Another busy 3 weeks. Now that I've finished "Hair High" and "Guard Dog", the next step in the filmmaking process is to get the films in the festivals and get some great review and buzz, and turn that into good distribution sales. And I can make some money to finance my next film.

My next stop on the festival tour was the San Francisco Independent Film Festival in the middle of February. This would be my West coast premiere. We had wonderful press, so the show was a sellout, with a very enthusiastic crowd and lots of fans. Adding to the excitement was the appearance of 2 of my stars: Hayley DuMond and Keith Carradine. They drove all the way up from L.A. to join me on stage and talk about the experience. The crowd loved the film, even though the video print was pretty bad. Nik and Nancy Phelps did a concert next night. The Sprocket Ensemble did a wonderful interpretation to my classic shorts, plus my new short "Guard Dog". The highlight was an on-stage improv of me drawing and the band matching the music to my sketches.

The next weekend I went to Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, for the Texas Film Festival. It's student-run and has a lot of spirit with some very nice films.

The following weekend, I traveled to Brussels for the Anima festival, one of my favorites. I stayed in the glorious Belle Epoch Hotel Metropole. I showed clips from "Hair High" to a great response and the European premiere of "Guard Dog", which went over very well with the audience. At the show, everyone wanted a sketch of the dog.

The next day, I did a long workshop in the center of the downtown park. It was a packed room full of cartoonists from all over Belgium. We had a great time. The next day, a buddy of mine, Pierre Six, and his beautiful wife drove me to the country and we attended a twisted gallery show of Felicien Rops in Namur. It was the perfect, perverted end to a great week in Brussels.

Upon my return, I went to MOCCA's (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) grand opening in their new space. They were hosting Mike Mignola and his new film, "Hellboy". It was packed, and Mike was very friendly, as usual. For someone that big and important, it's rare. He had a great exhibition of "Hellboy" art, sculptures and sketches from the film.

And to get a shot of relaxing sunshine, I visited The Florida Film Festival, another of my favorites. I showed "Hair High" to a wonderful audience at the Enzian Theatre, with a great Q&A after. One of the most wonderful films was a BBC documentary about Emmylou Harris. What an amazing story she is - still my inspiration. If you want to see a great Festival, check out the Florida Film Festival. Everyone is so nice and they treat filmmakers with such respect. It's one of the best festivals in the U.S.

The next cartoon in my "Sloppy Seconds" Book features Merton and Benny. They are 2 characters I invented, because I wanted to start a series for newspapers and magazines, but no one ever picked it up. The characters are a cross between A.B. Frost and Steinberg - they never caught on, though. Maybe I should turn them into an animated sitcom. What do you think? There will be more of them in the next few weeks.

See you next time,
Bill Plympton