Froglet

Bodybuilder with single Admirer

Blockheaded Pigmee

A fishy love story…

My latest film Morning, Day, Evening, Night … and Morning Again was nominated for Best Undergraduate Film at Ottawa 2006 Int’l Animation festival.

Recently I just came back from a fanastic trip to Annecy, and now to make for more good news, I got interviewed by AWN:

The Animated Winners: Indie Short Filmmakers Speak

Going to college really allowed me to improve my skills, as well as my production process. My new film “Morning, Day, Evening, Night, and Morning Again” was done in just three months, and I don’t think I was ever deprived of so much sleep as I was while finishing it. However it was all worth it, now that it is finished and is most definetely superior to any film I did before. But now I see that I can do a film 5 times better than this finished one. I have just finished storyboarding for my top secret 5th Film, and I see that everything including story is a long mile away from when I first started animation. Wish me luck.

First, I want to wish a happy new year too all. And secondly decree that I have updated the sketches section which now features most of my new drawings that I have been doing all this time, including lots of hands and feet from the mourge that I have visited part time on the weekends. More of my bigger, non- sketchbook drawings will be coming up. Also, I have another new section called …, where I upload random doodles of pigs and other oddities from my sketchbook and give each one a name (from left to right). And last but hopefully not least, my new film is getting completed but there is still some more shading and music to be done.

I am still in shock over the result, but it is so that my 3rd animated film “Piper the goat” won the High School/Secondary School category in the Ottawa International Animation Festival competition. This is the first time that the Ottawa Animation Festival merged with it’s Student Animation Festival into one grand safari of a festival, and I am honored to have been part of that experience. I want to thank my mom, dad, grandmother, and uncle for encouraging me to make this film with all of my strength. But now that months have gone by after finishing “Piper”, and I am doing backgrounds for my mysterious top secret 4th film. I hope to make my family more proud with this new film, and I know that I am bringing something very special to life at this moment. It has been a pleasure to meet all you wonderful people at the Festival, and hope to meet you in the future.

And to end, here is a festival quote…

“The energy and bizarre humour of this high school student film suggests an original talent with great promise.”
OIAF jury

“The promise will be kept”
Lev Polyakov

My dad, Alexander Polyakov is the first person who taught me how to draw, more importantly first person to teach me about life. Without him I would have probably ended up working as a window cleaner in a gas station. And it is a great pleasure for me to present my father’s website http://www.alpstudio.com it is full of my dad’s paintings, backdrops, wooden toys, and nutcrackers. He is an inspiration to me, and I hope he will be an inpiration to you too.

It seems like yesterday that I was in Ottawa, feeling unsure and a bit scared as I sat in a Canadian bar covered by the blazing heat of the sun, and slapped by the cold north wind. My shirt was soaked from the sweat of running from one place to the other in search of a place to eat, and not getting a chance to change shirts since our hotel room wasn’t ready yet. All this however, was not the reason I felt strange after arriving in Ottawa. This was the first film festival I have ever attended, and I felt like a newbie on a planet of veterans. Half a year later now, I still consider myself a newbie. But the experience of Ottawa (and now also Annecy) entered inside me, and now I feel more comfortable then ever in going to these festivals. But this year, I have a new experience as “Piper the Goat” is in competition. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to the festival

Now though, my mind is firmly set on my new project. And I am glad to say that all is going very well with it. The animatic is done, and the music is being made.

I’m back, baby! Annecy may be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life yet. But this is just the beginning. Anyway, Annecy is a really beautiful city, and the festival was full of great works! I got to meet the talent behind the works, as well as meet back with the guys from NY. Congradulations to “The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morrelo” for winning the Annecy Cristal for best short film. But honestly, I would trade 10 cristals for a bunny (which was awarded to the director of a very fun german film)