The popular annual animation industry event The Animation Show of Shows has established itself as a nonprofit organization whose mission is to restore, preserve and promote animated short films.
“Each year I travel to animation festivals around the world in search of new directors making significant, visually compelling, highly entertaining animated short films that are rich in aesthetic,” said Ron Diamond, president of The Animation Show of Shows. “Now with our new non-profit banner, we’re excited to not only share new films that reflect trends in narrative and showcase experimental animation styles, but we’re also able to restore classic short films so they can be seen by audiences everywhere as well,” he continues.
To coincide with the show’s new status, it has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the 17th annual Animation Show of Shows, as well as the start of restoration work to be done through which is being done through Diamond’s animation studio, Acme Filmworks. The first film to be restored will be the 1964 film Hangman, directed by Les Goldman and Paul Julian.
The lineup for this year’s Animation Show of Shows will be announced on its Kickstarter page throughout the campaign, which ends July 2. The first film to be confirmed is Oscar-nominated director Konstantin Bronzit’s acclaimed short We Can’t Live Without Cosmos.
Diamond has been discussing with several theater chains the possibility of screening The Animation Show of Shows theatrically to the general public for the first time.
