Chuck and Aaron fight to save "The Legend of Tembo"

Chuck Williams and Aaron Blaise, fresh from the recent closure of Digital Domain, are fighting to save the feature film "The Legend of Tembo" which they spent two years developing. According to yesterday's Wall Street Journal, they still have a fighting chance to save their picture.

The Beijing company Galloping Horse has bought out the remains of Digital Domain for $32m at a bankruptcy auction. Chuck and Aaron are now hoping that the Chinese investors will also have the stomach to finish "Tembo", the story of an African elephant taken from his home and forced to go to war.

All power to Chuck and Aaron - and what a triumph if they can pull it off.

---Alex

Creating a Web Series for Fun & (ahem) Profit

This is a cautionary tale about selling a web series.  It has been fictionalized to protect the guilty. 

Last spring, I got a call from Jenifer “Toddy” Totsworthy, producer from my glory days at Usher House Pictures in the ‘90’s.  She was now involved in a capital venture, producing original web content for a dot-com called “Phfirt!”.   She wanted to know if I would be interested in  creating a web series from soup to nuts.

She responded to my stunned silence  by giving me the back-story.  Phfirt! is a website of things amusing to teenage boys and underclassmen, with a message board for snarky teens rants, a page for cool and uncool products, videos of music mash-ups, college high-jinx, and cartoons where characters are mutilated.  It is the brainchild of Dylan Wankler, the 20 year-old son of Jerry Wankler, Toddy’s old boss at Usher House.   Usher had tossed  Toddy and Jerry to the curb in 2009 after shutting down the studio’s 82 year-old animation department in favor of a motion capture studio in Vancouver.  Ironically, it was Jerry’s idea.

Dylan started the site as a high school sophomore. Now a college sophomore, his site is worth $4.5 million.  For his out-of-work pappy to muscle in on the fun was a no-brainer.  Jerry aimed to take Phfirt! to the next level by posting professionally made original web series .   Knowing he is universally despised by artists. Jerry hired his old whipping girl Toddy (using  Dylan’s money) to lure professionals to the site.    I was on the call list. 

“Good money, for the internet.”  she said.  Good wine, for a box.

Then she dangled the BIG CARROT.  “If the web series is a hit, it could evolve into a TV series or feature film.”  Toddy knew me well enough to stop herself mid-pitch. “Yeah, yeah,, I know it sounds like horseshit.  But I’d like to work with you again and I think you could have a lot of fun with it. “

Fun?  Well sign me up!

A few days later, I was on a conference call with Toddy, Jerry, and Dylan, pitching my idea for a web series, Son of a Bitch.  It’s about a wolf-boy with a chip on his shoulder.  Dylan laughed, and I sold the show. 

Enter Phfirt! attorney Adam Pickelhauben – a good attorney, for the internet.  He e-mailed a contract – their standard form with my numbers plugged into it.  It seemed friendly enough, just standard legalese.  Toddy underscored this point, “It’s the same deal all the artists get, but your numbers are better.”  I was getting a special deal with the money – lousy pay,  but great for the internet - so why sweat the legal mumbo jumbo?   Plus the  BIG CARROT. It’s all good!

I called my lawyer, Brent Wood.  As soon as I said the words “web series” he groaned.   “I could do a lot of work and spend a lot of your money, but it would still, ultimately, be a shit deal.”  He said.  “With the internet, there are just too many unknowns.  I wouldn’t get involved with it. “  I thanked Brent for his frankness, and for not spending a lot of my money on a shit deal.   I also thanked him for warning me of the imminent screw job.

I gave the contract a real read, and gave it some real thought.  Everything seemed on the up and up, there was nothing objectionable in the deal.  I thought about what could become of the project vis-à-vis the BIG CARROT.  TV and/or movie deals! Money! Cartoon fame!  I thought about what I wanted, in terms of rights and guarantees, and discovered the problem was not what was IN the deal, but rather what was NOT in the deal. 

I e-mailed Adam Pickelhauben with a list of demands:

1. I want a guaranteed attachment to Son of a Bitch in any future form, TV, feature film, whatever. 

2. I want right of first refusal to write and/or direct future web episodes, as well as any future forms of the project.

3. If the project goes nowhere and is terminated, I want the rights to, at some point, revert back to me.

4. I want right of first refusal to produce the series, in all forms, through my company, Moore Studios.

Adam promptly replied “No.” to all of the above.

I replied,  “So even though this deal calls for me to create an original web series to be written, directed, and produced by me, at my studio, hiring my own people, your company, Phfirt!, who stands to profit greatly from my creative efforts, won’t get my back.”

To which Adam replied,  “The other artists are happy with this deal.”

If there were an app for strangling lawyers…..

 “I’m out.”  I said. 

I really didn’t want to be out.  I had already done design work, story outlines,  wrote two episodes, and Toddy had created a budget and schedule for me. I could see the series so clearly, but it was like a hologram. Adam called my bluffs in such dick-ish fashion, I had to call it off. 

Three and a half minutes later, the phone rang.  It was Jerry Wankler.  He had on his “smooth executive” voice.  He dismissed Adam’s jerk tone as just a web-lawyer thing.  “He’s really a good guy, for a web lawyer. ” After hashing things out, Jerry agreed to everything I wanted.  “I’ll have Adam write it up.” 

“Wow!”  I thought, “I’m a baddass negotiator!”

A few days later, Adam e-mailed the new, improved deal, with a very pleasant note, saying this is the deal as per my conversation with Jerry, and politely urged me to sign and FedEx three copies to him forthwith.  Toddy called to likewise usher me along, “We’re losing production time.”.  We had already spent three weeks volleying over this deal.  By my own schedule, I was to start recording in a week. 

I was very eager to get started on Son of a Bitch now that the deal was all straightened out. I was tempted to just sign and send, but a little voice, the one I ignore after a third beer, was saying, “You’d better slow down and read the contract again, doofus.”  

I sat down and went through the whole contract again.  Bla bla bla, yadda yadda yadda……where are the changes? The language was slightly different, but the content was unchanged from before.  I called Wankler.  “Adam didn’t change shit!”  I said. 

I expected Jerry to be surprised; he wasn’t.  He said the company couldn’t give me what I wanted.

“Well who the fuck is the company, Jerry? “  I snapped,  “YOU’RE the fucking company!”

Jerry had to admit that he, indeed, was the fucking company.  He was Phfirt!.  He tried to soft sell, saying this was all standard, and hey, the other artists are okay with it. 

“I’m out.”  I said.  This time, I really wanted out. 

So Phfirt went on without me, launching original animated shorts four months later.  I'm glad for the guys who were happy with their deals, but also glad I didn't get sucked in.  It would have been four very intense months of work, and after paying hired help, I would  have ended up with next to no money and absolutely NO attachment to the project.  Maybe Adam Pickelhauben wasn’t a jerk after all.  Maybe his deal-making was a subtle warning as to what disasters lay ahead - a web-lawyer's wink that the deck was marked.  

Thanks Adam.  You're a swell lawyer, for the internet.  

-Steve

John Coates 1927-2012

John Coates, the animator best known for his work on the TV special The Snowman, has died aged 85. He was not just a great animator but also well liked by everyone who knew him. I only met him once - last year at the Annecy animation festival, when we were briefly introduced. He seemed an exceptionally genial and kind individual.

Below is a clip from The Snowman, the famous "Walking in the Air" sequence, for which he is perhaps best known and remembered by a whole generation of children in Britain, including me.
--- Alex

Mark Kalesniko's "Tarantula"

Mark Kalesniko is back with an all new, 40 page graphic adventure of his alter-ego Alex - a character last seen in Mark's brilliant graphic novel Freeway.  When asked for comment, Mark told FLIP. "Alex's worst fear just crawled in."

I'm not much for comic books, but Mark's work takes such a strange twist on simple, daily living, like an autobiography told on hallucinogenics.  He may well be the Hunter S. Thompson of graphic novelists (I say this about his creative work, not his lifestyle).   

See and read all of Tarantula at the Fantagraphics website.  

And read more about his graphic novel Freeway in FLIP.

-Steve

How I Pissed Off June Foray

I love June Foray.  With her versatile voice work on so many legendary cartoon characters - Rocky the Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Witch Hazel, Tweety's Granny - she is one of the last of my childhood idols still around.  I've been lucky enough to work with her twice.  The second time, I really pissed her off.

I was directing a Fractured Fairy Tales short for Universal called The Phox, the Box, & the Lox, from a lost script by the late Bill Scott, writer for the original series (and voice actor!).  It would run before the Dudley Do-Right live action feature.  June was the last survivor of the original cast, and I was thrilled to get to work with her again, having had such a great time recording her on my short Redux Riding Hood.  I even padded her part a bit.

Just as Jay Ward had done in his day, we recorded the voices in an ensemble.  The voice actors sat in the recording room together and ran through the script like a radio show. Keith Scott was amazing.  He's a Jay Ward expert who can do many of the voices spot-on.  When I asked for a Phil Silvers-type of voice for the Phox, Keith asked, "Do you want Bill Scott's Silvers or Daws Butler's Silvers?"  He then proceeded to give me a sample of both men's versions of Phil Silvers - as astounding as it is geeky.  June was set to do the Milk Maiden character in her Brooklyn voice.  She told me she did that voice for all the damsels and princesses in the Fractured Fairy Tales back in the '60's.  She got no argument from me.  She's June!

We all had a great deal of fun, though I immediately noticed a big problem:  June's Brooklyn voice had a lot of gravel in it.  The truth of the matter was, she sounded old when doing this voice. She was 79 at the time and could not be expected to sound like a 16 year old milk maiden from Brooklyn.  So here was my dilemna: how do I tell her to do a different voice in front of the ensemble cast without embarrassing one of my idols?  She would surely want to know why.  What could I say - you sound too old?  I couldn't do it.  So I stuck my head in the sand and hoped we could fix it in editorial.

Sound editor Mike Gollum tried every trick available in 1999 technology to make the Milk Maid sound young.  He knocked off about forty years, but she still sounded too old for the character.  I thought maybe it would grown on me, maybe I was just too close to it and the track would work.  Then my boss, Tom Ruzicka, told me I had to dump June.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" I shouted, inexplicably in slo-motion, "June is the only surviving member of the original cast!  We CAN"T dump her!"  I pounded my head on Tom's desk until he relented.

"Okay, okay!" Tom said, "But you'll have to re-record her immediately.  If we (the mucky-mucks) don't like it, we recast."

The next morning, June was back at the recording studio.  She was professional, but NOT happy.  "Who sets up a recording session for 9AM?"  She said, like that was an ungodly hour.

""Uhhh, that's my fault."  I told June, sheepishly. I was surprisingly intimidated by this tiny woman.  I hemmed and hawed about our tight schedule and apologized like an amateur.  Keith Scott had returned to do some pick-up lines and explained to me the whole "being in good voice" thing, and how hard it was to be in good voice first thing in the morning.

Then June said, "Why am I here? I thought you liked what I did last time."  She may as well have stabbed me in the heart.  I felt sick.

I felt even sicker as I heard this bullshit come out of my mouth,  "Well, I did like it.  But one of the executives doesn't like the Brooklyn accent."

June looked hurt, "But I did that voice for ALL the Fractured Fairy Tales.  ALL of them."

"I know.  But these executives.....they don't care."  Now THAT"S the truth!

June shook her head, got in the booth and gave us her 'sweet' voice.  She was done in minutes.  I gave her almost no direction, and I think she was happy about that.  She came out of the booth in a much more jovial mood.  I thanked her, apologized again, and groveled like Boris Badenov to Fearless Leader.

Her 'sweet' voice, though not as funny as the Brooklyn voice, sounded young enough to satisfy the mucky-mucks.  In hindsight, I wish I had redesigned the Milk Maid to look older, more worldly; like she'd already had a few husbands and was looking for a new sugar daddy.  Then I could have used the Brooklyn voice.  That would have been much funnier.  Damn!  Why didn't I think of that in 1999?  I was too busy freaking out, I guess.

I've seen and spoken to June a few times times then, and she's always been super kind, never mentioning that early morning session.  Her 95th birthday was this week.  It's great to still have a childhood hero around.  And I'm still sorry I pissed her off.

-Steve

Mr. Magoo Shorts Screening Almost in Sight

One of the truly great things about Los Angeles is the unique film screenings geared toward industry people.  On Saturday, September 15, Animazing Spotlight will host a tribute to U.P.A. Studios at the Alex Theater in Glendale.

From 3 to 5 PM, Tom Sito will host the panel of Bob Kurtz, John Andrews, and Fred Crippen as they discuss U.P.A.'s influence with clips from various shorts.  Tom told FLIP,  "Friz Freleng once said, 'When I die, I don't want to go to Heaven. I want to go to UPA.' Join us as we hear about why this studio had such a big impact on the art of animation in the mid-twentieth century."

At 7:00, twenty U.P.A. shorts will be screened on the big screen, with fresh, restored prints.  Along with five Mr. Magoo's, will be all fifteen Oscar nominated shorts.  Here's a complete list:  

Robin Hoodlum, 1949

Ragtime Bear, 1949

Magic Fluke, 1950

Barefaced Flatfoot, 1951

Fuddy Duddy Buddy, 1951

Trouble Indemnity, 1951

Gerald McBoing-Boing, 1951

Hotsy Footsy, 1952

Rooty Toot Toot, 1952

Man Alive, 1952

Madeline, 1953

Pink and Blue Blues, 1953

Christopher Crumpet, 1954

The Tell Tale Heart, 1954

Magoo's Express, 1955

When Magoo Flew, 1955

Magoo's Puddle Jumper, 1957

Jaywalker, 1957

McBoing on Planet Moo, 1957

Trees & Jamaica Daddy, 1958

Check their website for tickets, http://www.animazspot.com 
Sounds like a fun Saturday night to me!
-Steve

Digital Domain in Florida closes its doors after 3 years

Digital Domain at Port St. Lucie in Florida, founded in 2009, has closed its doors after a three year effort to produce a 3D animated film to compete with the likes of Disney and DreamWorks.

Here is the text from today's Facebook post by Chuck Williams, who was co-directing, and who I worked with many years ago on "RollerCoaster Rabbit" at Disney-MGM Studios, another Florida Studio which would eventually be closed down, despite many great successes and a wealthy sponsor.

Chuck wrote as follows:

"Digital Domain - Florida, my employer, shut down today. Ran out of money. Aaron [Blaise] and I knew this start up was a risk, but we has such great momentum -- a big, emotional, funny story, appealing characters, a really unique world and mind blowing, beautiful artwork. And maybe best of all -- a super-talented crew 110% committed to bring it on screening. We were on our 3rd screening, 1 month from production. This closure was a total shot in gut, complete surprise. 

To over 300 employees, 120 on our film. I thank you all for the great effort. I hope we can work together in the future. Lots of dreams were dashed today. Lets all find new ones."

I can well imagine how they must be feeling, having poured their hearts into the project for so long. It is little consolation to know that this sort of thing is almost commonplace in our business, where the stakes are so high and the price of failure so huge.

---- Alex

Introducing Animation Apprentice

I've been fascinated for some time now by the tremendous power of online instruction to improve the way that we learn. Especially impressive is the work of education entrepreneur Salman Khan, who has set up a free online academy, and whose work you can see here at YouTube.

Khan's philosophy - in brief - is that traditional classrooms have it all backwards. Students go in to a school room and listen to a lecture, then go home and do their home work, by which time they have forgotten half of what they learned, if they understood it in the first place. Much better, he argues, to watch the lecture at home, online, and then do the homework in the classroom. That way the teacher spends their time doing what is really important - helping students individually to solve problems.

A year or so ago I took a course in visual effects at Escape Studios in London, which offers a mix of classroom teaching and online pre-recorded content. Right away, I found that the online content was much more helpful. Missed what the instructor just said? just re-wind. Have to go and collect the dry cleaning? Just press pause. Late for class? Doesn't matter. With online tutorials, you learn at your own pace, at your own convenience. It was a revelation, not unlike the moment in 1996 when I first bought a book at amazon.com.

The problem I find with teaching animation is that, in a classroom, it is almost impossible to keep the whole class with you. Someone is always late, others will fall behind, and as a teacher you end up spending precious minutes repeating yourself and trying to help each student who missed the main bit of the lecture or didn't understand. But what if the students had already watched the lecture before class? That way you could sit down with each one and go over their work, help them individually to get the best results.

A new way to learn animation

So, this year, I have built a new animation school online, www.animationapprentice.org, teaching character animation and creature animation, and incorporating all the lessons I have learned in the classroom over the years. Animation Apprentice relies almost entirely on pre-recorded content, broken down into theory lectures (general theory), technical lectures (how to use the software) and tutorials (how to complete the weekly exercise).

It was a lot of work to build the site, but the beauty of it is that I never have to give the same lecture twice - a huge saving in time and effort. Instead, I get to spend my time going over the student's tests individually, and delivering back to each student a bespoke critique showing step by step how to improve the shot. We don't do Skype calls - there is no need. Much better to watch the process by which the shot gets improved. And the irony is, I get to spend way more time with each student than I would in a classroom. Plus it's more fun too, because I don't have to spend my time on the boring stuff - repeating myself giving the same lecture I gave last week, or last month.

So far, I love the results. A small group of students have been testing the course for me and their work is better even than I had hoped for. I think that online learning isn't a substitute for a classroom, it's better than a classroom. And I believe that this is the future of education. Just as amazon.com revolutionized the book trade (and shopping in general), so online learning will change the way we learn, for the better.

----Alex

CalArts & the Cleveland Browns

In the fall of 1981, I was a freshman at CalArts.  I lived in the dorms, room 251.  I had a small, black and white Regal television in my room, a luxury item back then.  Most students watched the big TV in the lounge at the end of the hall.  On Sundays, I liked to watch football, which put me at odds with most of my fellow students in Character Animation, and Cal Arts in general.  I can still hear my roommate, Dan Jeup, mocking me. "Foootball, yu bet!"

I would watch a game while doing my laundry.  It was usually the Rams, the Los Angeles team of thirty one years ago.  They were playing the Cleveland Browns one afternoon, the original Cleveland Browns, when there came a knock. A guy at the door asked "Do you have the Browns on?  Could I watch with you? They're watching a movie down the hall and won't change it."

I invited him in, he pulled up a chair, and proceeded to watch the game intently.  He introduced himself as John, a guitar major.  He watched for a few minutes, then asked, "You're not a Rams fan, are you?"  I assured him my allegiance was to the Eagles, making it safe for him to openly cheer for his team, which ultimately lost the game.  He thanked me for sharing, then left.

Days later, I was walking on campus with my friend  Dave Coste, a music major.  We passed John on his way to the dorms carrying a guitar case.  John waved, and Dave and I both said, "Hey John."

"I didn't know you knew John." Dave said.  I told him the story of the past Sunday.  Dave shook his head and laughed.  "That's John Modell." He said.

"Yeah?" I said cluelessly.

"His father is Art Modell."

"Yeah?"

"The owner of the Cleveland Browns."

"Oh."  I said, ""No wonder he liked the Browns so much."

Art Modell died yesterday at age 86.  I read that John and his brother were at his side when he passed.  R.I.P.

-Steve

Brian & Chuck

Brian McEntee was production designer on Ice Age, and Cats Don't Dance, and art director on Beauty and the Beast and The Brave Little Toaster.  Besides being a super talent, he is also a super guy. Here, he shares his thoughts on sharing 30 years with his domestic partner, Chuck Richardson. 

by Brian McEntee

Chuck and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary today, although we’ve been legally married in the State of California for only 4 years (As Chuck puts it, “It was a very long engagement.”). Emily Post doesn’t list any special type of gift to give for the 30th anniversary, so I came up with my own gift that all of you can give us: support for our federally recognized marriage rights.

Marriage equality is precisely meant for people like the two of us. Opponents like to point to promiscuous gays among us and claim all gays will denigrate the institution of marriage for straights. But marriage is not for promiscuous people, gay or straight. It is for two people who have made a commitment to each other. And promiscuous straight people can already get married, so I don’t see the logic in this argument.

The truth is, Chuck and I are our own little family of two. My parents are both gone, and my siblings all live far away. Chuck’s mom is still alive and he has siblings too, but none live close by either. We are the only immediate family each of us can rely on. With this in mind, imagine having your own significant other suffer a medical emergency and not be able to make medical decisions for him or her, or even have hospital visitation rights. Or, imagine having one or the other of you die and, after 30 years of building a life together, having a relative of your spouse have the legal right to all their possessions and you have none. This is what gay couples face in states that do not recognize gay marriage and why federally legalizing gay marriage is vitally important.  And even though we are legally married in CA, if we have an emergency situation while traveling in another state that does not recognize our marriage, nothing requires them to recognize our married status--thus the need to federalize these rights.

Even if you have misgivings about gay marriage on your own personal moral or religious grounds--and that’s your right--you should support legalizing secular gay marriage. We support your right to live out your beliefs. And those who believe gay marriage is wrong should never, ever get gay married. But, just as we allow you the unencumbered practice of your beliefs, we should be allowed ours, and be allowed the same freedom to live them out too. If what Chuck and I share is sinful in your God’s eyes, isn’t that our business? Shouldn’t that be between your God and us? Doesn’t your God allow free will as a part of the process of your faith?

Marriage equality is not a religious argument anyway. It is a political straw dog. Many Christian denominations and other religious faiths marry gay couples already--they are well ahead of the federal and state governments on this. Each church and religious group is free to make their own choice about who they marry, and that will not change with legal recognition. (For example, the Catholic Church will only marry Catholics to other Catholics.) But secular marriage is where all the legal rights sit--this is the arena necessitating a change to include gay couples.

Those who know Chuck and me personally know how well our relationship works. My life has been enriched and has flourished by his being in it and I cannot imagine life without him. The stability and mutual support of our relationship has also allowed us to be of help to aging and dying parents, siblings in need of a hand, and our friends and neighbors.

Please help make this our best anniversary ever by making your support for gay marriage known through your votes and publicly expressed opinion. Feel free to share my post with your Facebook friends and progress the conversation. Thank you.

Remembering Tissa David

Every animated feature film director has a handful of animators that they know they can rely on to deliver the goods, the people you know will get the job done on time. On Raggedy Ann and Andy - an animated musical which my father directed in the late 1970s - that animator was Tissa David. Tissa was fast and good, a terrific draughtsman and a skilled actor. She animated many of the scenes of Raggedy Ann, and she delivered a beautiful sense of girlish innocence to the character. You can see some of her pencil tests here:

Raggedy Ann was animated in New York City, and at the time I was just ten years old and living in London, so I didn't see much of the day to day business of the making of the film. But I remember the names of the animators that Dad depended on to get the film finished, and I know how much he respected Tissa's work.

Tissa died this week in her home of New York City, aged 91, having lived a long life and having earned the respect of her colleagues.

--- Alex

Them Greeks!

A Greek

Spiros Tsounios was one of my students as CalArts - many years ago, when I first started teaching animation. I say "my students", but actually he managed to avoid my classes completely - which was probably a good thing since at the time I had no idea what I was doing. His student film was one of the best of the year, good enough to get him a spot doing story boards at DreamWorks, which was where we became colleagues.

Now Spiros works at Skywalker Ranch, boarding on the latest Star Wars series, and he has revived his student film - but this time as a fully-fledged CG-tastic animated short. It's called "Them Greeks", and you can check it out here:

Spiros is pioneering an animation studio without walls, a virtual studio that brings together artists from all over the world in a digital environment to share their talents. It's something that the industry has talked a lot about - but I have not seen it done yet. At least, not successfully. It looks as if Spiros might just pull it off.

Oh, and he's looking for animators. Good ones, of course!

I might just do a shot or two myself.

----Alex

Gene Kelly's 100th Birthday

Of all the dancing, singing actors, Gene Kelly is tops in my book.  So what else could I post on his 100th birthday but this clip.....



I always envied the guys who got to work with him on Cats Don't Dance.  They say he was just like he was on-screen.  Gah-da dance!  Gah-da dance!
-Steve

My World and Welcome to It

Actor William Windom died Thursday at the age of 88.  He appeared in a mountain of work in features and television. Depending on your fan allegiances, you may best remember him from The Twilight Zone, or The Farmer's Daughter, Star Trek, or Murder, She Wrote.  But for me, it's My World and Welcome To It.

I was seven years old when it premiered in the fall of 1969, and even though it ran only one season, it really stuck with me. Based on the humor of The New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber, the show had segments combining live action and animation with a Thurber-esque design produced by DePatie-Freling.

Through the magic of the internet, clips from the show were easy to find.  It's a bit mind-blowing to see it again after 42 years, and to see that indeed it had some influence on a my young, future animator self.

-Steve

Deja Boop

Fed Ex delivered two boxes today from art director Fred Cline - boxes full of original materials from the ill-fated Betty Boop feature from 1993.  He found them while cleaning out his garage and was kind enough to ship them to me.  Original storyboards - an entire first pass - were in one box.  Another box had animation tests, scripts, and animatics of a few songs from demos by jazz great  Bennie Wallace.  Seeing this stuff again brought back a lot of lost memories, including the sadness we all felt when the plug was pulled.

I called Fred on his cel phone to thank him for the boxes. We talked for about two minutes when someone in the background interrupted him.  I heard him say, "I'm talking to Steve Moore." Then he laughed and the phone went silent.  Not completely silent, but like he set the phone down and walked away.  

"Hello?  Fred?  Hello?"

About fifteen minutes later, Fred called back. Turns out the guy in the background was Henry Selick and he was calling an emergency meeting.  Fred was in San Francisco storyboarding on Henry's new feature for Disney.  He couldn't say any more about it, and was again interrupted by a background voice. 

"Steve, I have go."  

I thanked Fred again for the Betty Boop materials, then hung up.  Ninety minutes later, I read that Henry's project had just been killed by Disney.  Holy shit!  It was like The Boop Movie all over again.

My heart goes out to Fred, Henry, and the crew.  I know exactly how they feel right now.  It's a very sickening part of the business, where studio gatekeepers can completely fuck so many people over.  Of course, I don't know the whole story, but I'm inclined to side with the artists.  I'm like that, and it's usually the right bet.  

And I usually ask, "Is it a good time to call?"

-Steve

Ty Bosco, Rest in Peace

Australian animator Ty Bosco was found dead in his home last week.  In a career spanning 35 years, he cranked out miles of TV animation for Hanna-Barbera and Disney TV Animation.  He was a bear of a man, with long, unkempt hair rolling wildly past  round shoulders. He lumbered along with knees slightly bent and sweat on his brow, making himself seem heavier than he probably was.  But he was heavy.  And he was always dressed in black.

Ty Bosco living large, with Serena Geddes, left.   Photo courtesy of Serena.  

I first encountered Ty in 1994, at the Kippax Street studio of Walt Disney TV Animation Australia; specifically, in the Men's room.  I was sent to Sydney to direct the finale sequence for Kevin Lima's A Goofy Movie.  Newly arrived and slightly disoriented,  I found myself among the lunchtime crush in the studio's cramped restroom.  As I was washing my hands the door sprang open, indifferent to whether anyone was standing behind it. Filling the doorframe was The Man - Bosco.  He had the appearance of Jerry Garcia's large biker brother. He was mumbling to himself.  Or was he mumbling to me?  He did not look friendly, and I squeezed aside to let him into the bathroom stall.

Moments later, grunts and moans began to emanate from the stall. The animators laughed and hurled insults.  A few MORE animators walked in. (The room was starting to resemble a Marx Bros sketch.) Ty amped up the volume from the stall, "Ayyyyy, there you are." he said. "Look at that. Hmmm. A fine specimen."  The room erupted in hoots and howls. The more they laughed, the further he went with it.  He thrived on making people laugh, often at his own expense.

I would talk to Ty often over the next six months, usually at the Aurora pub on Friday afternoons, where he had a "schoo-ey" of ale waiting for me.   He would go for lunch and still be there when work let out.  He was a very kind hearted man, and there was some sadness there that fueled his humor. He did not take care of himself, and consequently had chronic health problems.

Mention the name Ty Bosco to an Australian animator, and they'll grin from ear to ear.  Ty wasn't the life of the party, he was the party.  And while he does not dwell in the pantheon of animation gods, he is surely entertaining them in the pub across the street from it.

Director Ian Harrowell worked with Ty for many years, and recalls Ty phoning after Ian had surgery,  "Ty was amazing for my wife, Gina. He rang when things were pretty shitty...I heard Gina PISSING herself on the phone....possibly literally... SO HEALING!
Spoke with him about a month ago...seemed to be happy, now on the dole (retired). Very happy the Swans (Sydney rugby team) were winning big time.  Love you, Mr. Bosco."

Illustrator Serena Geddes, pictured above with Ty at a studio party, said, "I think Ty's passing had more affect on us than we could possibly have imagined. Without realizing it, he has brought a lot of us back together. He was the soul of Disney, more memorable than anyone else there and most loved, when he kept his wandering hands to him self 
that is."

The artists from Disney Australia have set up a Ty Bosco Tributes page on Facebook.  Read more about him and watch some hilarious videos.  

It has been seventeen years since I last spoke to Ty, and yet his death still stings. He was, as the Aussie's say, "A good bloke."

-Steve

Dolly's Doodles

Dolly's Doodles from Motherlode Studios on Vimeo.

One of my ex-students from Escape Studios has created a gorgeous pilot for an animated TV Series - Dolly's doodles, which you can see on her Facebook page here. It's aimed at pre-school kids and the execution is faultless. Evgenia (known to most of us Brits as Jane) was an exceptionally dedicated animation student and she is not just a skilled animator - but a talented writer and director too. I love Dolly's Doodles!
---Alex

Animated for the Olympics

The problem with the Olympics is, if you look, you will be sucked in.  There's no escape.   

You'll find youself watching sporting events you would otherwise pay no mind. Volley ball. Water polo.  Synchronized diving.  Fast walking.  The Olympics are a sports black hole from which, once in its pull, there is no escape.    

   

If you have found yourself in this position, you may want to get sucked into these twelve animated shorts commissioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee and produced at Duck Studios in West Los Angeles.

  

Executive Producer Mark Medernach explains:

The concept behind the spots was pretty simple.  They wanted the athletes to freely tell viewers who their inspiration was to get to where they were today, their mother, father, coach, sister etc.   As a way to make the stories come alive more they wanted a simple animation style to illustrate each of the stories.  They wanted each spot to have a different look and technique.  But dealing with a limited budget eliminated a lot of the techniques right away, as they would have just been too expensive to produce.

Our first approach to creating them was to find out who would be interested in working on the projects.  There was very little money, so the animators had to do these more as a labor of love.  There were 12 spots in all, so finding the people that had the time and inclination was a bit tricky. 

Once we had 4 or 5 commit and started seeing their work come in, it was a lot easier to get others to commit.  In all, we used 10 different animation directors to do the work.  The next step was in casting the right artist for the right project. 

They are all really great pieces, but one of my favorite is the Henry Cejudo piece  by Hsinping Pan.  Henry is a wrestler and his inspiration was his mother.  His mother immigrated to the US along with her 7 kids. She found ways to provide for them and care for them.  Initially we were not sure if Hsinping style would be an appropriate fit for 
a wrestler.  But once we heard his charming story it just seemed like a natural fit. 

As each story was presented to us, we chatted with the advertising agency (Y&R/NY) and choose who we felt would be the best fit for each story.  I think the agency had a really good feel for the stories and what would fit most of the time.  Other times, we also let the filmmakers have some input into the stories they wanted.  Chris Harding is a big boxing fan and it was a natural fit to have him produce the Queen Underwood boxing spot.

The spots live on the USOC's site.  They are being used to help raise more money for future olympians.  So, if you want to be a part of the team behind the team, go to USOC's site and donate a bit!

Read lots more about the spots and the artists behind them on Duck Studios' site.

Watch all twelve videos on this U.S.O.C. page under "From Our Athletes".  

-Steve

From Slumdog Millionaire to 2012 Olympics

A big congratulations to Brendan Houghton, a super-talented story board artist who recently boarded the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics. I worked with Brendan on Joseph - King of Dreams, and bumped into him years later on Valiant, a worthy attempt to found a full-scale animation studio at Ealing Studios in west London. Since then Brendan has gone on to board many live action films, including Slumdog Millionaire - which is presumably where he met Danny Boyle, who directed the Opening Ceremony.

What fun it must have been to story board - though the best roles seem to have gone to Daniel Craig (how many actors get to star next to The Queen?) and David Beckham, who got to ride a speedboat under Tower Bridge.

Brendan wrote on his Facebook page
"Thank you all so much for your kind words...I think it's a great British success. So blessed to have been a part of it...It has meant so much to me, and therefore to you my loving family."

Awesome job, Brendan! - Alex

A Letter from Xeth (Sent Postage Due)

My old pal and mad genius Xeth Feinberg has been bugging me to have reader comments on the FLIP blog.  Here's his latest rant, word for word. 
-Steve

Hi Steve (and Alex)...

I've been enjoying the 'New Flip' as usual.  For reasons perhaps dealing with deep seated personality issues of my own I feel compelled to make one suggestion, again.

I'm no big fan of Today's Manic Social Media Frenzy and understand the impulse and reasons behind not having any sort of reader comments on the blog. (As expressed by Steve in the past.)  But I also can't help feeling that in FLIP's case you guys are missing a small opportunity to allow your readers/fans to have some sort of direct connection/interaction with the stories and each other.  Maybe you've had experiences being overwhelmed with spam-like, trollish posts and it's just too much bother. And yeah, the world doesn't even need another Cartoon Brew...

I agree, who cares how many comments and posts and shares Flip gets... the world is lousy with that sort of crap these days.  But often I read your posts and have (maybe) some encouraging word, question, comment, 'like' sort of feedback that I'd be happy to post... but isn't worth writing directly to you about.

And FLIP is one of the few things that is low key and topic specific and 'real' enough to make me wonder who else is reading, what they think, if they have any memories or thoughts to add to the posts. I'm always amazed how you guys seem to have known/worked (or almost worked with) everybody...

So there ya go... just a respectful suggestion to reconsider allowing readers to post comments on the blog... and I say this as someone who probably won't even post much themselves....

Anyway, if it doesn't work out, you can always switch back to the current 'Anti-Social Media' set up.

ZZZZZ,
x

For the record, I'm the anti-social one.  Alex is all for comments.  If someone has something of substance to add, I would certainly post it.  But I don't feel a burning need to be another outlet for armchair geniuses and stunted adolescents to wax snarky on "the biz".
-Steve 

Have something of substance to add?  E-mail us at flip@flipanimation.net

Read more about Xeth in this FLIP article from May, 2008.
Read even more about Xeth in THIS FLIP article from Aug-Sept, 2010.

Enjoy this Xeth cartoon, Papu!

A Counter Con is Born

By Jerry L. Brice

Future animators awaiting the start of the first Counter Con.

On Friday July 13^th, during the week of the world famous San Diego Comic Con, an audience of kids, teens, and adults from throughout the greater San Diego area were treated to a panel of professionals from a variety of areas in the arts and entertainment field at a Tubman/Chavez Multicultural Center in the inner city of Southeast San Diego for the first time ever.

The goal was to expose a couple hundred underprivileged inner city kids to the possibility of a career in the field of comic books, animation, game art, or the behind the scenes business involved in these businesses, from people that are well known for doing that professionally, at a location in the inner city.

Roland Poindexter fields a question.

As the kids entered the venue, they were greeted with posters from some of their favorite shows on Disney XD, and Nickelodeon, provided courtesy of those two major animation studios, as well as our official Counter Con stickers, courtesy of Vince Alvendia and StickerJunkie.com. The Legend of Korra and Motorcity posters were in demand, but they loved the posters for all of the series, and we were honored to have them sponsored by the studios.

I introduced a highly accomplished and experienced group of panelist who were eager to share their stories of professional success, what they do, and how they got into their position as a pro artists, as well as encourage the kids to go forth and work towards their dreams, no matter where they came from.

Panelists David G. Brown, Jerry Brice, Lalo Alcaraz, Brad Constantine, Roland Poindexter 

The speakers present were Denys Cowan, Lalo Alcaraz, David G. Brown, Roland Poindexter, and Brad Constantine.

Special guest Superior Court Judge Dwayne Moring started off the speakers by telling an engaging and heartfelt story on how his childhood love for reading and collecting comic books led him to first be a journalist like Clark Kent, and now, a Superior Court Judge in San Diego, or, if I may, a real life crime fighting judge, either way, his motivation was inspired by what he read as a child in his comic book collection.

Judge Dwayne Moring

As a childhood friend of the judge, I explained to the crowd how Judge Moring’s childhood passion for comic books inspired him to follow in his foot steps to not only collect comic books, but to also pursue a career as a comic artist if that was possible, and to seek more direction from the professional comic book artist gathered in town annually, at the San Diego Comic Con, starting in the mid-70’s.

David G. Brown addresses the audience.
From left: Jerry Brice, Brown, Roland Poindexter, Denys Cowan, Brad Constantine

The next panelist was L.A.Watts Times/LA Sentinel award winning comic book artist David G. Brown, who spoke to the kids about his professional animation career and how that led him to discover his passion for working and teaching art to young people. He imparted to the kids that creating art is a way to embrace your uniqueness.
David also publishes a series of comic books that teach kids how to resolve their conflicts without using violence, stay away from drugs, anti-bullying and other types of situations that kids may be confronted with growing up. He brought several copies to give away to the kids.

Roland Poindexter and Denys Cowan

Next up was speaker Roland Poindexter who was just recently Sr. VP of Animation at Nickelodeon, and has worked at Fox, Warner Bros. among others producing and developing many hit series.  He told the kids that sometimes, what you start off doing is not what you find yourself ending up doing…and that you never know when your opportunity will come along, you just have to be prepared to handle it.

Know what you want to do, learn how to do it the best you can, and work hard at it, and you can do anything you want to do.

Denys Cowan, Brad Constantine, Roland Poindexter

Comic book artist Denys Cowan made jokes about his legendary status, but he went on to tell us that he started off his professional career as an assistant at the age of 14!!!...And he went on to get his first professional assignment as a lead at 17, was one of the founders of DC’s first black comic book company Milestone Media, creator and producer of Static Shock, producer of The Boondocks, to becoming a Senior Production Executive at the BET Network… which makes him a not only a well respected artistic talent in the business, but a leading business man in the entertainment industry. His participation in the Counter Con is significant. Giving back and supporting the enrichment of kids in the inner city is of utmost importance to Denys.He wanted the kids to know that when you start, some people will be out to discourage you, and when you start showing your work, some people will not like it, and some will, but the main thing is to never give up.

Personally, I could relate to his experiences and career choices that confront an African American in the art and entertainment business.  I really benefitted from what he had to say, and going forward, what he said will affect my own decisions, so that was great for all of us to hear. 

Brad Constantine sketches for the kids.

Lead Sony On-Line Animator Brad Constantine, a native San Diegan and former private animation student of mine, gave a humorous and rousing accounting of his road from local San Diego kid to becoming a leading game animator for several years at major international corporate behemoth Sony games,  located in San Diego. So Brad is still a local boy who made it in the animation world and can still enjoy living in America’s finest city.

Brad’s message for the kids was to work on your skills, be persistent and passionate about what you are doing, and to be kind to the people you meet and work with.

He also let the kids know that the internet has opened up new opportunities to access training, as well as to expose and gain an audience for your own independent work, no matter in what zip code you reside.

Lalo Alcaraz talks shop with the next generation.

The final speaker was popular humorist and syndicated comic artist Lalo Alcaraz, creator of La Cucaracha first nationally syndicated, politically themed Latino daily comic strip from the LA Times Syndicate, who is also a native of Lemon Grove, which is basically San Diego. He got his start as a political cartoonist at San Diego State in The Daily Aztec, the student newspaper.

His message was to work on your skills, don’t take criticism personally, and you will eventually get better. Draw everyday and keep drawing like your life depended on it.

Lalo also announced that he has a television series in development that is Latino based, and takes place in San Diego, or a community inspired by San Diego, which is something for all local San Diegans to be proud of and to look forward to.
Lalo was not only inspiring, but he was also very funny.

Q & A

The panel wrapped up by fielding a series of questions from the audience, and Tanya Diggs, a SR Account Executive at Burrell Advertising gave us all some very up lifting comments and observances to the kids, even giving them some insight about her position in advertising, and that we should not limit our dreams and goals in life, as well as our career choices.

The event ended with an in-depth portfolio review, and Brad and some of the  panelist did sketches of cartoon characters for the kids.  Brad is gifted at drawing most cartoon characters past or present, from memory, and he put on quite a demonstration…the kids loved it!

David G. Brown and Roland Poindexter review portfolios.

Sony on-line entertainment provided a free version of their on-line subscription games for all the kids and teens in attendance, which was a big surprise for them, so the games coupled with the sketches and posters from Disney XD, Nickelodeon and the stickers from Stickerjunkie.com. Many got their first experience with swag, which is a big part of the Comic Con tradition.

A young artist and his take-home swag.

The children were inspired, and the community's interest was well served by this first of a kind event in the South East community. We are highly motivated to make next years event bigger and better, and we welcome all the support we can get to further the Counter Con’s effort, impact, and reach. Plans are under way to hold workshops and events throughout the year in-between the annual Counter Con, and reach the kids in San Diego at their public schools and local venues.  

Many pro artist and entertainment professionals who regularly attend the San Diego Comic Con were waiting for an opportunity like Counter Con to give to the people that may be underserved.  I am committed to providing them that platform on an annual basis to serve the needs of the children in our community, and foster the arts education in the areas of Game art, comic book art, animation and entertainment business.

Counter Con host Jerry L. Brice.

If you would like to help support or plan the Counter Con 2013, contact me, Jerry Brice, at: chacta@gmail.com. We will also be launching an Indegogo campaign to raise funds to help us further our goals and community initiatives born out of the Counter Con, so look for that!

In closing I would like to thank Claudia Spinelli of Nickelodeon, Jay Francis of Disney XD, all my supporters on Facebook and FLIP, my production partners in my family, Derrick Ragsdale, and all of my former students from A.I.!...for helping to make the first Counter Con a really amazing, huge success for the kids and teens in the San Diego inner city!

See you next year, and dream big!