Ezra Pailer
Animator Ezra Pailer, an Eldersburg, Maryland artist is lending his considerable talents and enthusiasm to a greater awareness of the Chesapeake Bay by creating an original animation for the 2021 Chesapeake Film Festival (CFF) that will air on MPT, in theaters and on social media as part of our branding campaign. He’s so happy to be working on this project because the Chesapeake Bay is worth protecting. “I like the Chesapeake Bay and I love the direction the Chesapeake Film Festival is going with its films,” says Pailer, who is a 2019 graduate of the University of Maryland at Baltimore County and works as an animator at Early Light Media in Baltimore. At Early Light, he collaborates on commercial storytelling projects including documentaries.
Pailer’s animation for this year’s festival is based on his memories of the Chesapeake Bay from when he was a child. “I drew from memories when I was a kid, and my time on the water,” he says. I wanted to capture that feeling, that sense of adventure.” Pailer says he studied the Bay before designing the animation, and then “gave it a whimsical touch.” He says that his visits to Calvert Cliffs in Calvert County, is one of the many memories he has that inspired his animation work on this project.
The animation will help promote this year’s Chesapeake Film Festival, which runs from October 1 – 10 and will be both live and virtual.
CFF Executive Director Nancy Tabor says that Pailer’s work is very inspiring. “He’s just taken the world by storm,” Tabor says. “His animations are fantastic and very imaginative.” Tabor says Pailer came to mind this year after his first-place win in last year’s virtual festival for his work, “Willow.” Pailer says he was thrilled to work with the CFF for the 2021 festival, knowing that he’s contributing to a good cause – the Chesapeake Bay.
“I am aware that there is quite a bit of environmental concerns about the Chesapeake Bay. It’s really something worth protecting, it’s very important. But there are a lot of great people speaking out for the Bay and I think that’s great.”
Click here to see our exciting new animated promo for this year’s Chesapeake Film Festival:
For more information on the 2021 Chesapeake Film Festival, visit www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com or contact our Executive Director at 443-955-9144. Tickets go sale and trailers can be viewed starting September 1.
The Chesapeake Film Festival is generously supported by the Shared Earth Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Prager on behalf of Bluepoint Hospitality, Enel Green Powers, Doug Powers, The Nature Conservancy, Maryland Film Office, Choptank Electric, Maryland State Arts Council, Talbot Arts, Talbot County Department of Tourism, Artistic Insights Fund, Richard and Beverly Tilghman, U.S. Small Business Administration, and The Ravenal Foundation. Funding has also been provided to the Chesapeake Film Festival from Maryland Humanities and The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program.
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