The Red Stick International Animation Festival is an annual event is hosted by the Lab for Creative Arts & Technologies (LCAT), a research group within the

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

Center for Computation and Technology The Center for Computation and Technology (CCT) is an interdisciplinary research center located on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 2003, the Center for Applied Information Technology and Learning (LSU CAPITAL) ...

. The first festival took place from April 21 until April 23, 2005, and has occurred annually since in the Downtown Arts District in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

. The 2005 festival drew over 1200 attendees. In 2006, just over 2000 people attended, and in 2007, over 4000 people attended festival events.

History

The festival was founded by Stephen David Beck and Stacey Simmons, bringing an idea from the Animex festival in England, as a way to demonstrate the linkage between creativity and technology, their focus at LCAT, and to bring awareness to the opportunities in both creative and technical disciplines for jobs, careers and economic development that are available through entertainment technologies. The name "Red Stick" is the literal English translation of

, where the festival is held. Planning for the first festival began in the fall of 2003, with the event taking place in April 2005. Since then, the festival has occurred annually in the third week of April. Speakers and workshop leaders at past festivals have included representatives from Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Digital Domain, Sony Imageworks and other companies. They include Ed Hooks, Stuart Sumida, Mark Walsh, Walt Hyneman, David Bolinsky, Karen deJong, Gary Schwartz, and Rachelle Lewis. The Red Stick Festival takes place at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, Old State Capitol, and the LSU Museum of Art and Manship Theatre, part of the

Shaw Center for the Arts The Shaw Center for the Arts is a 125,000 square foot (12,000 m²) performing art venue, fine arts museum, and education center located at 100 Lafayette Street in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It opened in 2005. The Center includes the LSU Mus ...

External links

* Animation film festivals in the United States Louisiana State University Culture of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Film festivals established in 2005 Film festivals in Louisiana Tourist attractions in Baton Rouge, Louisiana {{BatonRougeLA-stub