Read 'em and Weep (but not really)

I promised to let everyone (all 8 of you) know what the latest news concerning the S.C.O.D. pitch at MTV, and well, I found out last week and simply haven't had the time to post anything. Here's what happened. We had a meeting with MTV that went very well. There was real, genuine interest in the show. One of the main points of discussion was the demographic of MTV2. MTV2 has it's own demographic, separate from MTV proper. It's more male oriented and currently features most of the network's animated content. All in all, we came away from the meeting with high hopes, simply because all the pieces seemed to fit well. After waiting for over six weeks for our pilot script to be read, after some prodding, I finally got an email back. Here is an excerpt,

"My apologies for the long delay in responding. I finally had a chance to read the script and really enjoyed it. Since we last spoke, there have been some changes in our development criteria. To be considered for pickup, projects are now expected to be able to play on both MTV and MTV2. While Summer Camp might play well for the male teen in the MTV2 audience, it doesn't play broadly enough to work on MTV. Therefore, we're going to have to pass on this project. If you have any questions or want to discuss further, please let me know."

Can you believe that? Unlike many meetings with executives of networks, I have reason to take this email at face value, that its meaning is what it says it is. With that in mind, I have to say, "Bummer!" It sounds as if we almost had a deal by a difference of six months. It was tough to accept since he liked the idea, liked the script, and thought it would work well on MTV2. So some dumb new rule botched the whole thing. What's the point of having two channels then? So you can play the same crap at two different times of the day? That's like buying two suits of the same color and design. I don't get it, but I'm OK with it. All in all, I think we got closer than ever to making a deal which makes it a success of sorts. Now I'm scheduling a meeting with Fangoria TV and am also thinking about Spike TV and Comedy Central. Who knows?

Since the MTV chapter is closed, I'm happy to announce that work on the project has resumed. I have plans to produce more webisodes, continue work on the site, and am looking into producing independently the pilot episode or possibly the second script that is almost completed. The world needs Summer Camp of Death! even if it doesn't know it yet. The independent route will be excruciatingly slow, but slow and steady wins the race. Thanks for your interest, and I'll be sure to add new stuff to the site as soon as we get through the busy holiday season.

Now, for a little description of the character line-up posted above. This is the latest in character design for Mell, Gary, Derek, and Sanchez. These updated models have a new look, new inking style, and are ready to go (all symbolized in Flash, etc.). Truthfully, I'm not completely happy with Sanchez, so there will be a little bit more work done there. How do you like the T-shirt art? This is something I'm looking forward to. I've always thought cartoon characters should be wearing clothes that are more true to life, and that will have a role in the show's design.

NEWS UPDATE

What happens if you stick a knife in Mell's head and let a week or two pass by?


After Halloween, I got so busy, as usual, that I forgot about this Mell-O-Lantern. But, when I finally noticed it, I found the image to be quite fascinating. The decay of this moldy pumpkin reminds me of a decayed body, which matches the theme of the image. I love how the mouth seems to have opened wider in a silent scream. Poor Mell! Anyway, onto some news...

Well, no news is good news right? There actually is some, although the Summer Camp of Death! project has been at somewhat of a standstill. Here's why.

As I mentioned before, the idea was well received after pitching it to MTV. Upon their request, I quickly sent in the pilot that I had been working on for over a year. And then...well, nothing. It's a "hurry up and wait" sort of thing. I walked away from the meeting saying to myself that I'd be surprised if the exec' read the script sooner than two months time. Having pitched a lot of shows to various networks, that's about the turn-around time that I've noticed it takes. In the meantime, I haven't really worked on anything simply because there are so many possibilities that could and would change the creative process if they end up being seriously interested. The main issue is whether or not it would be a 15 minute show (as it stands now), or a 30 minute show (something we contemplated during the pitch meeting).

So, I've been relaxing and taking a break from all things S.C.O.D., with one exception. I have been thinking about new scripts, trying to come up with a season's worth of good ideas. I've also shown my pilot script to collegues who have been giving it (surprisingly) good reviews. And, I've been in touch with said exec' who assures me that the script will be read this weekend! So, to celebrate and also to keep the good vibe resonating this weekend, after six long weeks I've dusted off my writing fingers and gotten a significant amount of work done on script two! And it's a good one! So, for the few of you who read this blog, keep your fingers crossed for me today and next week, and I'll be sure to post the good news (or the not so good news) as soon as I find out.

Happy Halloween!

My first Jack-O-Lantern in about 20 years.



Hopefully you'll recognize the image. This is Mell with a knife through his head! Ouch!

I carved this mostly on Saturday while watching Halloween. It took all all of the first movie and most of the second, which we happened to have saved on the DVR.



The rough sketch I wanted to use.


The ink that I push-pinned into the pumpkin and then used a push-pin to dot all the line work.


This is the reverse that I thought looked neat. Happy Halloween everyone!

Friday the 13th!

So, we had a really good day yesterday. The Summer Camp of Death! crew had a little meeting with an important person over at MTV to discuss the show. The pitch went really well and there was a lot of interest expressed. I'm not getting my hopes up too much since I've had a lot of interest in this show before by another network, but it's always good to come away from the first meeting with plans for a second. Besides, I scheduled the meeting on Friday the 13th on purpose! It just makes too good of a story, doesn't it? If MTV picks this thing up, then I can say in interviews that we made our first deal with MTV on Friday the 13th! Too cool! So, I'm busy scrambling to get some materials together for the next phase.

Meanwhile, I built the scratch track audio for the next webtoon today! The good news is that it's the best one yet. The bad news (for me) is that it's about 3 and a half minutes instead of the 2 that I was shooting for. It's a Friday the 13th tribute but unfortunately it will not be finished for quite a while. I was hoping for the end of the month, but with it being a full 1.5 minutes longer than expected, forget it! If anyone is interested in hearing the audio while you're waiting for the finished product, please let me know.

In celebration of my good meeting, I bought the remastered Halloween DVD and of course the original Friday the 13th DVD. I just watched it recently but didn't have a copy of my own and more than that, I wanted my own copy of the cover art which I posted above. What a cool poster! I also bought Shaun of the Dead which I'm looking forward to watching tonight! Have a great weekend folks!

LATEST NEWS

Doodling at the office:

Above: A marker sketch of Gary with a knife. I've been thinking about doing a series of these, one for each character. This is a study to see what they might look like. I'd like to use some paint for a change. I've submitted the idea to a local gallery and await feedback.

Other news concerning Summer Camp of Death! I got the big N-O from adult swim -- for now. The good news is that other doors seem to be opening right up. I've got a meeting with an exec' at MTV on Friday the 13th, believe it or not. And, I just found out that I know the person in charge of aquiring new content for Fangoria Television!

Plans for the site continue. Friday the 13th and the month of October snuck up on us and it would've been great to have a new webtoon for either of those dates. I've written the new script but it may not ever get worked on. I've got to decide to create either it or the 11 minute pilot. I'm leaning toward the webtoon and if so, I'm shooting for end of the month, but not holding my breath, since that would be record time of just over a month and both the others took four.

Conversion of the character models into Flash is almost complete! The designs are looking better than ever and the next movie, webtoon or pilot will look great!

We have been looking into hiring a musician for an original theme song for the show. With any luck SCOD will have it's own theme music at the top of next year.

Gary Study 01

A quick marker-sketch study of Gary, done on a return envelope.

The Website

The Summer Camp of Death! website is (mostly) complete! After working for several hours over the weekend and the last few days it's now at a point that I consider "good enough" to launch. I already have in mind several things to add to make it better and more fun to look at, which I'll be working on over the next several months. For now, there are some cool things to check out. In addition to the movies you can watch, there are early development sketches like this one:


...as well as sketches of counselors you've never met - the GIRL counselors! You can't have an animated summer camp slasher parody without 'em! Also, you can get FREE stickers, that's right, FREE STICKERS just by signing up as a S.C.O.D. fan, and you could just pretend to like the show to get 'em. I won't know the difference!

One of the things I want to add is an animated intro to the site. It'll visually tell some of the back story. And, of course, I'm already thinking about the next movie. I'm tossing around the idea of producing the 15 minute pilot episode. I'd really like to tell a whole story at this point. We'll see. Until then, enjoy the site!

Summer Camp of Death!

This self-titled piece is the original idea that started it all. Not meant as a story, but as a slice of life showing what it's like for these incompetent, teenage, summer-camp counselors who are destined to relive horror after horror amidst typical teenage buffoonery.
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"Wet Dreams"

Finally! After a two week delay, "Wet Dreams" is up again on YouTube.com. You can watch it right here...

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...or, you can watch the original, and much larger version at www.SummerCampOfDeath.com. Here's a brief history of what happened. We had been working on "Wet Dreams" for months and finally finished it a couple of weeks ago. I loaded it up on YouTube late one Saturday night, and woke up the next morning to find that it had already been seen 29 times! I also found out that it had been yanked for some unknown reason. Maybe it was too racy. Maybe the topless girl was too much? Or, maybe the unlicensed music I was using did it. I wasn't sure because the email from YouTube was vague. So, I finally found the time to make a "YouTube Friendly" version. Originally, Summer Camp of Death! is an idea that we've been pitching to different networks, and these little shorts like "Wet Dreams" were never meant to be seen by the public, so I was scoring them with some of my favorite rock songs. But this latest short turned out so well, and the network executives are taking their time getting back to us, that we decided we couldn't wait to let our creation be a part of this here world of ours. So, the version that you can see up on the site now, will soon have its audio replaced with the audio track from the YTF version, and I guess I'll need to do that for the pitch cartoon as well. But for now, you early birds can see the art as it was originally created. Oh, and please take the time to rate the YTF version. We were up so late last night getting this thing ready, that sometime around 4 a.m., I tried to rate it myself and accidentally gave it only 2 stars! Woops! That's what I get for trying to cheat. P.S. The website was launched last night along with the YouTube posting, so it has some technical errors, some bugs that still need to be worked out. There's much work to be done!

Summer Camp of Death! Coming Soon!

Hiya animation fans. I'm happy to tell you that Summer Camp of Death! is coming soon! Come back over the next few weeks to see what's new!