http://www.kidzui.com/editor/editorial/181064?media=webpage&mode=l1&singular=true

There is a great new game called “Team Fortress 2″. It’s part of The Orange Box by Valve.

While the gameplay is impressive, perhaps even more impressive are the character videos that were created to help promote the game.

It’s hard to stand out in the videogame industry, and the first person shooter type game is probably the most crowded. Valve has taken a potentially stale genre and reinvented it, cramming a ton of style and quality into what for many game developers would be just another shooter.

Watching these videos, you really get a feel for the characters and what they are like. Valve has raised the bar for videogames.
-Floyd Bishop

Net@Nite is a web geek podcast hosted by Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte for the TWiT TV network. On episode 34, they played “Internet People”.

Leo: Is that great or what?

Amber: The video is hilarious.

Leo: That is a unique culture. People who get it are the Internet People. Those who don’t are the squares.

Thanks for playing the cartoon on your show, Leo and Amber!

-Dan

Congratulations to our friend Tom Freston, the newest member of the Dreamworks Animation board of directors.

(via Emil Rensing)

Back to my week. By the way, I don’t want to leave the wrong impression here. My average week is no busier than anyone trying to keep their productions and businesses going. But, for those who wondering…

Thursday, September 20, 2007

I wanted to get this picture from the Nicktoons Studios up. It doesn’t have much to do with the post other than I took it during my trip and it reminds me of the evolution of even the best cartoon shows.

Kent Rice is the new CEO of Starz Entertainment (formerly IDT Entertainment), so he now represents our major production partner on Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! We’d met briefly in New York but I wanted us to get to know each other better, so we met for breakfast at the Graciela, my home away from home, and coincidentally Kent’s too when he first started working in LA.

On my way over to Sherman Oaks for an early lunch meeting, I called into a conference call with Dan Meth, Jeaux Janovsky, Eric Homan, and Carrie Miller about the show packaging for our impending weekly launch of the Meth Minute 39. As usual, we don’t all agree on everything, but I think there’s a solution everyone’s happy with in the end.

Peter Lee is in the LA office of Boston’s Prism VentureWorks. We met for lunch to give me my perspective on Next New Networks and Channel Frederator.

Over the hill from the Valley into West Hollywood to meet author/singer Barney Saltzberg at the Urth Cafe. Barney and I met about 10 years ago and like each other’s work a lot. As with others, we keep struggling to find stuff to do together and haven’t licked it yet.

I didn’t leave my seat for the next meeting, this time on Next New Networks business again with Damien Somerset, the creator/producer of Zaproot, our cool new green show on Viropop. We’d only met briefly before, and in case I haven’t made it clear, I really like getting to know the people with whom I’m doing things. Damien’s a nice, smart, talented guy.

East on Melrose are the Paramount Studios and the production offices of J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot Productions. We’re starting work on a movie and this meeting was the first time we’d met in person. Later on, Bryan Burke, JJ’s longtime producer and collaborator, and I had a great first dinner on the Sunset Strip.

Friday

Art’s Deli for a turkey sandwich for JetBlue, and home to New York.

Master Film-Fighter Justin Johnson directed this clever video of the entire staff of Next New Networks lip-synching “Internet People”. It’s a nod to Vimeo’s Harvey Danger video and also a great way to learn the name of every NNN staff member.

Take a look!

Dan

This episode, #99, Channel Frederator takes your young, fragile, impressionable mind and sits you down to chat with you all about the Birds, the Bees, and a little something called Immanculate Conception.
Let me tell you, from firsthand experience: It ain’t that pretty.
You got bees, stingers, their knees, beaks and wings flying all over the place until BAM! A small magical elf baby appears.
And as you cradle it close, it opens it’s honey covered eyes to stare at you for the very first time, it’s pointy magical elf ears perk up and it giggles at you condescendingly.

It’s a beautiful, yet terrifying, thing people.

—The Coffee Bird, submitted by Bryan Brinkman
Fan Favorite Bryan Brinkman returns to Channel Frederator and teaches us about the Birds. Not in an Alfred Hitchcockian sense, but more like a subtle, quiet mid 1960s breezy Byrds tune.

—14th Dimension ER - Immanculate Conception, Part I, submitted by The Nursery
The Nursery offers us a great humorous short, reminiscent of Richard Elfman’s The Forbidden Zone and MK-12’s Terrible Cosmic Death mixed with a dash of Salvidor Dali strangeness.
THIS WAS COOL.

—Bees, Lots of Bees, submitted by David Seezen
We actually wanted to show this short the other day, but for some reason the file didn’t work for us. I should’ve realized something was whack with the cosmic beehive when I was on the subway, on my way to work, and noticed the Freelancer’s Union poster had a beehive on it with a swarm of bees flying around. I hopped on my 2nd transfer subway car and noticed a poster for the new show, Pushing Daisies. It had a gigantic bee on the flower in that ad. I looked down to my Mister Rogers cardigan sweater I was wearing and noticed the cute little bee patch my girlfriend stitched on for me, emblazoned on my chest. I knew it was gonna be one of those off days. Thanks for submitting David!

—14th Dimension ER - Immanculate Conception, Part 2, submitted by The Nursery
THIS WAS ALSO COOL. Like, REALLY COOL DUDES!

Don’t forget about the 100th episode coming out next time. Same Fred Time, Same Fred Channel.
You won’t wanna miss it!
-Jeaux Janovsky, The Barry White of Cartoon Love Advice

The gunks was a live action show about an all girl rock group developed by the dynamic duo of Kathy Minton and Marc Catapano. My part was going to be animated wipes and bumpers. I was going for a look inspired by those old Beatles cartoons.

Has anyone else gotten My Space friend requests from the characters from “Bee Movie”?

I’ve never seen an animated film marketed in such a way. I guess it’s a neat thing, but I’ve denied two of these so far (sorry Mooseblood). I already have enough fake friends.

Thoughts?
-Floyd Bishop

Fred Moore is credited as the person who redesigned Mickey. He was also one of the principal animators on some of Mickey’s most memorable short films. Unfortunately, the story about him that doesn’t seem to go away is the one about how he died.

There are far too many rumors about the man, as the Blackwing Diaries and other sites will tell you. Just today, I read a post on another forum where someone mentioned Fred Moore’s drunk driving accident where he lost his life. The post was made in such a matter of fact way, that it only helped to further the myth.

Fred Moore was not killed while driving under the influence.

Why is this such a big deal? Well, it’s been put out there so many times for various reasons, that it’s almost seen as fact. It’s a story that is so sensational, it makes the rounds like wildfire.

Luckily, Jenny Lerew and her readers at the Blackwing Diaries are around to set the story straight. I too took the story for the truth when I first heard it. It was only after some research that I found out what had really happened.

While it is nice to know who drew what in which film, it’s also of interest to know more about the artists themselves. As someone who is interested in animation on all levels, I feel it’s important to squash false rumors about artists, especially when it casts their body of work in such a negative tone.

While it is no secret that Freddie Moore liked to drink (and there were many who did in that time), alcohol did not play a role in the accident that lead to his death. If you hear this rumor, please set the record straight.

-Floyd Bishop