Toonfest 2008 Chapter Meeting

We had a small but enthusiastic group of NCC members show up in Marceline during Toonfest for our fall meeting.

North Central Chapter members (L to R): Mike Edholm, Me, Cedric Honstadt, Ted Goff, Paul Fell, Eric Scott, Scott Holmes

Our meeting was very productive. We raised the following issues and voted on each:

• Our annual meeting will be switched to March of each year to accommodate voting on the division we are assigned for the Reubens
• This year's meeting will be in Lincoln, NE
• A new officer post was created "Executive Vice Chairman"
• The Executive is responsible for providing all alcohol for future meetings
  
• Bucky Jones was voted into permanent office as Executive Vice Chairman

The Toonfest folks were very hospitable as usual. All the NCC members were invited to the private parties and functions where we were fed and watered until we could eat no more. What a great time. Special thanks to Mike, Paul and Bill (who couldn't make it) for helping organize the whole thing.

I have published a blog post detailing the Toonfest event and our participation in it. Check it out.

2008 Reuben Nominees Announced

The nominees for this year's divisional Reuben awards have been announced:

Book Illustration
Nancy Beiman - “Prepare to Board”
Sandra Boynton - “Blue Moo”
Jay Stephens - “Robots!”

TV Animation
Sandra Equihua and Jorge Gutierrez - Creators - “El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera” Stephen Silver - Character Design - “Kim Possible”
Richard Webber - Creator - “Purple and Brown”

Greeting Card
Gary McCoy
Glenn McCoy
Dave Mowder

Newspaper Comic Strip
Paul Gilligan – “Pooch Café”
Jim Meddick – “Monty”
Richard Thompson – “Cul De Sac”

Editorial Cartoon
Gary Brookins
Michael Ramirez
Bill Schorr

Magazine Illustration
Daryll Collins
John Klossner
Tom Richmond

Newspaper Illustration
Drew Friedman
Sean Kelly
Ed Murawinski

Feature Animation
Brad Bird – Director – “Ratatouille”
Sylvan De Boissy – Character Design – “Surf’s Up”
David Silverman – Director – “The Simpson’s Movie”

Gag Cartoon
Benita Epstein
Mort Gerberg
Glenn McCoy

Comic Book
Nick Abadzis – “Laika”
Bryan Lee O’Malley – “Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together”
Shaun Tan – “The Arrival”

Advertising Illustration
Jack Pittman
Tom Richmond
Tom Stiglich

Newspaper Panel
Chad Carpenter – “Tundra”
Glenn & Gary McCoy – “The Flying McCoys”
Kieran Meehan – “Meehan”

Congratulations to all of the nominees. The winner will be announced at the 62nd Annual NCS Reuben Awards banquet on May 24, 2008.