The Pigeon: Impossible Blog

I’m just finishing up a big freelance project, which means that I’ll finally be able to get to the last batch of podcasts I had planned. Expect those to start rolling out in mid-April. One thing I’ve been toying with is releasing a DVD that includes PI (obviously) all the podcasts, and a few commentary tracks. I realize that most of the content is available online, but there would be a couple of exclusive things as well as the convenience of having everything on one disc. Would people be interested in buying a DVD? I’m open to any thoughts/suggestions you have.

On an unrelated note, I just got a copy of 3D Artisan with PI on the cover. Its all in Korean so I can’t read a word of it, but I think that makes it even cooler!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas/Hanukah/Ashura/Kwanzaa. If anyone still feels left out, let me know and I’ll add your holiday of choice to the list, or make one up for you!

In the spirit of giving, we released the full 1080p version of Pigeon: Impossible through FrostClick. If you use the program, you can reach the download page here.

Or for a much faster download that works in any BitTorrent client, there’s a torrent HERE. I’d definitely recommend the bit-torrent as its a high-bitrate QuickTime (885 MB) and they also included a few presskit things which you can simply delete once its downloaded.

At the Savannah Film Festival, Joaquin Baldwin recorded a quick chat with me about how we got started in animation. If you’re wanting to get into animation and don’t know where to begin, hopefully this might answer some questions. (Sorry for the audio, we just grabbed his camera and recorded this before heading to the airport.)

And just in case you didn’t catch the post I did a while back, Joaquin’s film “Sebastian’s Voodoo” has been tearing it up on the festival circuit and he’s part of the clique of animators we’ve been travelling the festival circuit with. His short is fantastic and he’s an awesome guy to boot!

After less than 2 weeks online, PI just passed the 1 million views mark! Several different sites had it rated as the most viral video of the week, and I can’t thank everyone enough for spreading the word! Needless to say I’ve been pretty swamped so I apologize if I haven’t responded to emails and DMs, but I promise I’ll get through them all. Thanks again!!!

We just released the final version of Pigeon: Impossible. Just go to www.pigeonimpossible.com to watch it, and please help spread the word. Thanks to everyone for all of the support you’ve given throughout this 5-year journey!

Well, I’m on my way back from the Savannah Film Festival. It was definitely one of the coolest festivals I’ve been to, incredibly hospitable, fantastic audiences, but the highlight was definitely getting a few days to geek out with all the other animators who were there. My friend Joaquin Baldwin won the student animation award and Pigeon: Impossible took home the prize for best animation award!

I also just found out that PI has picked up two more awards: The Best In Show at ArtFutura in Spain, and the Best Short at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival! This has been a fantastic way to send the film out into the world for its big online release later today. Stay tuned!

I just wanted to let everyone know that the full version of Pigeon: Impossible will be released for free online in one week! (November 9th)

Also, I’ve gotten a few e-mails about a pirated copy that’s started showing up with a high ranking on google. Please DO NOT give out your credit card information to the companies that are hosting it. From all the reviews I’ve read of those sites, they are scams. Just hold out for the official release, along with a new podcast next week!

Things have been starting to get hectic on the festival circuit, but I’m having a lot of fun and its great to get to share the movie with a live audience. Its amazing how quickly the pain of making a movie fades away and you start getting excited about the next one.

Here’s a few more upcoming festivals:
Austin Film Festival (Oct 24th @5:15pm & Oct. 28th @7:30pm)
Tucson Film and Music Festival (Oct. 10th @1:30pm)
SIGGRAPH Asia (Electronic Theater – Dec. 16th-19th, Yokohama Japan)

Also, if anyone is in Austin, be sure to come out tomorrow (Friday Sept. 25th @4pm) for the local Austin premiere at Fantastic Fest!

I just found out that PI won the Mopti Award at this year’s KLIK! Animation Festival in Amsterdam! This is a really unique program that KLIK! puts on. In addition to supporting the Mopti Foundation which provides relief by digging wells in Mali, every year the festival curates a program of short films which they screen in the city of Mopti and the audience and local dignitaries vote for their favorite.

I never imagined that PI would find such a worldwide audience. Apparently the nearest cinema is over 200km away so that easily claims the top prize for “the screening I most wish I could have gone to.” Below are a few pics that I pulled off the blog of Willem Snapper who started the Mopti Foundation. You can find the full entry here. (in Dutch)

I just got back to Austin from the DC Shorts fest and am happy to announce that Pigeon: Impossible won the Audience Choice Award in the Family Film Category! We also got tons of great local press and will screen again as part of the “Best of the Fest” showcase. I have to say this was one of the most fun and well-run festivals I’ve been to. The volunteers were fantastic and everyone went out of their way to make sure the filmmakers were taken care of. That’s a really tough thing to do when you’ve got 100 shorts in the program. Thanks to Jon Gann and everyone who helped put on a great fest!

In between screenings we did get to see some friends in Alexandria and do a bit of sightseeing. I’ll try to upload some pics once wordpress stops being dumb.