Blog
IMAF 2014 – Web Series Panel
IMAF 2014 – Web Series Panel

I had the pleasure of moderating a panel discussion about web series at IMAF 2014 – The Island Media Arts Festival – on October 24th. Our panel members were Harmony Wagner, Neil Wiley, Walter Forsyth and Adam Perry – and you can find out more about them at the IMAF web site: http://www.imaf.ca/industry-panels/ The discussion […]

FanExpo 2014
FanExpo 2014

UPDATE – Video of WGC Panel on Monetizing Web Series. The good folks at the WGC have posted the video of our panel at Fan Expo – and here it is: Here’s my original post: Just a quick note to say I’ll be attending FanExpo 2014 in Toronto. I won’t be running a table like […]

Democracy & Digital Media
Democracy & Digital Media

This is a thing I wrote last year and since I’m feeling both lazy and yet compelled to post fresh content on my blog – here it is: DEMOCRACY & DIGITAL MEDIA Digital media is more than just a source of news and opinion, it is an extension of the human nervous system and as […]

Lubitsch – “Die Puppe”
Lubitsch – “Die Puppe”

I had the pleasure the other day of re-discovering a silent film made by Ernst Lubitsch – director of such classics as “The Shop Around The Corner”, “Ninotchka” and “To Be Or Not To Be”. This gem was made in 1919 and is called “Die Puppe” – which is pretty much a re-telling of the […]

Rubber Chicken Players – TO WebFest 2014
Rubber Chicken Players – TO WebFest 2014

We are delighted and honoured that our web series Rubber Chicken Players is an official selection of the TO WebFest. The festival runs from May 9th to the 11th in Toronto at the Harbourfront Centre and they will be showcasing amazing works from all around the world in a huge range of genres. AND – […]

TO WebFest 2014 – Trailer
TO WebFest 2014 – Trailer

This here is a wee little thing put together by the immensely amazing – (and awesomely wicked – her words) – Regan Latimer, whom I had the immense pleasure and privilege of collaborating with to bring to THE WORLD – (yes, that’s YOU – stand up and take a bow – Thank You — yes […]

Canadian Film Review Interview
Canadian Film Review Interview

Kindah Mardem Bey of the Canadian Film Review interviewed me about the Independent Web Series Creators of Canada (IWCC-CIWC) and our upcoming TO Web Fest (May 9th-11th). It was a great conversation and I had a lot of fun chatting with her about our work. Thanks, Kindah! Here it is:

RIP Pete Seeger
RIP Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger passed away yesterday at the age of 94. That’s a good age for any man – especially one who lived life as fully and completely as Seeger. We don’t get enough Pete Seegers in the world. Perhaps some day we’ll deserve them. Perhaps some day we won’t need them. But we’ll always want […]

Merry Christmas – from Edward Snowden
Merry Christmas – from Edward Snowden

“I’m honored to have a chance to speak with you and your family this year. Recently we learned that our governments, working in concert, have created a system of worldwide mass surveillance, watching everything we do. Great Britain’s George Orwell warned us of the danger of this kind of information. The types of collection in […]

Happy Holidays! – Here’s the Ruffus Christmas Carol
Happy Holidays! – Here’s the Ruffus Christmas Carol

It’s that time of year again – which serves to remind me of how little I have actually accomplished (more on that later) – and if you’re tired of the usual holiday entertainment fare (after all, how many times can we watch It’s A Wonderful Life – bad example – forever) then be sure to […]

John Lennon
John Lennon

33 years ago today John Lennon was assassinated. The world is a poorer place without him around. The world is a richer place for having had him at all. Thank you, Mr. Lennon.

Happy Thanksgiving America
Happy Thanksgiving America
Faz Fazakas 1918-2013
Faz Fazakas 1918-2013

The man with the improbable name “Faz” was as close to an elf as I’ll ever meet in this lifetime. Franz “Faz” Fazakas was the mechanical genius behind the Muppets for decades, crafting such marvels as the Doozers and numerous other characters that required technical assistance to surpass or extend the limited reach of a […]

Learning From Orson Welles
Learning From Orson Welles

I posted a video on Facebook of Orson Welles on the Dinah Shore show discussing the nature of audiences – which is still so very relevant to today’s world of web series creation. Carrie Cutforth-Young took that video and ran with it on her Story Horizon blog and it’s definitely worth a read. I work […]

Ruffus Steampunk Adventure
Ruffus Steampunk Adventure

My apologies for not posting anything for a while but I have been very busy preparing for our latest project: Ruffus The Dog’s Steampunk Adventure. The original Ruffus The Dog series aired on broadcast television and after we got the rights back we put all those shows online, free to watch and download. With the […]

IWCC-CIWC Launch
IWCC-CIWC Launch

Last night I had the pleasure and honour of attending the launch for the Independent Web Series Creators of Canada – Créateurs Indépendants de Séries Web du Canada, a non-profit professional association dedicated to supporting the efforts of everyone across the country who create and release their own video content online – and the evening […]

Matterform’s Photon 3D Scanner
Matterform’s Photon 3D Scanner

A little over a week ago I attended the launch party for Matterform’s new Photon 3D Scanner – which is poised to revolutionize the art and science of 3D capture by making it accessible to everyone. It is really fucking cool. Adam Brandejs and Drew Cox are artists, programmers, hackers & more and they have […]

Circuit Playground – Adafruit Electronics Kids Puppet Show
Circuit Playground – Adafruit Electronics Kids Puppet Show

WIRED has an article posted about an upcoming children’s puppet web series, entitled Circuit Playground, produced by Adafruit Industries. From the WIRED article: Their new online show will teach the essentials of electronics and circuitry to children through kid-friendly dolls with names like Cappy the Capacitor and Hans the 555 Timer Chip. Limor “Ladyada” Fried, […]

Ruffus The Dog’s Christmas Carol
Ruffus The Dog’s Christmas Carol

Last year we released online our production of “Ruffus The Dog’s Christmas Carol”. It took a long time to get it done – mostly because I’m a lazy and easily distracted slob – but was well worth the effort. You can find out more about how the show was put together from this old blog […]

Let Us All Unite! – Charlie Chaplin Auto-Tuned

It was always a brilliant speech that Chaplin gave at the end of The Great Dictator but with the addition of music, rhythm and judicious editing it becomes a very powerful cry for the people of the world against the powers which seek to enslave them. Thank you, Charlie. And thank you, Melody Sheep – […]

Jerry Nelson
Jerry Nelson

This is going to be hard. Jerry Nelson was a good friend of mine. He was well known and loved by a great many people and deservedly so. His work as a performer, an actor, a musician, singer and puppeteer touched the lives of countless people around the world. He was known more for the […]

Declaration Of Internet Freedom
Declaration Of Internet Freedom

You should stop what you are doing right now and go read and then sign the Internet Declaration Of Freedom. DECLARATION We stand for a free and open Internet. We support transparent and participatory processes for making Internet policy and the establishment of five basic principles: Expression: Don’t censor the Internet. Access: Promote universal access […]

Mister Rogers Remixed By Symphony Of Science
Mister Rogers Remixed By Symphony Of Science

John Boswell at Symphony of Science has been crafting amazing music videos with auto-tuned scientists reveling in the glories and wonders of the universe. Now he has teamed up with PBS to honour Fred Rogers with a remix of Garden Of Your Mind and Mister Rogers has never been so hip. Enjoy. Cheers.

RIP Ray Bradbury
RIP Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury has died at the age of 91. Bradbury influenced many millions of people with his imaginative gift for words that evoked the conflicted spirit of the human species. My first encounter with his work was through a serialized radio play based on his Dandelion Wine stories which aired from somewhere across the Canada/US […]