Chavettes

Another one of the SuperMe animations I produced for Channel 4/Somethin Else is now online, this one was visually a lot simpler and came together under a pretty tight deadline. It deals with the fairly relatable topic of teenage girls talking nonsense.

I really enjoyed doing the character designs on this one, it's a huge departure from my usual style and it was a lot of fun brainstorming.

Fine tuning during the concept art stage.

Here are some of the original sketches the two girls were picked from:

Self-Esteem (or "A Transvestite's Journey")

In recent months I did some animated segments for a project as part of Channel 4's education department. It's called SuperMe and is targeted primarily at teens to bolster their self-worth and whatnot. A noble cause, although none of the cocksure, swaggering packs of adolescents that roam my neck of the woods seem to need any encouragement in that regard - if anything the irascible scamps need taking down a peg or several.
For the benefit of the less visible (holed up in their rooms with the curtains drawn, no doubt) shy'n'introverted contingent, the SuperMe site went live this month. Here's a fairly detailed Guardian article on it:
SuperMe: Channel4's plan to make the world a nicer place for teens
Personally this has been one of my most positive industry experiences to date. I had a lot of creative freedom for the visual side of things while at the same time being actively encouraged to explore some new visual styles. You can see as much from the development of the concept art:The final animation is now online on YouTube and also as part of the site. Have yourself a look:

Pour Rire

It's a beautiful, sunny day in Montreal, the best city in the world. Yet here I am, alone in a friend's apartment, blogging on her laptop with the curtains drawn. I disgust myself.
Having spent the last week completely away from civilisation, now I'm in the city I'm hurriedly catching up on missed correspondence, work crap and a smattering of early responses to the new film so I can get my ass outside where I'll doubtless stop at the nearest Second Cup (the closest Canuck approximation to a Caffe Nero) and settle in the sunshine. In other words, business as usual.As well as a much-needed break in the country I have a whole mess of Juste Pour Rire shows booked this week, starting last night on an amazing note with Greg Giraldo and 'Opie & Anthony' regulars Li'l Jimmy Norton, Bawby Kelly and the lovable stammering mushmouth Rich Vos. I should elucidate as to why this is relevant - during production of 'The Naughty List' and pretty much every work-from-home commission I've taken on over the last year, I've been listening to O&A nonstop. It's the shit. Nothing takes the edge off having to scan a hundred frames of animation like a good Ramone call, misogynistic Bill Burr rant or some down-to-earth relationship advice from Patrice O'Neal (to my delight both Burr and O'Neal will be playing later in the week, as well as fellow regular Jim Jefferies). Last night also introduced me to Tiffany Haddish, who will hopefully become a big deal very soon as she's genuinely hysterical.Now that I've sufficiently kissed enough arse, it's time to predictably turn the spotlight back on me in yet another abandonment of humility and self-awareness. I'm really very happy to say that 'House Guest' will be getting SEVEN screenings at Anima Mundi, five in Rio and two in Sao Paulo.It's a real coup. Opening the 'Horror Panarama 2' strand, here are the times and places as copied off the website:
Centro Cultural Correios - Praça Animada
18/07/2010-21:00

Cinema CCBB SP
28/07/2010-19:00
31/07/2010-17:00

Unibanco Arteplex Botafogo
21/07/2010-22:00

Cinema 1 CCBB RJ
22/07/2010-17:30
25/07/2010-19:30

Cinema Odeon BR
23/07/2010-20:00

I am a happy Canuck.

The Giver In Me

Tomorrow I'll be heading off to Canada for a while to cavort amongst the grizzlies like Timothy Treadwell. So consider this the final chapter on "The Naughty List" unless it gets picked up by some festivals later on down the road. Here's a promotional teaser-clip I slapped together for it:I've fiddled with the edit a bit but it generally represents the film quite well, hopefully it'll leave people wanting to see more of it. The video is up on Vimeo and also Youtube, please circulate it amongst any animationey-geek-type-peeps that might find it interesting.
Bye for now, until I can locate a tree stump in the Laurentians that might have wi-fi.