Big Loser

I haven't posted anything in a couple weeks because...well...I don't have a good reason. I've been working on an animated demo for a local studio and other than that, I've been developing new content for my own future projects. All is well in Schlafmanland. In the meantime, here's a little test I whipped up last night...

Let the Idiotic Adventures BEGIN!

It's been many months since my first post about Philippe and Pierre. The team has put down their Wacom pens and the result is finally up for everyone to enjoy. Pileated Pictures and myself present to you The Idiotic Adventures of Philippe and Pierre.



Stay tuned every other Monday as we will release a new toon on the Philippe and Pierre website. Check out all the action at
www.IDIOTICADVENTURES.com

I want to give a HUGE thanks to the folks who made this happen:
1. Mike Levine at Pileated Pictures.
2. Dan Flynn (Animation)
3. Evan Sussman (compositing and effects)
4. Joe Pleiman (Sound design)
5. Fletcher Beasley (Theme Music)
6. Matt Moore (Website)

Although the project was my vision, it couldn't have happened without these folks. I'm truly lucky to have worked with all of them and it shows. Sign up for the newsletter as more toons and goodies are on the way!

Uh-Ohs...It's a Wrap!

For the last three months, I have been working on a series of fun educational safety shorts with SNAP Studios for the National Fire Prevention Association. Scott Nash and his team came up with the look while I co-wrote/directed the shorts. It was the first
time I directed animation using someone else's style, and I had a ton of fun working on them. The talented crew was made up of folks from sea to shining sea. Here's a few stills from the Bike Safety PSA. The video will be up on YouTube in a day or two.

Jungle

Back in frigid Boston from a great trip out to LA. I met some really great folks and saw some really amazing artwork. Well, I'm back in reality, working on another Ecard for American Greetings. Here's a background design from the project. It makes me want to leave Boston...again.

Phlippe and Pierre...Almost there!

The first installment of Philippe and Pierre is wrapping up! Eight of the nine shorts are done. The website is in the works and should be unveiled Monday February 4th. In the meantime, here's a couple stills from the finished shorts.

Hello Los Angeles

I arrived in LA yesterday for a week of meetings at some animation studios and networks. I've been working on a slew of projects for the last three months and now it's time to show some folks out here what I've been up to.

Here's a still from one of the pitch books I created. I provided the layout, characters, and art direction, while the mega-talented Lindsay worked her amazing artistic magic with the background. I should have some time to post more in the coming days...

Al Gore Shout Out

Evan Sussman, my good friend and collaborator grew up in Tennessee. Al Gore was just named TN Man on the Year. Evan's parents read this article about Gore and sent it to him.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071231/NEWS01/712300378

Here's cool part:

Flipping open his laptop to an "Ecospot" on Current TV's Web site brought sparkle to his often serious demeanor.

The just-over-2-year-old cable and satellite nonfiction network is rooted in viewer-created content and citizen journalism.

It boasts 51 million paying subscribers and is "aimed at giving a voice to the average person who has not had a way to break into the conversation of democracy on television," said Gore, who is the network's chairman.

He began searching on the computer for the grand winner out of about 3,000 entries in a competition for television ads to educate people on the climate issue.

An animated feature popped up showing a city with smoke pouring from stacks and heavy traffic. Car horns beeped and then an elephant dropped from the sky, squashing a vehicle.

"In 2005, the U.S. released 6.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air," the clip reads, referring to metric tons.

More elephants fall. "That's 1.2 billion elephants," it says. A man looks at the mayhem and then shrugs. An elephant falls on him.

"It's time to stop ignoring the 1.2 billion elephants in the room," the clip ends.

Gore, smiling broadly, chuckles.

"Madison Avenue wouldn't have come up with that," he said.

Alien Advertising

So...As I mentioned a couple posts earlier, I'm working on an animated short with an outer space flair. The short is being sponsored by none other than COSMO COLA. I've been asked to help with their marketing campaign.

Greetings 2008

I was slammed by the flu last week and now I'm recovering to a pile of work. I've been commissioned by the card company, American Greetings to create an animated Ecard. Here are some character designs that I made for the project.

Happy Holidays

I was too busy this year to send out holiday cards...kind of. I whipped this one in time, but my wife didn't think it was appropriate. It was supposed to be an accordion card with four panels, so when you get to the last panel...it's a surprise! Oh well, maybe next year. Happy Holidays to everyone.

Space...the final frontier

This is a concept sketch for one of the backgrounds for a new animated short I'm working on. The final image was done by background master, Jon Renoni.

Too busy

It's been way too long since my last post. I have been directing three animation projects and I haven't had two seconds to do much of anything...besides work. My typical day starts at about 5:30 AM and goes to about 6PM...I usually tie up loose ends right before bed. I can't complain though because I'm having so much fun doing it.

Here's a sketch from one of the projects I'm working on.