This and That

by

A few tidbits from around the internet:

Reference for Animators — A few good clips here.

Open Letters – Thomas James has some thoughts on the general lack of business and freelance training in many art schools. He wrote an Open Letter To Art Schools Everywhere and followed it up with an Open Letter To Art Students Everywhere.

Tribute to Milt Kahl – A neat collection of video clips taken from a recent tribute to legendary animator Milt Kahl. Some funny stories and insights about the master draftsman.

Leveraging Social Media As A Creative – A helpful article with strategies for getting more out of your online presence.

Live Tweeting from the Creative Freelancer Conference

by

I’ll be among several attendees live tweeting from the Creative Freelancer Conference this weekend (June 5-6). To follow the feed just search Twitter for hashtag #CFConf.

Afterward I’ll be attending the Licensing Expo June 7-10 and will be likely be posting a few tweets from there as well. So far I haven’t found an official hashtag for the Expo. If anyone knows of one please leave a comment.

You can follow me on Twitter @cedrichohnstadt.

Archive of American Television

by

As a freelancer I spend long hours working in the quiet solitude of my studio. I’m always looking for something new and interesting to listen to in the background while I draw. My iTunes library gets a lot of heavy usage, as does my radio, podcasts, and audiobooks.

Recently I discovered a new resource to add to my list: The Archive of American Television.

This fascinating website is jam-packed with long, in-depth video interviews with dozens (maybe even hundreds) of the biggest names in American television both in front of and behind the camera. And when I say the interviews are long, I mean long. Many are several hours in length. And they are totally free.

I’m a bit of a movie and TV buff and I’m endlessly fascinated with what goes on in Hollywood. I’m not talking about the sleazy gossip–I couldn’t care less about most of that. I mean the creative process, especially in animation but also in live-action. How do scripts get written? How do TV shows and movies get made? What are the business decisions that guide a project? What are the obstacles that have to be overcome and the compromises that have to be made? What’s it like for the actors, directors, and writers to be creative in the high-stakes pressure cooker of Hollywood?

Over the last few days I’ve listened to lengthy interviews with greats such as Chuck Jones, Stephen J. Cannell (creator of “The Rockford Files”, “The A-Team”, and “The Greatest American Hero”), Norman Lear (creator of “All in the Family”, “The Jefferson”, “Good Times”, “Sanford & Son”, etc.), and Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H”). Other interviews I’ll be listening too soon include Joseph Barbera (of Hanna-Barbara), Roy. E. Disney, Bill Melendez (“Charlie Brown” animator), Ron Howard, Gary Marshall, Larry Gelbart, and many others.

There’s some salty language but overall the interviews are fascinating. You can browse by person, TV show, by profession, or by topic. You can watch just selected clips or entire interviews.

The Archive of American Television is a terrific resource for anyone interested in filmmaking.

Good Friday Cartoon

by

Today is Good Friday, the day Christians celebrate the torture, crucifixion, and death of Jesus Christ. So why is it called “good?” Good question.

Earlier in my career I illustrated this 8-page cartoon Gospel tract. I hope it will explain the answer.

Happy Easter!

“VeggieTales” Creator To Launch New Series

by

VeggieTales is the best selling direct-to-video series of all time. Phil Vischer, the guy who created VeggieTales, has partnered with Focus on the Family to create a new DVD project rolling out in March called What’s In The Bible? The official website has just launched, including a video teaser.

What’s In The Bible? is a multi-part series that will walk through the Bible from cover to cover using a combination of puppets, animation, and live action to answer such questions as “Who wrote this book?”, “How did we get it?”, “Why do we think we can trust it?”, and “What difference does it make in my life?”   The first two volumes, “In the Beginning” and “Let My People Go”, will be available March 1. Look for them in your local Christian bookstore. I imagine you’ll also be able to order them online.

I had the privilege of doing a bit of animation for the series. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some of that work here in the future. I can’t reveal much about it yet but the segments I worked on were very entertaining and smartly written, presenting substantive content in amusing ways. It was a lot of fun to work on and I’m really excited about the potential of this project.

For the latest info visit the official website. You can also follow What’s In The Bible? on Twitter and Facebook.

EDIT: Here’s a short video introducing the series…