Channel Frederator Blog

MC Steve Nelson
Dan Meth’s NYC Drinking and Drawing 2.0 event was a huge success. It was an epic, fun filled night filled with the hippest and funniest animators, drinks, sharpie smell filling the air, and the right touch of Gorilla.

Pimpy The Gorilla (aka Mike Zimmer)
We couldn’t have had the Drinking and Drawing party turn out as successful as it was without the help of two great peeps and personalities. MC Steve Nelson, of Indy Mogul Fame, and Mike Zimmer, Frederator Intern Extraordinaire!

Steve Nelson with D&D Founder, Dan Meth
Steve controlled the drunken chaos with seamless ease, and Mike was a true trooper dressed up as D&D 2.0’s mascot, Pimpy the Gorilla… the entire night. Thanks guys.

Mike Zimmer with D&D Founder, Dan Meth
1) How was Drinking and Drawing NYC compared to the 1st D+D Portland Experience? (if you weren’t at the Portland one, just give your thoughts on the NYC one.)
Steve Nelson: It was really great, everyone was really excited to be there, which made for a great vibe.
Mike Zimmer: Having not been to the Portland one, I thought it was a great.

Pimpy the Gorilla getting in on the Drawing Action
2) How do you feel about the final product? The film.
SN: I think it turned out hilarious. I was a little worried that it wouldn’t come out, because it seemed like people were forgetting to number their cards and often they would just hand us their cards without telling us which station they were at. But when I watched the finished product, I was surprised at how good it looked…I mean, I knew it would be good, but they did a REALLY good job of reorganizing the cards.
MZ: The final film was really fun to watch. Getting the frame rate between being too fast and too choppy was tricky, but I think it turned out just right. The constant movement is so bizarre and rapid, and to see it go from dick jokes to some really beautiful imagery (a bird flying from a mushroom cloud! Not ape related, but really awesome!) made you want to watch it over and over to see what you missed. The mix between great animation and amateur animation was vital, because it was all part of the point of the experiment.

Steve Nelson, MC & Animator, a man of many talents
3) Did everything turn out how you pictured it to? What would be some of the things you would change?
SN: Maybe have a single file line for people to come onto the stage, because it got pretty hectic at some points!
MZ: I guess I pictured people being a lot drunker and a bit rowdier. Having people in preassigned spots didn’t really work, because we just ended up asking who wanted to come up to fill all the empty seats. The turnout was great, and I just hope there’s good retention for the next one. I think starting the drinking earlier is vital to see how the drinking really affects the process of animation. I also think it’d be cool to take advantage of the projector in the bar, maybe investing in a small wireless security camera to take around and put above the people drawing to give everyone a live feed of the view of what’s being drawn on stage.

4) How drunk did you get, and how was the hangover afterwards?
SN: I’m not at liberty to discuss this topic.
MZ: I had a few beers, so I admit I was a little buzzed. The hangover wasn’t that bad, although everyone thought differently when I came into the office a few hours later than normal, but that was just from being out until 3 because of delays on my train. Just to go on the record.

5) Where do you hope to see D+D going/touring/ in the future? What is your dream city for it to be hosted in? I vote for Tokyo, Japan. It’d be all Akira style, growing like a demented, flabby skinned baby… you guys have seen the end of Akira right?
SN: I’d like to do “Drinking and Drawing: Live at the Acropolis“. I believe it was built for Drinking and Drawing.
MZ: I see it just getting bigger and bigger, with live performances from awesome bands to go along with it. Maybe have variations, like instead of everyone drawing on little cards, there’s big drawing sheets on easels, or they can only draw while chugging a beer. I might try and do one at my school, but without drinking being advertised so as not to be shut down by “The Man.” My dream location would have to be somewhere with the best drinking, so maybe Germany where we can drink from giant beersteins to fuel our animated fury. And yes, the end of Akira is super f*cked up, and I hear if Dan gets enough to drink, that happens.

Here’s the film again in case you missed it the first time around.

Channel Frederator’s Jeaux Janovsky, Chris Zagorski & Ben Ross Chillin’ like Animation Villains
Thanks to all who came out and partied hard and drew even harder with us.
-Jeaux Janovsky