AniMotion NM

For those of you who don't know me, I have the honor of being one of the founding members of AniMotion NM. My fellow co-founders are Elaine Montoya and Becky Pedilla of Zocoloco, the motion conference and NMAUG fame. The three of us host these meetings once a month mostly because we love to geek out over everything related to animation, motion graphics and VFX.

AniMotion NM was started almost exactly one year ago after a very successful panel at the Media Industries Conference where we discovered that there are a plethora of animators, motion graphics and VFX artists here in this state and a need to connect, educate, inspire and network everyone within this specialized community here in New Mexico.

The list of members who have attended meetings is really quite impressive. We have had nearly 50 people at a single meeting and many more than that are currently on our email lists.

Considering that the current economy is making it quite advantageous to do productions of all kinds in this state, New Mexico is also drawing in new talent on a consistent basis to the already phenomenal pool of creative geniuses we have here in the Land of Enchantment.

Sony Imageworks Animation and Sony Imageworks Interactive have opened their doors in downtown Albuquerque and they have added approximately 40 new animation and creative types fresh in from L.A. and Culver City. Rumors abound that other studios will also be headed this way, as the ground is fertile for animation, film and game developers to do business here. We look forward to adding these talented folks to New Mexico animation community and extend a hearty welcome to the Land of Enchantment.

Some of the presentations already featured through AniMotion NM have included Dan Haskett, who has worked for nearly 40 years as a character developer and animator extraordinaire at studios such as Disney, Dreamworks, and Warner Bros., among many others. Chris and Trish Meyers, who quite literally wrote the book on AfterEffects. Jeff LaFlamme of Flamdoodle Animation. Brad Swardson, animation instructor at UNM and lead animator at Boeing's Albuquerque facilities. Aaron Barreras, animation instructor at the Art Center Design College and art director on The Sands of Time educational animated series and Chris Kientz, co-director and co-writer of Raven Tales and member of the Creative Media Interdisciplinary Task Force at New Mexico State University.

The above list only scratches the surface of the fabulous people we have involved in making AniMotion NM your one stop for amazing things happening in the animation industry here in the state of New Mexico. I have to admit that I feel a bit like a teenager at a rock concert at these AniMotion NM events, as the talent assembled at these meetings always leaves me in awe.

So here is the shameless plug for why you should come to AniMotion NM meetings... You meet phenomenal members of the animation, motion graphics and VFX communities. You learn new and interesting techniques for creating and/or streamlining your production processes. There is always a free raffle for industry related goodies. And last but certainly not least, you can enjoy a snack while you support an organization that that has always been free to anyone with passion for watching and/or making the inanimate move.

AniMotion NM meetings are always held the second Tuesday of every month at 7pm at the ARTS Lab, located at 131 Pine St. (one block West of the corner of University and Central). Bring a friend or meet new ones. Everyone is welcome. I hope to see you all there.