Some snapshots from the first Lightbox Expo held at the Pasadena Convention Center. They had a good sized crowd on Friday. It looks like ProCreate from Apple was a major sponsor. Fun time, lots space, many demos going on. The hosts went all out for a big convention. This may be a rival to the CTN Expo this year.
The burning question: who are the organizers of Lightbox?
Jim Demonakos, founder of the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Washington, and Bobby Chiu, who set up Imaginism Studios in Toronto (Ontario, Canada)
I thought this was going to be a much smaller venue, but animation artists, students, schools, studios and vendors were all in attendance. Good mood, lots of energy there. And I only heard about it through Facebook. This event seemed to be arranged and promoted solely through social media. I was just used to the buzz generated around CTN.
Procreate from Apple had the largest display, promoting their artistic app for the iPad.
Alan Bodner had his table there with his original art, and art from his time as art director at Warner Classic Animation.
Almost continuous demos going on in the hallways...
Wacom, with their latest Cintiq tablets...
Sony pictures, with their Oscar winning
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse!
Warner Brothers Animation Group, and their beloved heroes of old...
ASIFA-Hollywood had a good position with their table...
Netflix, looking for talent, and/or pitches...
And an amazing amount of crowds in the other hall, waiting for demos and lectures!
Again, to me, this convention seemed to come out of the blue.
And yet, it got some decent media coverage:
Some more fun stuff:
From left to right, artwork above by Tuna Bora and Pernille Ørum.
And from left to right, artwork above by Robert Kondo and Stephen Silver.
Why the giant pug means death, maybe because Hasbro has aquired Death Row Records.
Whatever you do, don't stare into its eyes too long!
Good mood, and a great creative vibe!
I applaud Jim Demonakos' and Bobby Chiu's success,
and looking forward to next year.
