CENTER FOR COMPUTATION & TECHNOLOGY

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but when it comes to animation—and animation festivals—new competition must be taken seriously. The Red Stick International Animation Festival, Baton Rouge’s bold, three-year foray into digital Hollywood, has attracted its first heavyweight challenger: this summer’s Platform Festival, held in animation-rich Portland. Red Stick Director Stacey Simmons isn’t worried, though. “There’s room for everybody,” she says with aplomb. “We’ll help each other, but I plan on being the biggest and the best.” Plus Red Stick has a three-year head start on Portland, and because of Simmons’ due diligence, festival contributor Cartoon Network just upped its ante as a marquee sponsor for 2007. Simmons, 37, has been collecting a lot of frequent flyer miles lately. Pixar, Disney, Industrial Light & Magic—these are just a few of the studios she’s networking with in an effort to establish Red Stick in its third year as the premier animation showcase and symposium in the country. This on the heels of last year’s 2,000-strong showing, and in a city that is more equipped than ever as a productive cog in the Hollywood machine. Red Stick is not alone in Baton Rouge’s blossoming cottage film industry. Hot post-production studio Louisiana Media Services is up and running on multimillion dollar projects, and the Celtic Media Center’s much-touted sound stages go live in April. More importantly, Simmons, with support from the mayor’s office and others, has won the praise of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. Under CEO Stephen Moret, BRAC has built animation and video game development into its economic development plan for the parish. Which brings us back to Red Stick, one of the first and most convincing proofs of digital arts as a viable industry in the city. “Whether its independents, features, children’s programming, or grownup-themed animation, we want to be the signature event for the industry,” Simmons says. “This year everyone I’ve spoken to in the industry is behind us 100%.” The Red Stick International Animation Festival will be April 17-22 at the Shaw Center for the Arts, the Manship Theatre, the Louisiana Arts & Science Museum, and the Louisiana Old State Capitol. redstickfestival.org.