<h3>Where</h3><p>Online</p><h3>When</h3><p>March 24-26, 2022</p>

Toronto Animation Film Festival

<h3>Where</h3><p>Online</p><h3>When</h3><p>March 24-27, 2021</p>

<h3>Where</h3><p>Hot Docs Cinema | Toronto, Canada | 506 Bloor Street West</p><h3>When</h3><p>Monday April 25th</p>

<h3>Where</h3><p>Online</p><h3>When</h3><p>November 11-13, 2021</p>

Toronto Animation Industry Conference

<h3>Where</h3><p>Online</p><h3>When</h3><p>November 18-22, 2020<span class="ql-cursor">﻿</span></p>

<h3>Where</h3><p>Corus Quay, Toronto, Canada, 25 Dockside Dr.</p><h3>When</h3><p>Saturday to Sunday, November 2-3, 2019</p>

Toronto Animation / VFX Job Fair

TAAFI News

<p>Join independent/crowdfunding guru Spike Trotman as she sheds some light on the transition her company Iron Circus Comics made with expanding into animation. </p><p>Spike will be joined by cartoonist Tracy Butler, creator of Lackadaisy and animator Fable Siegel to discuss the ups and downs of their campaign, as well as show a few never before seen rough tests from the short. (maybe?)</p><p>The conversation will be moderated by Illustrator and professor JoAnn Purcell.</p>

Comics to Animation: Iron Circus Tells All

<p>Fable Siegel is an animator and comic artist who lives with a flock of modern-day dinosaurs (parrots, chickens, and pigeons, oh my!). Native to New Hampshire, Fable's bold, moody artistic style was heavily influenced by the dark atmosphere of the cold northern woods. Their credits over a decade-plus career include board artist on <strong><em>Ben 10 (2016)</em></strong>, animator on <strong><em>Midnight Gospel</em></strong>, and animator on <strong><em>Hazbin Hotel</em></strong>. Bouncing between several studios before committing fully to indie animation in 2020, Fable landed the role of director for <strong><em>Lackadaisy: The Animated Short</em></strong>, based on the webcomic of the same name penned by Tracy Butler.</p><p>You can follow the project's development at <a href="https://www.littledaisycafe.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Little Daisy Cafe</a> and read Fable's New England-set zombie apocalypse series, <strong><em>Umbagog</em></strong>, <a href="http://www.umbagogcomic.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. Follow them on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/Fablepaint" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@Fablepaint</a> for daily updates on everything mentioned, with frequent art streams featuring cast, crew and friends on <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/fable_paint" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitch</a>.</p>

Fable Siegel

<p>JoAnn Purcell&nbsp;holds a PhD in Critical Disability Studies from York University where she combined her background as a visual artist and registered nurse and drew her dissertation in&nbsp;comics form alongside her daughter, born with a genetic difference. She is the current and founding Program Coordinator of Illustration at Seneca College and occasional contract faculty at York University.&nbsp;She was instrumental in the creation of the award winning Animation Arts Centre and coordinator in the early years. She held the interim position of Chair of the School of Creative Arts and Animation in 2019. &nbsp;As Faculty she teaches drawing, painting, colour theory, art and illustration history and a seminar class in Comics and Social Justice.&nbsp;She has years of hands on experience as a visual artist, animator and visual effects artist and previously, psychiatric nursing.&nbsp;</p><p>JoAnn was also one of the founding board members of TAAFI back in the day, and helped define it’s vision in those early years. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>In her spare time or whenever she needs to think, she runs the streets and paths of Toronto.&nbsp;She misses travel and the real company of friends. She believes comics will save the world.&nbsp;</p>

JoAnn Purcell

<p>Spike is a cartoonist, editor, executive producer, Kickstarter pioneer and thought leader, and founder of Iron Circus Comics, Chicago's largest comics publisher. She has earned nearly $2,000,000 on Kickstarter since the site's launch, and grown Iron Circus from a self-publishing imprint for her webcomic <em>Templar, Arizona</em> to an internationally-distributed small press powerhouse, responsible for provocative and timely Amazon bestsellers like <em>The Harrowing of Hell</em> and <em>Banned Book Club</em>. Under Spike's&nbsp;direction, Iron Circus recently became a multimedia company, launching its first animation venture, <em>Lackadaisy</em>, with a $330,000 Kickstarter project, unseating Academy Award winner <em>Good Hair</em> as the Short FIlm category's highest earner.</p><p>Spike like Korean food, pit mixes, obscure animation, minicomics, and vids of Columbus statues being rolled into the sea. In her spare time, she likes to fall asleep. She has been to France exactly once, and has barely put on anything that wasn't a set of pajamas since late March.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Spike Trotman

<p>Tracy Butler is an illustrator and comic artist situated in St. Louis, Missouri. Her early art career was spent working for a small game developer, capering between roles as a concept artist, 3d modeler, animator and art director. In 2015, she left the game industry to pursue comic-making and cat-drawing on a full time, independent basis. More recently, following a successful&nbsp;Kickstarter under the auspices of Iron Circus Comics, she’s begun adapting her comic series, Lackadaisy, for animation with director and studio virtuoso Fable Siegel.</p><p>When she’s not drawing cats, Tracy spends her time lost down a 1920s research rabbit hole, hiking to obscure and abandoned historic sites, looking after feral cats, and chasing after them for spay/neuter. (If you don’t keep tabs on them, they might start up a shady speakeasy operation or something.) You can find Tracy’s comics, art and social media links at Lackadaisy.com.</p>

Tracy Butler

Atomic Cartoons

<p>Get to know animation history with a supervisor at one of Canada's most prestigious animation studios. We are animating on shows you might have watched as a kid and look forward to seeing you for a fun trivia game!</p><p><a href="https://zoom.us/j/92163701519" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Go to Animation Trivia&nbsp;</strong></a></p>

<p>Get to know animation history with a supervisor at one of Canada's most prestigious animation studios this Sunday. We are animating on shows you might have watched as a kid and look forward to seeing you for a fun trivia game!</p>

Animation Trivia with Yowza! Animation

Yowza Animation

<p>Please join Campbell Bryer, one of the directors of Nelvana’s adaptation of <em>Thomas the Tank Engine</em> for a discussion about the property, its evolution from 3D to 2D and what it’s like to work on a property with such a long and successful history. Moderating will be Nelvana’s Head of Operations, Ross Maudsley.</p><p><a href="https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_Yjg3MWQyNjgtMmU0Zi00ZDEzLTlmNTktNzljNzA3ZjNiYTY4%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%221ede324e-872d-4f4b-8e56-ce3ed381a77a%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22e10b9a25-4bb7-405e-878c-c19d406729bc%22%7d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Go to Thomas and Friends Session</strong></a></p>

<p>Please join Campbell Bryer this Sunday, one of the directors of Nelvana’s adaptation of <em>Thomas the Tank Engine</em> for a discussion about the property, its evolution from 3D to 2D and what it’s like to work on a property with such a long and successful history.</p>