:: Dano's Production Journal ::

:: 12/28/2006 ::

Christmas in Iraq
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Animator R. Don Smith, ladies and gentlemen!


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Tate English of Jollyville Pictures takes good pictures. I, on the other hand, am a bad model.





And I really hate blogger's random image placement. Is this 2006 or 1992?
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The white dolphin, 'goddess of the Yangtze', now probably extinct.

Awesome. Only a few million species to go! Consider yourselves warned rainforests, coral reefs, and polar ice caps! Don't even think about fighting back!
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Collection Agency Films was mentioned yet again on the Austin Film Festival blog - HERE

And Channel Frederator's new podcast episode features Tall Tales & Other Big Lies - HERE

And this just cracks me up.

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Is there a special person in your life who happens to be a cosmic cowboy or
a rednecked hippie? Does that person hum "Redneck Mother" at inappropriate
times?

Well, do we have the gift for you!

"Tall Tales & Other Big Lies: Stories of Ray Wylie Hubbard"
THE COMIC BOOK!
Collection Agency Films presents the first illustrated volume of everyone's
favorite Ray Wylie tall tales. Illustrated by Jose Luis Gonzalez!
40 pages of pristine black and white drawings (with bonus color cover!)
Featuring: The Helicopter Gig, Robbed in L.A., and The Goat Story

Available at Book People, Waterloo Records, the Armadillo Bazaar, and more.

For more info visit Collection Agency Films
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The beautiful Pelican Nebula

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New things are afoot at Collection Agency Films.
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"Dance Like a Monkey" wins Best Dance Sequence in the Channel Frederator Awards! Our first Freddie! Thanks for your votes!
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Vintage Danomation


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More from BAF06:

The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television is delighted to
announce the winners of this year’s BAF Awards. The awards were presented at
a glittering ceremony hosted by legendary stop-frame animator Barry Purves
(King Kong and Mars Attacks!) on Saturday night at the museum in Bradford
which culminated the hugely successful four-day festival.

The BAF Awards celebrate the very best new animation from around the world.
2006 has witnessed record highs in film submissions with more than 1,000
submissions whittled down to just 42 films entered into the Official
Selection. The winners were selected by an international jury of animation
experts chaired by Pat Raine Webb who worked at the renowned Halas &
Batchelor Studio from 1977 to 1992 and has been on the Board of Directors of
the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) since 1988. Other jurors
are Margot Grimwood (Director of ASIFA UK since 1985); award-winning
animator and lecturer Pedro Serrazina from Portugal, Andy Wyatt, formerly of
Aardman Animation, and animation author Giannalberto Bendazzi from Italy.

Best Music Video
New York Dolls – Dance Like a Monkey – Dir. Dano Johnson (USA, 2006)
The video for the single from the New York Dolls first studio album in 30
years is foot stomping rock’n’roll that would get Darwin pogoing in the mosh
pit. The point? Just dance like a monkey!
“A brilliant visual interpretation of the spirit of the music.”
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"Dance Like a Monkey" wins BEST MUSIC VIDEO at the 2006 Bradford Animation Festival in the UK. Our first international award! You're next, Freddie Awards!


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Coming to Flatland?
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Collection Agency Film clips on MSNBC!
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1. Read this letter from Pat Tillman's brother
2. Get informed on the races in your area.
3. Go vote. Early voting in Travis county starts TODAY!
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Coming onboard Flatland?
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He works in mysterious ways...


Photo courtesy David Kimling
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"Theory, Fact, or Fiction?" is now available on YouTube in its entirety!



Watch the film that started the entire Intelligent Pulling debate. And of course, its oddly prophetic and timely spin-off, "In Defense of Definitions."


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Watch the original film adaptation of Flatland on Google video. It's only a 2 minute clip - you have to buy it to see the whole thing. But, um... I think ours might age a bit better...
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Flatland character designs by Sherard Jackson & Dano Johnson
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From the New York Times today:

"Here’s what happens when this irresponsible Congress railroads a profoundly important bill to serve the mindless politics of a midterm election: The Bush administration uses Republicans’ fear of losing their majority to push through ghastly ideas about antiterrorism that will make American troops less safe and do lasting damage to our 217-year-old nation of laws — while actually doing nothing to protect the nation from terrorists. Democrats betray their principles to avoid last-minute attack ads. Our democracy is the big loser.

Republicans say Congress must act right now to create procedures for charging and trying terrorists — because the men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks are available for trial. That’s pure propaganda. Those men could have been tried and convicted long ago, but President Bush chose not to. He held them in illegal detention, had them questioned in ways that will make real trials very hard, and invented a transparently illegal system of kangaroo courts to convict them.

It was only after the Supreme Court issued the inevitable ruling striking down Mr. Bush’s shadow penal system that he adopted his tone of urgency. It serves a cynical goal: Republican strategists think they can win this fall, not by passing a good law but by forcing Democrats to vote against a bad one so they could be made to look soft on terrorism.

Last week, the White House and three Republican senators announced a terrible deal on this legislation that gave Mr. Bush most of what he wanted, including a blanket waiver for crimes Americans may have committed in the service of his antiterrorism policies. Then Vice President Dick Cheney and his willing lawmakers rewrote the rest of the measure so that it would give Mr. Bush the power to jail pretty much anyone he wants for as long as he wants without charging them, to unilaterally reinterpret the Geneva Conventions, to authorize what normal people consider torture, and to deny justice to hundreds of men captured in error.

These are some of the bill’s biggest flaws:

Enemy Combatants: A dangerously broad definition of “illegal enemy combatant” in the bill could subject legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal. The president could give the power to apply this label to anyone he wanted.

The Geneva Conventions: The bill would repudiate a half-century of international precedent by allowing Mr. Bush to decide on his own what abusive interrogation methods he considered permissible. And his decision could stay secret — there’s no requirement that this list be published.

Habeas Corpus: Detainees in U.S. military prisons would lose the basic right to challenge their imprisonment. These cases do not clog the courts, nor coddle terrorists. They simply give wrongly imprisoned people a chance to prove their innocence.

Judicial Review: The courts would have no power to review any aspect of this new system, except verdicts by military tribunals. The bill would limit appeals and bar legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions, directly or indirectly. All Mr. Bush would have to do to lock anyone up forever is to declare him an illegal combatant and not have a trial.

Coerced Evidence: Coerced evidence would be permissible if a judge considered it reliable — already a contradiction in terms — and relevant. Coercion is defined in a way that exempts anything done before the passage of the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act, and anything else Mr. Bush chooses.

Secret Evidence: American standards of justice prohibit evidence and testimony that is kept secret from the defendant, whether the accused is a corporate executive or a mass murderer. But the bill as redrafted by Mr. Cheney seems to weaken protections against such evidence.

Offenses: The definition of torture is unacceptably narrow, a virtual reprise of the deeply cynical memos the administration produced after 9/11. Rape and sexual assault are defined in a retrograde way that covers only forced or coerced activity, and not other forms of nonconsensual sex. The bill would effectively eliminate the idea of rape as torture.

•There is not enough time to fix these bills, especially since the few Republicans who call themselves moderates have been whipped into line, and the Democratic leadership in the Senate seems to have misplaced its spine. If there was ever a moment for a filibuster, this was it.

We don’t blame the Democrats for being frightened. The Republicans have made it clear that they’ll use any opportunity to brand anyone who votes against this bill as a terrorist enabler. But Americans of the future won’t remember the pragmatic arguments for caving in to the administration.

They’ll know that in 2006, Congress passed a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation’s version of the Alien and Sedition Acts."

Write your Senators NOW!
:: Dano 11:19 AM [+] ::
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Wow. You know you're doing something right when creators of shows you watched growing up write you looking for work. Anybody remember shows called Muppet Babies or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
:: Dano 2:31 PM [+] ::
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'Tall Tales & Other Big Lies' will play at the St. Louis Film Festival this November. Look at the great graphic they sent us!




Also, 'In Defense of Definitions' will be playing TromaDance New Mexico. I think it's this weekend, but check the schedule... if you're in New Mexico. They didn't send us any graphics.
:: Dano 12:33 PM [+] ::
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So as much as I hate concert-goers who hold up their cell-phone cameras during shows, at least I can steal their memories via Flickr.com.

Sufjan Stevens: best show I've seen in Austin (except for Springsteen '00). Hands down.
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2 things:

An interesting article about E Coli and its terrible relatives (are you going to finish that spinach?)

And, I just got off the phone with Ned Lamont.
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A fascinating timeline of events.
:: Dano 9:02 PM [+] ::
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"Dance Like A Monkey" will be making it's European festival premiere at the Bradford Animation Festival in the UK. Considering we are in competition with a Gorillaz music video, we're in pretty good company!
:: Dano 1:31 PM [+] ::
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It just keeps getting weirder.

So ABC is not only airing a highly partisan and inaccurate 9/11 docudrama, they're sending it to schools as a teaching tool. Say what?

Here's my response to Mr. Iger. You can send your own here:

To whom it may concern.

I do not oppose the Walt Disney Company's right to produce entertainment that espouses a wide variety of opinions, points of view, or agendas. However, the USE of this media must be examined and criticized in an open forum. Disney's decision to selectively send screener tapes only to conservative bloggers is highly suspicious (but not unpredictable for a publicity stunt). As is the public relations campaign that is sending screener copies to schools as an 'educational tool.' A true educational resource would include access to facts and different interpretations of those facts. If an event portrayed in your film is dramatized, students should be notified. If events are portrayed offscreen or left out, students should be notified. I have worked for educational software companies that produce social studies courses. I know the power in my hands when I choose one image to show over another, or one quote over another. Do you realize that power when your studio fictionalizes or distorts real events that are so fresh in our memory, yet often misreported or unreported in our media?

I cannot ask you to not air your film, but I do request that you open a forum on your webpage or Nightline to openly discuss the opposing points of view and that questions the filmmakers and their intent. Any educational curriculum sent out to teachers should include copies of the 9/11 Commission report, along with other resources for teachers and students. Children need to know what is going on in the world, but they also need to be media literate and skeptical, skills severely lacking in our populace. Do not hinder or confuse them further.

- Dano Johnson

(Note I did not put that the Muppets rule. That's how serious this is)
:: Dano 9:28 PM [+] ::
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A conversation overheard as Jeffrey and I presented Flatland at the Dionysium:

Dude 1: Dude, what's a fractal?
Dude 2: I don't know. This is getting heavy.

And during the Q&A afterwards:

Not-so-random audience member: Mister Johnson, are you by any chance single?
Me: Ladies and gentlemen, my roommate is always trying to help me out. So, yes I am, and might I add she is very single too.
(applause and laughter)

Math is hot.
:: Dano 1:58 AM [+] ::
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A round-up post!

Upcoming:
Monday, September 4th - "Dance Like a Monkey" plays the Alamo Drafthouse downtown in the Indie Music Video Festival.

Tuesday, September 5th - "Flatland" will be discussed at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar at the Dionysium. Learn about this Austin production and see some sneak peeks!

Friday, September 8th - "Dance Like a Monkey" plays at Rebelfest

Friday, September 29th - "Dance Like a Monkey" plays in the Asian Animation Film Festival

And recent news:
- "Dance Like a Monkey" on Channel Frederator
- The Kinkytoons on News 8 Austin
- Collection Agency Films on Animation World Network
- Flatland in the Austin Chronicle
- "Dance Like a Monkey" is now available for purchase at the iTunes Store.
:: Dano 6:40 PM [+] ::
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A short film by Kelly Williams (yes, of Lonnie Kilmer fame) got reviewed by Filmthreat! Find the hilarious typo!

Also, have you registered for upcoming info about Flatland yet? Becuase as of today 500 people have! Don't be left out!

And if you're in NYC on Wednesday 8/30, you can see some short films I worked on at Manhattan Comedy Collective's 'End of Summer Shorts' night.

Read about Collection Agency Film's projects at Animation World Network too.
:: Dano 7:24 PM [+] ::
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Collection Agency Films and the Kinkytoons on News 8 Austin!
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"Dance Like a Monkey" is featured on the Channel Frederator Podcast and blog!
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Lucky Chicagoans can watch "Dance Like a Monkey" on the big screen at the Asian Animation Film Festival September 28th - October 1st.
Collection Agency Films: celebrating our Asian heritage since late 2006

UPDATE! Yes, the rumors are true. We're screening in front of Mobile Suit Gundam III on Friday, September 29th at 6 PM

UPDATE 2! Dance Like a Monkey will be featured on the small screen of Channel Frederator's Podcast soon.
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I would hereby like to welcome our 3 new planets: Ceres, Charon, and Xena.


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It's a good thing they didn't poll India, China, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, or most of Southeast and Eastern Asia. We would look even worse as a nation.
:: Dano 11:05 PM [+] ::
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This is, quite possibly, the best music video review ever!

We’ve watched the animated clilp a half-dozen times already, and while we’re not sure if that’s a live-action David Johansen or a simian cartoon likeness, it’s no exaggeration to say that it’s the funnest thing humankind has ever produced. It’s like an H-bomb of fun.
:: Dano 1:21 AM [+] ::
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Collection Agency Films presents:
'Dance Like a Monkey' by the New York Dolls!

Watch at YouTube
Watch at Roadrunner Records
Watch at the Official NY Dolls site
Watch at MySpace
Watch at Collection Agency Films

And soon more! Check out the Dolls on Conan O'Brien Thursday night!
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There's some comic gold in here!

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She's done and the band loves it. Dubs go out to MTV Wednesday...
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Our Telly Award for the 1st Kinkytoon!
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Kinkytoons are Number One!
:: Dano 4:03 PM [+] ::
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Howdy, folks. BIG things going on!

1) The third and final Kinkytoon is online at Kinky's site. It features several of Kinky's musical pals and it's surprisingly better than it deserves to be. This also represents my first published song and my first use of the phrase 'Adios, Mofo.' Don't forget to check out the Telly Award Winning Kinkytoon 1 and non-award winning Kinkytoon 2.

2) 'Theory, Fact, or Fiction?', everyone's favorite fake Sunday School educational film, is playing at the First Sundays Film Festival on May 7th in beautiful NYC. Make it if you can. Or watch it on DVD.

3) A spin-off film from 'Theory, Fact, or Fiction?' titled 'In Defense of Definitions' is playing at Oscar Night, an evening of comedy films, sketches, and stand-up. That's next Tuesday, May 7th in NYC. It's by invite only, so let me know if you want to go (Michael Showalter showed up to the last one to do stand-up, so if you know who that is you know this is cool)! Also, help us win Arianna Huffington's webvideo contest by clicking here.

4) Collection Agency Films is working hard on a new project that will blow your socks off. I'll give you a hint: Monkeys!
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A link!
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Sugar Land is safe again...


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Also, our first Kinkytoon: I Loooove Texas won a Telly Award (the Oscars of Advertising) for best political internet/online ad. Our first trophy!
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SXSW 2006
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"Tall Tales & Other Big Lies" just won runner up for best animated short in the SXSW Film Awards!!!
:: Dano 9:33 PM [+] ::
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Jollyville Pictures presents "Theory, Fact, or Fiction?"

Made in the grand tradition of reactionary Christian classics such as "Rock: It's Your Decision", "Theory, Fact, or Fiction?" deals with the dilemma one young boy faces as he must choose between his faith and a long standing, venerated, scientific "theory".

Now you can purchase the DVD, full of about 4 bonus features! Watch some clips in ipod video, including the bonus short film, "In Defense of Definitions."

You can also see "In Defense of Definitions" at YouTube. Rate it, request that YouTube feature it, and share it with friends.

*All proceeds go to helping us enter film festivals and recouping production costs.
:: Dano 11:57 AM [+] ::
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Sooooooo, I just handed a DVD copy of "Puppet Show" to Jim Henson's daughter, Heather. You don't get that chance every day!
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"Tall Tales & Other Big Lies" just got accepted into the SXSW Film Festival.
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Coughdrop and his Arkestra
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In memory of Anne Guthrie, a great housemate and friend.
Please support cancer research.


:: Dano 1:20 PM [+] ::
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Wow.

My business partner just got a call from Judy Hubbard, Ray Wylie Hubbard's wife. They are in Steamboat, Colorado for a music festival. Ray is receiving a 'Living Legend' award and they showed our Tall Tales cartoon to an audience of thousands of country music stars and fans. The response was so awesome, Judy had to call us immediately. People were falling out of their seats and crying with laughter. Our cartoon was the talk of the night. Judy & Ray talked to some of the other bands that were performing at the fest and learned an insanely cool fact: when getting pumped up for a performance, these bands from across the country raise their hands and shout "Help me! Help me!" - a line from the cartoon when the dog is humping the drunk. Man, that's nuts!

I smell clients!
:: Dano 2:47 PM [+] ::
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