Hey everybody.

God I regret not updating this sooner because I actually have some news, damned if I'll remember it all though.

First of all, the female voice actors for my new series, The Summer Help have been decided. The role of Rebecca goes to Cassie Ewulu (Sapphire) and the role of Lolita goes to Kimlinh Tran (Hnilmik). Yeah I decided that like... 3 weeks ago but forgot to update on here heh. ANYWAY, since then, Sapphire offered her services for finding more auditions for the male characters and so she's now my Casting Director, hell yeah useless credits! But yeah, she has made a thread on the Voice Acting Alliance forum for the Casting Call. If you haven't tried out yet, you can feel free to give it a shot, I think the casting call is still open for a few more days. There are a few auditions I've gotten that I'd be happy with using, but there's always room for someone to wow me. So yeah.

Next up, late congrats to Emanhattan for the warm reception for his cartoon Vince The Voodoo Doll, glad he got the fuckin' thing done.

I'm currently trying to think of episode ideas for the second script for my cartoon, but all my ideas seem like they'd work better once people are entirely used to the show, so ideas for later episodes. Yeah and that sucks balls.

Also, I have a new cartoon submission I guess that you can check out in my submissions collection. Yeah I did a cartoon for the Star Syndicate when they were still doing their Dailybee thing on one very boring day. Wasn't too surprised when they didn't use it, but was surprised to log on the other day and see a new cartoon in my submissions so yeah. Fun animating little things every once in a while.

I've been in a pretty big rut pretty much for the last year which I'm really starting to get frustrated with. Bloody Sundae and Paul Voltaire were both just 2 week chunks of my year (the latter being done as a school project) and it's kind of a downer that I have no drive to animate anything. I'd really like to just animate something spur of the moment but ideas have been fleeting and few for a while. If you have any suggestions for some collaborations I can chuck something into or whatever, I'd be all-ears for it.

Anyway, that's all, yeah not too much, big whoop fuck you. Yup, oh and Despicable Me was a pretty great movie and Inception was fucking amazing, but that goes without saying. Goddamn it, everyone's been at Comic-Con I'm bored.

Wow, rambling more than usual, way to go internet.

/img/blogs/499000/499222/941046593_133807940.jpg

Hey everybody.

Concerning the Casting Call for my new series, The Summer Help.
IT'S STILL GOING ON!
So please stop asking people. It's going to keep going until I get satisfactory auditions for every main character. I've begun making some preliminary choices for a few characters, but all the characters are still up in the air. Especially the male characters.

Here's the most recent revision of the pilot script, from 6/20/10.

Anyway, I've been pretty busy with work and stuff lately, so not too much time for creativity. I had to drop out of the Tournament of Flash Artists on AlbinoBlackSheep because I ended up starting too late. Knowing I wouldn't get done in time, I decided to can my project which sucks cuz it would have been pretty good. I like the idea enough to maybe do it in the future, maybe. As for predictions based on who'll win this year's ToFA (based on just the Open Round), I think Zeurel will take it this year. He's a pretty talented guy and appears to be a really diligent animator.

Shit, I can't think of a good segue so here's the best day of Adrien Brody's life. Urgh, this song is a fucking ear-bug!!!

.
/* */
Besides that, during my rare freetime, I've been reading the new Octopus Pie book, "There Are No Stars In Brooklyn", a compilation of the first 2 years of the webcomic. I suggest checking it out. Other than that, I've doing some more character design revisions for The Summer Help and brainstorming future plotlines in my Chamber of Understanding.

.
/* */
... And yes, I'm extremely happy there's finally new episodes of Futurama.

I guess it's about time to do another post so I don't leave all the Casting Call people hanging.

**LISTEN UP CASTING CALL PEOPLE AND PEOPLE INTERESTED**

The Casting Call is going to remain open until I find satisfactory parts for every character. I'm doing this so I don't need to just phone anybody in just because I ran out of time. I hope you guys don't mind. I have top choices for certain characters right now, but there's still a few I'm not really sure about. I just don't want to announce anything unless anything changes.

EDIT: June 20th: To anyone who would bother looking at this post again, from now on, you can find the newest version of the script on my WEBSITE listing right there in the contact info.

**Now to other bullshit**

Anyway, I'm very slowly getting together my shit to start working on my entry for the Tournament of Flash Artists on AlbinoBlackSheep. Yeah, not sure how great this is gonna go, the entries are due June 25th and I've only gotten as far as a rough script so far :/ Shit's been busy, or I've just been in a mood to not be bothered to do it.

Besides that, I'd just like to plug a collab a few of my buddies did, COMING SOON!. Great job MrScriblam for tying everything together and getting this thing done ;) Sorry for dragging you down for so long just to drop out :S. Lenko you sexy beast, your piece was gorgeous, so were yours CVG and Jeinu. Scribs, yours were funny as hell. Great job. I dunno, if anybody wants to see what I did, it's right here, it's only like halfway done and I regret not finishing it, my mind has been other places lately.

Yeah the movie is suffering from some mass down-voting which is pretty gay.

As for the Gulf Oil Spill...

The Casting Call is over!

Nah it's not, I'm still going to give it at least another week, maybe two before I decide to sit down and make my final decision. During the meantime, let's enjoy a nice episode of Adventure Time.

.
/* */

Well, I decided within the last week to start working on the new series I mentioned in my previous post.

So it's time for a Casting Call! Calling all voice actors, calling all voice actors! I need to find some voices for this thing. Here's the script for the first episode of "The Summer Help" for reference, it's called "Brown Bottle Flu"

I'm looking for actors for all the characters right now, so anybody's fair game. I'm not looking for a specific voice for any of the characters in particular, just whatever would work best. You should hear some of the weirder examples haha. This Casting Call is also going on at TheBackAlleys, so you can check out the other demos too if you want.

NOTE: If you are going to try out for a main character, you have to be available in the future for subsequent episodes.

Main Character List
Derek
Jim
Burch
Rebecca
Lolita
Norm

Extras (Episode #1 only)
Little Kid #1
Little Kid #2
(Well, there's a bunch of them)
Newspaper Reporter
(This doesn't have to be the stereotypical "stop-the-presses" type of reporter, it can pretty much just be a normal voice)

This casting call will go until I find satisfactory voices for every main character.
You can either leave your demo reel down in my comment space, or you can go tackle some lines from the episode in the script above. You can also PM me your tracks if you want.

Email: ixintro@gmail.com

Alright have fun :)

Hey everybody. GET READY FOR A LOOOONG NEWSPOST...

So it looks like I'm finally being productive again. Thanks for the warm reception for Paul Voltaire, which admittedly wasn't the funniest of cartoons. Still wort a watch though :). Also, I submitted a little Showreel that I made a few days ago. I needed to make it for a job application and just figured I might as well plop it in here. It includes some goodies, including clips from unreleased cartoons and some pencil tests. Excuse the shitty compression and ghosting, Adobe Premiere is a cruel temptress. Also, who doesn't love the band CAKE, I mean really?!

Besides all that stuff, I have even bigger news... As in news that hasn't already happened and me recapping like a dick. I'm far enough into planning to give a preliminary write-up on a new series!

I really missed writing for a series of some sort after I dropped out on my old Tywo stuff, so over the last few months, I've been dicking around with new series premises. I finally thought of one that would probably kick the shit out of my old cartoons, especially writing wise since I like to be hard on myself and be ashamed of everything I've made previously all the time.

========================

Anyway, the new series is called "The Summer Help" (working title) and it follows the lives of several summer counselors at a small-town recreational center. There's a rough draft design of a bulk of the main characters below, 2 of them I'm still tweaking a ton.

I might as well give you guys a write-up of these characters so you have some idea what the hell is going on. Some details are subject to change depending on my mood or my friends'.

The Meadowlark Rec Center Staff:
From Left-to-Right on the Model Sheet

Derek Manthee:
Often fairly nervous and an awkward conversationalist, Derek is a philosophy major in school which he always gets dumped on by his parents about. He can be very idealistic and is known to get on his high-horse about certain issues. The possibility of being wrong or hypocrisy terrifies him. He's the rec center's only lifeguard and also is too busy getting all introspective to pay enough attention to what's going on around him at the pool.

Jim Woodsworth:
(Probably the same Jim from that unfinished cartoon)
Known to be a frat-boy douche among his coworkers. He's narcissistic and has a strange infatuation with his car (A beat up, piece-of-crap Chevy Chevette hatchback). When he's not taking advantage of kids' gullibility, claiming that doing chores for him is community service, he's probably indulging in any way possible. Although, he may be a stoner douche, he's still a pretty fun guy and is a foil to Derek as much as Derek is to him.

Retired Lt. Dirk "Burch" Burchibald:
The short, fiery, teeth-clenching supervisor with a Napoleon complex. Often any conversation with him turns into him barking at his employees as if he were a Drill Sergeant. He has an issue with eye contact, forcing all his employees to maintain it at all times while speaking to him. This can cause some issues as employees often have to resort to standing on their knees or even laying on their stomachs when being addressed by him. There's also a possibility he has OCD, just throwing that in for good measure.

Rebecca Kershwell:
When you look at her, do you think "bitch"? Yeah, she is. She hates working with kids and its pretty evident, as much as Jim likes to take advantage of them, they're basically her slaves. As much as she may be a cold-hard bitch, it's more of an outside persona as she is fairly likable to the people around her. Just don't fuck with her or else you're getting teeth-checked with those ridiculous boots she's wearing.

Lolita Pooshawattaha:
The omega hippie. With the ideals of the Hippie movement instilled in her by her parents, she's a peace-loving, drug loving, neo-hippie. She runs the art department at the rec center and has an odd fascination/obsession with beads. She hasn't worn a pair of shoes or anything resembling them since she was little and most likely has callouses thick enough to walk across hot lava. She's always very chipper and optimistic, basically the anti-Rebecca. For as much shit she may get for being a hippie, she can sling it right back though. She's half-Native American if the last name wasn't a hint.

Norm McNulty: (Not pictured)
A pissy, large, metal-head. He has a gigantic crush on Rebecca, who is completely oblivious. He works the office at the rec center and is Burch's lackey, much to his dismay. It's obvious he's been working there too long as he often has fantasies of murdering Burch in pretty horrific ways, for as much shit he's had to deal with.

Penelope Attleman: (Not pictured)
A very tiny, meek nerd of a girl. With her crippling social phobias and low-esteem she seems fairly out of place at this job. Especially considering she is extremely creeped out by children, something about their fingers, I dunno. One kid in particular freaks her the fuck out, she believes he may possibly be the antichrist. Maybe!

========================

So yeah, there's the rough outline for the main characters. I'm writing the pilot currently and so far it's looking pretty good. There's also a ton of really funny ideas I'm looking forward in writing into later episodes. I'm still not entirely sure whether or not I want to animate this thing, because all the scripts are built to a 22 minute format. If you guys like the idea, I may release episodes in 7 minute acts maybe or rewrite the episodes in short-form. Who knows?! Also, I may switch to ToonBoom if I animate it since I really like the visual style I can get out of it.

Goddamn long post, you were warned.

...So what do you guys think? You wanna see this happen? DO YA?!

Hey everybody I guess it's about time to update this thing for the first time in... 3 months.

Currently I'm sweating balls in my dorm because my fan is broken and this building heats up like an oven after a warm day. But other than that a lot's happened in the last few months, whether I can remember all of it right now or not.

I've finally gotten myself into the habit of making at least one interesting thing I guess. Since I've been in such an incredible rut for the last several months, it's about time I find my way out of it. I'm currently in my final week of my freshman year of college, I'm pretty bummed about it. 4 months at home away from all my new friends and a schedule I'd prefer to operate on (12pm-4am). I'm sure it'll be pretty decent though, a lot of free time to work on new cartoons and such.

And speaking of new cartoons, I'm about a week away from completing my next cartoon, seriously. About damn time right? Well the only reason I made it was because this is my animation final for my Beginning Animation course. I'm trying to fight my way into the one remaining spot for Intermediate Animation next semester.

Anyway, the new cartoon is called "Paul Voltaire, Pole Vaulter Extraordinaire" and it's about Pole Vaulting, really??? It's looking pretty good, I'm pretty proud of it for only working on it for about 2 weeks. I already have a rough cut of the cartoon completed that I needed to have polished for a student film festival my school is having next week. This is just the tentative version, the full version will be playing once I have it done (around Wednesday). If you'd like to take a gander I guess you can. If I didn't have bigger ideas for it, I'd probably just submit it right now but nah fuck you.

Other than that, I've done some more traditional animation such as McDribbles, it would be great if it weren't for the awful animation camera I shot it with.

.
/* */
All the other ones I did I don't care about so whatever. As for that, my other movie "In The Morning" AKA "Jim Wood" is on hold until I can stop hating it, since I occasionally alternate between loving and despising the cartoons I make. Maybe I'll finish it over the summer, marking the fact it's been almost a year since I started it. I think I've only spent like 2 months total working on it but oh well.

Welp, I guess whoever is concerned is filled in on the activities I've felt at liberty to speak of so yeah, yup. I leave you guys with a comic strip I drew for a thread on TheBackAlleys featuring me and MarcK, creator of the NG Halloween 2009 entry, Lychgate.

Hey you little pissers.

Well eh fffff my computer is still on the fritz but it doesn't mean I haven't gotten some animation work done. I've done quite a few things in my animation class that are pretty good and I guess I'll be posting some of my little shitty test animations from time to time.

Anyway, I'm super excited for tomorrow because my school is having a screening of Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team with some of the stars attending. Holy shit it's going to be a good time B) Here's the red-tag trailer if you haven't seen it yet.

.
/* */
As for anything else, I'm still doodling away on some new stuff I hope to do in the future, don't know when or how or why but whatever. Hopefully this idea I have doesn't fall flat on its face but right now I'm feeling pretty confident about it :) So, I'll be ending this post early tonight to present a wondrous little video my brother sent me the other day. If you're a Wes Anderson fan, you should be laughing your ass off. God that guy's Owen Wilson impression is spot on! Ok peace.

.
/* */
Oh and some ball squash-stretch thing I did that I now think moves way too fast. I also did a brick drop animation last night but I just now realized I left my pendrive in the computer in class :/

.
/* */
Wow, this was a very YouTubey post. Oh and there's some sort of... Super... Bowl on tonight.

Hey everybody, long time no see.

I'm now back in school, and have finally started my Beginning Animation courses which I'm totally excited about. We already did our first assignment, a flipbook (gotta start somewhere), I ended up shooting the thing and you can watch it below. It's just a dumb 100 frame metamorphosis thing and the cards are twitchy as hell since they're not regulation size and it's kind of hard to get the positioning exact every time. I'm sure there's plenty more where this came from :)

Anyway, any work I've wanted to do has been halted again... This time I got a pretty vicious virus on my computer that made me have to go as far as use a rescue disk on the damn thing which took FOREVER. After finally cleaning up my computer, you know what happens? My monitor breaks... The VGA port in the back of my monitor is apparently shorted out meaning I need to ship the thing back to Samsung for them to repair. The bad thing is that the receipts and box are all the way home and I'm not going back until Spring Break. Even after I ship it out over the break, it'll still take several weeks and I'm not home for that long so the most likely scenario is that I'll be without my nice, pretty 22" flatscreen until May when I'm out of school. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

During the meantime though, I've begun penciling out new ideas for a series I'd like to do sometime in the future, whether near or distant. There's not A LOT I have done about it right now, but it's a show based on my experiences in YMCA Summer Camps as a kid and counseling at a summer camp for four years. So yeah, a show about the lives of camp counselors in a YMCA style rec center... The characters are pretty funny right now, I'm just tinkering and tweaking and adding to it. You can see a preliminary sketch available on my recently resurrected DeviantArt page. Screw you, I don't feel like linking to it, you go find it.

Anyway, school's good, animating on lightboards is fun (right now) and I guess I'm a bigger nerd than I thought since I recently got into the show Sliders. Everything past the first few beginning episodes of season three are totally shit though. Also got to see Dr. Strangelove FINALLY, and it's a great great great movie. Did I mention it was great??? Welp, see you guys in a month, maybe I'll have something to show for it.

.
/* */
P.S.: I am freaking ecstatic to see Newgrounds XMas Boner won 6th place in the Winter Flash-Off, it did really well considering it placed at all! Oh and go check out my Flapjack fanart.

Wow, has it really been a month since I last posted here? Hope you all had a good holiday and whatnot, it still seems kind of jarring to see its 2010.

Welp anyway, I'm finally back to animating again after taking who knows how long of a hiatus... Yup, I'm back to working on "In The Morning" which has been hanging over my head since June and I believe it may be finished in the next few months. Depends on if I have another brain laggggggggg. Good time as any to get back in the game since I head back to school on the 19th and finally start taking my animation courses B) can't wait! There might be some little bits of cartoons and stuff from class that may show up here, who knows.

Besides that, I've just been relaxing for the last month on break and its been pretty mellow, but I did manage to recover every single cartoon I lost back in September so everything is the way it should be now. Okay, I've already bored myself, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch a bizarrely long 20 hour Simpsons marathon on the local MyNetwork channel...

Oh yeah, I was gonna do a cartoon for the Winter Flash-Off but I couldn't be bothered enough to do it, maybe next yearrrrr!