My name is Andrew Mccants. I have not worked in the animation industry but I have taken courses in storyboarding and studied animation on my own. I am looking for a entry position in the animation industry so that I can work my way up to become a storyboard artist and flourish in the industry.
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting (as they are wont to do) that Waterman Entertainment, the animation and live-action production company, has acquired the Burbank-based animation company Film Roman from Starz, it was announced today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Film Roman is one of the defining names in animated content,â€Â Waterman said in announcing the acquisition.  “Their track record is unparalleled and their team’s passion for executing top-shelf animation is evident in every frame they’ve created. Once it became clear how thoroughly our companies’ assets complemented each other, this deal was almost a foregone conclusion.
Dana Booton, who has been serving as Film Roman’s general manager, has been promoted to president of production. She will continue to oversee the company’s day-to-day business while also managing development and co-productions. Phil Roman, who founded Film Roman in 1984, is returning in the role of chairman emeritus and has been working with Booton and Waterman founder Steve Waterman.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Besides my Toxictoons. I had a lot of fun designing the weird monster kids designs on the ED EDD AND EDDY HALLOWEEN SPECIAL - BOO HAW HAW that runs every Halloween on Cartoon Network.http://www.youtube.
Also my MASK line at WWW.TRICKORTREATSTUDIOS.COM im very proud of , they have 4 of my masks that they used my designs for. Shirt designs for Metallica,and lots of other bands. An APP coming out in a few weeks designed by ERIC DANIELS. And all the work I did at Continue reading
In the United States Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans and should not be confused with Memorial Day which  is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving.
Since this is an animation website, I wanted to find a way to integrate animation into it and the best thing I could think of was the old Warner Bros. Private Snafu cartoons. If these have never been on your radar, Private Snafu cartoons were cartoons done exclusively for the soldiers during World War II and were racier than the normal WB fare of the day. Snafu was created by Frank Capra of  It’s a Wonderful Life” fame. and as typical in almost all WB cartoons was voiced by Mel Blanc and he clearly sounds exactly like Bugs Bunny which makes them interesting for that reason alone.
Here’s what I believe to be the only model sheet of Private Snafu.
Private Snafu cartoons were a military secret—for the armed forces only. Surveys to ascertain the soldiers’ film favorites showed that the Snafu cartoons usually rated highest or second highest. Each cartoon was produced in six weeks, compared to the six months usually taken for short cartoons of the same kind.
The name “Private Snafu” comes from the unofficial military acronym SNAFU (“Situation Normal: All Fucked Up”), with the opening narrator merely hinting at its usual meaning as “Situation Normal, All … All Fouled Up!”
Most of the Private Snafu shorts are educational, and although the War Department had to approve the storyboards, the Warner directors were allowed great latitude in order to keep the cartoons entertaining. Through his irresponsible behavior, Snafu demonstrates to soldiers what not to do while at war.
In Malaria Mike, for example, Snafu neglects to take his malaria medications or to use his repellant, allowing a suave mosquito to get him in the end—literally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtfUiAbD2FUIn Spies, Snafu leaks classified information a little at a time until the Axis enemies piece it together, ambush his transport ship, and literally blow him to hell.
Six of Snafu’s shorts actually end with him being killed due to his stupidity: Spies (blown up by enemy submarine torpedoes), Booby Traps (blown up by a bomb hidden inside a piano), The Goldbrick (run over by an enemy tank), A Lecture on Camouflage (large enemy bomb lands on him), Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike (malaria), and Going Home (run over by a street car)
They featured simple language, racy illustrations, mild profanity, and subtle moralizing. Private Snafu did everything wrong, so that his negative example taught basic lessons about secrecy, disease prevention, and proper military protocols.
I was fortunate enough do character layout on a cartoon we did for Animaniacs which I  believe is one of  only appearances of him post war, the other being credits in a Futurama episode.
Here’s an animatic of one of the cartoons Weapons of War from the nephew of Harold “Al” Curry the storyboard artist who did them!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrHcU2nBdxshere’s a few more Private Snafu cartoons!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRU5j2kVAI0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc2LF3ZN6cMSince they are public domain, here’s a link to download all the Private Snafu cartoons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FmhPY-YEAA&bpctr=1384197038
Kidscreen is reporting that AmazonStudios have green lit three new kid’s shows…
Amazon has ordered three new original kids series, Dino Dana, The Kicks and Lost in Oz, as well as half-hour special Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas, to debut on its Prime Video platform.
All three series targeting kids six to 11 will be made available for Prime members in the US, UK, Germany and Austria in 2016, while Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas is slated to make its worldwide debut on Prime in the US on November 13.
Created and directed by J.J. Johnson (Dino Dan, Annedroids ), Dino Dana is a follow-up to the 2015 Emmy award-winning series Dino Dan. Produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment partners J.J. Johnson, Blair Powers and Matthew Bishop, co-executive produced by Christin Simms (Dino Dan) and written by Johnson and Simms, the preschools series will feature 16 new prehistoric creatures, an adopted baby dino and two sisters.
Live actioner The Kicks, stars a young female soccer star who is uprooted to California midway through the school year and has to rise to the challenge after finding out her new team has been on a lengthy losing streak. Based on a book series by US Olympic gold medalist and current US Women’s National Team soccer player Alex Morgan, the project is executive produced by Full Fathom Five’s novelist James Frey (I Am Number Four) and Todd Cohen (Lumen), as well as Andrew Orenstein (Malcolm in the Middle).
Rounding out the trio of new series is animated action-adventure comedy, Lost in Oz. The series is set in the modern metropolitan Emerald City, where 12-year-old Dorothy Gale befriends the street-smart witch West and giant munchkin Ojo. Along with Dorothy’s dog Toto, the group sets out on an epic journey to help her get back to Kansas. Lost in Oz is developed and produced by Bureau of Magic’s Mark Warshaw, Darin Mark, Jared Mark, and Abram Makowka (East Los High, Smallville).
Finally, in Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas, Shaun accompanies the Farmer and Bitzer to a country fair, where he cleverly convinces the Farmer to buy three exotic llamas. However, Shaun soon find outs his new roomates are a bit too cozy in their new home, and he’s eventually forced to oust the intruders and save the farm.
The Aardman Animations special is written by Lee Pressman (Peter Rabbit), Richard Starzak (Shaun the Sheep) and Nick Vincent Murphy (Moone Boy), directed by Jay Grace (Shaun the Sheep,Creature Comforts) and produced by Paul Kewley and John Woolley (Shaun the Sheep).
Kelowna-based Yeti Farm Creative expands
and launches original production division
Kelowna, B.C. – Yeti Farm Creative, a Kelowna-based animation studio founded in 2007, has recently expanded into a 7,000 sq. ft., open space, state-of-the-art, dark fibre, geothermal studio in the heart of the burgeoning tech district of Kelowna, British Columbia. The area is often referred to as Silicon Vineyard because of its proximity to the region’s world-class wine country and the growing number of animation, digital and tech companies, such as Disney Interactive, Bardel Entertainment and Hyper Hippo Games, that have set up shop in the community about 390 km east of Vancouver. Along with their move into the larger, more tricked-out studio, Ashley Ramsay, Catalyst and Co-founder, also announced that the studio has launched YetiLABS, a digital-first animation production and distribution company. Their first two original digital-first productions are Knobs and Sweet Tweets and, although it’s early at this point, Knobs has garnered in excess of 200,000 views between both Facebook and YouTube combined in a little less than one month.
“It is an exciting time at Yeti Farm Creative and YetiLABS,†says Ramsay. She explains that over the past eight years, the team at Yeti Farm Creative has been quietly building momentum for both production services, original content development and digital rights acquisition. “We have strategically managed our growth. We hired the right people, found the right location for our new studio, and we made sure that we attracted key partners.†She adds: “We knew that to fully meet our long-term business and creative objectives, we wanted to balance production services with the investment in developing our own original work. We also had to make sure that we continued to provide the world-class quality of work that our clients expect, while we were growing and expanding. Our client feedback and growing client roster tells us that we have done all of that and more.â€
Over the years, Yeti Farm Creative has delivered production services, from design to final animation, to industry leaders such as Atomic Cartoons, DDB Canada, EA Sports and Kickstart Entertainment. They currently have three original digital productions on the go, with two original television properties in development, some of which have interest from major merchandise partners.
Ramsay explains that YetiLABS came about in response to the rapidly changing tides of content consumption, from cable television to mobile. “YetiLABS was actually born about two years ago, but we kept a low profile so that we could develop our projects to the point where we – and they – were ready to share with an audience online.†Ramsay says: “Today, YouTube and Facebook are going head to head in their quest for viewers. YetiLABS is fully immersed and committed to producing and distributing our content for these platforms as they emerge and develop in real time.â€
YetiLABS’ first original series is an edgy, youth-based comedy, Knobs (http://www.youtube.com/
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For more information or an interview with Ashley Ramsay, please contact Ruth Atherley at: ruth@ahacreative.com or 604-886-1788.
