
"An open letter to the AMV Community"
Hello to you all
As of Wednesday September 28, 2007 James and Katy Dodd are no longer the coordinators for the Anime Expo Anime Music Video contest and presentation. Those duties have been passed to myself, Michael G. Underwood and Anneke Patchen who are now the new AMV Contest Coordinators. We are both honored and excited to have been chosen to do so.
Many of you know me as Digital Panther from the AMV list and Live Journal as well as from my years working Anime Expo where I have been the Tech Director and room manager of the Main Events room for the past 5 plus years. I have personally been an entrant in the AMV contest 3 years previously (Including the infamous year Kevin Caldwell schooled us all (1998)) as well as been one of the primary editors for the Guest of Honor Introduction videos shown at the Anime Expo Opening Ceremonies all but two of the years they have been used. I have helped compile and judge the contest in past years. It was my love of AMVs that got me going to AX the first time I went (which was coincidentally the first AMV contest I entered in ’95). AMVs and video editing have always been close to my heart.
Anneke Patchen (not to be confused with Vampire Anneke of Baka Deshi Productions on the AMV Creators list and also a Live Journal user/poster) is the other primary editor/creator of the GOH intro Videos as well as Co-manager of the Multimedia Production department of Anime Expo. She is also one of the key people who, working with James Dodd and Troy Williams, pulled the all nighter during the 2002 AMV contest re-render the year we had flipped fields in the presentation tapes.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank James and Katy for their years of service and the hard work have put they put into the Anime Expo AMV Contest. It is our sincerest hope to take the positive aspects of their contributions to the contest, in conjunction with the strong foundations set by Shaun Hendricks before them, and build upon them to continue to improve and refine the AMV contest to be the best we can make it. As with any transition of leadership there may be some stumbling points along the way. We request your patience and understanding as we work through these minor issues to make this shift as smooth as possible.
We have some really neat ideas that we want to bring to the contest in the future and there will be some minor changes this time around. We hope they are well received but know that it is not possible to please everyone. We look forward to soliciting and receiving the input of the AMV fan and creator communities as we move ahead with the Anime Expo AMV Contest.
We are already in the process of clarifying and preparing the rules and deadlines for next years contest. It is our intention to have those posted publicly on the site around the end of this calendar year (2007). If there are any questions we can answer regarding where the contest will go from here please don’t hesitate to ask. While I can not guarantee immediate response I can guarantee that responses will be made in a timely fashion. We are looking to create an FAQ containing the most common questions and posting them on the AMV portions of the Anime Expo 2008 site. There will be some shifts in the submission deadlines for the contest as well as a much earlier anticipated submission start date. Additional details will be coming in the near future.
Please understand that we can not nor will we comment as to the reasons for or the circumstances surrounding the departure of James and Katy Dodd from the Anime Expo Anime Music Video Contest. We were not privy to all the details and it would be unfair and improper for us to surmise or speculate.
In summary, our goal is not to obsess on the past or to point fingers. Our goal is to make this contest all it can be. We promise to strive to provide both the creators the best outlet to show their skills and creativity as possible as well as to provide the fans of the AMV art form the best show possible.
On behalf of Anneke and myself we would like to thank you for your time in reading this letter and look forward to working with all of you.
Sincerely,
Michael G. Underwood
AKA
Digital Panther
And
Anneke Patchen
AKA
Goth Kitty
Anime Expo Anime Music Video Contest Coordinators
Anime Expo 2008
