Richard Bazley introduces Lost Treasure Hunt - just launched at Kickstarter

Richard Bazley is an animator, director and film-maker who has just launched a new animated film project at Kickstarter - Lost Treasure Hunt, a history adventure series intended to entertain and educate. The project is being made in partnership with the public broadcasting giant PBS. Here Richard talks about the genesis of the project, and how the public can get involved - and help bring it to life.

Bob and Bradly's Charmin' Tale

Bob Blevins and Bradly Werley are Portland based animators who have created an undoubtedly original film, T.P.   As Bob describes it, "The film is a gut wrenching drama about a roll of toilet paper who is born into a dirty gas station bathroom, and must struggle for his destiny to unravel differently than his traumatized predecessor."

Told you it was different.

Bob further explains, "It started between two bedrooms and a kitchen in San Francisco, and wrapped in a garage in Portland. Some very gifted people have been helping us out, including veteran voice actor Bob Bergen, the official voice of Porky Pig."

Having recently wrapped production after three years of production, they have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help us raise funds for the post production costs. Bob and Bradly, a.k.a. WerleyBob Pictures, talked to FLiP about their ambitious project.

Morph at Kickstarter - Aardman animation needs your help!

Morph, everyone's favourite plasticene man is coming back. Photo: Wikipedia

Morph, the animated plasticine stop-motion character that appeared on British TV with Tony Hart in the 1970's, is coming back to life. Aardman animation, who created the character, are asking for your help at Kickstarter to bring him back to the screen.

Tony Benedict's "The Last Cartoonery"

If you grew up loving Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, or The Pink Panther, you may find this new documentary very interesting.  Legendary animation writer Tony Benedict has a pet project about his days with Hanna-Barbera and DePatie Freling, called The Last Cartoonery. He is going the Kickstarter route for funding, and talked to FLIP about the project and the good old days.

Joe Barbera and Tony Benedict with Yogi Bear storyboard.
Photo from Benedict's The Last Cartoonery site.

FLIP:  The Last Cartoonery - Who is doing this?

Tony: The Last Cartoonery is being done by me as producer, writer, animator and director. Music by Alan Bernhoft.

FLIP: Is there much film footage from your Hanna Barbera days?  Are you looking for material (film, photos, artwork, stories) for the film?

Tony: In the glory days of early Hanna–Barbera, fellow cartoon guy Jerry Eisenberg and I shot a lot of film and still photos around the studio. We also drew lots of gags and caricatures. Lots of photo and film restoration. We have designed caricatures of Bill and Joe to animate along with caricatures of other studio folk. We are animating gags created nearly sixty years ago. It's a labor of love. No one will get rich off this film but among animation fans I feel it will be well received.

It's Official - Art Story is the First Animated Feature Film to be Funded at Kickstarter....

Art Story, the independent animated film directed by Aaron Blaise and Produced by Chuck Williams. is officially the first animated feature film to be funded at Kickstarter.

Chuck and Aaron have raised $365,000, enough to start work on their film - a hugely impressive start. Their goal was $350,000 and they have comfortably exceeeded that sum.

A Pen for Creating "3D Drawings"

From a couple of guys named Max and Pete comes this bizarre 3D pen called the 3Doodler.  Instead of ink, the pen dispenses a thin, steady bead of hot plastic.  You draw, creating a plastic line that cools instantly, sort of like making a wire sculpture with a glue gun.

Max and Pete went the Kickstarter route to raise funds to produce the pen.  They have raised ten times more than their $30,000 goal.  Yikes!  I'm not sure how much use I would get from such a pen, but it's a fun idea.  What do you think?
-Steve

Signe Baumane "Rocks" Kickstarter

Friend of FLIP Signe Baumane has taken to the fundraising site Kickstarter for financial support on her independent feature Rocks in My Pockets.  Rocks is the very personal story of Signe's struggles with depression.  Those familiar with her work know her humor is brutally honest.  She calls her film "a funny film about depression."

"Rocks in my Pockets" trailer.

by Signe Baumane

Rocks In My Pockets is my first feature.  I used to call it "a funny film about depression" but it is more complicated than that; funny, sad, then funnysadfunny.  Honestly, how can depression just be funny?  If I had to put the description of the film in one sentence, it would probably be:

"A silent killer from my family's secret past is trying to get me. Will I survive this fight?" -very dark and dramatic!

We just finished (3 hours, 32 minutes, 12 seconds and 6 frames ago) a trailer for the work in progress, and I wanted to share it with you....

WORK IN PROGRESS TRAILER from Signe Baumane on Vimeo.

We were going to have a Kickstarter campaign in September, but things didn't pan out as intended (too busy with making the film ). We do need money for post-production, so we will postpone the the campaign until January, 2013. It would be great if you could click on 'donate' button on the film's website, http://www.rocksinmypocketsmovie.com/, but if you can't it, would be amazing if you could help to spread the word about the film. Show the trailer to your friends, post it on forums, help us to connect with the mental health community.

Or simply give us a feedback on the trailer -

1) does it intrigue you? does it make you want to see the film?

2) how does it flow? is it too long? too short?

3) do you have enough context to connect with the trailer/film's message?

4) do you understand who these creatures are - one in the water, the other in  forest?

5) do you care for the 4 women?

We are going to make another trailer in January, for the finished film and we want to learn from your feedback. If you want to read about the making of it, here's a bit on my blog:
http://rocksinmypocketsthemovie.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/trailer/.

And read more about Rocks in my Pockets in FLIP!

Duncan Studios' Project on Kickstarter

Duncan Studio is turning to Kickstarter to independently fund their interactive storybook, My Beastly ABC's.





Ken Duncan told FLIP:


"The iPhone/iPad app market is growing daily, and we wanted to experiment with something that would be graphic and simple as there are currently some limitations on the amount of full animation that can be accomplished.  Our intention for creating a storybook app was to make something fun and educational for kids that would deliver interactivity not achievable with the traditional book format.


We came up with the My Beastly ABCs concept to design stylized creatures from around the world, interwoven into a story of a boy who has difficulty getting to sleep because of the beasts he encounters.  The viewer is able to interact with the beasts and discover, as the boy does, that they are not to be feared. The goal is to not only encourage kids to read, but to create an enjoyable piece of entertainment with a comprehensive narrative.


We were very fortunate to get Jim Dale, world famous narrator of the Harry Potter books, on board as our story's reader/performer.  He narrates the story from the boy's point of view, an adult looking back at a time when he was young.  The entire process, so far, has been very gratifying because we were able to conceive and approve ideas with a small crew, not with a long, multi-layered approval process. 


The current plan is to release the app later this summer.  We recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to complete and market the project at the highest quality level possible.  The desire is for our studio to continue developing more original apps, with a focus on personalities and unique styles."

Visit Ken's Kickstarter page and donate if you can.  

Help independents like Duncan Studio thrive .