Craig writes in with a report on Sunday’s DreamWorks event at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, where completed scenes from their October animated film Shark Tale were revealed. The event was “awesome”, says Craig, adding it was the “best $25 I’ve ever spent”. Thanks very much for the for taking the time to send this in Craig – follow this link for the full account:

“OK, so I went to theShark Tale preview today at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was awesome. It was a huge red carpet event. They had the premiere of Raising Helen there last night. We were waiting for the show to start, and we hear a man saying ‘Please put away all cellphones, pagers, etc and turn on all electronic devices like pacemakers’…the curtain opens, and we see Will Smith talking into a mike. It was awesome! Bobby De Niro was in the audience with his family, Will sat in the audience and was just the nicest guy to everyone. Michael Imperioli (Chris from the Sopranos) was there with his family, Vinny Pastore (Sopranos also) were there, and Jeff Katzenberg. They all did voices in the film. The director, Vicky Jenson did a long presentation about how they make animated films. First she showed some pre-vis art from the film, with some rough 2D tests. Then, she brought out a storyartist from the film, who showed storyboards. As a joke, they brought Jeffrey up to watch the storyboard presentation, because that’s what happens during production. They then had a portable recording studio brought in, and Michael, Will and a kid came read lines from the film. They then brought in a large computer and an animator from the film, to show him animate a little bit of a scene. Vicki showed us some scenes from the film which were really great. Will’s character, Oscar is great. After the show, Jeffrey ran out, as did the other stars. I caught Mr. Imperioli outside the back door, but didn’t say anything to him, however when I saw Mr. Katzenberg, I couldn’t help myself. I told him that his films had inspired me to become an animator, and I wanted to thank him. He asked if I was an animator, but I said ‘No, because of the low point in the industry, I’m not able to risk it’. He told me not to stop believing, and don’t give up. Best $25 I’ve ever spent.”