Rock and Roll Lawyer Episode 1: CheerleaderCab.com

A while ago I wandered into Fellini's on McLendon (I used to go there nearly every night and kind of miss that part of my daily routine; I got a lot of good drawing done while waiting for slices of pizza to eat). One particular night my good pals Chuck and Mack happened to be there. Mack worked on Sealab 2021, Frisky Dingo, and heads the band Attractive Eighties Women, a band you must see if you haven't already. Chuck and Mack were looking for people to audition for "Rock and Roll Lawyer"!

"Do you want to be an actor for us?" they asked.
I said, "Sure!"

At the time of shooting, I didn't think I did very well at all, but I want to hug whomever did the editing because they enhanced it a lot! Thank you, whoever did the editing! I have no formal training as an actor or in improv, so I was very worried and thought the performance was awkward but seeing it now I'm really happy I was part of this project :)

I play a slightly exaggerated/twisted version of myself, haha.

John Cason, who did the brilliant design for the Roll Yer Own flyer (May 26th at the Five Spot, come come come!!), also auditioned and was given a part!

Take a look and tell me what you think:



Many thanks to Chuck for posting the video and Kate McManus for telling me it was up- I think she liked it :) Like Chuck, she's in LA. Also a huge thanks to Erni Crews for introducing me to this group of friends- Erni's in LA too!! But she is ultimately from Jacksonville, FL (DUUUU-VAL!).

Here's the trailer for "Rock and Roll Lawyer"; John's the first guy you see, who shot a dog:



In other news, I might be doing a tiny bit of animation at work, which would be a dream come true! I'm also hoping to have something short done for Roll Yer Own but I've been having some trouble focusing lately.

Here's a tiny sample though:



That's all for now!

Two Links to Blog Posts, Brief NYC Trip Blurb

So thanks to the generosity of Charles Judson, Gabriel Wardell, and Dan Krovich (of IMAGE Film & Video who do the hard work of putting on the Atlanta Film Fesival, which is no small task), I got to do the filmmaker Q&A and a brief introduction to "Animation Extravaganza"! I particularly loved the Q&A part- asking filmmakers questions was fun!

My pal Jay stayed the whole time and wrote up an excellent review of the event. Thanks Jay! :) In fact he wrote reviews of every day of the entire fest. He's dedicated!

The other link I want to share with you is Tim Rauch's email to me turned blog post where he describes in fascinating detail his process behind his animated film Germans in the Woods. Tim is doing a series of these films based on StoryCorps which you might've heard on NPR. It's incredible- the story is a real (and intense) experience narrated by a real WWII veteran. I would love to show it at this year's Animation Attack... I can't wait to see more of these- the material Tim is working with is so heartfelt and it comes through in his drawings. Tim and his brother Mike have a page for their studio at rauchbrothers.com.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tim when I visited NYC and went to the ASIFA-East board meeting, thanks to the kindness of David Levy (ASIFA-East's awesome President). Thanks again ASIFA-East folks for being so welcoming! :)

I had a great time in NYC! Tim was one of several amazing folks I got to meet when I was up there. I also got to stop by Augenblick Studios briefly- they're working really hard on my new favorite series Superjail, created by the unbelievably talented Christy Karacas. We actually showed Christy's incredible films Space War and Bar Fight here in Atlanta at the 2007 Animation Attack, part of the Atlanta Underground Film Festival; they're two of my favorite shorts ever. Many many thanks to Aaron Augenblick, Christy Karacas, and Vanessa Riegel for their kindness!

I was SO excited to meet Aaron and Vanessa and Chris Conforti and several others at a bar in Brooklyn- all because of my good pal Stephen Schor, who gave me a couch to crash on and is good friends with Vanessa. In my mind he is a hero. The fact that Aaron liked my drawings meant so much to me. Maybe I'll post a picture or two another time!

That's it for now! Don't forget about Roll Yer Own! :)

I have been busy!

I'm now President of ASIFA-Atlanta. Joe Peery, our previous President, did an awesome job, and it's an honor to take over from him.

"Roll Yer Own" is coming up again! Please submit or come and watch! It's free! May 26th, Five Spot. I would venture to say it's the most important event for independent Atlanta animation so far. Beautiful flyer by John Cason:



Recently it was Bryan's birthday. I drew this for him on a two-by-two foot board, something I learned to do from Hand Job:



I drew two of Bryan's characters seen prominently in his masterpiece GETGOT. Can you spot them?

And somehow Emer got ahold of the piece momentarily at Estoria, resulting in this picture, which I freakin' LOVE. It's so perfect:



Also: come to the Atlanta Film Festival's "Animation Extravaganza", at Midtown Art Cinema, April 18th, 9:30pm! I might be handling the filmmaker Q&A.