Interview:
Eric Power,
director and animator,
"Papercuts"
As an independent filmmaker specializing in cut paper stop-motion animation, Austin-based director Eric Power is accustomed to receiving rejection letters from film festivals But in 2022, the self-taught animator felt confident that his just-completed environment fable When You Get to the Forest would finally gain the attention of an animation community that had been hesitant to embrace him and his work. Instead, a rejection letter from a major animation film festival not just induced a panic attack but left Power in an existential crisis. After conferring with his wife Alicia and his creative partner Andreas Petersen, Power began to gather and write down his thoughts and memories. His writing eventually evolved into a script for Papercuts, an animated memoir that is now available for digital/on-demand viewing. The intensively personal Papercuts traces Power’s upbringing in El Paso and other parts of the country; discovering his artistic sensibilities prior to and while studying at the University of Texas; finding his way to filmmaking and cut paper stop-motion animation; and the pivotal relationships in his life that has helped shaped who he is as a person and as a filmmaker. Equally important, Papercuts focuses on Power’s developing and refining his animation skills as a music video maker for independent bands; the shorts that laid the groundwork for Power’s transition into feature-length animated filmmaking; the struggles to finance his first three animated features; and the production process that requires Power to undertake most of the work due to budgetary constraints. He previously directed and animated 2020’s Attack of the Demons and 2023’s When You Get to the Forest from scripts written by Salt Lake City-based screenwriter Andreas Petersen. He also directed and animated the 2013 samurai saga Path of Blood. Power has animated more than 50 music videos dating back to 2008’s “Days Likes Turtles” by Austin-based band Many Birthdays, comprised of Power’s frequent collaborators John Dixon and Sarah Luce. Aired: Aug. 12, 2026. Web site: http://www.ericpowerup.net/ |
|