Speech by Mr. Panagiotis Rappa, Director, Animator at the University of Piraeus.

On Wednesday, May 22, 2019, from 18:30 - 21:00, in room 107, of the Central Building of the University of Piraeus (Karaoli & Dimitriou 80, Piraeus), we invite you to the speech of Mr. Panagiotis Rappa, the internationally acclaimed animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, director and producer of films mainly Animation, in the context of the course "Advanced Media and Applications in Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Culture" of the Direction "Digital Culture" in the MSc "Digital Culture, Smart Cities, IoT" and Advanced Digital Technologies'', of the Department of Informatics of the University of Piraeus. 

 

Topic of talk : Animation: Why has the art of animation invaded everywhere today?
Internationally acclaimed Aquarian, Director, Animator Panagiotis Rappas will bring us his recent experience from the Cartoon Saloon studios (http://www.cartoonsaloon.ie/) where he worked for an Amazon Video Kids series, based on a New York Times best-selling children's book called Pete the Cat. The music of the series was signed by Elvis Costello, the enfant terrible of the London rock scene in the 70s and 80s. He will also talk to us about his very interesting recent collaborations in Greece as well as abroad, concerning both artistic productions and actions concerning human rights.

Panagiotis Rappas (born September 29, 1960) is an animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, director and producer of mainly Animation films and a painter. He has worked for almost all major Hollywood production studios as well as for many European 2D and 3D Animation co-productions. The main body of his work concerns children and especially the adaptation of children's literature into animated films. His work has won many international awards in Europe and the USA. Having a lot of experience in organizing the production of Animation films, he often takes on the role of a special consultant for corresponding productions, while from time to time he teaches through intensive seminars the art of Animation in Schools of Fine Arts and Colleges. He has also worked for the theater, one of his great interests next to painting, and has illustrated children's books. He is a Life Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.)

A few more words about his work...
P. Rappas after completing secondary education in Hydra continues his studies in Germany studying printmaking with Felix Jomü and Animation with Wolfgang Urchs, one of the filmmakers who signed the Oberhausener Manifesto (Oberhausener Manifesto 1962) and Hal Clay former associate of Disney Studios in California.
He would participate in two feature films for the cinema in Berlin and Munich before, in the late 80s, he was invited to be one of the first artists to man the studio that Spielberg's Amblin and Universal were jointly preparing in London and whose evolution will be today's DreamWorks. He participates in all the films prepared by the studio. In the middle of the 90s, he founded the Stardust Pictures studio in London and as a creative producer of the studio he would undertake the execution of parts of the production of many films for major Hollywood studios such as Warner Bros., Paramount, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks as well as European ones such as Trick Company and Munich Animation. In a dual role of Producer and Layout Artist/Animator he will oversee the production of part of the film “1001 Nights” for the Los Angeles Philharmonic based on Yoshitaka Amano's painting directed by Mike Smith.
In 1998 he moved to Los Angeles to participate in the Paramount, Nickelodeon and Klasky-Csupo productions “Rugrats the Movie” and “Rugrats in Paris” as Layout Supervisor and Sequence Director. Here, he co-founds the Time Lapse Pictures Production company based in Los Angeles and Athens.
In 2001 he returns to Greece where he continues to work for various Hollywood and European studios participating in their productions such as Paramount, Nickelodeon, Klasky-Csupo, Columbia, Filmax, Munich Animation. At the same time, he attends sculpture classes with teacher Nikos Tranos.
In Athens he will start collaborating with the Professor of Criminology at the University of Reading and well-known author of Children's Literature Evgenios Trivizas. A particularly fruitful and creative collaboration that will lead to the production of two Animation Christmas TV Specials in co-production with Hellenic Radio and Television (ERT). "The little mouse who wanted to touch a little star" / Panagiotis Rappas and Angelos Rouvas, 2007 and "Once upon a time" / Panagiotis Rappas 2009, which will be played at many international festivals around the world and will have a very warm reception from critics and public. The film "One Tree Once" will be voted as the best animation film for television by the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) and the second best production for children and teenagers for 2009. The music of the film is signed by Dimitris Papadimitriou, one of the major contemporary Greek composers. Their collaboration will continue with the film "The Fountain of Youth" a film based on the short story by Lefkadio Hearn - Yakumo Koizumi and will premiere in 2011 at the Onassis Foundation's Arts and Letters Building, in an evening dedicated to the great Japanese author who was born in Greece from an Irish father and a Greek mother with readings of his work and an exhibition of his books from the collection of Takis Efstathiou. The film and the evening will become the occasion for the author to become known in the country where he was born.
In 2015, a collaboration with Ever After Tales, a Los Angeles-based company that creates e-books and applications for children based on children's literature with animations, also begins. He assumes the role of Art Director and Animator of the company's applications. The book "The stone cherry stalk and little Emily" based on a fairy tale by Evgenios Trivizas will win the important Kidscreen Award for the best e-book of the year in the USA.
Special Effects and Digital Cinema is also an important part of his creative output and being a very experienced Vfx Animator he has often taken charge of this very important area for 3D Animation and Live Action films.
Special Effects and Digital Cinema is also an important part of his creative output and being a very experienced Vfx Animator he has often taken charge of this very important area for 3D Animation and Live Action films.

 

http://www.greekanimation.com/companies/rappas-panagiotis/

 

                                                                                                                                       

20 May 2019