Background About Nina Paley Nina Paley is probably best known for her alternative comic strip, "Nina's Adventures." Begun in 1988, it enjoyed 7 years of legitimate publication in several American newsweeklies, and copyright infringement around the world. Next came a 2-year stint creating the mainstream daily newspaper strip "Fluff" for Universal Press Syndicate, an artistic crisis which drove her to animation in 1998. Since then, she has forgone a steady income in favor of hemorrhaging money into personal animated "festival films." These include Luv Is, a clay-animated meditation on romance, betrayal, and revenge, which screened in Germany, Switzerland, New York, Oregon, and

California, in spite of being shot on Super-8. I Heart My Cat (also clay, but moving up to 16mm, albeit with a glaring light leak which generous viewers seem to think is an intentional special effect) won the Audience Choice Golden Oly award at the 1999 Olympia Film Festival, where it screened as part of Nik Phelps' live Ideas In Animation music tour. Nina drew her next film, "Cancer," directly on 35mm clear leader and found footage. Extending her trajectory of doubling film gauges with every project, she then made Pandorama by drawing, painting, scratching, and rubber-stamping directly on 15-perf/70mm (also known as "IMAX") leader and junk stock. This was her greatest achievement as a producer, as she finagled donations of film, processing, and services, and even managed to get a large-format distributor, XLargo in Paris, France. With no larger film gauges to try, her next project, "Fetch!" was created in the gaugeless realm of digital animation. With an original score by Nik Phelps, and sound design by The Stikman, it was completed in 2001. Nina is currently producing an animated documentary about overpopulation and the environment called Thank You For Not Breeding. She is also writing a book for Peachpit Press, Flash For Film And Video, and she is the cartoonisit for a new daily comic strip for King Features Syndicate, The Hots. She lives in New York. Nina's web site is ninapaley.com.