malcolmbthomas

[malcolmbthomas]

Missing that nostalgic 3am adult cartoon feeling?

Give Monkey Wrench a shot!

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Friendly reminder that I'm currently making an animated series of my own. Feel free to stop by.

Welcome to the "Malco" production blog. Here, we will share updates, artwork, and even animations for the indie series.

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The bar scene in TADC is way better than anything from Hazbin. This is stuff I wish we got. Like just 5 episodes in and we already know so much about these characters and why is clitch (opening up to other in bar) it was still well done and felt real.

Seriously, this type of filler is good for the characters to just unwind and have quiet time. Something that Hazbin and Helluva Boss are allergic to. They have all characters talking and interacting which make them feel more natural. If they really want to sell found family then Hazbin and Helluva should have those moments where they can connect.

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Well we all now know the news.

HB is now coming to Prime and there will be half assed cross overs with HH.

In laymen terms:

Viv sold out the title of HB to Prime to get more money since HH is obviously not making her enough dough anymore given people have common sense and see that the show is complete ass and non con fetish fuel.

She says HB is still going to be on YT and that's dandy and all but she still did exactly what she did with HH and sold the title and likely merch rights to fucking AMAZON.

Then had the balls to say

after lowkey telling everyone she's working her animators to the bone (with barely any pay) given season 3 and 4 are in the works.

People will try to compare this to TADC being on Netflix and YT but don't forget the creator still owns ALL rights to TADC; Netflix is just there to stream it.

Meanwhile Viv sold out and still has the nerve to say what SHE did is a big move for the indie animation community.

Her ego is so damn overinflated it's a shock she hasn't took flight and hit Saturn yet.

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[I have yet to see this meme done for Monkey Wrench, so I gave it a shot! I tried my best! I miss some characters, I was trying to focus on some of the most recent ones. Perhaps in the future, I might add some more! Hope you guys enjoy!]

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"The Three Tomes" Teaser Trailer (INDIE PILOT ANIMATIC)

“No turning back…” Synopsis: Tammy and Sia just wanted to have an epic summer together. They get more than they bargained for when witches, magic books, spirits, vampires and romance are involved. Will Tammy and Sia’s friendship survive this supernatural summer, and will Tammy's romantic endeavors with two vampires be more than she can handle? Thank you all so much for following us on this journey so far. We're looking forward to the release of the full pilot animatic sometime later this summer. ________________________________ CAST: Tammy Harris: LaKira Porter - https://www.lakiraporter.com/ Sia Choudhury : Anjali Kunapaneni - https://www.hearanjali.com/ Shirley: Shekinah McFarlane -    / @shakasingofficial   Darius: Corey Wilder - https://www.coreywilder.com/ Alonzo: Justice Slocum - https://justiceslocum.com/ Jogailla: Noah Belachew - https://noahbelachew.carrd.co/ Virginia Vass: Nakia Harris & Lord Chaos: Parker Simmons CREW: Creator/Showrunner/ Storyboard Artist: @breanimatordraws/ @breanimator - https://www.breananavickas.com/ Director/ Co-EP : Waymond Singleton - https://www.instagram.com/waysingleton/ Storyboard: Kylie Gay - https://kyliegaystory.blogspot.com/ Dana Barnes - https://danabbarnes.wixsite.com/storyboard... Ernesto Alonso - https://www.storybyernesto.com/ Al-Tariq Harris - ‪ToonrificTariq‬ Keala Lash - https://linktr.ee/kldraws Tyler Washington - https://misswashingtonart.com/ Jason Raymond - https://www.jayrayart.com/ Design : Meghan Boehman - https://www.meghanboehman.com/ Erin McDowell - https://erinmcdowellart.com/ Tanisha Cherislin - https://www.tanishacherislin.com/ Joshua Roberts - https://www.instagram.com/drawnoutjosh/?hl=en DeAngelo Edwards -   / @hatsoffmedia Dominique Price Shana Dixon - https://dixonshana15.myportfolio.com/ Nessa Tweneboah - https://www.instagram.com/nessatwene.art/ Mark Knapp - https://www.markrylandk.com/ Heather Mihal - https://www.heathermihal.com/ Production Andrea Onukwubiri - Producer Tavaisha Berry - Production Assistant Eliza Harris - Voice Director - https://elizaharris.squarespace.com/ MUSIC SOUND DESIGN. Tad Piecka - Main Title Composer Mann Lightfoot - Sound Designer Chillixion - Ending Theme Composer Knox Mowery - Ending Theme Lyricist Trailer Editor - ‪@ToonrificTariq‬ THANK YOU!

Transcript

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This comic lives rent-free in my head.

~ ❀ ✿{x} ✿ ❀ ~

I started this on the night of the finale and I just finished it lol HERE YA GO GUYS

it’s been an amazing ride

please do not repost this anywhere ever!!!

[malcolmbthomas]

Well, Warrior Cat and Lackadaisy animators, what are you waiting for? Chinese New Year?! Get on it!

Never-before-published model sheets for canned Amblin Cats movie 🐈‍⬛✏️👁️

Hi all. As promised, I am sharing a comprehensive .PDF of model sheets that were created for the Amblimation Cats movie that never saw the light of day. Most of these model sheets have not been published or posted anywhere on the internet as far as I'm aware. I'm going to get ahead of some questions for the good of the order:

Are these real? I certainly didn't sit and create all 117 pages myself for the sake of an elaborate hoax!

How did you get these? I work in the animation industry. A senior coworker caught wind of my cats obsession and said he had the Xeroxes and asked if I wanted him to bring them in. Internally, I flipped my shit. And then I digitized his hard copies.

How did your coworker get these? They were found in the library of the university he used to go to. (Not super unusual at an arts school in southern California.) He made photo copies back then and has been holding onto them. The thing is he knows nothing about CATS; isn't a CATS fan, never seen it, etc. I guess he just felt it was something worth holding on to!

Can you upload better quality? Unfortunately what you're seeing as good as the quality gets. These are scans of photocopies from the 90s. There is nothing to be done for the crunchiness.

What about (missing characters)? I'm showing you everything I was personally given!

Which character is (nondescript drawing of a cat)? If the image isn't labeled, your guess is as good as mine! I put all the misc./unlabeled cats in the back of the PDF. The only exceptions are ones that I felt were abundantly obviously supposed to be a specific character.

Who are the artists? Unfortunately, there's no way I can tell for sure. None of the sheets are signed. I wouldn't even go about guessing because many concept artists can perfectly emulate more "well known" illustrators whose styles were sought after. My coworker said he might be able to figure out who the draftsmen were; until then it's a mystery! If I find out, I will come back to this post and update it with that information.

Are these all the model sheets ever? No! In fact, there are model sheets that have been posted online that are not in the bundle I was given. I have no idea of the sum total of model sheets in existence.

Where's the link?! Here it is! Have fun kitties!

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Hey guys, I'm going to take this time to talk to you about an indie project that I'm a part of called Skelly. For those of you who are not in the know, Skelly centers around a girl named Sarah who's currently in a spot in her life that she's not happy with. But things change when she discovers a portal to a bar in the netheworld run by a dapper British skeleton. I bring this up because Kayla, the showrunner, recently lost her job and is looking for ways to pay for the show and the staff. So if you guys have some dollars to spare, stop by the show's Patreon.

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WE ARE SO BACK, BOYS!

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Thanks for the shout out, Tracey! I'm sure I speak for Josh and Ashley when I say, we truly appreciate it.

Video essay by Jellybox about what's good and bad about indie animation!

Wanted to share this in case it's helpful to anyone wanting to pursue making animation independently. It's also for fans of indie animation who may want some insight into how an indie studio works, why indie cartoons are always selling merch, why release schedules are often erratic, etc.

I also wanted to clarify the video's context, because it seems to have been somewhat misconstrued in some circles. Not long ago, WGA and SAG strikes, followed by TAG negotiations were very much in the news, shining light on the struggles the artists, writers, and actors in the Hollywood studio system are facing. In response, the words 'just go indie' have been tossed around quite a bit lately.

Gene and Sean at Jellybox approached us a few months back explaining that they were planning to make a video about the realities of running an indie studio/producing indie animation, largely in response to that 'just go indie' attitude. They were curious if we'd be willing to share our experience, including information about actual costs and the various difficulties and complications we've encountered. We said yes! We'd like for people to know what it's like. As much as it might look appealing next to the currently very broken studio system, indie has its own set of problems, and we think it's a good idea to be transparent about that because talking about problems is how you begin to address them.

Of course, while you get creative freedom and you have no shareholders to appease with indie production, the primary struggle you're always going to face is funding…and funding avenues are limited. Banks aren't eager to hand out business loans to freelance artists making cartoons, for instance. Social media algorithms reward frequent updates you can't swing with hand-drawn animated content, so you can't rely much on things like AdSense. You can't really insert sponsored ads into your animated videos without being too obtrusive. You can take on client work, but that interferes with your ability to focus on own animated project. Crowdfunds can be great for seed money, but they're also a ton of work to fulfill, and fulfillment itself will tend to eat up a considerable amount of the funds you've raised. Once your animation is produced, there is no well established way to sell the animated episode itself like there is for, say indie games sold on Steam. So, while we consider ways to try to make the terrain a bit more hospitable to indie creations, if nothing else, let this explain why productions rely a lot on merch drops!

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And hey, if you're an animation fan, consider supporting the independent productions you enjoy, whether you're tossing a few dollars their way, buying their merch, or just mentioning them to friends:

The Far-Fetched team is launching a crowdfund very soon to help them complete their pilot!

The Monkey Wrench team is killing it lately, and they deserve so much more fanfare than they've gotten!

And of course, thank you to the excellent folks at Jellybox for starting an important conversation!

[malcolmbthomas]

As somebody who works on Monkey Wrench, I can definitely confirm this.

I’m actually a bit annoyed at jellybox saying that Lackadaisy is “struggling” to fund itself because no they weren’t. There were some unexpected financial difficulties but they’re doing fine now. Monkey wrench (and I love this show to be clear) would be a better example because they switched to animation that was a bit rougher to pay their animators better because of low funds

Yeah, that's not fair to Lackadaisy. They're doing insane things on a very limited budget and still paying their animators a salary, and things are tight, but they're okay. Monkey Wrench is really scraping every penny and still making it work.

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This is going to be really helpful. Thanks very much, Tracy.

Hello Tracy, I've been a fan of Lackadaisy since the webcomic days and want to ask a quick question regarding Patreon. I'm also an indie creative myself and currently trying to raise funds for a show I'm working on. What are the best ways to market myself online, and what are some ways to obtain money for the production of merchandise that doesn't involve crowdfunding?

Any specific advice I could give about marketing oneself online at this point would be pretty outdated. I started making Lackadaisy years back, when the internet had a rather different geography and culture. DeviantArt was where all the art kids were. That is, of course, no longer the case.

My generalized advice, though, would be to start working on your project, start sharing it in some form, even if it's just concept art or experiments at this phase, and start building an audience. Nothing speaks to the quality and appeal of whatever it is you're making like the thing itself does. Pick your poisons, as far as social media goes, but probably don't focus solely on one. Platforms don't remain useful or pleasant places to be forever. Set up an avenue for viewers to support you (Patreon, Ko-fi, or something like it), but don't expect supporters to come flooding in all at once. The internet is awash with so many creators and shows and influencers and distractions, it's hard to make waves. Tenacity will be your ally, though. You are likely going to be pursuing your project on the side and possibly working at a loss for a while as you build. Keep things small scale, especially if you're working solo, or with a small team of people. Audience growth and support may eventually start allowing you to expand your ambitions. It's important to do the thing you're doing out of love for the art, for the project itself, for the experience of doing it, and not because you're expecting rounds of applause, accolades, and money to come rushing at you. There's no guarantee that last part will happen...so at least make sure you're having fun doing whatever you're doing.

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About merchandise --

You can incur the upfront cost of producing, say, a small run of enamel pins. Sell them on your own shop storefront or offer them to supporters at certain tier levels and see how long it takes to earn back the production cost such that you start earning a little bit of profit. Get a feel for how well you can handle packaging and shipping things yourself. Test the waters before making any large merch orders, and don't order vast amounts of something that you don't have room to 'warehouse' in your own home.

You can go the print on demand route. It's got its drawbacks - like slim returns - but it allows you to offer an assortment of merch items without the huge risk of paying big manufacturing fees upfront. It can also do the fulfillment/shipping part for you. I did pretty okay selling prints this way for a time. (Research and be selective about what services you use here, though. Some have gotten markedly worse over the years.)

I know Patreon offers a subscription level for creators that includes some merch production and fulfillment. I haven't personally used it, though, so I'd ask around to see what other creators' experiences have been like with it.

One thing I would suggest relying more heavily on, especially at first, is digital/downloadable rewards, like PDF ebooks or digital sketchbooks - things like that. Shipping supplies and postage costs are ever-increasing and can easily end up putting you in the red. Also, if you have an international audience, it may be difficult to reach them with tangible merch items.

You might also check out some nearby conventions to see if they'd be a good fit for you and your project. Apply for artist alley space at one of them if that's appropriate, or investigate whether or not it'd be worth it to get a dealer table. You might even find someone willing to share dealer space with you for a trial-run.

At some point, when you have enough of an audience to warrant it, seek out a merch partner. Or, they might come scouting for you if they think you have something going that'd be soundly marketable.

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You kids and your Owl House...

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We can only hope.

Time for a new Jelly, new good vibes! Good luck everyone, it’s gunna be good soon

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Amazing what a difference 10 years makes.

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!! FLASHING LIGHTS WARNING !!

A small editing exercise I made as a love letter to TV animation. I hope it's as overwhelming as I intended it to be. Sorry if I didn't get your fave in, I ran out of room faster than I thought!

#StandWithAnimation