fredfilmsblog

[fredfilmsblog]

Original, always.  

FredFilms Postcard Series 11.3

From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Original, Always

SuperF*ckers Created by James Kochalka

Executive Producers: Eric Homan, Kevin Kolde, Fred Seibert

Series 11.3 [mailed out September 12, 2024.3 [mailed out September 12, 2024

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Our responsibility. 

PLEASE VOTE! United States Election Day   Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Early voting begins in some states in September 2024.

FredFilms Postcard Series 7.4 

I’m not exactly sure why I started sending out voting reminder postcards 20 years ago. And maybe it's the Virgo in me, but I’ve tried to be non-partisan about it (”Mind your own damn business!"). 

How come? 

It might have something to do with my guilt for not voting for several years when I was younger. I turned 18 the first time young’uns could vote and I was excited to pull the lever. But, not so much for a few decades. 

Luckily for me, I married an activist who made sure we brought our babies into the booth with us every year until they could cast their own votes. And, not for nothing, I’ve always been angry that one of our political parties allowed the other to highjack the United States flag as their own. I’m so happy that’s changed. 

Anyhow. It might not seem like it, but your vote actually makes a difference. Especially if you’re interested in us moving forward into the future. 

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From the postcard back: 

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From the postcard back:

A public service from FredFilms

You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Please VOTE! United States Election Day Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Early voting begins in some states in September 2024.

Illustration, the cover of Life Magazine, July 6, 1942

Series 7.4 [mailed out September 4, 2024]

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My favorite postcard we've ever published. Mic drop. 

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Original, always Your next favorite cartoon Creators first

FredFilms Quotations “A-bop-bop-a-loom-op- a-lop-bop-boom.” –Little Richard from “Tutti Fruitti”

Photograph from the LP “Here’s Little Richard” Specialty Records March 4, 1957

Series 10.3 [mailed out June 5, 2024]

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“...stand for something different and build loyalty instead.” 

FredFilms Postcard Series 10.4 

“Copy and you’ll always  play second fiddle;   stand for something different and   build loyalty instead.” Neil Pedliham for FredFilms Quotations

Neil Pedliham* wasn’t a name I was familiar with (and there’s nothing about him that I can find on the internet, so I clipped his bio from the book I mention below) but boy did his sentiment ring true to the FredFilms “original, always” promise. 

Not for nothing, I read some of Neil’s thoughts in a fabulous book called “I love it. What is it?: The power of instinct in design and branding” from the UK creative studio Turner Duckworth. 

*Neil Pedliham. After graduating in graphic design from Salisbury College of Art in the UK, Neil began an expansive career working for a variety of consultancies in London. Gaining experience in many key disciplines with a a wide range of clients, he built a solid portfolio of work in corporate literature, identity, packaging, retail, leisure photography and art direction. He began his long association with the health and beauty retailer Superdrug as a packaging designer in the early 1990s. Early into his tenure, he became instrumental in a key brand redirection, incorporating  the restructure of its own label, and was subsequently appointed Design Services Manager, heading up the in-house design and artwork team while also managing the external roster of design consultancies. Having been a joint recipient of several gongs for Superdrug packaging, Neil was twice a judge for the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards.   

After a brief career wind-down as a food photographer, neil is now retired and lives in Wales with his wife, two dogs, one cat and several thousand bees. He spends his spare time playing guitar, woodworking, tending his bonsai and nature watching in the hills around their cottage.  

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Original, always Your next favorite cartoon Creators first

FredFilms Quotations “Copy and you’ll always play second fiddle; stand for something different and build loyalty instead.”

Neil Pedliham, graphic designer & photographer

Series 10.4 [mailed out June 3, 2024]

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100% Average Tomatometer! 

FredFilms Postcard Series 3.13 

From the postard back:

100% Average Tomatometer 98% Average Audience Score

“...the triumphant return to the world of ‘Adventure Time’ fans have been waiting for.”... –Brittany Vincent Decider

Adventure Time Fionna and Cake Created by Pendleton Ward Original characters by Natasha Allegri

Developed by Adam Muto

Executive Producers: Adam Muto Sam Register, Fred Seibert

Series 3.13 [mailed out June 2024]

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FredFilms promises “Original, always.”

FredFilms Postcards Series 9.3-5

In the media world we're living in, I've decided –maybe against our business interests– that FredFilms most important promise is "Original, always." Not "creators first" or "your next favorite cartoon" are any less relevant, but in this world of reboots, spin-offs, and "IP"... well, you know. It's not that IP can't be "original" –just look at Spider-Verse– but it almost never happens. It's so rare that someone special is paired up with strong material. And, not for nothing, there is no "IP" without original ideas. Yes? We're always looking for highly commercial films to make, but with creators with an "original" voice. That often means that no one recognizes the stuff will be popular. Then, there's a surprise when we actually make it and people love the stuff! "Why do you keep using musicians to tell your story? You're in the cartoon biz!" Miles Davis was a true original. For better, sometimes for worse, he couldn't help himself from moving forward. From the very beginning of his career he aligned himself with "next," sometimes virtually inventing the next by himself. Not all his fans came along –some of them are still whining about his changes, even 30 years after his passing– but he usually built even bigger fan bases with his forays into the future. Whenever he was asked why he didn't play his last popular incarnation –"'Kind of Blue' is so great, can't you play 'Kind of Blue?'" he would scowl... "That was then; I'm always looking for what's next. I don't want to play the same thing twice."

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“Write every day...”

FredFilms Postcard Series 10.3

Here’s another quote relevant to what I do for a living (I know, there are a lot...): “If I could give my 13- and 16-year-old one competence that I think would stand the test of time, it’d be storytelling...”

In my case, mystery fiction has held me in its tight grip ever since my 6th grade librarian read a Sherlock Holmes story to our class. And when an author is as good a writer as Michael Connelly, I loyally pay attention. Great characters, great stories, like the best advice I ever got as a wannabe producer.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Original, always Your next favorite cartoon Creators first

FredFilms Quotations “Write every day even if it is just a paragraph.”

Michael Connelly, author Photography by Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Series 10.3 [mailed out April 5, 2024]

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Behold, the king of online cartoons

Ex-Hanna-Barbera whiz Fred Seibert blazing a trail with YouTube network

A couple of times over the years, then-USA Today’s entertainment and tech reporter (and photographer) Jefferson Graham was nice enough to feature me in an article about the cartoons I was producing. First time was in the late 90s with “Oh Yeah! Cartoons,” but in 2015, with streaming video finally reaching the mainstream press (Channel Frederator actually started in 2005) and Graham’s animator son joining our network, he revisited.

Thanks to animator Michael Hilliger, who sent over his copy of the article in 2024.

By Jefferson Graham USA Today July 17, 2015

LOS ANGELES — Fred Seibert wants you to have his card.

And his phone number. He even won’t mind if we print his fred@frederator.com e-mail address right here in USA TODAY.

Seibert, 63 is the online toon king, with 400 million views monthly to his Channel Frederator network on YouTube, but he’s never sure where his next hit will come from.

So he’s always out there looking, at schools, industry gatherings, book signings. You name it.

Next weekend, he’ll be at the Vidcon convention near Los Angeles, a gathering of folks who make their living off YouTube, which is where most folks see his online `toons.

“I have no ideas,” he says. “But I recognize talent.”

That’s for sure. Seibert, then president of Hanna-Barbera’s cartoon studios in the 1990s, is credited with discovering Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the Family Guy, fresh from college, when he hired him to work on Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

For Seibert’s “What a Cartoon!” series for the Cartoon Network, Seibert hit ratings gold, signing up the creators who churned out hits like “The Powerpuff Girls,” “Dexter’s Laboratory” and “Johnny Bravo.” Their series debuted as shorts for first for Seibert’s series.

He still serves as executive producer of “The Fairly OddParents,” a TV series he began producing in 1998 when it debuted on his “Oh Yeah, Cartoons,” series. It’s been running ever since on Nickelodeon.

Seibert’s biggest audiences, however, have come from online, to the tune of some 1.9 billion views for ‘toons like the Bee and PuppyCat and Bravest Warriors.

We had Seibert as a guest on our #TalkingTech podcast in June. At the time, he was averaging 300 million monthly viewers to the Channel Frederator network. Now he’s already up to 400 million monthly viewers, and predicts he’ll top 700 million by year’s end, and 1 billion by 2016.

The reason for the massive growth is that unlike before, when animation was targeted just to young kids, either for Saturday morning TV, and kid-based cartoon TV channels, anyone of all ages can view `toons online.

Seibert’s Cartoon Hangover, a Frederator section where he shows the best of his `toons, bills itself as the channel for “cartoons that are too weird, wild, and crazy for television.”

“Bee and PuppyCat,” about a young woman with a hybrid dog-cat, is written by Natasha Allegri, a woman in her 20s, about a character in her 20s, and thus, obviously not targeted to the traditional animation crowd.

“No matter what your interest online — whether it be anime, or science fiction or comedy cartoons, there is a place for you,” Seibert says. “TV has a tough time supporting the sub-genres. Online is all about sub-genre.”

Channel Frederator is what’s known as a multi-channel network. Cartoons run on YouTube, but his network promotes them, sells ads and distributes the proceeds to some 2,000 of his video makers.

Through Frederator, the channel makers learn about which color to make their thumbnails to find larger YouTube audiences (he recommends yellow) and which keywords to use in the descriptions (“funny” always works, he says.)

“We give them the tools to grow their performance,” he says.

Dominic Panganiban, a 24-year-old animator from Toronto, joined the Frederator network in November, and has seen his subscriber base grow ten times since.

He had been working with Full Screen, another multi-channel network that works with YouTube creators to help them monetize their videos and attract larger audiences.

“Frederator was a better fit, because they cater more towards animation channels,” Panganiban says. Because Frederator attracts folks who enjoy cartoons, “I have more potential here.”

By being part of the Frederator network, Australian animator Sam Green says he’s learned about how to better promote his cartoons, and gotten access to a database of free music and sound effects to use in his cartoons.

He too has seen a spike in traffic.

Being with Seibert "helped me move from my mother’s garage to affording my own apartment in the big city,“ he says.

How did the traffic for both creators go up so dramatically?

Seibert promoted the cartoons to his audience. With 2,000 cartoon makers, that’s a lot to choose from. He says he’ll plug as many of them as "show an interest” to growing their audience. He looks for people who post new work regularly, stay in touch, and ask “what we can do to help them more.”

And despite the massive online audience, Seibert isn’t making money yet, and doesn’t think he will for another three years. 

“Our cartoons are 3-4 minutes long, and the average American watches 6 hours of TV a day,” he says. “We have a long way to go to even that out.”

Photography by Jefferson Graham, July 2015

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“There’s no reason to be afraid..."

 FredFilms Postcard Series 10.2 

One of the truly wonderful, and unusual things about “Adventure Time” –and boy, are there many, many wonderful and unusual things in “Adventure Time”– is that, unlike any other cartoon show I can think of, there’s dialog that one could never image happening in any other cartoon show.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Original, always Your next favorite cartoon Creators first

FredFilms Quotations “There’s no reason to be afraid of things that are beautiful.”

From the “Adventure Time” episode “To Cut a Woman’s Hair” Story by Pendleton Ward, Steve Little, Patrick McHale, Merriwether Williams, Thurop Van Orman Written by Kent Osborne & Somvilay Xayaphone

Series 10.2 [mailed out March 26, 2024]

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“Only those who will risk...”

FredFilms Postcard Series 10.1

Over the years, like many others, I’ve been influenced by all kinds of artists, and in their words I often found keys to my own efforts. After my screw up with the FredFilms Great Artist Series of postcards I still wanted to highlight non-animation/film artists across the spectrum.

Not much of a poetry fan, it was actually the Cecil Beaton photograph of the famous, sometimes controversial writer T.S. Elliot that stopped me in my tracks. But, it was his observation of artistic risk that really got me to kick off the FredFilms Quotation series. 

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Original, Always Your next favorite cartoon Creators first

FredFilms Quotations “Only those who will risk going too far out can possibly find out how far one can go.”

T.S. Elliot, author and poet

Series 10.1 [mailed out March 17, 2024]

Photographed by Cecil Beaton Vintage bromide print on white card mount, July 1956 9 3/8 in. x 9 5/8 in. (239 mm x 243 mm) Given by Cecil Beaton, 1972 UK National Portrait Gallery Primary Collection NPG P869(12)

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Fred ❤️ Keith Haring

FredFilms Postcards Series 4.10

I know, I know, I just said I was suspending the FredFilms Great Artist postcard series. It just caused too many misunderstandings (yes, we still making cartoon films, no, we’re not making documentaries).

But, then I visited the Los Angeles resurrection of the amazing 1987 Luna Luna Art Carnival (read the incredible background at the links; thank you Drake!) and one of its great stars, Keith Haring.

The Keith Haring Merry-Go-Round @Luna Luna, Los Angeles

A lot of art critics seem to feel Keith is, at a minimum, a lightweight. Whatever. I’m no art critic, so I have to say I think his work and his approach to art is fantastic. I love his stuff. 

So, I’m temporarily changing my mind, just for this card. I’d already printed a bunch of the Great Artist cards, Keith’s was one of them. Misunderstandings notwithstanding, it’s going in the mail tomorrow.  Don’t be confused. Be inspired.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Great Artist Series

Keith Haring

Photographer unknown

Series 4.10 [mailed out March 9, 2024]

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We got such a good reaction to last week’s “The Summoning” postcard teasing a graphic novel series that I thought it was a good bet you hadn’t read the interview with creator Elyse Castro that was done in 2017 by the Frederator development group.

frederator-studios:

Frederator Studios’ Cooper Nelson checked in with Elyse Castro, creator of “The Summoning,” the newly released GO! Cartoons short on Cartoon Hangover, to ask a few burning questions. Let’s see if her answers are equally on fire.

Elyse Castro created “The Summoning,” about Claire, a witch, and her cat Edgar, on a quest for a missing spell ingredient. When I asked her our usual opening question—“Where did you study animation?”—Elyse just chuckled.

“Can’t answer that one,” she explained, “I didn’t!”

Rebellious against the ‘usual,’ Castro, of Brisbane, Australia, is a prolific creative, with experience ranging from playwriting to comics to taxidermy—she recently gave blacksmithing a go. Below, she doles out the deets on “The Summoning,” and leads us down her windy path to cartoon-creating.

So what did you study in school?

I went to uni for theater and visual art, but halfway through got really into the culture of tattooing, and became a tattoo apprentice. My Catholic parents were horrified. I was a tattoo artist for several years, then cooled off it—partly because of a hurt wrist, partly because I was tired of people’s shit tattoo ideas.

I can imagine. So then what’d you get up to?

I was doing freelance comics, some fine art, but also studied to become a drama teacher. I was frustrated about the neglect of arts and theater education in Australia, and decided to quit harping about the problems and lend a hand to the solutions.

Do you enjoy teaching?

I love connecting with the kids. And it’s creative—I teach at an all boys school, so I often write us alternative plays to fit them better, like our own version of “Robin Hood”. It’s a lot of laughs—I love making people laugh.

Is that why you wanna make cartoons?

Oh yeah – it’s always been a big motivation for me. My biggest goal in life all through growing up, and even now, is to make my sister laugh. It isn’t too hard, she’s thinks I’m a riot. She ended up becoming a research scientist, while I’m an adult entertained by Yo Gabba Gabba.

I respect that. So then what inspired “The Summoning”?

Certainly my maniac cats [see Winston below]. And actually, a lot of experiences with my sister. Voices we’d use, stupid things we’d do. And some gross stuff. Like, the whole bit with the dandruff in “The Summoning” was based on a time that I picked a big flake of the stuff off her head. I remember it now, a nice, sunny day…

Aha, gross! Gotcha. What mattered to you while developing your own short?

I thought about what I wanted to see in a cartoon—I’m drawn to the macabre, odd stuff, like my taxidermy. I’m very crafty, always making things, which lends itself to a witch character. And tone-wise, I wanted to keep it real, even have nuggets of education. Like in “The Summoning,” I tucked in a great factoid about poo consumption in the animal kingdom.

Sounds about as educational as a Frederator show gets!

I still can’t believe I have a project with Frederator. It was my childhood dream to make a cartoon, and I’m a huge fan of Pendleton Ward and Natasha Allegri. I even got to work with Natasha, who directed “The Summoning”! I was fangirling, it was so hard to act cool.

What’re your favorite cartoons?

Definitely Daria, Ren and Stimpy, South Park, and Adventure Time.

So about the witchcraft stuff – dabble in witchcraft yourself?

Not really, but I’m very interested in paganism and witchcraft. I study it, love the history behind it. My friends and I mess around with tarot cards sometimes, but I haven’t gone farther than that… yet.

– Cooper

Watch Elyse’s “The Summoning” on Cartoon Hangover!

For the 1 year anniversary of “The Summoning” and Go! Cartoons, bumping @elysecastro‘s interview non-US fans link here!

(this was also my first interview! We’re at ~50 a year later, with video and probs audio ones too on the way. Anthology post forthcoming! ?)

– stillcooper

[fredfilmsblog]

Coming in 2025! A new graphic novel series!

FredFilms Postcard Series 3.9

One of my favorite shorts produced at Frederator for GO! Cartoons was Elyse Castro’s The Summoning (developed by the indefatigable Eric Homan). I loved it so much that when I left the company I asked Elyse to come along to FredFilms so we could redevelop it as a series. Lucky for us, she said yes!

Given the f-up’d state of the kids marketplace, while we continued work on the series I thought we ought to take advantage of Casey Gonzalez’s –FredFilms’ VP development– long time background as a graphic novel editor. Elyse agreed again, and being the hardest working woman in show business (hat tip to JB and Butch Hartman) and agreeable, had it worked it within days and we proceeded to engage super-graphic-novel-agent Judy Hansen to snag us a deal. Which, of course, she did in a quick minute.

I thought about what I wanted to see in a cartoon—I’m drawn to the macabre, odd stuff, like my taxidermy. I’m very crafty, always making things, which lends itself to a witch character. And tone-wise, I wanted to keep it real, even have nuggets of education. Like in The Summoning, I tucked in a great factoid about poo consumption in the animal kingdom.

–Elyse Castro interview 2017

This week’s FredFilms postcard isn’t announcing any particulars (that wouldn’t be smart, yes?) but to give The Summoning super fans some optimism in what has been a disheartening era in wonderful work.

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From the postcard back:

You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Coming in 2025, A graphic novel series from Elyse Castro, creator of The Summoning

Series 3.9 [mailed out February 26, 2024]

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Shhhh, don’t tell anyone about the new The Fairly OddParents screening!

Nickelodeon’s New ‘Fairly OddParents’ Series Will Debut This Spring With Original Cosmo And Wanda Voice Actors

‘Fairly OddParents’ Sequel Series Ordered at Nickelodeon With Original Voice Actors Returning 

Nickelodeon To Launch ‘The Fairly OddParents’ Spinoff ‘A New Wish’ This Spring

Fairly Oddparents Gets a Sequel Series With Original Cosmo and Wanda Voice Actors Returning

A New Wish: Nickelodeon Unveils The Fairly OddParents Spin-off

Update...::: Giant Freakin Robot seems to know about the FredFilms promise...

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Update: This card isn’t being mailed out, and for now, I’ve suspended the “FredFilms Great Artist Series” of postcards.

I got a call from a friend asking me when I was putting out our Beatles documentary; he loved the postcard. But, there isn’t any documentary from us for The Beatles. for Aretha, for Andy Warhol, or for any of the other artists in the series.

We make cartoons, not documentaries. But, I messed up and it’s unclear on the cards. “Series” makes it seem we’re producing something, when in reality, it’s only a “series” of postcards honoring artists that inspire me.

Ah well. I’ll try and figure out how to be clearer in the future. Sigh.

Fred ❤️ Aretha.

FredFlms Postcards Series 4.12 

Maybe there's been a recording re-re-debut as explosive as Aretha Franklin’s Atlantic Records 1967 album, but I can’t think about what it might be. After starting out as a gospel soloist with her father, and then having Columbia Records try and refashion her as a supper club chanteuse, the brilliant visionary, Jerry Wexler found a way to unleash her power on us all.

Truly deserving as a FredFilms Great Artists.

The April 1968 group photograph above (also by David Gahr) showcases the village helped Aretha sing to the world in a voice that they could hear. From left to right: producer Arif Mardin, famed Muscle Shoals musicians guitarist Tommy Cogbill, drummer Roger Hawkins, bassist Jerry Jemmott, Aretha, keyboardist Spooner Oldham, guitarist Jimmy Johnson, and engineer/producer Tom Dowd. Missing? Producer Jerry Wexler.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Great Artist Series

Aretha Franklin @Atlantic Records, NYC April 1968

Photograph by David Gahr

Series 4.12 [never mailed]

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Smile!

FredFilms Postcard Series 5.7

It’s great being in a business where our mission is to make people happy. And while this photograph of blues musician Foxy Ann Yancey, taken by my great friend Roy Langbord in 1973, might not seem it, Ann could let out a belly laugh seconds later if she was so inclined.

Not for nothing, check out Ann’s guitar prowess down below or on your favorite streaming service.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Smile! A FredFilms public service

Foxy Ann Yancey Photographed by Roy Langbord WKCR-FM, Columbia University 1974

Series 5.7 [mailed out February 19, 2024]

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The first FredFilms production tag, by Colin Raff & Jon Kane

Master filmmaker Jon Kane (co-director of the latest film by Godfrey Reggio, scored by Philip Glass, and featuring Mike Tyson!) and I have worked together since... well, since a long time. (The first time in cartoons was for Oh Yeah! Cartoons.) He’s also a music freak and audio master. Jon created the iconic [shout!] “Frederator!,” which branded my first studio with a bunch of animations. Including a few by Berlin based artist Colin Raff. 

So, when I asked Jon to create the audio tag for FredFilms projects, Colin’s unique filmmaking was the first one I thought would be great for the visuals.

Trailer, Once Within A Time 2023

Frederator Studios production tag by Colin Raff and Jon Kane 2018

Frederator Studios production tag by Kirsten Lepore and Jon Kane 2009

Frederator Studios production tag by Carrie Miller & Daisy Edwards, Nathan Sawaya and Jon Kane 2010