Children's Animation Workshop

I held a puppet-making & animation workshop for children at the Days & Nights Festival, organized by Phillip Glass on Sep. 27th. Here are my initial idea sketches & a few pics from the event. The workshop's theme was 'Art & Science', so we made a few cardboard spaceships for kids to interact with the animated images. Children at the workshop also made paper puppets and animate them to travel the space!

'Ahco on the Road' won an award!

'Ahco on the Road' won an award for 'Best Short Narrative' in the Monarch Film Festival!

New film, 'Hansel & Gretel' preview...

New film is getting close to be complete.
It is an abstract visualization of Brothers Grimm's story 'Hansel & Gretel' that I worked with my students in Experimental Animation class.
I'm working on a rough edit, to hand it over to a music composer, Lanier Sammons.
The film will be released around mid-November.
More details to come soon!

Here are some images from the film.

Ahco goes to Morocco in May!

Ahco will be screened at the 7th Tissa Short Film Festival in May. It will be also shown at the opening ceremony. What an honor…
I am so jealous of Ahco, who goes to all these countries that I can only dream of visiting… someday…

Ahco goes to Bulgaria in May

'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at the 5th Golden Kuker-Sofia International Animation Film Festival in Bulgaria!

Ahco goes to Germany in June!

More european tours for Ahco!

'AHCO ON THE ROAD': a list of screenings

Awards & Nominations: 
Best Short Narrative - Monarch Film Festival
Best Animation - Hyart Film Festival
Nominated for the Friese Award - 31st Hamburg International Short Film Festival
Nominated for Best Animation - Carmel International Film Festival

Honorable Mention - Los Angeles Animation Festival

2013

Aug. 4: The 10th San Diego International Children’s Film Festival (San Diego, California, US)
Aug. 10-12:  The 6th New Orleans International Children’s Film Festival (New Orleans, Louisiana, US)
Sep. 26-30:  The 9th Indie-AniFest: Korean Independent Animation Film Festival (Seoul, Korea)
Oct. 2-6:  The 3rd Days and Nights Festival (Carmel, California, US)
Nov. 14-24:  The 22nd St. Louis International­ Film Festival (St. Louis, Missouri, US)
Nov. 23-24:  Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver, Canada)
Dec. 6-15:  The 13th Anchorage International Film Festival (Anchorage, Alaska, US)
Dec. 14-15:  LACMA: The 9th Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival (Los angeles, California, US)
Dec. 15- Jan. 15:  The Film Skillet Winter 2013/2014 Animation Contest: Finalist

2014

Jan. 23- Feb. 2:  The 10th Children’s Film Festival Seattle (Seattle, Washington, US)
Jan. 24- Feb. 9: The 1st Lisbon Children and Youth Film Festival (Lisbon, Portugal)
Jan. 25-26: The 30th USA Film Festival: KidFilm (Dallas, Texas, US)
Jan. 30- Feb. 9: The 29th Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Santa Barbara, California, US)
Feb. 1-9:  The 36th Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival (Clermont-Ferrand, France)
Feb. 13-23: The 5th Providence Children Film Festival (Providence, Rhode Island, US)
Feb. 18-23: The 36th Big Muddy Film Festival (Carbondale, Illinois, US)
Feb. 20-23: Animac: Mostra Internacional de Cinema d'Animacio de Catalunya (Lleida, Spain)
Feb. 22-23: The 16th BAMKids International Film Festival (Brooklyn, New York, US)
Mar. 6-30:  The 16th  Mecal International Short Film and Animation Festival of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) 
Mar. 9-14:  The 18th  Freeze Frame International Film Festival for Kids of All Ages (Winnipeg, Canada)
Apr. 4-11:  The 16th Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Apr. 10:  Honolulu Museum of Art (Honolulu, Hawaii, US)
Apr. 18-20: Comic-Con- San Diego International: Children's Film Festival (San Diego, California, US)
May 12-18: The 5th Golden Kuker-Sofia International Children's Film Festival (Sofia, Bulgaria)
May 27-31: The 7th Tissa Short Film Festival (Tissa, Morroco)
Jun. 1-9: The 16th Mo & Friese Hamburg Children's Short Film Festival (Hamburg, Germany)
Jun. 6-7: The 10th Blue Plum Animation Festival (Johnson City, Tennessee, US) 
Jun. 18-22: The 7th International Animation Festival Fest Anca (Zilina, Slovakia)
Jul. 1-31: The 9th California Animation Festival (Central California Broadcasting event, US)
Jul. 22-29: The 20th Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival (Seoul, Korea)
Jul. 27- Aug. 1: The 4th Supertoon Animation Festival (Zagreb, Croatia)
Jul. 29- Aug. 3: The 10th Traverse City Film Festival (Traverse City, MI, US)
Aug. 22-24: The 15th Sacramento Film & Music Festival (Sacramento, CA, US)
Oct. 2-5: The 7th Animasyros Int'l Animation Festival + Forum (Syros Island, Greece)
Oct. 2-12: The 37th Mill Valley Film Festival (Mill Valley/San Rafael, CA, US)
Oct. 3-12: The 9th Anim'est Int'l Animation Film Festival (Bucharest, Romania)
Oct. 15-19: The 6th Carmel Int'l Film Festival (Carmel, CA, US)
Oct. 23-28: The 7th Banjaluka Int'l Animated Film Festova; (Banjaluka, Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Nov. 6-15: The 14th San Diego Asian Film Festival (San Diego, CA, US)
Nov. 8-23: Animatic: Muestra De Cine De Animacion (Pamplona, Spain)
Nov. 18-23: Istanbul Animation Festival (Istanbul, Turkey)
Dec. 2-9: Bogota Short Film Festival (Bogota, Columbia)
Dec. 10-11: The 3rd Monarch Film Festival (Pacific Grove, CA, US)
All year around:  The 5th WorldKids International Film Festival (Mumbai, India)
All year around: PUCK cinema (traveling cities in Spain)
All year around: Spike & Mike's Festival of Animation (traveling cities in US)

2015
Jan. 13-15: REELKids Film Festival (Peterborough, Canada)
Jan. 16-25: Black Movie: Geneva International Independent Film Festival (Geneva, Switzerland)
Feb. 7-8: The 6th Int'l Kinder Film Festival (Miyagi, Japan)
Feb. 27-28: Anymasyros Touring Festival (Greece)
Mar. 11-15: Festival Regard sur le court metrage (Quebec, Canada)
Mar. 25: Monterey Museum of Art (Monterey, CA, US)
Mar. 26-Apr. 1: Athens ANIMFEST (Athens, Greece)
Apr. 14-19: The 27th FilmFest Dresden International Short Film Festival (Dresden, Germany)
Apr. 12: International Children's Film Festival/ Manisa-Usak (Istanbul, Turkey)
May 7-14: Green Film Festival in Seoul (Seoul, Korea)
May 29 -Jun. 4: The 55th Zlin Film Festival (Zlin, Czech Republic)
Jun. 27: Shastaland Children's Film Festival (Redding, CA, US)
Jul. 16-Aug.4: Fantasia International Film Festival (Quebec, Canada)
Sep. 11 -13 IN.S.A.N.E. animation film festival (Malmo, Sweden)
Sep. 24 - 27 Festival de cinema des gens d'ici (Val d'Or, Canada)
Oct. 24 - Nov. 30 International Festival of Animation Arts, 'Multivision' (St. Petersburg, Russia)
Oct. 29 - Nov. 02 BOGOSHORTS: Bogota Short Film Festival (Bogota, Columbia)
Dec. 1 - 31: The 13th Mumia Underground World Animation Festival (Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
Dec. 5 - 15: The 7th Directors Circle Festival of Shorts (Erie, Pennsylvania, US)
Dec. 12 - 13: The 8th Animasyros 'Best of selection-US produced independent shorts' (Larissa, Greece)
Dec.  La Turbine: The Cultural Center 'Evasion' (Lyon, France)

2016
Mar. 1-3: Durango Independent Film Festival (Durango, Colorado, US)
Mar. 24 - 27 Tulsa Overground Film & Music Festival (Tulsa, OK, US)
May 4 - 7 The 12th Rencontres entre le mondes (Chabeuil, France)
Jun. 18 - 20 The 7th Hyart Film Festival (Lovell, Wyoming, US)
Jul. 19 - 24 The 11th Busan International Kids & Youth Film Festival (Seoul, Korea)
Jul. 19 - Aug. 16 The 1st International Children's Media Center (Chicago, Illinois, US)
Jul. 22 - 28 The 4th Seoul Guro International Kids Film Festival (Seoul, Korea)
Sep. 29 - Oct. 2 The 5th Watsonville Film Festival (Watsonville, California, US)
Oct. 22-23 Tent Family Film Festival (Seoul, Korea)
Nov. 4 - 10 The 16th Kansas International Film Festival (Overland Park, Kansas, US)
Oct. ~ Jan. 17' MUMIA contemporary animations - 'Best of MUMIA' (Minas Gerais, Brazil)
Monthly screening series: OZARK Short (Lamar, Missouri, US)

2017
Mar. 14 -19 The 23rd San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (San Luis Obispo, California)

May    KASKcinema KIDScinema monthly screening event (Ghent, Belgium)

2018
Apr. 13 -21 The 13th Rencontres du Film Court de Madagasikara (Madagasikara)
Apr. 30  The 4th Faten Hamama Film Festival (Cairo, Egypt)
Jun. 23 Culture City of East Asia 2018 Busan (Busan, Korea)
July 25 - 27 ICMC International Children's Film Festival (Chicago, Illinois, US)

Broadcast 
Modern Art museum Centre Pompidou (Paris, France)
'Naver Ani-Theatre': online program (Korea)
SBS: Seoul Broadcast Service network, 'Ani-World' (Korea)

2022
Mar. 18-27 The 36th Festival International du Film de Fribourg (Fribourg, Switzerland)

2023

UNESCO sponsored Takorama Festival, France

2021~2025

Films pour Enfants program participations, France

2021~2025

French distribution by Les films du whippet, Paris, France

Screened in over 300 theatres

Ahco's double features in SPAIN!

'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at two film festivals in Spain.

From Feb. 20~23, at Animac: Mostra Internacional de Cinema d'Animacio de Catlunya (in Lleida, Spain)

From Mar. 6~30, at Mecal International Shot film and Animation Festival of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) 

Ahco's French debut in Clermont-Ferrand

'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at the 36th Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in the 'Children and Pupils', Youth Audience competition program'

Ahco to New York!

'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at BAM Kids from Feb. 22~23.
It will be in the 'Nearest ad Dearest' program, on Feb. 22, Saturday.

Ahco in Providence

'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at Providence Int'l Children's Film Festival from Feb. 13~23.

Ahco in Santa Barbara

'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at the 29th Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
It is listed under the category of 'Shorts Preceding Features'

USA Film Festival: KidFilm

'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at the 30th KidFilm, by USA Film Festival, in Dallas, Texas.

Ahco in Portugal

'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at the PLAY: 1st Lisbon Children and Youth Film Festival in Lisbon, Portugal (Jan. 24~ Feb. 9)

Ahco in Seattle

'Ahco on the Road', will be screened at the Children's Film Festival in Seattle.

'Ahco on the Road' is on The Film Skillet Animation Contest

'Ahco on the Road' was selected for the Finalists in The Film Skillet 2013/2014 Animation Contest.

'Ahco on the Road' at LACMA

'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at the Brown auditorium in the LACMA, for the 9th LA Int'l children's Film Festival.
On Saturday, December 14th at 1pm. It's a free screening!

'Ahco on the Road' screening in Anchorage, Alaska

'Ahco on the Road' film will be screened at the Anchorage International Film Festival: Dec. 6~15th.

'Ahco on the Road' at St. Louis Int'l Film Festival on Nov. 24th

I am very excited to hear that 'Ahco on the Road' will be screened at the 22nd St. Louis Int'l Film Festival on Nov. 24, 2pm at the Washington University's Brown Auditorium.

'Ahco on the Road' screening at Days & Nights Festival on Oct. 4

at the Sunset Center in Carmel, CA

'Ahco on the Road' at Indie-AniFest

'Ahco on the Road' was screened at Indie-AniFest, 9th Korean Independent Animation Film Festival (Sep. 26~30)

'Ahco on the Road' screening in New Orleans

on August 10th at the Contemporary Arts Center

Art Prints of 'Ahco on The Road'

Fine Art Prints of 'Ahco on The Road' are available for sale through Frame-Factor.

You can select any frame you want as a print, then it will be professionally printed and delivered by the Frame-Factor company.

Click Here for the link!

"Ahco On The Road" online launch!

Soyeon's short film, 'Ahco On The Road' is now online:



Ahco On The Road from YELLOWSHED on Vimeo.

Ahco Production 5: More Backgrounds

 Sc 027 Chase after the butterfly (2013)

 Sc 071 Dawn before sunrise (2011)

Sc 110 Running through the woods (2013)

Ahco Production 4: Background sketch vs Final

Samples of background sketch/layout and final render

Sc 041 Walking through the woods 

Sc 073 Sunrise

Sc 088 Under the water

2001 ~ 2010 Long Hibernation (woke up a few times...)

So there was a huge gap in the production between 2001 and 2010.
I finished the animation & clean up, planning to finish the film as a minimal pencil lined drawn animation in 2001. After completing the film according to that plan..., I realized that it was missing a lot of visual explorations that I originally planned for. So I decided Not to call it done, and continued to develop the new art direction..., expecting to delay the production about a year... well, who knew that would end up stretching to over 10 years...

Now looking back, I would have been happy to leave the look the way it was with just simple lines and hints of tones and shades here and there..., but I thought that I had to keep trying to find 'the look' that I was looking for. I am honestly not sure what would have been the wiser choice. I was young... I had to try if I wasn't completely satisfied with the film. (r...ight?)

Unfortunately (& very fortunately), my professional career had kept me quite busy since then. I had a full-time teaching job (4 classes per quarter, 4 quarters a year), AND almost full-time regular freelance jobs on the side from 2001 to 2007. Happy complaints...! But when I had the commitments to others, of course my project got pushed down to the bottom of my priority list. After having wonderful years getting good experience in the commercial studios and teaching in MN, Todd & I moved from Minneapolis back to LA in 2007. Settled in LA, studio projects had kept me busy (most of time, I worked double shifts on projects, while I taught at Calarts & CSULB part-time, so my schedule wasn't that different from my previous years.

During these years, it was very hard to find time for my film. (few weeks every other year, or if I got lucky, a few months every 3 years or so. I remember working on the animation fixes on 2003 & 2006, then picking up again in 2010 (production on hold on other years).

Then bad economy crisis hit Hollywood too.  Things had dried up pretty badly for me in 2010, and I didn't have much 'paid-projects' to work on. Good & Bad: Bad for the obvious reasons, and Good... I could finally get back to the 'Ahco'.

So here we go again...
The samples from the next posting (above) are made after waking up from my long hibernation... in 2010.
The production was still slow, since I had day-jobs, and I was mostly using nights and weekends, but my mind was set to complete the film this time around, no more holds.

Ahco cleaning day

Today, I finally took the 'courage' to go over to the garage, and cleaned up thousands of Ahco drawings (layouts, keys, roughs, in-betweens, clean-ups, & notes...) I saved several shots just as souvenir, but after carrying them around for 15 years, I think that it's time to let them go.

I trashed most of the roughs several years ago, so I think that I had almost twice more folders and papers for Ahco than what appears in the pic below.

They are all packed up nicely for the recycle bin. Perhaps they will come back as nice clean papers for my next project. Until then, thanks guys for the wonderful memories...

Ahco Production 3: Inbetweens

Here are selected samples of animated in-betweens (2000)

Sc 047 Mookey Flip: inbetween order: clockwise

Sc 103 Croco Fights: inbetween order: left to right

Ahco Production 2: Keys

Samples of Key frames (2000)

Keys for Sc 83 & 85 - Mom looking for Ahco

Key layout for Sc104