us, it's not as thought there aren't news to share!

TALES OF ZALE - FLICKERING LIGHTS

In regards to Tales of Zale - Flickering Lights, some of you may have seen that I've released the trailer for the Spanish dub, coming out on November 10th. While I don't want to flood the internet with too many different versions, and have been holding off on opening up the fan-dub flood gates just yet for that reason, Metal Rose Studio generously offered to make a version that could go on the main channel. And they showed a very solid track record, so we started working together. The dub will have a live premiere just like the original, so if you're interested, feel free to join on this link.

We're also still working on a music video and OST release. The singer and writer of the song for Flickering Lights, Marquette, has been hit by a LOT of bad luck, which has made it impossible for her to record any of the extended versions we had planned. We've had to explore other options, and basically figure out how to make it work with what we've got. That means that the music video is going to be a lot less ambitious than what I had initially planned, but there's probably a beauty to keeping it all simple too. I've done a rough edit at this point, but I'm still reflecting a bit on it and making adjustments.

In case you want some indie animation nostalgia, Flickering Lights has now also made its way over to Newgrounds - which was the platform where the pilot first got its start. The staff has been so kind as to give it the featured front page spot - and even edited the logo into the thumbnail by their own accord. So nice of them!

FESTIVALS

As you may have seen in my previous post, Tales of Zale won the Fredrikstad Animation Festival's prize for best childrens' film!

After the surprising win, I've been doing my research and picked out more festivals that may be relevant to apply for. Most of them are first going to share the results of their selection months from now, but at least I've covered my bases at this point in time!

(This notepad only covers the ones I applied for or looked into this month. There's more, but let's see if they become relevant)

Other than the Fredrikstad win, Flickering Lights also became a Finalist in the Swedish Film Awards. But that only results in a laurel, so there's not really that much to note on in that regard.

CTNX

Other than festivals, I'm also going to an Expo. CTNX, to be precise. It will be my very first time in the US, so I'm kind of excited. And nervous. I'll be accompanying one of my producers and doing a talk on my path into animation and the European indie animation scene. Flight and hotel is covered for most of the stay, so that's cool.  
I hope to meet some folks that I've only known online previously!

I'm going from the 14th-23rd of November. Though honestly, there are still a lot of details I don't know, since most communication has been through the producer.

(I had to make new business cards for this event, so I decided to update an old design of mine. Here's the sketch too!) 

TALES OF ZALE TV-SERIES

December is probably going to be a very nerve-wracking period for the series/special. Basically, we have all the pieces on the board now, and we are moving to get answers on our plan A. There'll be a meeting... Maybe we will get a final yes or no... wish me luck!

NEW PROJECT

There was this one moment here in October, when I had just finished the freelance job, when I just really needed to go all out in drawing for myself. I ended up gravitating towards a project idea that I've had for many years, but that I've been holding off on, for one because I needed to focus on TOZ, and for another, because I didn't feel like I had the right skillset yet. I can feel that I'm closer now, although some training is still needed. I've been in the animals-and-organic-matter realm for a long while at this point, after all.

I won't say too much about it right now, but below are some sketches. This project likely appeals to a very different audience from TOZ. It won't be eating into Tales of Zale by any means, but I think it'll be good to start developing on an extra project while we are trying to move Zale along.

SECOND SKY BTS

I realized that I didn't share any behind-the-scenes material from the Porter Robinson Second Sky trailer I was killing myself over at the beginning of October. That's probably because time was so short that there was barely room for any pre-production. But still, that shouldn't cheat you out of some insights.

SHOP

The shop is still going, and will stay open until the end of January. At that point, I think it makes more sense to sell the remaining books and what-not exclusively at events. I may open it again a little later on for special seasons or if I accumulate new products. But BEFORE then, I want to make a bit of a sale. I've been working on some Zale holiday cards that are almost ready to be sent to print. Once they are ready, the plan is to give a free card together with every order. So if you haven't bought a book yet, but have been planning to, that's something to look out for. Also, I think most here who wanted one have gotten it, but remember that Patrons can have their book signed by using code FL1CKER22.

(Sketch for the holiday card)

JOBS COMING UP

I swear I'm gonna relax. I'm trying to at least, but there's so much stuff I want to do. Even just basic maintenance like making behind the scenes videos, updating website, updating Patreon, etc. is kinda pulling on my mind. It has been difficult to wind down despite the amount of tasks being much less monumental. I think first the hectic freelance job coming out of nowhere and then the US trip coming at such short notice have been tripping me up a bit. 

That is to say, I'm trying to keep it simple - but have been offered some work at Nørlum (the studio that has taken on the Tales of Zale TV-series) from December onwards. First of a simpler nature, and then later of a more involved kind. I think at this point in time I'll probably take it. Depending on how slow or fast things go with Tales of Zale, I have a feeling that I might also want to take some work outside of Denmark and travel a bit. But for now, I'll take the opportunities as they come - and while I go to festivals and other events, it's nice enough to have this place to fall back on. Anyways, I'm just gonna have to work REAL hard to relax during the last week of November and during the Christmas holidays!!

ROUND-UP

So that's a bit of what's been going on in October. It's been a bit scattered. I think it's a natural reaction from coming off of such a large project that my mind wants to go everywhere at once. I feel more fortunate than ever while also slightly lost. But somehow, I actually think that this process will actually be good for me. I really hope I can share more cool news in the next update too!

All the best till then!

- Sif