I produce cartoons and media networks.
Chris Reccardi is one of the mainstays of modern cartoons (you love all the shows he’s worked on). We first crossed paths when he was on Cow & Chicken, a series I developed in the 90s.
His Kickstarter is a book of absurdist illustrations, Affirmations for Pessimists. You’ll love it. Support it.
I like posters way too much. Thank goodness I’m too old or too lazy or too busy to use ‘The One And Only Gig Poster Kit’ from from DIY Print Shop.
(Thanks via OMG Posters)
We are excited to announce an improved YouTube, one you helped us build! The new site design will help you build a bigger, more connected audience by improving new channel discovery, simplifying subscriptions, and keeping your fans plugged in and aware of your new videos no matter where they are. Click here to learn more.
So, what does this improved YouTube mean for you as a creator? Here are the key changes:
Check out this one-pager for more information.
Alandha Scott, Content Creator Communications Lead
(via YouTube Creator Blog)
My buddies and always smart former colleagues at the YouTube Next Lab —Vanessa Pappas, Ryan Nugent, and Andres Palmiter— have updated the (completely downloadable) critical resource for anyone that wants to create a truly successful YouTube channel.
The YouTube Creator Playbook (download it here) was originally written as a “secret” document of best practices for the select channels distributed by Next New Networks. We collected all our good and bad experiences, and those of our closest associates and competitors, as to how to program, promote, and produce independent channels in the new online environment. It was pretty successful (one of our channels’ upped their video performance by hundreds of millions views) and the wise heads at YouTube decided to make it available to literally everyone in the world who’s online.
The Playbook is still a kind of underground hit. I mean, it’s readily available to anyone, but I’m guessing there are thousands of channels trying to find loyal viewers who have no idea that it’s there and that it could help them. The writing’s kind of dry, but well worth the time.
Here are some of the newest highlights from this Version 3:
The ‘Channel-ification’ of YouTube
If you’re a creator interested in building a successful channel on YouTube, you’ve got to think beyond just getting one big hit. You need to think about how you can build a cohesive channel experience for your audience. Channel strategy (and the ability to drive subscriptions) will be critical to your success on YouTube.
New Sections:
• Captivate Your Audience: Hook your viewer from the start, and keep them watching longer.
• Channel Experience: Create a channel experience around your videos to increase watch-time on your channel’s content.
• Maintaining the Channel Feed: Maintain an active feed that keeps your audience engaged without overwhelming them.
• Paid Promotion: Create promotional videos and use YouTube promotional tools to build a loyal audience.
New Features
Throughout this version of the Creator Playbook, we’ve incorporated new features that have recently launched:
• YouTube Analytics Annotations Report
• YouTube Analytics Watch-time Report
• Hangouts on Air
• In-video Programming
• Metadata Defaults
• Playlist Interstitial Creator
• Playlist Start and End Times
• Channel Posts
• Video Enhancements
• Associated Websites
What an incredible story.
Last Thursday, my phone rang. On the other end was a young woman who hurriedly began telling me a story, adding that a friend had suggested she contact me. The only words that stuck at the time were “photographs,” “Campbell” and “homeless.”
(via JazzWax and Nick Moy)
![Frederator [hearts] Kickstarter](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3625/5734473378_9fc9234df0.jpg)
Doug TenNapel first wowed us with his creation of the Earthworm Jim videogame and TV show. We didn’t know then that he was also a completely awesome artist, storyteller, and filmmaker, but soon he joined Random! Cartoons as one our strongest shorts creators with “Solomon Fix” and “Squirly Town.”
Now Doug’s got a Kickstarter for a hardcover book of the best of his sketchbooks where you’ll see the great, the bad, and the ugly of his work. And, it’s not just drawings, but “a useful tool on how to create characters, worlds and story lines for anything from video games to graphic novels and television shows.”
Try it out, you’ll love Doug TenNapel’s sketchbooks.
Eileen Brennan McQueen is a long time FOF. Her animated short, Go Spy Go, was featured in the very first episode of Channel Frederator (along with Pendleton Ward’s student short), wrote and illustrated “Dirtball Pete” a book for our Bolder Book project at Random House, and wrote some killer episodes of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
So, what? You think we wouldn’t support her Kickstarter shorts?
Today I met with Jonti Picking, aka the talented, unique, and very popular animation and music producer Mr. Weebl.
It’s a meeting I’ve wanted to have ever since one of Jonti’s Magical Trevor series ran during our very first Nicktoons Film Festival in 2004/2005. Trevor didn’t win but it was my personal favorite in that year’s competition, and ever since I’ve wanted to know what was behind the magic of Mr. Weebl. This week, working in London, I got the chance through some terrific new colleagues I’ve got @ChannelFlip.
Well, at a local pub in the Weebl neighborhood I found out a bit and it just made me hungry for more. Turns out Jonti trained as a sound engineer (me too!) and looked at music as his first career. But, as is often the case, when he stopped trying to be what everyone else wanted him to be, and just started doing what *he* wanted to do, things got interesting.
Mr. Picking launched Weebl’s Stuff by writing and recording all his own music, and personally animating hundreds of films (first series: Weebl & Bob, written by Mrs. Picking aka Sarah Darling). It’s only in the last year or so that any other animators have touched anything, and Jonti works with most of them virtually; he’s only met one of his animators in person.
I could on, but I won’t. I’ll just post a hit Magical Trevor, and leave you with a couple of FAQs from the Mr. Weebl YouTube page.
FAQs
Q: What do you use to animate?
A: Mostly Flash and a bit of After Effects.
Q How do you make your music?
A: Reason/Record by Propellerheads. Melodyne by Celemony. Cubase (rarely) by Steinberg. I also use Adobe Audition for voice editing and a SE2200a mic.
Photograph of Mr. Weebl by Mrs. Weebl, July 11, 2012. London, UK
No matter what I do, I can’t make animation lovers love the other things I’m into. But, I’ll keep trying. How about contributing to Bret Primack at Kickstarter to one of the few jazz fans keeping the flame alive with video on YouTube?
You can read a little more at Bret here.
…..
I’ve made over two hundred short films about musicians in the past seven years that I’ve posted to my Jazz Video Guy YouTube channel.
Now I want to tell a story that needs a larger canvas. This is a one-hour documentary about a soon-to-be ninety year old trumpeter named Pauly Cohen, still following his big band dream.
This Kickstarter is for Arhoolie Records. Arhoolie is like nothing else anywhere. A company dedicated to American roots music started by a German immigrant. Piece by piece, they’ve recorded one of the most stunning libraries of Country Blues, Zydeco, Tex-Mex, Bluegrass, you name it.
I have a particular affection for Arhoolie because of their superior recordings of Mississippi Fred McDowell, the artist on the first album I ever produced.
But, you would enjoy Arhoolie’s music too. I know you would. Check out their website, listen to some of their music on your Spotify or MOG some other freemium streamer.
Then, donate to this Kickstarter please. The world should know a little more about this, because then the world would be a little bit smarter and have a lot more fun.
![Frederator [hearts] Kickstarter](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3625/5734473378_9fc9234df0_z.jpg)
