SNL’s Christmastime for the Jews – Production Stills!!!

It’s that time of year again and one of my favorite parts of the holiday season is seeing CHRISTMASTIME FOR THE JEWS airing on NBC. I love getting messages from my friends on the East coast and midwest hours in advance of the airing in Los Angeles. As this is such a holiday favorite for Jews and goyim alike, I thought I’d share some production stills. I have this strange feeling that all of these photos were taken in the middle of the night; we worked for weeks around the clock to finish in time to air. Totally worth it. Featured in the photos are animators Drew Hodges and Jerold Howard and DP Justin Hayward. Oh, and Johnny Knoxville is in there somewhere. Happy Holidays everyone!!!

 

 

If you happen to miss the short on the air this year, the best place to watch it over and over is on my website. Enjoy!

Stoopid’s Rube Goldberg Machine

That’s right. Stoopid Monkey is BACK in a spot I directed for the good folks at Wonka. In this episode, Stoopid and Biggie make a Rube Goldberg machine and instead of the machine culminating in something simple (in true Rube fashion), our finale is quite elaborate. This machine took weeks to set up and dozens of runs to get right, but we prevailed and the final product is pretty damn cool. Very fun integrating the stop motion characters with the practical effects. We were obviously inspired by the great Rube Goldberg machines of the past, specifically the OK Go video for This Too Shall Pass. Hope you like it.

Kids can be such a mouthful.

Dinosaur office, season 2, episode 4. Have they run out of great ideas yet? I don’t think so. See for yourself in the latest episode that I directed for my buddies at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. This one is titled “Bring Your Child to Work Day” and let me tell you, it doesn’t end well for one very unruly whippersnapper.

I’m going to keep watching (and hopefully directing) these until they decide to jump the T-Rex.

“The Last Drop”… but not least.

The third installment in the OH BABY trilogy is finally up. Check it out when you have a moment. This brings the little series to an end, for now. I’m hopeful we’ll have an opportunity to shoot more episodes. We had such a wonderfully talented cast and crew and made something out of nothing with very little resources. My favorite kind of filmmaking. I hope you enjoy.

Dino Love Lessons

When asked to direct an episode of Dinosaur Office for my buddies over at Buddy System Studios (or is it Stoopid Buddy Stoodios?) I was initially excited at the prospect of working with a virtually unlimited budget and a vast crew. After careful consideration, we decided on a simpler route. And I couldn’t be happier with the results. Animated by the talented Melissa Goodwin Shepherd. Lensed by Helder K. Sun. Puppets and sets by John Sumner. Thanks College Humor. Oh and if you happen to have a Nintendo 3DS, you can watch it in 3D.

“Nipple Envy” – Oh Baby Episode 2

Have you even woken up in the middle of the night and wondered how much your friend’s nipples have grown after they gave birth? Well, neither did I. The second of 3 episodes of the short series I directed. Love the acting in this one. Written by Rayya Deeb. Shot by Matt Johnson. Skillfully acted by Kimmy Gatewood and Chris Smith.

Oh Baby – Episode 1 is finally here,

Check out episode 1 of OH BABY – THE SERIES, finally here for your viewing pleasure. This project is a labor (pun intended) of love, created by the very talented Rayya Deeb, directed by yours truly. First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes the crazy. Here’s the first of three (and hopefully more), DOG BREATH DONNA. Enjoy!

Mofest 7 and Me.

Well, everything BUT me, to be exact. That’s right, our lubricious little short film, EVERYTHING BUT ME, will be screening at the 7th annual Mofest this SUNDAY, APRIL 22nd at 7pm at the historic Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave. in sunny Chicago, IL. We’re super excited to be a part of this fantastic festival for the second year in a row. Tickets are $7. I’ll be there. If you’re free, come check it out. Hope to see you on Sunday.

Get your tickets here: www.mofest.org

Oh Baby, baby! New short series on the way…

Just wrapping up post on a new series of shorts I’m directing, written by the amazingly talented (and good friend) Rayya Deeb. Rayya just had her first baby and she had some funny stories to tell. I told her to put them down on paper and BAM, we were in production. We were lucky enough to have Kimmy Gatewood (Apple Sisters) and Chris Smith (Paranormal 3) as our quirky lead couple, along with some support from Janie Haddad Tompkins and Alissa Ford. Lotta funny ladies involved. DP was Matt Johnson (not a funny lady at all). I’ll post the videos when we’re all done.

A little Christmas Stop Motion time-lapse

Just in time for Christmas, I wanted to share this time-lapse video from the behind the scenes of HOLIDAZE, the stop mo special I directed a few years back. Animators are Emmy winning Drew Hodges and ParaNorman and Coraline animator Sue Twining. There’s a couple of fun moments in here if you look closely (Maker’s Mark and Pigtails). Have a great Christmas everyone!

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