Interview on WeLoveYouSo.com

I was also interviewed this week on Spike Jonze's blog: WeLoveYouSo.com. It started with a focus on "You Cried Me," but ended up being an all-around look at my work in general. Many thanks to Graham for writing the intro/interview questions!

Answering Questions

This has been an exciting week for me. "Kid Show" is currently featured on Channel Frederator, and they just posted an interview full of great questions (and hopefully great answers).

Check it out "Kid Show" on the Channel Frederator Youtube channel. If my film gets the most views for the month, I'll receive $200, so feel free to spread the word or embed.

Many thanks to Frederator and Bailee DesRocher for asking me questions!

I did another interview this week, but it's not posted yet. I'll update this when it's posted!

Kid Show, Big and Beautiful

So a year or two ago, I uploaded Kid Show to youtube and it looked like a piece of crap. I patiently waited for compression qualities to improve on video portals like youtube, and the waiting has finally paid off, thanks to vimeo.com. You can now watch Kid Show, BIG, and CLEAN, in STEREO (ooooo) on vimeo.com. So for those of you who always watched the tiny, crappy version on my website, this should be a treat for you.

Also, I've been very inspired by The Mighty Boosh. If you've never heard of it, watch some clips on youtube. It's a silly, British, surrealistic, comedy show.

Kid Show on TV

Kid Show aired on the Nicktoons Network this evening. The above photo is from last weekend when Jess and I flew down to Burbank for the awards ceremony/creator's night. That there is a 4 foot LEGO statue of Spongebob Square Pants.

Kid Show didn't win any awards, but is eligible for an Audience Choice award, so go and vote for it if you can at http://nicktoonsnetwork.nick.com/nnaf/viewshorts.jhtml. You can only vote for the next 24 hours, so hurry. Thanks!

Stan Lee was the special guest at the event. He's such a cool guy. If you're not sure who he is, he's the guy that created Spiderman and the X-Men, etc. I'm the kind of person who can never think of a good question during a Q&A, but I managed to squeeze out a decent one: "At what point did you realize you HAD to do what you do?" and his answer lives on in my mind forever.

He said that he was about to quit. He had been doing comics for almost 20 years already, but they weren't his ideas. His wife suggested he make one his own way just to try it out before he quits. So he does, and it's a comic called The Fantastic Four. BANG

Super Punch

This is me super punching at the beach in Gloucester, MA last week.

Hey, Jess and I are going to LA in a few weeks for the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival Creator Night. If Kid Show won anything, they'll announce it that night, so it sounds like a lot of fun. Plus our plane tickets were super cheap, because of Virgin America.

Oh No Spider

I found this huge spider in our stairwell the other day. It scared the crap out of me, but I had to capture it and take photos.

Jess and I just got back from a weeks visit to Boston to visit family and such. It was pleasant, although we both were sick the whole time. I saw No Country For Old Men for the first time. Wow. It was so original... it sucks you in and you want it to keep going forever.

Good news:

- Kid Show will screen on Nickelodeon's "Nicktoons" channel October 12th. I'll give more details later, but it's for the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival, so that's exciting!

- Earl Boone Is Alive is part of Slamdance's Anarchy Short Film Competition for the month of September, so go watch it and vote for it! (requires registration at their site)Click here to see what it's competing against and click here for a direct link to my film.

-Kid Show is also going to screen at the Austin Film Festival in mid October. Not sure if I'm attending yet.

Polaroid Star

Last Friday I was a Polaroid Star. Work had a lets-go-to-the-beach-for-the-afternoon afternoon and Cody brought the camera. I don't know what it was, but Cody and I were nailing these amazing shots in one take. The top one is of me springing over a badminton net. Cody laid in the sand to get that angle. The other photo is extreme ketchup-ing.

In two weeks, Kid Show will screen at the Frame Damage animation festival in Denver. Check it out if you're near there.

ADAA

The above image is a still from a nearly finished short Wexley + Digital Kitchen did for Microsoft. It was my first significant acting experience. I played a computer programmer who gets trapped with his friend in a world they programmed.

Also, the other day I was thinking it might be good to purchase my name .com, so I did. Check it out. As you can see, I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it yet. Oh well, it's real estate.

Also also, Kid Show is a finalist in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards.

Mt. Si and ROFLCon

Two weeks ago, Connie, Nathan, Jess and I hiked Mt. Si. There was still a bit of snow on top, so we had to slide down some of the trail. The view at the top was amazing, but hard to capture with a camera, so I captured it with one of my socks instead. If you come over to my house, I'll show you.

In other news, Kid Show screened at ROFLCon this past weekend, along with many other shorts. ROFLCon is a convention in Cambridge, MA focused on internet culture.

Daniel Johnston with Kid Show

Last Thursday, I saw Daniel Johnston live for the first time. The show was amazing. If you've never heard of Daniel, be sure to rent The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It's a great documentary (and one of my favorite films) of his life and music.

The photos above are Daniel with a DVD of Kid Show and other animations. Whenever I put together a DVD, I hand-draw the cover. I didn't get to hand it to him personally, but my friend Andy Roulston and his brother Jonathan were photographing Daniel that night, so they were able to bring it to him and take these great pictures. Thanks Andy.

AFI Interview for Kid Show

Director Tom DesLongchamp Presents KID SHOW At AFI DALLAS 08 from AFI DALLAS on Vimeo.

I'm excited that they posted this interview, but then again, it's hard to watch yourself be interviewed. I could write a whole paragraph about how stupid I think I look and sound, but I'll just be quiet.

Also, Kid Show won the Jury Prize at the Columbia University National Undergraduate Film Festival. I'm stoked. Thanks CUNUFF.

AFI Dallas 2008

My animation Kid Show screened at AFI Dallas this past week. The festival was unbelievable. I had my first encounters with red carpets, and Lexus shuttles.

At my first screening, they had to screen from DVDs, but my DVD had multiple films on it, and the projectionist accidentally chose the wrong film! I sat there, anticipating my film and suddenly Earl Boone Is Alive popped up on the screen! I yelled "Wrong one!" but they didn't stop it and the audience laughed the whole way through. Don't worry, Kid Show was screened soon after, so in the end, it was a total blessing. Two films at AFI! During the Q & A, the audience actually had more questions about Earl Boone Is Alive, but I love that animation, so I had a great time talking about it. I would have submitted it if it wasn't two years old.

I ran into Lee Kazimir, who I had also seen at Slamdance, but never met. His documentary, More Shoes, was my favorite film that I saw at AFI. Lee and I hung out for my last two days at the festival, along with Carl, Staci and Deidra. It was a great time. We all took photos, danced, and I drew some portraits of some of them. Staci and Deidra were the main actresses in a great film titled Disfigured. I hope to cross paths with all of them again.

Many thanks to Max Bell, who was my host in Dallas. Max showed me around, made me breakfast and we had some great conversations.

Also, Kid Show is screening at the Columbia University Undergraduate Film Festival in NYC this evening. Earl Boone Is Alive won most original film there last year.

Kid Show Poster

Jessica, my amazing wife, helped me make this great poster for Kid Show when it screens at AFI, and any other festival after. She's such a good designer.

I painted today for the first time in a while. It was a good process. I forgot how good it feels to experience the back and forth of frustration and joy when I paint. When I'm done, I'm exhausted, but I feel peaceful, like I've added a new chunk to the pile of clay in my head. I also appreciated the freedom of how a painting can develop. I wove in and out of meaningful forms and abstract whatever. The painting is about sitting outside and feeling great about the mountains and flowers. I sound so flowery. All this talk about feeling good and great and joyful, and painting.

The ghost of accident past has come upon me and I am experiencing strange pain in my knee. It's unusual, because it hurts below my kneecap and on the side--not anywhere at the actual joint. I think I'm going to go to the doctor soon, as long as I can figure out who my doctor is!

Also, I will be seeing one of my favorite musicians next month, Daniel Johnston. Jess and I are really pumped.

Current Events

This photo is of Jessica and I enjoying beverages at the Wexley Quantum Leap Year Grand Opening Party. How nice.

Kid Show is going to screen March 30th and April 1st at AFI Dallas, which is the American Film Institute Film Festival held in Dallas. If you're in or around Dallas, and you're thinking of coming, give me a shout.

I have to go eat food and wine.

Loving Support

I love my friends. Jess and I got to visit a lot of them back in Providence. It takes a while to make new friends, so it's a relief to see old friends again.

I just got back from Slamdance. The weekend was phenomenal. I saw some great films, made some friends, and screened Kid Show. The audience was the best I'd ever had. Thank you Slamdance boys and girls.

And I got to high-five Randy Quaid.

Glow Kitty

Kid Show was featured on MtvU this week. Here's a short video about it:



At the moment I am sitting on the edge of a bed in Stow, Massachusetts. Here is a photo of my cat from last month:

Breakdancing and Slamdancing

That shot is from the Wexley School for Girls Holiday party. Thanks to Blush Photography. I was ripping it up.

Also, here's a link to my Kid Show page for Slamdance Film Festival. It has all the screening info/dates. Kid Show at Slamdance 2008

Super Good News

Inspired by the film King of Kong, I set out to beat the highest scores on some of my favorite Nintendo games. After about a month of attempts, I finally succeeded with a score of 19, 036, 160 on the game High Speed, which made me the current world champion for that game. Check it out on Twin Galaxies.

Also, Kid Show will be shown at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, January 19th. Jessica, my parents, and I are going to attend!

And it's almost Christmas!

Riding the Log Line

I have to come up with a log-line for my animation Kid Show. I'm the worst person on earth at writing meaningful content, so here are my attempts so far:

Toast me up a kind hearted dog fort.

The neverending reach of a child's imagination.

Three children explore the reason you were born.

Three brothers struggle to make it in NYC.

Let's live a day.

Try not to toss your day.

Simple joy of the child's bread box.

A child's heart is the breadbox of the mind.

The breadbox of the mind is the heart of a child.

Young, hip, and where did it go.

Where we go, we show, we sew.

If you can fake it, you should die.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa--look at this!

I can't sell this, I can't spell this.

So young, no job, so hip, let's jive.

Flow us a new path.

Flat on our minds.

Out to do the day.

Skip to our flow.

Trip dad, grab the flute.

Flying toast.

It appears where you want it.

At any moment, we will endure.

Is there anything to play with in here?

Is there any other way this could be different?

Can your might and ride a bike.

Oh how we whoa.

Dad was mad, so they asked the sun.

Spill and smear.

They were real as kittens.

Buying dreams with cardboard dollars.

The three of them and their eyes.

Daydream with my childhood.

Poop on some papers.

I can't help me.

Imagine my anger.

Imagine the piping glee.

Witness the piping glee of a wee three.

I'd scoot over for three more ideas.

Make room for my brain.

The simple deadly.

Gosh your fun.

Committed to seeing.

Bear are bee going?

Do as much as you can before bedtime.

Jessica's favorite is "Whoa whoa whoa whoa--look at this!" I think my favorite is "Young, hip, and where did it go." I just wish it actually communicated something about Kid Show. I'd rather say something ridiculous than cheesy... until I figure out something clever.

Things Happen

Jessica and I are now the proud owners of a blue 2004 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon GLS. I'd post a picture of it, but I don't want to! I'd rather just post a funny picture of myself from last year.

In other news, I've been uploading a crap load of videos on youTube. I find it liberating to just dump random stuff and not worry about explaining it. I should do that with my website, but I have too much pride. Check me out sometime: http://www.youtube.com/thismystery

Also, I have some exciting news, but I'm not allowed to share it, so here is a vague brief:
my animated short "Kid Show" was accepted to ______ Film Festival and I am going to attempt to attend the festival in _______, __ this ________. I'm stoked to have the opportunity to get my stuff out there.

I'm taking piano lessons and I can play Jingle Bells with both hands at once.

I've been drawing incessantly. I will soon add my second sketchbook titled "Regular Interprize" (purposely misspelled) to my website soon and I'm already 1/4 through my new pink sketchbook. I am so pumped to draw, I'm not even self-conscious about my pink sketchbook anymore.

Reading helps your brain. I just wish I could enjoy it all the time. I lose interest in writing pretty quickly unless it's David Shrigley, Richard Brautigan, or Shel Silverstein.

Oh, and I just submitted my High Speed Pinball NES(Nintendo) high score to Twin Galaxies(video game score keepers), so after the video is verified, I will have the highest score for that game in... the... world.