One of those working in the mainstream is Vancouver’s Sara “Samm” Barnes, the 2005 winner of the Joe Shuster Award for outstanding Canadian comic book creator and a nominee for the 2006 honour, to be handed out after the Comicon on Saturday night.

Barnes says more women creating comics is important, but more women and girls reading them is the real key.

“(Women) have a unique way of looking at things, we have a distinct voice and I think it only enriches the comic book industry,” says Barnes. “But I think we need to encourage more women to read (comic) books — no matter who wrote or drew or created those books.”

So anyways, I mentioned that to the officer, and he tells me that yes, you can go and get a permit from the goverment, but it's meaningless because poker tournaments are not legal. Does that make sense to you? Why are they allowed to sell permits for things that are illegal?

"They bring a different approach to superheroes and non-traditional superheroes; a different outlook maybe, perspective ...They have a different art style, a different take. Maybe they're more artistic, maybe they think outside the box. I think they have more fun with it," he says, adding to emphasize his point: "I think they have more fun."

Labels: Ontario, Toronto

Labels: links

true launches

Well I'm sure you will get sick of hearing about it, but I have a box full of the True Loves Book sitting in the other room, and it is very exciting! Over at the side there I've added a list of dates. Launch next Friday. Vancouver comicon next Sunday, with Manien and I in attendance. This will be Manien's first appearance at a show! And remember there is still free shipping if you order the book before it hits stores on May third. And then for those of you willing to brave the north shore, another party for True Loves, at our place, with pages hung up all over the place and so on. Fun!

True Loves Launch
Friday April 28 . 7 - 9pm
Rx Comics 2418 Main St.

Vancouver Comicon
Sunday April 30 . 11am - 5pm
Manien and Jason appearing!

True Loves Party
Saturday May 6 . 6 - 9pm
243 West Keith Rd
North Vancouver

Labels: British Columbia, Vancouver

"Calgary Police Service Dog Odin and his partner, Constable Bill Dodd, were tracking an armed man considered extremely dangerous. When surrounded,the suspect suddenly jumped up from his hiding spot and took aim at Constable Dodd. With lightning speed, the German Shepherd was able to knock the gun from the suspect's hand and force him to the ground - saving the life of his handler and friend, Constable Bill Dodd, and protecting the lives of the other officers."

Press Release

Labels: Alberta, Calgary

Labels: Halifax, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia

Labels: Quebec

Labels: Quebec

Labels: Manitoba, Winnipeg

Labels: Alberta

Check out our growing guest list for 2006, including Guests of Honour comics Legend GEORGE PEREZ (who produced the stunning image to the right for our program cover) and V for Vendetta illustrator DAVID LLOYD!

This year's event promises another HUGE gathering
of comic book professionals Including...
GREG RUCKA,
FRANK CHO,
DARWYN COOKE,
KEN LASHLEY & DRAXHALL JUMP,
JILL THOMPSON,
GAIL SIMONE,
MICHAEL LARK,
ADRIAN ALPHONA,
BRIAN AZZARELLO,
UDON ENTERTAINMENT,
AMANDA CONNER,
J.G. JONES,
JESSICA ABEL,
FRANCIS MANAPUL,
COLLEEN DORAN,
TOM GRUMMETT,
JIMMY PALMIOTTI,
BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY,
ARTHUR SUYDAM,
J. TORRES,
DAVE SIM,
SAMM BARNES,
TY TEMPLETON,
DAVE JOHNSON,
RAMONA FRADON,
MIKE MAYHEW,
BECKY CLOONAN,
HOPE LARSON,
DANIEL WAY
and the list goes on and on!

Just added: BART SEARS! ANDY SMITH! JENNIFER VAN METER! BOB LAYTON! BRIGHT ANVIL STUDIOS!

And a return appearance by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI The PCTC is proud to once again host the JOE SHUSTER AWARDS for Canadian Comic Book Creators, which will be presented on April 29th @7:30PM with keynote speech by Comicon guest and Eisner-Award Winning Author GERARD JONES (Men of Tomorrow).

Anime and Manga fans will not want to miss out on the special programming being developed for them by our new show partner OTAKU ISLAND PRODUCTIONS!

SHOW HOURS:
FRIDAY: 3PM - 8PM
SATURDAY: 10AM - 7PM
SUNDAY: 11AM - 6PM

ADMISSION: TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-PURCHASE NOW - ADVANCE TICKET PRICE LOWER THAN DISCOUNT PRICES!
ADULT: 1 Day = $18
ADULT: 3 Day = $34
CHILDREN 12 &
UNDER - FREE
Discounts at the door for students upon presentation of a valid student ID card.

Bring 2 or More Non-Perishable Food Items and receive a $2 discount.

Labels: Hobbystar vs Paradise, links

Please join us for the 2nd annual Toronto Comicon Fan Appreciation Event that will be held April 23, 2006 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 11 am to 6 pm. Special guests include:

Olivier Coipel - Artist of House of M

Rags Morales - Artist of Wonder Woman & JSA

Billy Tan - Artist of Uncanny X-Men

Ron Garney - Artist of Amazing Spider-Man and Green Arrow

Clayton Crain - Artist of Ghost Rider

Mark Brooks - Artist of New X-Men

Leonard Kirk - Artist of Aquaman & Detective Comics

Plus dozens of other professionals. Fans can get a free admission coupon by spending $10 at their local comic shop, or a $10 admission pass can be purchased at the show and you will receive a $10 voucher good at any vendor at the show. Fans will be treated to a great event which includes free give-aways, autographs and sketches from guest artists, a free limited edition Street Fighter II lithograph to the first 1000 from UDON studios and also the chance to get an Exclusive Variant of GI Joe/Transformers comic from UDON.

The Toronto Comicon Fan Appreciation event is our way of thanking the fans in the Toronto area for their great support over the years. This will be one of largest shows of its kind in Canada sprawling over 25 000 sq. feet with over 150 comic book retailer tables on site and large artist alley.

For more details, please visit www.hobbystar.com

Labels: Hobbystar vs Paradise

Labels: Quebec

Women of Comics is programming feature of the Toronto
Comicon that has a very cool guest list on it's own!

The 2006 Women of Comics Symposium will feature panel
discussions, portfolio reviews with Shelly Bond and
Diana Schutz, plus much more. WOC Guests will also be
participating in regular con stuff activities, and are
part of the regular guest list as well.

Here's the Women of Comics list:

* Jessica Abel
* Samm Barnes
* Sandra Bell-Lundy
* Shelly Bond
* Svetlana Chmakova
* Becky Cloonan
* Amanda Connor
* Colleen Doran
* Ramona Fradon
* Friends of Lulu Toronto Chapter
* Janet Hetherington
* Heidi MacDonald
* Linda Medley
* Patricia Mulvihill
* Rina Piccolo
* Diana Schutz
* Nicola Scott
* Gail Simone
* Fiona Smyth
* Diana Tamblyn
* Raina Telgemeirer
* Jill Thompson
* Jen Van Meter
* Renee Witterstaeter

Providing the logo for the Symposium is local Toronto
renowned artist Fiona Smyth.

We will be marketing this program through some
non-traditional venues such as regular bookstores,
women's magazine and websites and shops along Queen
St. We are also doing our own marketing and promotion
to try to reach some non-comics people and get them
out to the show.

His next step is a quasi-judicial tribunal with the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC).
SIRC is the watchdog for CSIS and reviews complaints about the intelligence gatherer brought to its attention by people like Mahmood.For the cartoonist, the objective of this tribunal is to get answers about why he was singled out. "When I take this to federal court, they might ask, 'Did you explore all possible avenues,' and I have. They can't send me back and say, 'Try this.'"

CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival
PHOTO CONTEST
April 1 - May 20, 2006

www.hp.ca/CONTACT2006

Photographers across Canada are invited to submit digital images based on the CONTACT 2006 theme Imaging a Global Culture. Selected submissions will be printed for display at the HP Gallery during the month of May, and the exhibition will continue to evolve as new work arrives. The work will be juried at the end of May by gallery owner Nicholas Metivier, photographer Edward Burtynsky and Ken Faught, Photo Editor of the Toronto Star, with awards going to the top three finalists.

CONTACT Feature Exhibition
Imaging a Global Culture
HP Gallery, 510 King St West
April 28 - May 31, 2006



2006 WEBSITE NOW OPEN
www.contactphoto.com
CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival
May 1 - 31, 2006
10th Anniversary

PUBLIC LAUNCH - Friday April 28, 7pm at Brassaii

EVENT FOCUS May 11 - 15
- public tours
- lectures
- portfolio reviews
- films on photography
- panel discussions
- workshops & seminars


CONTACT PORTFOLIO REVIEWS - Register Online Now
Friday May 12, 2006
10am - 5pm
$100
Waddington's 111 Bathurst Street

Register online at www.contactphoto.com or by emailing portfolioreviews@contactphoto.com
Space is limited, cocktail reception to follow at the Spoke Club 5 - 7pm (for participants only)

Curators, art dealers, directors, publishers and photo editors are assembled for this extraordinary day during CONTACT to provide portfolio reviews for established and emerging photographers in commercial or fine art photography. Some of the most highly respected international professionals in the field will provide one-on-one critiques for photographers seeking guidance on career development and opportunities for publishing and exhibiting internationally.

Sponsored by Waddington's and supported by Foreign Affairs Canada.

Strips of Knowledge draws experts
by karen herland

Tucked into a corner of the Webster Library, Olivier Charbonneau's office features hefty copies of Auditing and Principles of Accounting stacked beside graphic novels and brightly coloured comic book posters on the walls.

The jumble captures the range of the reference librarian’s responsibilities since he arrived at Concordia in 2003.

As reference librarian for the John Molson School of Business, Charbonneau is required to stay on top of the latest materials in accounting, decision sciences and management information systems. However, graphic novels are his research interest and, increasingly, his passion....

Be in the know, get in the loop with Images Festival's Education Programs!


2006 IMAGES FESTIVAL'S INSTALLATION GUIDE AND HANDBOOK
Ready for download, this map and handbook will allow you to explore installation work and new media projects in Toronto's gallery district at your own pace. A brief summary of the concepts in installation art, pre-visit activities and questions to provoke discussion while visiting the installations are included in this free handbook. Visit www.imagesfestival.com to download your copy.

A GUIDED WALKING TOUR TO THE 2006 IMAGES FESTIVAL'S INSTALLATION PROJECTS:
Saturday, April 15, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Join Toronto artist, curator writer and IF tour guide Sally McKay for a free guided walking tour of the installation and new media projects exhibited in this year's Images Off Screen.

INSTALLATION AUDIOWALKS:
CD-Roms and downloadable mp3's will be available for keen installation art viewers who wish to explore Images Off Screen works at their own pace. Artists discuss their work, motivations and process in this invaluable resource for new and seasoned installation art fans. Cost for CD-Roms is $1; downloadable mp3's (available at www.imagesfestival.com) are FREE.

YOUTH SCREENINGS:
The NFB Mediatheque in partnership with the Toronto Animated Image Society and The Images Festival present a series of youth oriented screenings that serve as a good introduction to experimental film and video for students in grades 10 through 12. All screenings will be presented from April 18-20, @ 2:45pm at National Film Board of Canada's John Street location. Screening Cost: $2.00 per youth with pre-booked group; educators accompanying a group are free. Check the Images website for program details!

ADULT WORKSHOPS:
Sunday, April 16 - 1:00 to 4:00 PM
Trinity Square Video (376-401 Richmond Street West)
Internationally exhibited artist and TSV Artist-in-Residence, Michael Campbell, will discuss the challenges and opportunities for expanding video beyond the single-projection. Space is limited to 10 students. Admission: $25 Trinity Square Video members / $30 non-members Check out www.trinitysquarevideo.com for more details or email aubrey@trinitysquarevideo.com to reserve a space.

Tuesday, April 18 & Thursday, April 20 - 6-10 PM
L.I.F.T - The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (171 East Liberty Street, Suite 301)
Internationally renowned experimental filmmaker Nicky Hamlyn will teach this two-day evening workshop which will include a full Bolex camera introduction, hands-on instruction and group discussion of works created in the course. Admission: $70 for members / $85 for non-members. Workshop fee includes materials. Check out lift.on.ca for more details or email workshops@lift.on.ca to reserve a space.

THE WITNESSED CITY: A PRODUCTION RESIDENCY AT CHARLES STREET VIDEO
Screening time: Thursday, April 13, 8:00 PM
Images Festival and Charles Street Video present Nobuo Kubota and Annette Mangaard's Sounds Kubata Sounds a 10 minute experimental collaboration that chronicles the history of free form sound art in Toronto from the 1960's through to present day. This history is told through the eyes, sounds and memories of Nobuo Kubota who has been, and continues to be, an active member of the sound-art community.

*Nobuo Kubota will also be performing live immediately preceding Susie Ibarra and Lori Freedman in concert Tuesday, April 18, 9pm at The Gladstone Hotel. Tix are $20. Buy your tickets for the Ibarra/Freedman performance online at www.imagesfestival.com

FREE ARTIST TALKS:
For audiences interested in more thorough dialogue about contemporary media art, Images is hosting a series of afternoon discussions with many of the key artists represented at the festival. Of special interest is Images' new "Talk to the Pie" speakers series, an unbeatable combination of totally profound cultural discourse and FREE PIE (while it lasts). All discussion events are free to attend and open for audience questions and comments.

Friday, April 14 - 3:00pm - 5:00pm @ A Space (401 Richmond Street West, Suite 110)
Dutch artist and cultural analyst Mieke Bal in discussion with Canadian film/video artist Mike Hoolboom, creator of Images' Opening Night feature Fascination. Moderated by Lisa Steele

Monday, April 17 - 3:00pm - 5:00pm @ Gladstone Hotel Art Bar, 1214 Queen Street West
Artists Tony Cokes, Steve Reinke, Deirdre Logue and moderator Daniel Cockburn discuss pop music, memory and the body.

Wednesday, April 19 - 3:00pm - 4:30pm @ Gladstone Hotel Art Bar, 1214 Queen Street West
Artists Laiwan, John Oswald and moderator Chris Gehman discuss varied uses of music and sound.

Thursday, April 20 - 3:00pm - 5:00pm @ Camera Bar, 1028 Queen Street West
Artists Vincent Grenier, John Price and moderator Jeremy Rigsby discuss their recent film works.

Thursday, April 20 - 5:00pm - 7:00pm @ Goethe-Institut, 163 King Street West
Guest curator Marc Glöde (Berlin) and Toronto cultural critic, writer and curator John Bentley Mays discuss the historical influence of visual media on architecture and urban planning.
Also...
Saturday, April 15 - 3:00pm - 5:00pm @ Camera Bar, 1028 Queen Street West
Canadian filmmaker Clive Holden (of Trains of Winnipeg fame) introduces and presents a "virtual tour" of his new online multimedia project, Utopia Suite.

Sunday, April 16 - 3:00pm - 5:00pm @ York Quay Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, 231 Queens Quay West
"Timeless" Artist Talk - Guest curator Peter Ride (UK) conducts a walkthrough of the "Timeless" group exhibition, with artists Chris Welsby (Canada), Rebecca Cummins (USA) Jane Prophet (UK), Susan Collins (UK) and Suky Best (UK).

Saturday, April 22 - 2:00pm @ Le Laboratoire d'art, 55 Mill Street, Cannery Building #58, Studio 317
Perte de Signal Artist Talk & DVD Launch. Please note that this launch and artist talk will be taking place in French. Pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez contacter BRAVO-Sud au
416.861.1853 / bravosud@yahoo.com.

IMAGES ABOUT TOWN:
2006 Images Festival At The Toronto Public Library (789 Yonge St.)
Friday, May 5 - 7:00 PM
The Images Festival presents the 2006 Festival award winners during a special free "Best of Fest" public screening at the Yonge and Bloor Toronto Reference Library's newly renovated Main Stage. FREE!


The Images Festival is made possible thanks to our gracious funders: The Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, Telefilm Canada and The Ontario Trillium Foundation.

IMAGES FESTIVAL - April 13-22, 2006
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 448
Toronto. Ontario M5V 3A8 Canada
T 416.971.8405
F 416.971.7412
www.imagesfestival.com

Labels: Manitoba, Newfoundland, Ontario, Winnipeg

Like the best mythological stories Genevieve Castree has an uncanny ability to
manifest universal sentiments and truths yet in an accessible updated
adaptation that balances comics with her own personal and abstract internal
language.

The results are careful and delicate drawings of characteristically
dark and sparsely populated universes that are poetic, surprising and lonely
"the secrets of which one yearns, as always, to be a bit more privy to." For
this show Castree uses that same sensitivity for an amazing new series of
drawings many of which revolve around the theme of war.

Allison Cole known for her resolutely minimal comics which chronicle "the
Strange details that make up everyday life." creates a series of wonderfully
peculiar and intricate cut paper drawings.

Based on the 7 deadly sins. They
have the familiar quality of children's book illustrations led astray and on
closer inspection also reveal themselves to be an unlikely combination of
idiosyncratic charm and tense, telling moments of desire frozen in time.

To say we are excited to have the opportunity present these drawings which we've
posted online is an understatement.

Its going to be a really strong show so we
hope to see you there!

Junc Gallery 4017 Sunset Blvd. 90029
gallery hours: 1-7 Friday 12-7 Saturday and Sunday
info@juncgallery.com

Deviate - April 15 - May 7
featuring: Allison Cole and Genevieve Castree

Reception Saturday April 15 Reception 7-10 p.m.

Labels: British Columbia, Vancouver

Labels: Ontario

Jail time for man with cartoon child porn
Last updated Apr 4 2006 12:19 PM ADT CBC News

An American has been handed a 30-day jail sentence for bringing child pornography into Canada.

Dominic Sousa, 21, of Long Island, N.Y., was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges of smuggling and possession of child pornography in Yarmouth provincial court.

Sousa was picked up by Canada Border Services officers last October after he got off a ferry in Yarmouth.

Blair MacDonald, a criminal investigator with the border services agency, said Sousa had about 13,000 images on his computer, including mostly cartoons but also three video clips and three stills involving real children.

"The fact that most of the images might have been in a form called anime doesn't lessen the prohibitive nature of these goods," MacDonald said.

The 30-day sentence is appropriate, he added, and sends a message that Canada doesn't tolerate the importation of such images.

Labels: links

It looks as though 2006 is shaping up as the year of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, the pioneering manga-ka whose idiosyncratic and grimly naturalistic manga works had languished in semiobscurity for decades until the publication last fall of The Push Man and other Stories by Drawn & Quarterly. Not only will Tatsumi be honored as a special guest artist at this year’s San Diego Comic-con International, but Japanese horror novelist Koji Suzuki, whose bestselling J-horror novels The Ring and Dark Water have been turned into hit American movies, is writing the introduction to Abandon the Old in Tokyo, a new volume of Tatsumi stories that will be published by Drawn & Quarterly in September 2006.

In addition, his work is featured on the cover of the spring issue of Paris Review and included in the same issue, and his work will also be used on the cover of Penguin Classics’ new edition of Rashomon. Tatsumi also has new editions of his works coming out in Japan and Europe, and he is close to completing an autobiography that will be called A Drifting Life in Gekiga...

Next Thursday, April 6th is a Group Art Show at the
Gladstone Hotel, with a theme of what else? Comics!

'Everyone loves comics, right? Maybe you get your fix
through a daily newspaper strip. Or maybe your tastes
run to the more highbrow art comics from Europe.
However you choose to look at them, comics offer a
different, and often a fun way to look at life and
art.

Well for anyone who has ever loved (or still loves)
comics, it may come as a surprise to learn that
Toronto is home to some of the best known comics
artists in North America. We have an active and
vibrant community putting out some of the highest
quality comics to be found anywhere. The SpeakEasy
Comics Show features an eclectic mix of Toronto's
talented comics artists - from those who do newspaper
strips and political cartoons, to underground comix
and mainstream superhero comic books! The event
promises to display an exciting cross-section of the
comics community here in Toronto, as well as a glimpse
into how good comics are made. As the old cliche goes,
there really will be something for everyone.'
http://www.speakeasyto.com/

Time & Space:
Thursday April 6th, 8pm-Midnight
The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen West

This month's Featured Artists
Kean Soo
Jeff Lemire
Zach Worton
Brian McLachlan
Attila Adorjany
J. Bone
Michael Cho
Diana Tamblyn
Ramon Perez and Rob Coughler
Eric Kim
Scott Hepburn
Willow Dawson

Cover:
Pay What You Can ($4.00 Donation Suggested)

Ren and Stimpy creator tries an online end-run to get back in the game

Apr. 2, 2006. 01:00 AM

CHRISTOPHER HUTSUL

TORONTO STAR

Adults want sex. Kids want boogers and farts.

This, according to John Kricfalusi, the creator of Ren and Stimpy, is the key to making a billion dollars in the cartoon business. Unfortunately for Kricfalusi — and audiences — the networks disagree.

Since reinvigorating the animation industry in the early '90s with Ren and Stimpy, featuring the adventures of an angry little Chihuahua and his brain-dead feline sidekick, Kricfalusi has struggled to lure in the backers to get new projects off the ground. On several occasions, he says, network executives have been laughing so hard during his pitches they were "falling out of their chairs." But ultimately, they give him the big thanks, but no thanks.

"It's baffling," says Kricfalusi. "You don't know how hard it is to convince the networks to let you do what the audience wants. If you're going for kids, make every day Christmas. If you're going for the adults, give them pretty girls. Why aren't there pretty girls in cartoons? It's beyond me. Yeah, they're hard to draw. But if there are people in the business who can draw pretty girls, hire them..."

WEEKEND DIARY

FREEDOM, OR FINANCIAL FOLLY?
JAMES ADAMS

The folks at Western Standard magazine have to be asking themselves the question that appears on the cover line of their March 13 issue: "What Were We Thinking?"

It's all due to the fallout from the Calgary-based fortnightly's decision in February to publish eight of the 12 Danish cartoons that ignited protests throughout the Muslim world. Western Standard is now fending off a complaint filed by the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada with the Alberta Human Rights Commission -- an action that could cost the magazine $75,000 to fight, according to an on-line appeal for defence funds ("Help Us Defend Freedom") issued this week by publisher Ezra Levant.

As it is, Western Standard is hardly the healthiest business in the world. Billed as "the independent voice of the new west," it's just over two years old and, according to Canadian Advertising Rates and Data, its paid circulation last year was a decidedly modest 30,000, with almost 18,000 of that based in Alberta. (Western Standard claims it gets 8.6 readers per copy -- higher than Reader's Digest, Maclean's or Chatelaine, but about equal to Canadian Living.) Complicating matters is the recent decision by Air Canada to stop distributing 7,000 copies to business-flight passengers and patrons of its Maple Leaf Lounges. At first it seemed Air Canada was just nixing the Feb. 27 issue with the cartoons. However, an Air Canada rep told me that, in fact, it's every issue from here on.

Labels: Alberta, Calgary

Sideways Director to Helm "Ripple" Adaptation
Paul Giamatti, Uma Thurman to Star
Los Angeles (AP) -- Miramax has acquired Dave Cooper's graphic novel Ripple: A Predilection for Tina, for Sideways helmer Alexander Payne to direct, Daily Variety reported Friday.

David Cronenberg will co-produce the pic, a romantic comedy about a cartoonist who becomes obsessed with an obese woman.

Paul Giamatti and Uma Thurman have signed to star.

Variety reports that the Kill Bill star will play Tina, an "unconventionally beautiful" woman with a massive overbite, opposite Giamatti's impotent loser character. The actress has agreed to gain 35 lbs for the role and will wear several prosthetic devices.

The project will begin shooting mid-September in Texas. The film is being setup through a program at the University of Texas in which students will have the opportunity to work as crew members on set, while staying in school at the same time.

Based on Canadian Dave Cooper's semi-autobiographical comic book, "Ripple" chronicles the slow disentegration of a lonely children's book illustrator when forced to confront the object of his sexual fantasies as a flesh-and-blood woman.

The book was published by Fantagraphics in 2003 to rave reviews. The American Library Association called it "repulsive."

For his part, Payne is enthusiastic about his latest project:
"I am eager to integrate this new slant on love with a company known for its humanistic approach to quality filmmaking," the director said.

"When you watch a movie, you don't want to feel like a machine made it," he has said. "You want to feel a soul."

But his films are far from gritty thanks to the wry, gentle humour with which Payne and longtime writing partner Jim Taylor imbue their desperate characters.

Ripple will be "more challenging" than his previous movies, Payne, 43, says.
Payne's previous film, Sideways, was a surprise commercial and critical success, earning several Oscars.

Payne studied Spanish and history at Stanford University before choosing a film course at UCLA over journalism studies. His university thesis film was screened at the prestigious Sundance film festival and led to Citizen Ruth, which was backed by movie moguls Miramax. He says Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein forced him to change the title and ending, agree to a cast member and approve a poster design he did not want - but thanks him for the chance to get the movie made at all.

Payne says his aim is to make "movies for the ages", with realistic characters and intelligent stories, inspired by 1970s US classics and Italian greats.

"There is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made," he has said.

Jobs

Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montreal. All deadlines April 20.

Limited term appointment in Studio Art

www.akimbo.biz/jobs/?id=3190

Limited term appointment in Ceramics

www.akimbo.biz/jobs/?id=3191

Limited term appointment in Print Media

www.akimbo.biz/jobs/?id=3192

Limited term appointment in Drawing

www.akimbo.biz/jobs/?id=3193

Limited term appointment in Photography

www.akimbo.biz/jobs/?id=3194

Labels: Quebec