How Are You?-storyboard sample

A scene I storyboarded for a live-action short, currently under production, called How Are You? It was written by Susan Coyne and Martha Burns. Directed by Martha Burns.

S'more character sketches

Peeves Pets

This is a lot to look at- so I guess I should do a little explaining. Peeves Pets was an idea based around four different animals;

• a hypochondriac pigeon named Lewis who suffers from vertigo.

• A white house-cat named Tedd who thinks he's a black stray.

• Mel an independent minded female rabbit who can't live without males.

• And Randal, a rough and tough pitbull who, after being "fixed" is riddled with sexual identity issues.

All their individual problems leads them to a city veterinary hospital where the group learns to work together. The series follows this odd band of animals as they episodically sneak out of the veterinary hospital and get into trouble in a large urban setting.

A rough rotation.

What would Tex do?

I've been watching a lot of old Tex Avery cartoons and was feeling a bit sad that they aren't making many gag driven shorts anymore so I thought it might be fun to come up with a premise for one. The Instinctive Travels and Paths of Balut. Balut is an unfertilized duck egg and an Asian delicacy. Perfect for a cartoon character. Imagine if you cross Droopy, Tweety bird and Borat. Balut, a small blue and purple bird with a filipino accent. Now what a good ol' fashion chase cartoon needs is a classic villain. Mr. Macomber is a Boston Thumb Cat. Your standard six fingered hungry predator. So the whole story goes like this; Mr. Macomber runs the waterfront piers in Boston. He terrorizes the local rats, fish and gulls. One day a boat docks. On it is an aviary. A collection of exotic oriental birds and seeming buffet for Mr. Macomber. He's just swallowed his first victim when he hears: " 'scuse mee, sur. purdon mee but doo you know where dee emfire state beelding iz?" PAN OVER to Balut wearing an "I love N.Y." t-shirt and holding a flag. Mr. Macomber vomits immediately and his lunch flies away safely. During the entire short Mr. Macomber tries to eat in peace. Balut asks for directions. It ends with Mr. Macomber emaciated. Starved Mr. Macomber coughs up a fur ball and with a knife and fork takes a bite. PAN OVER and Balut says "EWWW! Dat iz disgussting!" There it is! Mr. Macomber desperately tries to fill his belly, Balut is looking for tourist sites. Barf. Mr. Macomber is a sailor and Balut the constant tourist. A new city every episode. Fertile ground spawned from an unfertilized egg.


Now I only need to come up with the gags.

A complicated pan and plan.

Below is a series of sketches/ boards for an idea based on the Chicken Little story. It starts off with a complicated pan setting up the familiar story points of the classic children's fable.


Chicken Little believes that "the sky is falling" and runs back to tell the rest of the coup. They all start to freak in a series of gags. One lays an egg, another climbs back into an empty egg shell, another is wearing a sandwich board with the words the end is near written on it, etc. The apocolyptic paranoia is interrupted by a single acorn rolling into frame. Chicken Little turns and sees where the acorn came from. "We need to do something about this." Chicken Little declares. X-DISSOLVE TO....

... a dean pan chicken counting to three. ZOOM OUT and all the chickens are yanking out a tree. Cheers! CUT TO a shot directly pointed at the sun. Lens flare and all. A series of shots showing the chickens basting under the sun. One chicken comments that it it so hot that it will "...melt the polar ice caps". End with an ominous up shot of Chicken Little: "We need to do something about this."


DONE.