Sunday, December 9, 2012

Spongebob Christmas Redux!

Hello Internets!

Its been another couple of busy months!  I can't believe its the holiday season already!

I wanted to let you know just in case you missed it the first time around, The Spongebob Christmas special I worked on ("Its a Spongebob Christmas!) with the amazing gang over at Screen Novelties, is airing again tonight at 7:30 on Nickelodeon.  Please check it out!

Here is a preview:




Another clip:


I had an absolutely great time, working on this project with a group of amazingly talented people!

I'll be posting some behind the scenes pics and a video soon!

Until then....

Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Story of Pines - Behind The Scenes

Thank you for all of the kind words and amazing support of our little film The Story of Pines!  It's so gratifying to know that people have enjoyed the film. Thank you!

The great folks over at Participant Media and Take Part have put together a series of behind the scenes videos about the collaboration with Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy

Unfortunately not all of the crew was there during the filming but a good number of them were.  Thanks again to all the amazing and talented crew for all you did to help realize this little film!

Here are the first two videos on Animating and Directing.

They are short and sweet, check them out!





I'll be posting more of the videos as well as some behind the scenes pictures soon!

Did you can spot the blooper in the "Animating" clip?
With apologies to Matt Manning and Pete Levin ;-)

By the way A Fine Frenzy's new album "Pines" is out now!  It served as the basis for the music and story in the film.  Its pretty great!  Go get it!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Story of Pines

The moment has arrived.  Here is The Story of Pines.

Thank you all for the support.  Please enjoy.  


Thank you to everyone who helped to make this film possible!  

Please spread the word!

More to come about the making of the film in future posts.  Stay tuned!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Film Preview!

Hello Internets!

Please check out the trailer/preview for the new film I directed, The Story of Pines!




It was made in collaboration with Alison Sudol of the band A Fine Frenzy.

Stay tune for the Web Premiere later this week!

More to come!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Sam Jackson Has Somethin' to Say!/WTFU!

Hey check this out!  It's a web spot I worked on for the election.

Its kind of NSFW if you don't like cursing.

But it's funny, its got Samuel L. Jackson in it and it supports President Obama's re-election.

So f**k it and watch it at work anyway!




This spot was sponsored by the Jewish Council for Education & Research a liberal super PAC.  They're the same group that sponsored "The Great Schlep" in 2008 supporting President Obama's election and starring Sarah Silverman.

"WTFU" was Produced by Jesse Schiller, Written by Adam Mansbach and Directed by Boaz Yakin & Kitao Sakurai.

I served as Animation/VFX Supervisor, and got to work with a super talented animation team including Karen Knighton, Kyle Capps, Justin Connolly, Maria Sequeira and Richard Van As

The gig was a lot of work in a short period of time, but I'm really glad I got the chance to work on such a fun spot with such a talented crew and hopefully, in some small way, help to re-elect President Obama!

So America, stop bullsh*ttin'/get out there and sell some cakes and cookies NOW!

Monday, August 27, 2012

The Story of Pines/Choose to Go!

Hello all!

If you are in Los Angeles this week I want to encourage you to see the new film I directed called "The Story of Pines"  It's playing at the Nuart Theater this Tuesday -Thursday (August 28-30) @ 2:00pm and 3:30pm along with an hour long selection of short films.

Here is the poster for the film:



Working on this film was an terrific experience!  A dream really!

I got to work with a gifted and dedicated crew as well as the amazing and talented Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy.  And it was all made possible by the fabulous folks over at Participant Media!

If you have the opportunity please try to make it to this screening.

There will definitely be more updates about the project and the making of in the weeks and months to follow.

Thank you all for the support, and I hope to see you at one of the screenings!



Thursday, August 16, 2012

Support For a Worthy Cause

Shelia Sofian is an independent animator and director.

She creates animated documentaries using a type of animation called "paint on glass".  She is an excellent animation instructor and serves as an Associate Professor in the John C. Hench Department of Animation & Digital Arts at USC. Along with my parents, for me she is the model of what a good educator can be.

She also happens to be a friend, colleague, and one of my primary mentors in the world of animation.

And she needs your help for a worthy cause.

http://www.indiegogo.com/TruthHasFallen

Please join me in helping to raise finishing funds for her film "Truth Has Fallen"  an animated documentary about people wrongfully convicted of murder.

Here is a short clip of "Truth Has Fallen" with Sheila discussing the film:



Please take a moment to visit her campaign on indiegogo.com and if you can, contribute.

Thanks!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Boom! Chrome Away From Home

Here is a spot I worked on at the beginning of the year for Google Chrome.  Check it out!



It was produced by the folks over at Superfad and directed by Nando Costa, with cinematography by Bryce Fortner.

It was quick, fun job working with a great crew!

I'll post some behind the scene pictures soon!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Yo! Lego Animation, OKAAAY!

Check this out!

Here is a fun clip with with Mr. Donald Faison talking about his time in the world of Lego Stop Motion among other things. It also features a brief appearance from myself and the talented and hard working Richard Van As.

Take a look!




Meeting Michael Yo was fun and as always working with Donald as well as Richard was a blast!

There's a bit more work still to be done on Black Storm Trooper 3, but the new episode looks great so far, has a more involved story and introduces a slew of new characters.  I'll keep you updated and let you know when it drops!

More exciting stuff coming soon!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Oops I Did It Again!/Share Our Streets

Well I did it again...Its been months since I last posted.  Once again a busy work schedule has kept me from posting on a regular basis. I won't make any empty promises but from here on out I will try to keep up with posting as best I can.

The great thing about being busy is that there will be lots of things to post about in the near future.  I've been working on some really exciting projects that I look forward to sharing.

First up is a series of bike safety PSAs I worked on last year for the city of Long Beach, CA.

Here are two of my favorites. Take a look!





The project was I lot of fun!  I served as the Animation Director and principle stop motion animator.  I got to work with the beautiful and talented Ms. Laura Yilmaz who both designed and directed the spots!  We had a small but dedicated crew that was loads of fun to work with!  I'll be posting some behind the scenes photos and more of the spots soon!

(And I'll do my best to keep the posts coming!)

Stay tuned!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Absorbent and Yellow & Porous is He...

So...

Happy March!

It's a busy time in the world of stop motion! My work schedule has again kept me from posting regularly.

Not that the world has necessarily been clamoring for it, but what's the point of having a blog if you don't keep it updated, right?!

So, I will try my best to prevent said events from happening again. And work hard to keep up the regular posts.  The first of which is this!

Here is the special 10th Anniversay title sequence for Spongebob Squarepants.  I worked on this a few years ago with the fellas over at Screen Novelties International.

Those guys are dear old friends and as always, it was an absolute pleasure to work with them on this.

Take a gander!





Working on this was a blast!  I'll be posting some behind the scenes pics in a little bit.

I just paid a visit over at their new studio and rumor has it that there may be some new Spongebob stop motion on the horizon...Stay tuned!