Our Story

The International Festival of Animated Objects needs your help.  This biennial festival of mask and puppetry takes place March 9-13, 2011.  Your contribution will help bring contemporary artists working in these ancient art forms to the general public.  We present shows for adults and children, workshops, screenings and exhibitions.  Your donation helps bring artists from as far away as Sweden, the Netherlands, and Colorado!

I'm Xstine Cook, a mask and puppet artist, independent filmmaker, and festival producer based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  I run Calgary Animated Objects Society, the non-profit charity which presents the fifth biennial International Festival of Animated Objects from March 9-13, 2011.  

$60,000 of our public funding did not come through as hoped, and we found out a week ago.  Perhaps foolishly, we are forging ahead with the festival, dedicated to bringing amazing puppet and mask artists to Calgary, and presenting them in professional venues to the general public including adult and family audiences. 

The artists are invited, flights are booked, the venue is in preparation.  This year we are proud to present the amazing, wonderful Ronnie Burkett, Sweden's marionette masters Dockteaterverkstan, Netherland's edgy Stuffed Puppet, mask performance by the Wonderheads from Portland, shadow puppetry by Circo De Nada from Denver, and marvelous weirdness by Marsian De Lellis from LA.  Rounding out our Cabaret, we have Anna La Tomate from Montreal, Dan Walechuk from the Winnipeg Puppetry Slam, Humble Wonder, and the Wind Up Arsenal (both from Calgary).  Also from Calgary we present Lyle Pisio, The Pigeonettes & The Five Step Program, Deadhorse, and Shine Machine from Calgary.

The Impact

Your donation will support the hard costs of hosting artists: travel, food, accommodation, fees, technicians, venue, marketing.  Your donation will make the festival great for everyone.  If we don't meet our campaign goal, we will use what funds are raised to pay the costs of producing a festival.  The money earned selling tickets to shows accounts for less than 15% of all the costs of the festival.

What We Need & What You Get

Really, we need 60k.  But that's a bit out of the scope of this campaign, so we've set the bar low at $2000!  Any contribution you make will go directly toward transporting, housing and feeding artists, creating promotional materials and toward the hard costs of presenting shows at the International Festival of Animated Objects. In short, your money will bring great shows to the city.  Shows that would never otherwise be seen.

Any funds raised over $2000 will go a long way toward paying the costs of the festival.  If we don't hit our goal, the funds will do the same thing, but Indiegogo will keep a higher percentage.  If we surpass our goal, the festival will stay out of debt!!  This festival proves there's a lot more to Calgary than it's nation-wide view as a sociopathic cowboy.    We elected Nenshi, we can continue to have the only puppet festival east of Montreal!

The Opening Galabash on March 9 is a fundraiser for the festival at the Ironwood Stage & Grill. If you can, come dance!  Tickets are $25 for general public, $20 for CAOS members.  The Pigeonettes & the Five Step Program headline, with Deadhorse & Shine Machine kicking out original highly danceable tunes in oddly muppet-like attire, while puppet artists and Quickdraw Animation and the Toy Mash-Up will provide visual fun. 

In the meantime, please consider donating $10 here.  We'll thank you on our website: animatedobjects.ca.

If you donate $25 or more, we'll thank you on our website and send you a limited-edition pin of The Elk Head Girl, (the festival photo by Sean Dennie, featuring my mask, modeled by Kat Hansen).

If you donate $50 or more, we'll thank you, send you the pin and a festival poster.

If you donate $100 or more, we'll thank you, send the pin, the poster, and a limited-edition festival t-shirt (black or light blue), with original screen-printed graphic by Ty Semaka. 

Donate $500 or more and receive pin, poster, t-shirt and free VIP access to all festival events.  

We are a charitable organization, so all donations are tax receiptable, minus the value of your swag.

This IndieGoGo campaign is open until two weeks past the Festival of Animated Objects because we've decided we're doing it come hell or high water.  We want to give you as much opportunity as possible to support it.  We'll be working for record ticket sales this year. Any support you can throw our way will go directly toward paying hard costs of this amazing festival, and we really really need to surpass the goal of $2000.

Other Ways You Can Help

Let others know about our fundraising campaign!  Please feel free to use the "share tools" to help spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, whatever!  There's strength in numbers, and the more people share it, the more visible we become.