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BMP NEWS | |
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BMP (New Wave) keeps you up-to-date with our activities and projects in the upcoming months. Our work also takes us outside the comic domain to other interesting creative disciplines. Old news items can be found in the BMP (New Wave) News Archive or the BMP (Classic) News Archive. |
BMP has had lots of queries lately about where we are with the Elf~Fin project from people wanting to see Hyfus and Tilaweed again in all their glory. Well ... we can confidently tell you that the proposal is finished and we've made significant progress with the story (88 pages of script completed) and the artwork (44 pages of pencilled art completed and five painted pages). The proposal will be going out into the world in June (hopefully on angel's wings). In the meantime, for sneak peeks and character leaks go to the Eternal Spheres: Elf~Fin section on the Creative Properties page of our website and to our Blog.
(22 May 2008)
Publishing consultant and literary agent Brian Cook of the Manuscript Appraisal Agency and BMP Director, Julie Ditrich will be co-presenting the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Comics/Graphic Novels Portfolio session on 'How to Write a Graphic Novel Proposal for the Mainstream Book Market' at Supanova Sydney on 21 June 2008. For further information go to our Events & Appearances page.
Neither Jozef nor Julie can make it to Supanova Perth this year but have organised a panel session entitled "The Time is Now! Marketing Your Comics to Book Publishers" which will be held on Saturday 28 June 2008. Here are the details:
This panel session will examine three differing entry points into publishing comics in the mainstream book market. Artist/writer Jessica McLeod (Ghost Farm, Activities for Rainy Days) will discuss how publishing webcomics landed her an international book deal. Comics writer Tad Pietrzykowski (The Dark Nebula) will discuss how self-publishing comic books led to landing a US literary agent and an overseas distribution deal. Wolfgang Bylsma publisher/editor of Gestalt Publishing will speak about how to alienate success in the graphic novel market and will explain some inherently simple protocols that aspiring graphic novelists can follow to avoid antagonising publishers they approach. Wolfgang will also present a few tips pointed to keeping relationships sweet and bridges unburned, even in the face of rejection slips and/or unwelcome criticism.
Seminar Information
Date: Saturday 28 June 2008
Time: 6.00pm to 7.00pm
Venue: The Supanova Seminar Room, Robinson Pavillion, Claremont Showground, Perth (see program map for location)
Entry fee: There is no charge to attend the seminar. However, attendees must be exhibitors or hold a Saturday Day Pass ($20.00) or a Supafan Weekend Pass ($40). Tickets can be purchased at the door or through Ticketek on 132 849 .
Special Instructions: Please note that the Expo opens at 10.00am and shuts at 6.00pm and special arrangements have been made to accommodate this seminar. Creators wishing to attend are requested to go directly to the Supanova Seminar Room and then to leave the venue promptly after the seminar has finished. No exhibitors will be allowed back into the Hall after 6.00pm.
Further Information: Supanova and the Australian Society of Authors.
(22 May 2008)
BMP's new blogspot is going live on 1 May 2008 (Australia/Sydney time). BMP Directors, Jozef Szekeres and Julie Ditrich, are gearing the blog to "Black Mermaid Productions enthusiasists, comics creators, fantasy readers and mermaid lovers around the world!" Readers will get a chance to view Elf~Fin roughs and artwork posted under the 'Character Leaks and Peeks' label. We will also be posting information under the categories of 'Personal Pleasures' (products and services that we love!) and 'Mermaid Treasures' (an introduction to our personal mermaid collectibles), as well as a 'Black Mermaid Book Club' (recent books we've enjoyed reading). For the emerging and professional comics creators we'll be presenting tips on the business of comics and graphic novels, as well as insights into our creative processes. Occasionally we'll have a rant about things that make us mad. We hope you'll get to know us and we also hope we'll get to know you through the comments sections. Please forgive any technical glitches along the way – we're blog students – we've probably got a lot of catching up to do with all of you. The blog address is: http://blackmermaidproductions.blogspot.com.
(28 April 2008)
BMP Directors, Julie Ditrich and Jozef Szekeres will respectively be presenting Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Comics/Graphic Novels Portfolio sessions at Supanova Melbourne on 29 March 2008 and at Supanova Brisbane on 5 April 2008. For further information go to our Events & Appearances page.
(20 March 2008)
BMP Director, Julie Ditrich will be talking about the publishing pathways of comics and graphic novels at the Wollongong City Gallery Zine Fair in April 2008. Presented by South Coast Writers Centre, this panel will be part of a day-long program of activities, including a zine fair and workshops.
Are You Serious? Zines, Comics & Graphic Novels Panel Discussion
Time: 4pm
Date: Sunday 13 April 2008
Venue: Wollongong City Gallery, coroner of Kembla and Burelli Streets, Wollongong (diagonally opposite Woolworths), NSW Australia
Panel: Chair – Clementina Velasco (local writer and zine maker), Vanessa Berry (zine maker and writer), Matt Huynh (Stikman Comics) and Julie Ditrich (comics writer).
Further Information: Vivian Vidulich at Wollongong City Gallery on +61 2 4228 7500.
(12 March 2008)
BMP Director, Jozef Szekeres will be exhibiting his artwork amongst a collective of Australian and international artists at the Brave New Worlds Art Exhibition in Sydney during February and March 2008. This special 30th anniversary exhibition will feature Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras poster artwork from the past thirty years and will showcase new work responding to this year’s theme of ‘Brave New Worlds’. Other artists include William Yang, Mazz Image, Carl Hopgood, Patricia Niven, Martin Roberts, Sally Clarke, Shane Fergusson, Nicholas Ball and Ged McDermott, Luke Carr, Angelo Giannoutsos, Brenda Factor, Anton Veenstra, Annette Willis, Stephen House, Adam Sutherland and Snapdotdash.
Dates: Wednesday 13 February to Wednesday 5 March 2008
Venue: Tap Gallery, corner of Palmer and Burton Streets, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9361 0440
Fax: +61 2 9361 3972
Email: info@tapgallery.org.au
(6 February 2008)
BMP Director Jozef Szekeres will be speaking at a special break-out session at the Dolls in Oz – Sydney Doll Convention which will be held in Sydney in March 2008. Organised as a Mardi Gras Mystique event, the break out sessions have been planned to give delegates the option of learning about new dolls they may not have previously seen. (Please note these are not Integrity Toys or Mardi Gras sponsored events. They have been scheduled as a special option for those people interested in dolls in general and those who may be visiting the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras which coincides with this convention.)
Break out Session Dates & Times:
Saturday 1 March 2008 (3.45pm) – Doug James, CED Dolls
Sunday 2 March 2008 (10.00am) – Jozef Szekeres, Elizabet Bizelle Dolls
Venue: Sheraton Four Points, Darling Harbour, 161 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9290 4000.
(6 February 2008)
During a recent trip to Perth, Western Australia and in conjunction with WritingWA, BMP Director and Australian Society of Authors Comics/Graphic Novels Portfolio Holder Julie Ditrich, presented a portfolio session on Thursday 31 January 2008 at the State Library of WA. The meeting attracted a warm and enthusiastic group of both established and emerging local comics creators, as well as the Director of Gestalt Publishing, one of two independent comics publishers in Australia. The talk highlighted networking opportunities for comics creators around Australia, and identified the need for targeted marketing education specifically in the form of resources and seminars. These ideas have been added to the portfolio project management plan that Julie and dual Portfolio Holder Jozef Szekeres are implementing. The day after the session Julie was interviewed about the portfolio by radio presenter Grant Stone for a community radio program called "Faster than Light" which was broadcast nationally through a satellite network of community stations with 4000 subscribers. A podcast will be available through the OzComics website for anyone interested in the portfolio initiative.
(6 February 2008)
When she’s not writing for the comics medium, BMP Director, Julie Ditrich is working on other book projects, one of which has just been published by Icon Visual Marketing. Realising the Promise: The Story of Harrington Park, is about a historically significant parcel of land in Australia’s colonial past. Three thousand copies of this coffee table book have been printed both in hardback and in softcover: they are limited release and not for general sale. The design and production values on the book are outstanding with gold embossed lettering on the cover and full colour photographs and art prints in the interior. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:
Harrington Park shares its postcode with the suburb of Narellan and lies in the greater Camden region of New South Wales. Both man and beast can be credited for opening up the area. A small herd of cattle adopted it as home a mere six months after their arrival on the First Fleet in 1788…
During the ensuing centuries, Harrington Park has gone through many incarnations from unrestrained bushland to grazing ground to a country gentleman’s estate and now to an urban landscape. The subject matter contained in the pages within is defined by the curtilage – the geographical boundaries – of Harrington Park as it stands today…
In the story of Harrington Park we skim chronologically through 200 years of history, alighting briefly like dragonflies on a lily pad, to visit important events before taking off again to get a peephole view into a new happening or indeed to look upon the changing environment through time. We get a sense of who the original Aboriginal custodians may have been and find out what happened to the curious cattle that found their way into the district. We meet the settlers who, by virtue of acquiring the original land grants, won the naming rights over the properties that make up Harrington Park whole. And we are near eyewitnesses to a shocking murder complete with drama and pathos that may very well have had a different outcome in today’s society.
We also visit the homesteads of Harrington Park from their humble beginnings to their more grandiose architectural manifestations, and we briefly track their ownership through the centuries. There are controversies and conflicts galore associated with the military camp that rose up on Harrington Park during World War II, but this is coupled with an insight into the indomitable larrikin spirit of the soldiers who lived and trained there. Finally we settle on and celebrate the Harrington Park of today as a superbly imagined and executed residential development. In so doing the book examines the role of three unique and pivotal individuals who championed the development and brought us to this junction in time – Sir Warwick Fairfax (the visionary), Lady Mary Fairfax (entrepreneur and samaritan) and Terry Goldacre (innovator and alchemist) – each one a torchbearer in the greater journey to complete the project…
The book will be lodged with the National Library of Australia, the NSW State Library and regional libraries for those readers interested in finding out more about Australia’s pioneering heritage, as well as the master planning of a residential development. The ISBN is: 0 9803048 0 6.
(14 January 2008)
The organisers of Supanova, the Australian pop culture expo that focuses on comics, graphic novels, anime, movies, TV, games, toys, and science fiction and fantasy books, have recently announced its exhibition dates for 2008 including new events in Melbourne and Perth. The dates are as follows:
Supanova Melbourne 2008
Dates: Friday 28 to Sunday 30 March 2008
Venue: Melbourne Showgrounds, Melbourne
Supanova Brisbane 2008
Dates: Friday 4 April to Sunday 6 March 2008
Venue: RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane
Supanova Sydney 2008
Dates: Saturday 21 to Sunday 22 June 2008
Venue: Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney
Supanova Perth 2008
Dates: Saturday 28 to Sunday 29 June 2008
Venue: Claremont Showground Perth
For more information including the super-guest line up go to the Supanova website.
(14 January 2008)
In their capacity as dual Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Comics/Graphic Novels Portfolio Holders, BMP Directors, Jozef Szekeres and Julie Ditrich participated in a session on graphic novels at the NSW Writers’ Centre 9th Australian Publishers and Authors Bookshow on Saturday 17 November 2007. It was a small gathering with a slightly different audience demographic to previous presentations – several participants were interested in bridging from screenwriting to comics. This trend is quite prevalent in Hollywood with writers such as Joss Wheden (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and J Michael Straczynski (creator of Babylon 5) actively working in the comics industry. In fact the ICv2 website tells us that IDW Publishing, an established leader in the comic book and graphic novel marketplace, particularly in the horror, action, and sci-fi genres, is launching a new Children’s Book Division called Jonas Publishing (and an imprint Worthwhile Books) with the view of publishing kids’ books and developing licensing opportunities. One of their primary objectives is to attract Hollywood writers to their stable. The timing may be quite opportune during the climate of the current Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) strike. IDW has signed five Hollywoord writers already!
(14 January 2008)
SOBI has opened up its next round of submissions to include Australian comics artists and graphic novelists. The Style File is a folio of pages, showcasing some of Australia’s most talented illustrators. BMP advises any serious artist to get their work up on this site, as it is an excellent online marketing tool for matching artists together with publishers.
Stylefile submissions – Round 6
Opening date – Friday, 1 February 2008
Closing date – Friday, 29 February 2008
For information on eligibility and submission and selection criteria go to SOBI submissions page. Submissions are included from both published and unpublished illustrators.
(14 January 2008)
BMP Director, Jozef Szekeres, has just released his first set of collector cards entitled The Art of Jozef Szekeres: Mermaids & Other Mermers. Featuring 100 cards with 99 images of his artwork and one index card, the art ranges from unpublished pieces early in his career to his most current published work. The cards are double-sided and in full colour—each piece of art is coupled with explanatory text/information. The card set has a limited print run, and is the first time Jozef’s artwork has been collected in print. There have been excellent sales on the homefront since the release of the pack, and you can now purchase it on our Merchandise page. It is available for US $30 plus $10 postage and handling.
(21 November 2007)
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