So Long...

For the last three and-a-half years, I have been posting my artistic progress and pursuits on this tiny internet landing strip. After some thought, I've decided to hang up the old Blogger account and direct all my efforts to my latest creative project - CloudKid. My trusty sidekick, Matt Moore, and I hope CloudKid becomes a studio that truly values artistic talent and vision, and creates characters that entertain and inspire a new generation of children.

The first year of CloudKid has been an amazing and unpredictable roller coaster ride. I'm holding on, and can't wait for the next twists and turns.

Fizzy's Lunch Lab Nominated for an Emmy!

On Wednesday morning, we were notified that Fizzy's Lunch Lab was nominated for a 2010 Daytime Emmy Award for the "New Approaches in Children's Media" category. I am still in shock - coolest thing ever. It was a year to the day that PBS green-lit season one, so it was an amazing first birthday for Fizzy and co.

A huge thank you goes out to all the writers, actors, artists, etc who helped us make an awesome web series. Hopefully more good to come as we were recently green-lit for a season 2. Great news all around.

Spring has finally Sprung!

The New England winters make me a bitter man, but spring definitely helps turn things around.

Ms Gaffeny Returns!

Last week, I visited LA for a long (but fun) week of meetings. While the week was hectic, I squeezed in some doodle time. I revisited a storyboard project that I made my junior year of college. Based on a real event, I was intrigued to explore what this story could look like seven years later. If I can find the time, perhaps I can continue to dive in.

Monster Squad Review on Nugget Island

I was interviewed by Children's Marketing/Trend pro, Matt Siden over at his blog Nugget Island. We chatted last week about the process of working on Monster Squad with the author and the publisher. Any children's media fans should check out his site. It's a great guide to what's happening in kid culture.

You can check out the interview here:

Give Your Heart a Valentine

Just in time for the Valentine's Day festivities, Fizzy's Lunch Lab brings you Freezer Burn's latest music video, Give your Heart a Valentine.

Check it out on the Lunch Lab Site

Check it out on YouTube.

Coming Up for Air

Deep breath...exhale. Production on the first season of Fizzy's Lunch Lab is finally winding down and it should wrap sometime in the next month or so. I'm finally starting to recharge the old battery, and I have time to doodle and write again. Here's a style test for a potential project that I whipped up not too long ago. Hopefully, I will be able to start weekly postings now that I have a little more time on my hands.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays everyone!!! I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and awesome holiday season and 2010.


Check out Freezer Burn's Holiday music video, "Don't Get Carried Away for the Holidays"

Monster Squad Book 4: D-O-N-E

Over the last year I have been working with Penguin on the epic chapter book series, Monster Sqaud. Last week, I finally finished the interiors for the final book in the series. This project was a blast to work on b/c Penguin & author Laura Dower gave me a ton of creative freedom, and for that I'm quite grateful. Below are a few of the final illustrations (without text) from Book 4: They Came from Planet Q.

Fizzy's Lunch Lab has Launched

As many of you know, over the past six months, I’ve been hard at work producing my first animated show for PBS Kids Go! with my creative partner, Evan Sussman. This was a gigantic undertaking as we successfully brought together a team of 50+ that included food writers, physicians, dietitians, script writers, actors, musicians, software engineers, and an army of talented artists. I’m confident that our dream team created a truly innovative children’s program and website designed to halt the childhood obesity epidemic. Professor Fizzy and his gang are finally ready to educate and inspire families to get out of the drive-thru and back into the kitchen. We will be rolling out a new recipe and animated video every week for the next 40 weeks, so be sure to check back.  

I am thrilled and proud to share our creation with you - Fizzy’s Lunch Lab!

Fizzy's Lunch Lab

Two and half years ago, fellow animation director, Evan Sussman and I met at JP Licks in Boston, MA and came up with a show idea over coffee. I was fed up with the lack of kid-friendly cookbooks, and Evan had been trying to create a nutrition-based website or property with his dad (Dr. Craig Sussman). We combined our ideas that day and we set out to create a kids cooking show that focused on the importance of health and nutrition...But it had to be FUN. After thousands of hours of hard work, failed development deals, personal investment, it's nice to see Fizzy's Lunch Lab living on PBS Kids Go!

The last four months have been a whirlwind for Evan and I. It has included finalizing our deal with PBS, creating the season 1 outline in two weeks, writing 46 short scripts (with amazing writers), starting animation production, moving into our office, and launching our preview website...Along with our new studio's website. Fizzy's Lunch Lab has been the hardest thing (by far) I've worked on and it's shaping up to be a winner. We still have a lot of work ahead of ourselves, but it has been rewarding to see the preview site and trailer so well received.

I know the next five months of production are going to be equally as demanding, but I know that Fizzy's Lunch Lab has the ability to truly help kids and families make healthier decisions. Coming from someone who was incredibly overweight as a child, I'm happy to share Fizzy with everyone and hope it can make a difference.

Check out the Lunch Lab Preview Site.


The first sketches of Fizzy

Sneak-peek

Again...Almost one month later...

Here's a character design sneak-peek for the secret project I've been mentioning for the last couple months. My partner-in-crime, Evan Sussman and I have been neck-deep in production. The good news is that there will be an official announcement in the next week or so. Stay tuned.