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| Annecy - an ancient medieval town in the French Alps |
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| Lake Annecy - wish you were here? |
Annecy itself is a lovely little mountain town in the French Alps. Beautiful scenery assaults you at every turn, and the town is grouped around the northern end of Lake Annecy, which has a luminous blue-green colour that seductively invites you to jump in. Fed up with animation screenings? Why not go for a swim? Or rent a boat and go out into the middle of the lake for some scenery and solitude.
In the evening the locals stroll up and down the streets of the old town, enjoying drinks and ice cream cones, seeing and being seen. It’s all very civilized, like the passeggiata in Italian hill towns – everyone is out seeing their friends and exchanging gossip before heading home for Mama’s pasta.
At night students and animators congregate around the Café Des Arts in the old part of town; a spit and sawdust bar serving beer by the bucket that feels like a Soho pub - and is just as crowded. When that closes, the Captain’s Bar is still open for the late night revellers with the stamina to keep going.
Part of the pleasure is running into random industry colleagues you haven’t seen in years. I could easily have spent most of my time there just chatting to old friends. There is a constant stream of people walking along the lake between MIFA, hosted by the Imperial Hotel on the east side of the lake, and the Festival, which is held at the Bonlieu centre on the west side near the old part of town. It's about a 20-25 minute walk between the two. Not a long walk, but you don't want to be doing it 5 times a day.
In the evening the locals stroll up and down the streets of the old town, enjoying drinks and ice cream cones, seeing and being seen. It’s all very civilized, like the passeggiata in Italian hill towns – everyone is out seeing their friends and exchanging gossip before heading home for Mama’s pasta.
At night students and animators congregate around the Café Des Arts in the old part of town; a spit and sawdust bar serving beer by the bucket that feels like a Soho pub - and is just as crowded. When that closes, the Captain’s Bar is still open for the late night revellers with the stamina to keep going.
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| Picnic hosted by The Animation Workshop in Denmark |
Part of the pleasure is running into random industry colleagues you haven’t seen in years. I could easily have spent most of my time there just chatting to old friends. There is a constant stream of people walking along the lake between MIFA, hosted by the Imperial Hotel on the east side of the lake, and the Festival, which is held at the Bonlieu centre on the west side near the old part of town. It's about a 20-25 minute walk between the two. Not a long walk, but you don't want to be doing it 5 times a day.
Get a Bike
My top Annecy survival tip, handed to me by Film London producer Bob Thompson, is this: get a bike. Annecy isn’t a big place, but since the film festival and MIFA are at different ends of the lake, a bike shaves 15 minutes off the journey from one end to another. €10 a day will get you your own private bicycle. You can also rent a bike lock or, better yet, bring your own bike lock from home, – then you can go wherever you want, and chain the bike up wherever you like. I found myself speeding up and down from meeting to meeting – never more than ten minutes away from any part of town.
Food
The nicest place I found to eat was L’Estaminet – a French Bistro in the old part of town, serving moules mariniere and traditional local dishes. Everything gets booked up fast – in fact, reservations seem to be vital for just about everything you want to do, including screenings. And don’t even think of getting lunch at 1pm anywhere in town without a booking.
Book early
This goes for hotels too – book early, and stay in the centre of town. The only reason I found anywhere to stay at the last minute when I organised my trip (way too late) was through AirBnB, which released a trickle of rooms long after all the official hotel rooms had gone.
Shuttle
And you must book the official festival shuttle from Geneva airport in advance. The shuttle (en Francais, Navette) to and from Geneva costs €70, which might sound like a lot, but a cab from the airport to Annecy costs an impressive €240 for a half hour journey one way. So, a round trip by cab could break your budget for the whole week.
The Imperial Hotel plays host to the MIFA and it is indeed grand and imperial – a vast belle epoch mansion big enough (just) to accommodate the hordes of animated visitors. Even so, the bar gets crowded, and if you want a quiet chat the best place to go is the golf course next door.
Hang out at the Golf Course
Yes, the smart money is on crazy golf – there you will find a quiet oasis a few yards from MIFA - with no industry bigwigs fighting you for a chair at a coffee table. For some reason it's also where the Irish tend to hang out.
Picnic in the Park
The public park on the south side of the lake, Le Jardin De L'Europe, at Le Quai Napoleoon III, played host to various picnics – easily the best way to connect with lots of old friends. DreamWorks’ indomitable Shelley Page organized a picnic on Friday, the last day of MIFA, where LA visitors and DreamWorks VIPS happily mingled with European animators.
Food
The nicest place I found to eat was L’Estaminet – a French Bistro in the old part of town, serving moules mariniere and traditional local dishes. Everything gets booked up fast – in fact, reservations seem to be vital for just about everything you want to do, including screenings. And don’t even think of getting lunch at 1pm anywhere in town without a booking.
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| DreamWorks Picnic |
This goes for hotels too – book early, and stay in the centre of town. The only reason I found anywhere to stay at the last minute when I organised my trip (way too late) was through AirBnB, which released a trickle of rooms long after all the official hotel rooms had gone.
Shuttle
And you must book the official festival shuttle from Geneva airport in advance. The shuttle (en Francais, Navette) to and from Geneva costs €70, which might sound like a lot, but a cab from the airport to Annecy costs an impressive €240 for a half hour journey one way. So, a round trip by cab could break your budget for the whole week.
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| Imperial Hotel - everything on a grand scale |
The Imperial Hotel plays host to the MIFA and it is indeed grand and imperial – a vast belle epoch mansion big enough (just) to accommodate the hordes of animated visitors. Even so, the bar gets crowded, and if you want a quiet chat the best place to go is the golf course next door.
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| Mini Golf! |
Yes, the smart money is on crazy golf – there you will find a quiet oasis a few yards from MIFA - with no industry bigwigs fighting you for a chair at a coffee table. For some reason it's also where the Irish tend to hang out.
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| Snack Bar at the Golf Course |
Picnic in the Park
The public park on the south side of the lake, Le Jardin De L'Europe, at Le Quai Napoleoon III, played host to various picnics – easily the best way to connect with lots of old friends. DreamWorks’ indomitable Shelley Page organized a picnic on Friday, the last day of MIFA, where LA visitors and DreamWorks VIPS happily mingled with European animators.
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| DreamWorks picnic in the park |
Next year I think I’ll stay a bit longer, probably over the weekend, and perhaps rent a boat for a day or go hiking in the mountains. I didn’t really get to enjoy any of the pleasures of the town beyond attending meetings, industry stands, and animation events.
---Alex
To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link. For more information on finding work and surviving in the animation and visual effects business, read our post on how to find a job in the animation industry, and check out our post about what not to do at a job interview. Also see our post on starting your own small animation business, learn how to create an invoice, and see how we arehelping our students find work through our film co-operative Nano Films. Download the free Escape Studios Careers in VFX Handbook. Take a look at how awn.com can help you find a job, and read our piece about how to survive as a freelance animator. Also, find out what Cinesite look for in a student's demo reel, and read our post on setting up your own animation business. Also see our post about freelancers and taxes.
---Alex
To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link. For more information on finding work and surviving in the animation and visual effects business, read our post on how to find a job in the animation industry, and check out our post about what not to do at a job interview. Also see our post on starting your own small animation business, learn how to create an invoice, and see how we arehelping our students find work through our film co-operative Nano Films. Download the free Escape Studios Careers in VFX Handbook. Take a look at how awn.com can help you find a job, and read our piece about how to survive as a freelance animator. Also, find out what Cinesite look for in a student's demo reel, and read our post on setting up your own animation business. Also see our post about freelancers and taxes.
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