Thursday, June 26, 2008

Heartwood USA

Since March, I have been working on the Heartwood USA animated pilot for a Boston-based father, entrepreneur and political enthusiast. Shane Keats, the creator and writer, came up with the idea to create a green show for kids that takes more of a political angle. Shane says, "A lot of why I made Heartwood USA is to get back at villains, real villains, the kind you, me and our kids will encounter over the course of our political lives. To win in the long run, you've got to dust off and start again...if we can influence kids to take climate change seriously and help them laugh a bit in the face of the bad guys, then we've done a good deed".

My task was to develop the style and create a demo that looks on par with other animated kid shows. I worked with a team of very creative, talented artists to help me produce the pilot, Cow A Dunga. See below.

3 comments:

rob said...

hey dave, i love the animation as usual - i like that you have a real specific style with everything that you do. i'm really confused about the message, though. can you explain? i have some very specific questions, but maybe i'm misunderstanding the intention.

Dave Schlafman said...

Hey Rahji-

I directed the animation. It was written by Shane (the exec. producer). My job was to infuse some kid into the script. His main objective is to say Shamus technically gets the best of Carson in the end, but she realizes that she made baby steps by solving a larger communal issue. Yes, it's hard for even adults to understand. Shane wanted this to appeal more to adults for funding purposes. I think if he were to make more, they'd be less cryptic and more kid friendly.

rob said...

actually, i kind of got the dynamic between the characters.. i was more curious about the politics and science behind the cows=methane=globalwarming message