Background about Nina Paley
Nina
Paley is probably
best known for her alternative comic strip, "Nina's
Adventures." Begun in 1988, it enjoyed 7 years of legitimate
publication in several American newsweeklies, and copyright infringement
around the world. Next came a 2-year stint creating the mainstream
daily newspaper strip "Fluff"
for Universal Press Syndicate, an artistic crisis which drove
her to animation in 1998.
Since
then,
she has forgone a steady income in favor of hemorrhaging money
into personal animated "festival films." These include Luv
Is, a clay-animated meditation on romance, betrayal,
and revenge, which screened in Germany, Switzerland, New York,
Oregon, and
California,
in spite of being shot on Super-8.
I Heart My Cat (also clay,
but moving up to 16mm, albeit with a glaring light
leak which generous viewers seem to think is an intentional special
effect) won the Audience Choice Golden
Oly award at the 1999 Olympia Film Festival, where
it screened as part of Nik Phelps' live Ideas
In Animation music tour. Nina drew her next film, "Cancer,"
directly on 35mm clear leader and found footage. Extending her
trajectory of doubling film gauges with every project, she then
made Pandorama by drawing,
painting, scratching, and rubber-stamping directly on 15-perf/70mm
(also known as "IMAX") leader and junk stock. This was her greatest
achievement as a producer, as she finagled donations of film,
processing, and services, and even managed to get a large-format
distributor, XLargo in Paris, France. With no larger film gauges
to try, her next project, "Fetch!"
was created in the gaugeless realm of digital animation. With
an original score by Nik Phelps, and sound design by The Stikman,
it was completed in 2001.
Nina
is currently producing an animated documentary about overpopulation
and the environment called Thank You
For Not Breeding. She is also writing a book for Peachpit
Press, Flash For Film And Video,
and she is the cartoonisit for a new daily comic strip for King
Features Syndicate, The Hots.
She lives in New York.
Nina's web site is ninapaley.com.
E-mail Nina Paley.
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