ANNY Animator Interview #31 featuring Independent Animator Jacky de Groen

Evan Vernon interviews Jacky de Groen, director of SPERMACETI. Jacky De Groen (1992) is an animation artist based in Ghent, Belgium. His colorfully painted and atmospheric films DIEPERIK (2013) and ECLIPSE (2014) have been shown at film festivals internationally. After graduating from KASK |School of Arts in 2014, he worked at animation studio Film Bilder in Stuttgart for some time. In 2016 he was invited as Animation Artist in Residence in Tokyo by JAPIC. SPERMACETI (2018) is Jacky's first professional film. SPERMACETI was recently selected as a Winner in the Animation Nights New York 5th ANNY Best of Fest in 2021. SPERMACETI Sailors kill time under a blistering sun, awaiting a sign of their prey. A young mind turns inwards as it traces the wood grain. After bloodshed, a strong arm offers a moment of shelter. A boy gets his first tattoo. Spermaceti evokes the transitional space-time of a young man who finds himself on the threshold of an initiation. As we fluctuate between the underwater and the above, boundaries become slippery. Trailer: https://vimeo.com/297724853 social Media Links https://www.jackydegroen.xyz/ (Personal Website) https://www.instagram.com/jacky.degroen/ (Instagram) Interview by Evan Vernon Theme music by Joe Lazenby You can subscribe to The AFA Podcast on iTunes, Acast, and Stitcher. Join ANNY  on our Discord Server! About ANNY: Animation Nights New York is a curated monthly screening event and annual festival first established in NYC in 2015. The event showcases animated short films and virtual reality animation experiences from all around the world and both project submission and admission to monthly screenings of in-competition films are free to the general public. If you would like to submit a VR/AR/Game or short film project, you can find Animation Nights New York on Film Freeway. ANNY Exchange is our talent connect initiative. We connect animation talent to opportunity using our festival as a vehicle. ANNY Best of Fest is our annual festival held in mid November.