wowunlimited

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Castlvania’s Season 3, from WOW!’s Frederator Studios, drops today on Netflix. And the reviews are already stellar, with a 10/10 from IGN.com: “Netflix's Castlevania series is undoubtedly the finest video game adaptation ever made.” 


INTERVIEWS I09 Gizmodo - How Castlevania Nails the Balance So Many Video Game Adaptations Mess Up Syfy Wire - CASTLEVANIA CREATORS EXPLAIN SEASON 3'S 'PSYCHEDELIC HORROR' AND BUILDING ON THE GAME Io9 Gizmodo - Attractively Sad Vampires and Psychedelic Horror: Warren Ellis and Kevin Kolde Lift the Lid on Castlevania's Third Season 


REVIEWS But Why Tho Podcast - REVIEW: Castlevania Season 3 is as Horny as it Gory Collider - ‘Castlevania’ Season 3 Review: Unlike Anything You’ve Seen on Netflix So Far Bloody Disgusting - [Review] “Castlevania” Season 3 Is the Netflix Series at Its Best and Bravest Comic Book Resources - Castlevania Season 3 Goes Darker, Deeper and Stranger Flickering Myth - Netflix Review – Castlevania Season 3 Gamespot - Netflix's Castlevania Season 3 Review - Extremely Metal In Every Way Kotaku - Castlevania's Third Season Is A Violent Slow Burn Den of Geek - Castlevania Season 3 Review (Spoiler Free) Nerdist - CASTLEVANIA Season 3 Marries Magic, Murder, Mayhem, and Morality (Review) Nintendo Life - Feature: Castlevania Season 3 Review - Netflix Ups The Ante With A Darker, Raunchier Series

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What’s New Catbug? 

Quite a lot from Frederator, as you’ll see from the Deadline Hollywood article below. And enough to demand a new limited edition postcard. 

Deadline Hollywood: December 3, 2019 6:00am ‘Catbug’ Animated Series In The Works From ‘Adventure Time’ Producer Frederator Studios By Dade Hayes

The company has begun shopping a Catbug series to streaming and linear networks, planning to supplement it with a social networking plan, short-form animated videos, e-books and web comics.

The title character was created by Breehn Burns and featured in the Frederator digital series Bravest Warriors, which is run by Burns. More than 25 million views and 400,000 likes have been recorded on Bravest Warriors videos starring Catbug. On TikTok, the character has garnered 135 million views, while GIFs on Giphy.com featuring Catbug have racked up 200 million loops.

In addition to Adventure Time for Cartoon Network, Frederator’s credits include Castlevania for Netflix and Bee & Puppycat for YouTube channel Cartoon Hangover. The studio was founded by Fred Seibert, an animation specialist whose early career was marked by pioneering executive posts at MTV and Nickelodeon as both networks emerged as major pop-culture forces.

(More here…)

From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 300 people to receive this limited edition Frederator postcard!

www.frederator.com

What’s New Catbug? Catbug created by Breehn Burns

Illustration from Volk Corporation, Pleasantville, NJ USA

Series 47.4 [mailed out January 31, 2020]

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WOW!’s Frederator Studios’ production of Natasha Allegri’s Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space was honored to receive the award of Best Animated Series 2019 from the prestigious Ottawa International Animation Festival in September.

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Frederator Studios, A WOW! Unlimited Media Company, announces all new episodes of supernatural success “Costume Quest” to debut on Amazon Prime Video on October 11.

Followed by the premiere of a holiday special “Heroes on Holiday” on Novmeber 22.

The latest Episodes to Join Next Generation Media Company’s Stellar Roster as Demand for Premium Animation Content Continues to Grow

(New York, NY) August 29, 2019 -- Costume Quest, the latest hit animated series produced by Wow! Unlimited Media’s Frederator Studios, announces the addition of seven brand new episodes that will premiere on October 11.  Additionally, a 35-minute holiday special, Heroes on Holiday, will premiere on November 22.  Coming off the heels of the series’ highly anticipated release earlier this year, seven half-hour episodes will debut as a continuation of season one on Amazon Prime Video this Fall.  Part one of the series received immense critical praise, with Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times  saying that the program “starts well and gets better, growing looser and more poetic,” while noting the detailed animation and “fresh” writing. 

Based on the eponymous video game series by Double Fine Productions (Psychonauts, Broken Age) and the world originally created by Tasha Sounart, Costume Quest is a funny cartoon mystery series tracking a team of four kids as they use their imaginations and a whole series of magical, transformative costumes to battle the sinister monster Bob Dickerson (voiced by Christopher McDonald) as he launches his diabolical plan to take over the sleepy town of Auburn Hollow.  Heroes on Holiday, the series’ 35-minute holiday special, will kick-off the season when it premieres on November 22.  Audiences will find out how Wren, Reynold, Everett, and Lucy put Christmas in jeopardy trying to balance the desire to experience their favorite Auburn Hollow holiday traditions with their responsibilities as heroes.  

"The debut of Costume Quest earlier this year thrilled fans of the cult hit video game as well as younger viewers just discovering the characters and story, and we are looking forward to continuing the adventure with these additional episodes, just in time for Halloween, followed by our festive holiday special” said Fred Seibert, CEO, Frederator and Chief Creative Officer WOW!. “Our talented team has done a great job of bringing the charm of the beloved video game to life through the series and we are sure fans will be excited to see what comes next.”

Established by industry luminaries Fred Seibert, founder of Frederator and producer of all-time animation hits like Adventure Time and The Fairly OddParents, and Michael Hirsh, godfather of the Canadian animation scene and founder of Nelvana and Cookie Jar, Wow! Unlimited Media combines two of the biggest animation studios (Frederator Studios and Rainmaker/Mainframe Studios) and along with its bold vision, takes center stage in the emerging battle for animation supremacy.  

The company has rapidly built a strong production portfolio with a number of high-end properties, including Castlevania, a top-rated animation series on Netflix, ReBoot: The Guardian Code (Netflix) and Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures (with Mattel for Netflix), Bee and PuppyCat (Cartoon Hangover), Costume Quest (Amazon) and Spy Kids Mission Control (Netflix). 

About Wow! Unlimited Media

WOW! is creating a leading next generation kids and youth entertainment business by focusing on creating top end content, and by building and partnering with the most engaging platforms. The Company's key assets include: Frederator Networks Inc., which includes the world's #1 digital animation network, Channel Frederator Network, Frederator Studios, an animation production company, as well as video-on-demand channels on digital platforms; and one of Canada's largest, multi-faceted animation production studios, Mainframe Studios, which produces animated television series and long-form animated features. 

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It’s seems like it’s a podcast summer here. Fred Seibert, WOW!’s Chief Creative Officer and Founder/CEO of Frederator Networks, is interviewed by All Things Video host James Creech about “The Secret Behind Specialty Programming.” And in particular, animation in the era of the unlimited shelf space brought to us by streaming. 

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Fred Seibert, WOW! Unlimited’s Chief Creative Officer and CEO of Frederator Networks, was the featured guest on Math & Magic, the podcast of I Heart Media’s CEO, Bob Pittman.

Math & Magic: Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing

July 25, 2019

Fred Seibert: “When in doubt, count!”

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“YouTube Millionaires: Frederator’s ‘The Leaderboard’ Is Building An Inclusive Destination For Gamers Of All Sorts”

WOW! Unlimited’s Frederator Networks YouTube channel has passed the threshold of 1 million subscribers. Read about it below in Tubefilter.

Tubefilter August 5, 2019 By James Loke Hale

“Welcome to YouTube Millionaires, where we profile channels that have recently crossed the one million subscriber mark. There are channels crossing this threshold every week, and each has a story to tell about YouTube success.

“The more than one dozen people who come together to produce The Leaderboard’s busy slate of programming all have one thing in common: they love video games.

“The Leaderboard, which uploads multiple videos per week about already-popular and up-and-coming games, is helmed by Channel Frederator Network’s VP of programming and networks, Jeremy Rosen. He’s watched the channel grow from a small subsidiary hub of Channel Frederator — where it was meant to offer some content for the network’s gaming fans — into its own standalone entity.

“Rosen says that in the past couple of years, the channel’s development has zeroed in on two key elements that make The Leaderboard stand out from other gaming channels: positivity, and being welcoming to casual gamers. The gaming space can be full of toxicity, from the sexism of Gamergate, to creators who build their platforms solely by posting negative reviews of games, to players who have a set of criteria people must meet in order to be 'real gamers.'

“In contrast, The Leaderboard’s content is all about genuinely enjoying games and other gamers, regardless of whether those players are hardcore Call of Duty pros or occasional Stardew Valley farmers. And that kind of content is what’s pushed The Leaderboard’s following up past one million.

“Moving forward, The Leaderboard team is looking to expand with new hosts, launch a new channel or two, and host live events for subscribers to share in the love IRL.”

Read Jeremy Rosen’s interview about The Leaderboard here.

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Awards nominations for Reboot: The Guardian Code and Bravest Warriors from WOW! Unlimited Media.

Mainframe Studios, WOW! Unlimited Media’s Vancouver based animation and live-action television production studio, has received impressive nominations from both the Daytime Emmy Awards and The Canadian Screen Awards for its hit YTV/ Netflix Original series ReBoot: The Guardian Code.  These major accolades come at a time of significant growth for WOW! Unlimited Media as it looks to reshape the future of the animation content landscape.

ReBoot: The Guardian Code, the first TV series to use the UnReal game engine for its animation, garnered multiple Daytime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Sound Mixing, and Outstanding Performer in a Children’s, Family Viewing or Special Class Program category for actress Hannah Vandenbygaart. Meanwhile, The Canadian Screen Awards, which celebrates the finest in Canadian TV, film, and digital content each year, nominated the creative teams behind ReBoot: The Guardian Code in two of their categories: Michael Hefferon, Larry Raskin and Kim Dent Wilder for Best Children’s or Youth Fiction Program or Series and Michael Dowding, Steven Elford, and Marcel Williams for Best Visual Effects.  

“Being honored with nominations from these esteemed organizations alongside other top creative minds in the industry helps further our mission of creating engaging, original content that helps set a new standard in both animated and live action kids’ space,” said Michael Hefferon, President of Mainframe Studios and Executive Vice President of Wow! Unlimited Media, as well as creator and producer of ReBoot: The Guardian Code.  

Kim Dent Wilder, Executive Producer on the series and Mainframe Studio’s Senior Vice President of Production commented: “We are delighted that our work on unique and innovative programming like ReBoot: The Guardian Code, is being recognized among our peers."

ReBoot: The Guardian Code is a thrilling hybrid live-action/ CG-animated original series following the journey of four teenagers, Austin, Parker, Tamra, and Trey. On their first day at Alan Turing High, these unsuspecting teens discover they’ve been preselected to become the Next-Generation Guardians of Cyberspace with a mission to save the world – by defending it in cyberspace. With the help of VERA, ReBoot’s heroes digitize into cyberspace where they use their code-based powers to combat viruses unleashed by a merciless hacker.  Known only as ‘Sourcerer’, this devious hacker seeks to rule the world by controlling cyberspace, and it’s up to the Guardians to stop him.  The show was inspired by the original ReBoot series that premiered on Corus’ kids channel YTV in 1994 and aired until 2001.

“As a studio, we strive to raise the bar for the world of animation.  We hope to continue to identify and implement the best in animation technology to help tell our stories, just as we have with ReBoot: The Guardian Code,” said Steven Elford, Vice President of Creative Technology for Mainframe Studios. Additionally, Elford was instrumental in implementing the UnReal game engine for the series.

These nominations come during a true boom in the kids’ content and animation industry, with WOW! Unlimited Media perfectly situated at the forefront.

Additionally, the Youth Media Alliance has announced its 2019 nominations and WOW!’s studios have received two. 

Once again, Reboot: The Guardian code is honored to have a nomination as an Award of Excellence for Best Program, Live Action Scripted – Ages 6-9 and 9+.

And Frederator Studios’ Bravest Warriors, airing on Cartoon Hangover Select and YTV, is nominated with an Award of Excellence, Best Digital First Content.

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How the epic ‘Lord of the Rings’ deal explains Amazon’s slow-burning media strategy

CNBC March 8, 2019 by Alex Sherman

Like many others in the traditional business media, CNBC is closely following the ups and downs of the tech giants’ foray into their spaces. WOW!’s Chief Creative Officer, Fred Seibert, spoke to Alex Sherman about one of the more intriguing companies: Amazon.com. Excerpts below, and read the entire article here.

• “Amazon hasn’t gotten to the place yet where it has put together all of the levers that would make the video opportunity great,” said Fred Seibert, the founder of independent production studio Frederator Networks, which is launching the animated show Costume Quest on Prime Video on Friday.  “But five years from now, they’re going to be one of the giants in media. There’s no doubt about it.”

• Amazon will be  “one of the biggest friends to viable specialty channels in the next several years,” Seibert said. “Offering media is a great service for customers looking for something special.”

• Amazon has one other weapon that gives it a distinct advantage over Netflix and its other media peers: the Echo. As more of the Alexa-powered devices populate consumers’ homes, it’s not hard to imagine tighter integrations with smart TVs. That opens Amazon up to all sorts of untapped opportunities with advertising and cross-selling products.

“Amazon knows how to run a store,” said Seibert of Frederator Networks. “They’re walking toward how to make media work. If they can marry the two, everyone else in the media business will start to scramble.”

Read the entire CNBC article here.

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WOW! Unlimted’s Frederator Studios’ production of the “Costume Quest” series –based on the video game from Double Fine Productions and the world created by Tasha Sounart– is debuting tomorrow, March 8, on Amazon Prime Kids.

The press is already excited, which makes us excited!

Variety: ‘Costume Quest’: From Halloween Game to Amazon Prime Show

Kidscreen: How Amazon is adapting a game for its newest kids show

Collider: Exclusive Clip from ‘Costume Quest’ Teases Amazon’s Newest Animated Series

AWN: Frederator’s ‘Costume Quest’ Launches on Amazon Prime March 8

bifuteki: Team Behind Netflix’s Castlevania Brings Gaming  Hit Costume Quest to Amazon Prime

aNb Media: Cult-Classic Video Game, Costume Quest, Debuts as Amazon Prime Series  

Horror Geek Life: Team Behind Netflix’s ‘Castlevania’ Brings ‘Costume Quest’ to Amazon Prime

Anime Superhero: “Castle Quest” Animated Series Coming to Amazon Prime on March 8, 2019

CG Magazine: Costume Quest TV Series Premieres on Amazon Prime on March 8th

PopInsider: ‘Costume Quest’ Show Comes to Amazon Prime

The Gamer’s Temple: Costume Quest inspires animated series

Quirkstatic: Wildly Popular Video Game ‘Costume Quest’ Premieres On Amazon Video In New Animated Series

Dual Shockers: Double Fine’s Costume Quest is Set to Become a Cartoon Series Debuting Later this Week on Amazon

Los Angeles Times: Exclusive ‘Costume Quest’ clip shows the kids getting their new Halloween costumes

Paste: What to Expect from Amazon Prime's Costume Quest TV Show

World Screen: Costume Quest Game Adapted as Series for Amazon Prime

Screen Rant: Costume Quest TV Show Premieres On Amazon Prime This Week

The Good Men Project: Team Behind Netflix’s Castlevania Brings Gaming Hit Costume Quest to Amazon Prime March 8th!

Review, Los Angles Times: ‘Costume Quest’ smart cartoons for young and/or old

Review, SideQuest: ‘Costume Quest’ Animated Adaptation Finally Offers Something Sweet

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“Sorry to Burst Your Bubble” 

Kidscreen By Gary Rusak March 1, 2019

Is premium streaming "sustainable, or are the SVODs spending themselves into a bubble burst? (Pop!)" Kidscreen wanted to know, and checked in with WOW!'s Michael Hirsh and Fred Seibert.

Spoiler alert: WOW! is bullish.

Illustration: Mattel’s Barbie’s Dreamhouse Adventure (Netflix), produced at Mainframe Studios

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When The Information, one of the great new business publications, wanted to find out how streaming was affecting cartoons, they reached out to WOW!'s Michael Hirsh and Fred Seibert. They described their point of view on the state of our industry and then directed the writers to several of our friends for their perspectives.

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FORMER TOP DREAMWORKS EXECUTIVE MARK TAYLOR JOINS WOW! UNLIMITED MEDIA AS CONSULTING EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND HEAD OF STUDIO PARTNERSHIPS 

TAYLOR LATEST TO JOIN NEXT GENERATION MEDIA COMPANY AS DEMAND FOR PREMIUM ANIMATION CONTENT FROM MAJOR MEDIA AND STREAMERS CONTINUES TO EXPLODE

(New York, NY) February 6, 2019 -- WOW! Unlimited Media, the leading next generation animation media powerhouse led by legendary industry trailblazers Michael Hirsh and Fred Seibert, has named Mark Taylor as Consulting Executive Producer and head of Studio Partnerships. Most recently, Taylor was the founding Executive Vice President of Dreamworks Television Animation, where he was a driving force behind the expansion in the studio’s TV series production pipeline. 

In his position, Taylor will leverage his range of experience and success in the industry to facilitate Wow! Unlimited Media’s growth efforts and maximize the success of the company’s blue chip animation studios: Rainmaker/Mainframe based in Vancouver and Frederator Studios based in Burbank, CA. His focus will also include identifying and implementing new animation development technologies, and attracting best in class talent and projects. As a key member of the executive team, he will be based at Frederator’s Burbank studio.

"Mark’s extensive global experience and knowledge of all aspects of production make him the perfect addition to our team,” said Fred Seibert, CEO, Frederator and Chief Creative Officer WOW!. “His collaborative relationships in the animation industry are ideal for a company like ours that always puts talent first.” 

Prior to Dreamworks Animation, Taylor was the first General Manager and SVP of Nickelodeon  Animation Studios, where he led the charge in production oversight on Nicktoon series including contemporary classics like Spongebob Squarepants , Nick Jr.’s Go Diego Go , Dora the Explorer , Ni Hao Kai-Lan , and the Frederator productions The Fairly OddParents, Oh Yeah! Cartoons , and My Life as a Teenage Robot .

Michael Hefferon, Executive Vice President of Wow! Unlimited Media who also heads up Rainmaker/Mainframe Studios commented, “Mark is a stellar and widely admired force in the animation world, so we are very pleased to have him join our dedicated team at Wow!. We are confident that his talents align seamlessly with our mission and vision for our company as we look to reshape the future of the animation content landscape.”                                                          

Taylor’s onboarding comes during a true boom in the animation industry, with Wow! Unlimited Media perfectly situated at the forefront. Established by industry luminaries Fred Seibert, founder of Frederator and producer of all-time animation hits like Adventure Time and The Fairly OddParents, and Michael Hirsh, godfather of the Canadian animation scene and founder of Nelvana and Cookie Jar, Wow! Unlimited Media combines two of the biggest animation studios (Frederator Studios and Rainmaker/Mainframe Studios) and along with its bold vision, takes center stage in the emerging battle for animation supremacy. The company quickly put itself on the radar with a number of high end properties including Castlevania , a top rated animation series on Netflix, reboot ( Netflix) Barbie Dreamhouse Adventure ( with Mattel for Netflix), Bee & Puppycat ( Cartoon Hangover Select/Verve) , and Spy Kids Mission Control ( Netflix). Currently, WOW! Unlimited Media has several major projects in the works for a number of third parties, including Amazon’s Costume Quest animated series coming early 2019.

Taylor added, “Because of Wow! Unlimited Media’s exce ptional record of success as a new media sensation, I’m honored and looking forward to aiding the team in raising the industry bar in animation content and distribution.”

About Wow Unlimited Media Inc.

WOW! is creating a leading next generation kids and youth entertainment business by focusing on creating top end content, and by building and partnering with the most engaging platforms. The Company's key assets include: Frederator Networks Inc., which includes the world's #1 digital animation network, Channel Frederator Network, Frederator Studios, an animation production company, as well as video-on-demand channels on digital platforms; and one of Canada's largest, multi-faceted animation production studios, Mainframe Studios, which produces animated television series and long-form animated features.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information visit:

Website: www.wowunlimited.co  

Investor Relations: Bill Mitoulas Tel: (416) 479-9547

Email: billm@wowunlimited.co

Dreamworks Animation’s Mark Taylor joins Frederator, Rainmaker/Mainframe & WOW! Unlimited. 

When Mark Taylor and I were both inducted to the Animation Magazine Hall of Fame in 2017, little did I know that he was contemplating his next steps beyond Dreamworks Animation Television and Nickelodeon Animation. We’d tried to work together at Hanna-Barbera, I convinced Albie Hecht at Nick that Mark was the perfect guy to supercharge the building of Nick’s new animation studio. We were finally able to work together for almost 15 years, on Frederator shows ranging from The Fairly OddParents to Oh Yeah! Cartoons, not to mention the original Adventure Time short.

Here’s what I said in our press announcement: “Mark’s extensive global experience and knowledge of all aspects of production make him the perfect addition to our team,” said Fred Seibert, CEO of Frederator and chief creative officer at WOW! “His collaborative relationships in the animation industry are ideal for a company like ours that always puts talent first.”

Given all this, imagine my thrill that Mark’s joined our team. You can read some more about his appointment here, here, and here.

Welcome Mark Taylor!

Photo from the 2017 Animation Magazine Hall of Fame induction, Santa Monica, California USA: (left to right) Fred Seibert, Philippe Soutter, Lori Forte, Nancy Cartwright, Glen Keane, Mark Taylor  

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I don’t usually post about talks I’m asked to give, but this time it was special. Frederator now has a lot of colleagues with our WOW! sister company, Mainframe and Rainmaker Studios in Vancouver. There are several hundred of Vancouver’s most talent animation production folks, and I was honored to have 50 of them come by at a lunch hour last week to ask questions about what we’re up to. I know I had a good time, hopefully they all did too!

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Directing Duos: Michael Alcock and Craig George of Spy Kids: Mission Critical

Animation is an inherently collaborative medium, and no one knows that better than the directing duos at Mainframe Studios. With two seasons of Spy Kids: Mission Critical under their belt and a new project on the way, directors Michael Alcock and Craig George shared their process; the results are available on Netflix for your viewing pleasure.

How long have you been working together, and on what projects? Mike: We've been working together at Mainframe Studios since 2016. We've worked on Spy Kids: Mission Critical, Ready2Robot and another, yet to be announced project. We also worked together in 2012 at Atomic Cartoons - Craig hired me (Mike) for my first storyboarding job!

Craig:  It's very strange not to be working together [at the moment]. We're still both at Mainframe but on different projects now, so I personally had some separation anxiety when they moved us apart. Slightly kidding. But I'm hopeful we'll be working together again soon.

In what ways do your strengths complement each other in the directing role? Mike: Craig has more experience directing than I do, which has helped to guide my approach to working with the team and developing a critical eye. We also share a similar sense of humour and storytelling sensibility, which is very helpful during the early stages of development. We're able to bounce ideas off of one another, hopefully weeding out the bad ones and keeping as many of the ones that "work" or make us laugh as possible.

Craig: We really do have the same sensibilities and we’re cursed (or blessed) with the same twisted view of what's funny - which is vital! And when we do disagree, we're able to talk it out and come to the best solution for the project. Mike is an incredible communicator, he's articulate and diplomatic -- all key to being a good director.  I keep telling him that someday I'm going to pay him heaps of cash to work for me!  

How did your collaboration style grow or change while working on Spy Kids: Mission Critical? Mike: During Spy Kids: Mission Critical we didn’t work directly together on the same episodes. We were each responsible for half of the episodes in the season, so our collaboration was limited to the seasonal arc and "big picture" stuff. Once we moved onto Ready2Robot (and the yet to be announced project) we worked together to provide feedback and notes on each script and saw each episode through to the end as a team, rather than individually.

Craig: On SpyKids we were not always working together but in conjunction to get our respective episodes across the finish line. But because I came onto the production in the last season, Mike was a wellspring of knowledge in regards to all aspects of the show.  It wasn't until they put us both on the (yet to be announced project) that our collaboration really congealed. We were working on the same script - solving the same problems - and literally trying to find solutions that made the other guy laugh. And to be honest, it's been one of the highlights of my career in this industry.

What’s your favorite part about season two? Or memorable moment from the production process of the new season? Mike: My favorite part about season two was watching the entire team rally together to make a fun, appealing product. It was hectic at times, but everyone on the team did their best to bring Mission Critical to life, which makes all the difference. It's rewarding to be a part of that kind of passion and dedication - so congratulations and thank you to everyone who helped to make Spy Kids: Mission Critical possible!

Craig: Season two is my favorite because it's the one I worked on the most! But seriously, Golden Brain is a natural born scene-stealer and I loved pushing the animators for that over the top performance that set up his comedic moments. And of course the best part of most season two's is that the big problems have been dealt with and things are starting to hum along nicely. Everyone is in good spirits and everyday it's fun to come to work. Mike nailed it on the head, our team was amazing and the proof is on the screen. Great job everyone!

-- Andie Newell

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Unreal Animation: An Interview with Mainframe Studio’s Game Engine Pioneers

It’s a classic story of invention: someone looks at a familiar tool, applies it to an unexpected problem in an unexpected way, and opens a door that didn’t exist before. In this case, Mainframe Studio’s Steven Elford and Marcel Simons flipped a program used to create video games on its head to create ReBoot: The Guardian Code, one of the first television shows made in the Unreal Engine. Now the studio is stretching Unreal to its limits to push the medium of animation, with Elford and Simons in the vanguard.

Andie: How did both of you find your way to Mainframe? Steven Elford, VP Creative Technology: I was making puppets for the movie Mars Attacks. We were building martians, and then all of a sudden the company that was making the movie decided that they want to do everything with CGI. That was my inkling into the fact that the industry was changing. I went down to work in Bristol [UK] for various companies that made props and parts of puppets for Aardman Animations, then I went on to work at Aardman. While I was there, I transitioned from doing puppet-making into CG. I went back to London to work on the first CG movie made in the UK, and then from there I went to work in Toronto on the first CG feature made in Canada. Then I got dragged up to Mainframe and I came over on a three month contract -- that was seven years ago.

Isn't that just how it always happens. Marcel, did you take an equally circuitous route? Marcel Simons, CG Supervisor: You could say so. When Steen was at Aardman Commercials, I was working on the CG side for them. I think we joined up to work on a couple of commercials, but we then went our separate ways again. I was staying in computer games until I got a call from him asking whether I wanted to help out on the new Bob the Builder. And I said yes, so I came over to Vancouver four years ago. My idea of using a game engine on a television show percolated in his mind and I happened to be here with my games background and I was kind of dragged into it. Steven: Ever since I was worked at Aardman I’ve been asking the question: why does no one ever use a game engine? But back then it really wasn't feasible. At Mainframe I downloaded a version of Unreal and did some testing with it, and then I accidentally showed it to the president of the company. And he's like, “That looks good, let's do that!”

Could you explain for us humanities majors in the peanut gallery what Mainframe uses Unreal for and how it's integrated into the production pipeline? Steven: A lot of the reason people struggle to use a game engine is that they try to cram it into their current pipeline. What we did, which I think was different, was we looked at the strength of the game engine and we tried to fit the two pipelines around each other. Marcel: We use Unreal at the midpoint of a normal production, when we have the animations and the assets. Then we basically set up the shots in the game engine. Steven: The strength for us was being able to show the director or the creators the assets in real time. Rather than showing a render and getting comments on a render, we could actually show them the asset and they could say things like, “What if that was blue instead of red?” And then we could go in and tweak it. They'd be able to sit at the desk for a couple of hours and see the consequences of their suggestions almost instantly.

What was the process of introducing it on the studio floor? Was the whole concept coming out of left field for a lot of people or was everyone receptive? Steven: People were familiar with what Unreal was because it’s- I won't say it’s a nerdy industry, but a lot of people play games. Oh, it's definitely a nerdy industry. Self-proclaimed. Steven: The first project we did was ReBoot, which is a live-action show with CG in it. The original ReBoot was the first ever CG TV series back in ‘94, and we wanted to capture that feeling of doing something before anyone else had. We looked around internally to see who had experience doing stuff in the game engine and who wanted to switch over and learn; we hired some people from outside of the studio that had experience in areas where we didn't. And we just went for it, really. In an ideal world, you have a long time up front to build everything and test everything, but in reality when you're in a production you’ve just got to get on with it. People had to switch their mindset slightly because in a traditional pipeline, you get the “We’ll fix it in composite” mentality. Since we were doing everything essentially through a camera, we had to explain, “Well, no you can't do that, and this is why, and here are your alternatives.” People re-learned how to look at things and re-learned what was achievable. Marcel: You have to take much more of a live action mindset. The first couple of episodes of ReBoot were certainly tricky, but by the time we got to the end we were in a real flow.

Now that the studio has acclimatized  working in Unreal, what’s being cooked up in the game engine for the future? Steven: When we finished working on ReBoot we continued leveraging the game engine by making a series of VR 360 shorts, which are on YouTube. We’ve just finished doing a test for a potential new project using the game engine and we're starting another test next week for another show with more of a cartoony feeling about it. We're also looking at options to create AR characters- augmented reality characters. That's the interesting thing about this: a traditional CG pipeline always has shows going through it, but for this one we want to make sure we pick the right shows because it's still a new process. We want to pick the shows that we know we can do well. It's got to be the right paintbrush for the right kind of painting. Marcel: It's not as easy as people think it is! Steven: I think they were quite surprised at what we did with it. We wrote things for the game engine that didn't exist. Unreal is pushing the cinematic approach, so it feels like we're doing this at the right time.

-- Andie Newell

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Frederator Inter(n)views: Tyler Sanchez

Andie from WOW! Unlimited Media: Let’s kick it off with a bio. Who are you and how did you end up at Frederator Networks?

Tyler: So, my name is Tyler Sanchez. I'm a programming intern at Frederator- that doesn't entail computer programming! It's dealing with the channel's programming. I work with The Leaderboard and Last Man Standing. I was looking for different internships for the fall semester and I came across Frederator. The name stood out to me because I remember it tacked onto the end of every episode of Fairly OddParents. When I interviewed with Cade, Darrian, and Kris, I enjoyed their personalities and it sounded like a great environment. I was excited to work with an established media company and excited to learn about digital media because I'm a YouTube geek myself. I did the interview and I was hopeful and I landed the job and I'm here.

Nailed it! What’s a day in the life of a programming intern?

Tyler: After I pour myself a cup of coffee, I go on The Leaderboard Discord servers and start a conversation. Then I see what the upcoming videos are; if they don't have a description yet I'll write a description and schedule the upload and put in all the metadata. If we do a live stream or a video premiere, I'll put some comments in myself as The Leaderboard or I'll delete comments that aren't fit for the page. I've also helped out Darrian (the channel’s Programming Manager) with establishing some brand partnerships for our videos. That was something that I discovered recently that I'm proud to say I've seen develop throughout the course of the internship.

So essentially you help oversee the health of the channel?

Tyler: If I had to sum it up, I would say my job is finding clips, uploading, moderating comments, and coming up with nice emails to send to brands.

We love the grind. Where do see yourself headed in 10 years?

Tyler: I study filmmaking so I'd like to pursue a career in commercial production. I would ideally like to get into the bigger budget commercial world, like TV or even Youtube ads that require a large-scale production. I really found that this job has helped me help me learn to think about viewer engagement, and although online media is not exactly what I want to get into, it's not something that can be ignored. So I'm really glad I've gotten to learn about the metrics that we use to gauge audiences and what sort of content fosters the most engagement.

The Frederator office is packed with knick-knacks- what’s your favorite?

Tyler: I think the one that has the most character is that shriveled up potato in a glass box next the TV. I saw that on the office tour video, and it's something that doesn't get mentioned as often as I thought it would be. So next time you're in there: look to the TV, look to the left, and you'll see it.

-- Andie Newell