Awesome Con Short Film Festival (December 9-13, 2020)

Join us for the "at home" 2020 Awesome Con Short Film Festival! DELETE from director Joe Carabeo will be making the World Premiere and I designed the animated film titles for that film. It will be showing Friday, December 11, 2020 as the 5th film of the evening (the films start at 8PM EST).

DC’s pop culture convention Awesome Con (awesome-con.com) brings its annual Short Film Festival online for the first time beginning tomorrow. Fans from around the world can watch over 10 hours of free screenings spanning science-fiction, action, horror, documentary, comedy, and drama, from both independent filmmakers and Hollywood professionals. The lineup includes works from and featuring Rider Strong and Shiloh Strong, Ted Raimi, Larisa Oleynik, James Van Der Beek, Diablo Cody, Hailee Steinfeld, and J. K. Simmons. 

Awesome Con traditionally welcomes 70,000 fans to Washington, DC each year, but like most events in 2020, its physical edition could not take place because of coronavirus. Instead, the event presented an online edition earlier this year. And now, to wrap up 2020, Awesome Con brings one of its most popular features online for the first time too - the Awesome Con Short Film Festival.

Launched five years ago by Awesome Con in collaboration with Astray Productions, the event sought to shine a spotlight on Mid-Atlantic filmmakers and celebrate them in front of DC’s largest gathering of film and popular culture fans. Quickly growing to welcome filmmakers from around the world, the Awesome Con Short Film Festival blends the high-brow prestige of the film festival world with the excitement of a pop culture convention enjoyed by all ages, and Awesome Con and Astray Productions will present the largest Awesome Con Short Film Festival online from December 9 - 13 this year.

“This year’s Awesome Con Short Film Festival saw over 3,000 submissions from around the world,” said Astray Productions founder and Awesome Con Short Film Festival organizer Joe Carabeo. “It was a tremendously challenging process to draw all our submissions down into a week of events, and I know this year’s fest is our biggest and strongest yet!”

The Awesome Con Short Film Festival schedule, including film synopses and filmmaker biographies can be found at awesome-con.com/acshortfilmfest.

Opening Night - Wednesday, Dec 9 at 8 PM Eastern Hosted by actress Megan Caulfield. Film Festival overview, trailers, and interviews.

Sci-Fi, Action & Horror - Thursday, Dec 10 at 8 PM Eastern Over three hours of short films and filmmaker interviews.

Comedy & Drama - Friday, Dec 11 at 8 PM Eastern Over three hours of short films and filmmaker interviews including the World Premiere of Joe Carabeo’s newest film, DELETE.

Docs & Awesome Films - Saturday, Dec 12 at 8 PM Eastern Over three hours of short films and filmmaker interviews.

Full Festival Marathon - Sunday, Dec 13 at 12 PM Eastern Enjoy all the festival’s films presented in an all-day matinee.

Closing Night - Sunday, Dec 13 at 8 PM Eastern Hosted by actress Megan Caulfield. Award presentations and winner screenings.

Fans can watch all of the Awesome Con Short Film Festival’s films for free at Awesome Con’s Facebook page facebook.com/AwesomeConDC. All of this year’s films will be available to view globally through Sunday, December 20, 2020.

As another first, in addition to juried Best Cinematography and Best in Show awards, the Awesome Con Short Film Festival will present its inaugural Audience Award, with fans encouraged to vote for their favorite of the festival’s entries. All awards will be announced on Sunday, December 13.

Entries will open soon for the 2021 edition of the Awesome Con Short Film Festival, returning to take place in person again in Washington, DC at the next Awesome Con - Friday, August 20 - Sunday, August 22, 2021.

For more information, please visit the Awesome Con Short Film Festival website and follow the event on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

ABOUT AWESOME CON

Awesome Con is Washington DC’s Comic Con! Awesome Con is a celebration of geek culture, bringing over 70,000 fans together with their favorite stars from across comics, movies, television, toys, games, and more! And just like DC, we’re smart, family-friendly, and inclusive - and we’ll return August 20 - 22, 2021. For more, visit awesome-con.com.

ABOUT JOE CARABEO

Joe Carabeo is an award-winning cross platform artist based out of Northern Virginia. Armed with a Photography and Film undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, Joe created Astray Productions (a metaphor for Fearless Creative Direction) as an creation umbrella where he can produce his own films, photography, music, comics, and commercial work, some which have been seen around the world in film festivals, conventions, magazines, and even charting more than 1 millions views online. Also, Joe might have been one of the first podcasters ever in the DC area as the co-host for the 450+ weekly episodes of the Carolyn and Joe Show. Besides his own productions, Joe has also had the opportunity to use his Directing and Camera talent to work with amazing national entities, such as The Beach Boys, NBC, ABC, FOX, Showtime , Epix, TLC, Bravo, Awesome Con, Intel, The National Guard, DC Lottery, Papa Johns, NASA, Under Armour, Red Cross, and more. For more, visit joecarabeo.com and astrayproductions.com.

WOM CON 2020 is Tomorrow!

Announcing WOM CON: a special one-day WOMen run comics pop-up taking place both online and in-person on November 14th!

IN-PERSON: Get your con on with local cartoonists Laura Lee Gulledge (The Dark Matter of Mona Starr), Hannah England (Strawbunny), and Mariah Bryant (Six-Petal Pyramid) outside in front of The Bridge PAI in Charlottesville, Virginia.

This FREE family friendly outdoor event will feature a badge decoration station, in-person portfolio review and comics workshop, prizes for costumes, and projected livestream content from sister shows. Plus there will be comics, books, zines and art for sale. Social distancing and masks are required!

ONLINE: Tune in to see special WOM CON sister shows live-streaming from the studios of inspiring comics creators Jennifer Hayden (The Story of My Tits), Carolyn Belefski (Curls Studio), Paige Pumphrey (NYC Pinup queen), and Sarah Trustman (The Memory Arts) through our individual Instagram and Facebook pages! 

You can print off and decorate your own WOM CON badge at home.

PROGRAMMING:

9:50am Kick-off livestream on this event page
https://www.instagram.com/lauraleegulledge

10:00am Virtual Studio Visit with Carolyn Belefski
https://www.instagram.com/carolynbelefski

11:00am In-Person Portfolio Reviews with Hannah England

12:00pm Virtual Table Talk & FAQ with Jennifer Hayden
https://www.instagram.com/jenhaygoddess

1:00pm In-person Comics Workshop with Laura Lee Gulledge

2:00pm Virtual Comic Con Table Hangout Experience #AMA with Paigey Pumphrey
https://www.facebook.com/paige.pumphrey

3:00pm In-person Portfolio Reviews with Mariah Bryant

4:00pm Virtual Art & Storytelling for Memory with Q&A with Sarah Trustman
https://www.instagram.com/sarahtrustman

Baltimore Comic-Con to Host Virtual Events this Weekend

Baltimore Comic-Con is going virtual October 23-25 at BaltimoreComicConLive.com and offer the best in comics creators, panels, art, and cosplay. BCC will once again host the biggest and best kids area at any comic convention-the Kids Love Comics pavilion, featuring comics how-to's, crafts, and other fun activities.

Both the main BCC channel and KLC channel (www.baltimorecomicconlive.com/kids) will run simultaneously, so while the adults enjoy their programming, kids and aspiring artists can see and learn from a variety of graphic novel creators, all Saturday and Sunday.

Join me this Sunday, October 25 at 12:40pm for "Creative Crafts Challenges with Carolyn Belefski" where I'll be demonstrating crafts from my challenges (a few will be freshly altered to represent the fall season). My event is open to all children AND the young at heart.

Huge thanks to Baltimore Comic-Con, Marc Nathan, John Gallagher, and the Mariano Brothers for setting this all up virtually! Hopefully we can enjoy conventions again in the future, but until then I'll see you all online this Sunday and follow me on the socials -- Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

National Cartoonists Society Activity Book

Introducing the NCS Activity Book! The history of this project is that at the Chapter Chairs Meeting in May 2019 at Huntington Beach, CA I presented the idea to have an Activity Book and the reaction was, "Well then why don't you produce it?" At that point it became a personal mission to gather the best cartoonists with children's focused content. Originally this was going to be a printed book that the NCS would have debuted at the children's hospital visit I was organizing for this year's Reubens Weekend in Kansas City, MO. 

Of course, like mostly everything in 2020, the event was canceled due to Covid-19. The plan was after the hospital event we'd have it available for schools, libraries, book signings, future children’s hospital visits, etc. Instead, NCS has now made it available as a PDF that anyone can download and print out (hopefully we will eventually have a printed version). We are suggesting a donation of any amount you choose for the book, all the proceeds of which will go to the National Cartoonist Society Foundation, the charitable arm of the NCS, to help fund future “Cartooning for Kids” event programming.

One of the cool things for me is working with Sergio Aragonés during several chats over the phone and him asking me to color the cover. I also got to design the masthead, communicate directly with over fifty contributors, and create a page featuring my Curls characters! Huge thanks to everyone involved and the cartoonists for donating their time and skills to come up with original page material.

The all-ages book is 50 pages of puzzles and activities, all of which are done “coloring book” style so kids can both do the activity and color the pages. Inside you’ll find art by some of the biggest names in cartooning. If you are in need of some stay-at-home summer fun, pledge what you can for a PDF download by visiting www.nationalcartoonists.com/product/ncs-activity-book.

If you are looking for other fun activities to do this summer, check out

#CarolynsCreativeChallenge for projects in comics, cooking, crafts, sculpture, design, drawing, and more art to enhance your brain at www.carolynbelefski.com/ccc.

The Big Thank You Search of 2020

Several cartoonists have been working out a creative way to say thank you to all the generous volunteers and workers who are helping everyone during this crisis, and they’re asking for as many cartoonists as possible to hide 6 key symbols in their cartoons today -- Sunday, June 7th.

The icons are:
1. Mask (for medical workers and caregivers)
2. Steering wheel (for people who move our deliveries, supplies, mail, etc.)
3. Shopping cart (for grocery workers)
4. Apple (for teachers)
5. Fork (for restaurants and essential businesses that have stayed open)
6. Microscope (for medical researchers)

Each of these drawings is a symbol of gratitude for these dedicated people who have risked and sacrificed during this crisis. Can you find them all in my Curls comic strip? We are also asked to put a link to a charity we’d like to support and I selected American Red Cross because of all the work we’ve done with Cartoonists Draw Blood: www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html

#CarolynsCreativeChallenge

Hope everyone is doing well as we all experience this global pandemic with Covid-19 together (but apart). For the past two weeks, I've been posting daily prompts on the socials -- calling it #CarolynsCreativeChallenge.

I've had this idea for awhile now, but never thought the timing was right because I wanted to finish The Legettes #2 first, which is very time intensive for me. The Legettes should be my priority, but I did feel the need to be creative in many ways and showcase small projects that almost anyone can do at home. Another driving force behind the launch of this is the fact that four of Curls Studio's upcoming conventions and appearances have been canceled or delayed until later in the year, so hopefully it will gain traction and get others to actively know our work and communicate with us.

View this post on Instagram

Day 13: Carolyn's Creative Challenge. Join in! Today's prompt: Make a sock puppet! Meet "Howlin' House" (he goes by Howl for short) -- an old blues man hound who has seen it all. View my process photos in Stories for the next 24 hours. Post and tag your work with #ArtAttack and #CarolynsCreativeChallenge! www.CarolynBelefski.com #art #challenge #thingstodo #creative #fun #happy #stayhome #staybusy #makearteveryday #artistsoninstagram #design #crafts #graphicdesign #quarantineartclub #sockpuppet #sock #button #dog #hound #howlinhouse #dogsofinstagram #puppet #buttoneyes #animal #pet #sewing #homemade #handmade

A post shared by Carolyn Belefski (@carolynbelefski) on Apr 2, 2020 at 6:08am PDT

Most of the challenges take under 10-15 minutes to complete, but some may take more time. Join in and participate! You don't have to do them all -- you can do the ones that you want to do (and you can even go back and catch up from the very beginning).

A new challenge is posted each day on my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Occasional behind-the-scenes and process imagery is shown on on IG Stories that are up for 24 hours only.

A goal of mine is to showcase the creative spectrum -- projects have already included cooking, sewing, eating, drawing, collage, experimental inking, design, and more. My hope is that parents can introduce some fun to their children that is educational and will get them motivated to create. No boredom allowed!

See you on the socials,
Carolyn

A Boy and His Tiger: A Tribute to Bill Watterson

The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, California asked me to contribute original art for "A Boy and His Tiger: A Tribute to Bill Watterson" as homage to Bill Watterson and his seminal comic strip creation Calvin and Hobbes.

Bidding is currently open on eBay for the next two days and the auction will support the museum’s ongoing public programming and exhibitions.

The Cartoon Art Museum will publish a full color exhibition catalog collection all of the artwork created for this auction, and will present a public exhibition of the pieces in March 2020.

Direct link to bid  is https://ebay.us/wXeB3f and you can learn more about the project here: https://www.cartoonart.org/press-releases/2019/12/4/a-boy-and-his-tiger-a-tribute-to-bill-watterson

Blue Rose - Make 100 Kickstarter Update

Here's an update on our Kickstarter "Make 100" incentive raising funds to produce 100 limited edition hard enamel pins with a beautiful original illustrated Blue Rose design. It's absolutely fabulous news: all of the classic blue glitter with rose gold plating pins are pledged for!

Since we still have 17 days left in the campaign, I figured it would be best to expand and offer Blue Rose 2.0 -- same design, but with different color and plating -- turquoise glitter, gold plating, and blue rubber clutch.

Please consider pledging $10 plus shipping today to spread the Blue Rose flair.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/carolynbelefski/blue-rose-make-100

Blue Rose - Make 100 Kickstarter

We're taking part in Kickstarter's Make 100 incentive raising funds to produce 100 limited edition hard enamel pins with a beautiful original illustrated Blue Rose design. The pins will be produced at 30mm tall with sleek rose gold plating and blue glitter color. Each pin will be fixed with a clear rubber clutch and come with a backing card.

I became enamored with blue roses about a decade ago because they symbolize unattainable love and longing to attain the impossible, as a Blue Rose does not exist in nature. The 2020 PANTONE Color of the Year is Classic Blue -- instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era. There is a sense of mystery, rarity, and hope within the symbolism of a Blue Rose.

You may want to give the pin as a gift to someone getting married who can wear "something blue" as tradition. You may want to give two or share the pin with a friend. You may want a reminder to stop and smell the roses or a symbolic physical representation of waiting for true love.

Hoping that you can pledge $10 plus shipping today to support this project and make it come to life.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/carolynbelefski/blue-rose-make-100