Sing Along Pictures and ROCO

Hey Folks! Got some fanboy news for you - me being the fanboy unless you too are a fan of ROCO. Sing Along Pictures was featured on ROCO's official website at World Apart! As you may or may not know, ROCO not only created the music for our Title Card, but also makes an appearance in our debut project, OMO. Click HERE for a teaser and HERE for OMO!

So this weekend I had an epiphany about advertising. In the beginning I shied away from it. Maybe because it felt braggy or maybe because of years of other people's questionable advertising practices, I'm not sure. I just heard some guy in the back shout, "ALL YOU TALK ABOUT HERE IS SING ALONG - WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU SHY AWAY?!" First off, no shouting from the back - this is a blog not some factory that makes shouts AND SECONDLY, these days, Sing Along is a big part of my life, sir, and you should be thankful I'm editing out other details like bowel movements and inner monologues about cleaning or not cleaning my desk (what if this exact messy arrangement is responsible for idea generation? What if THAT?!) Either way, I'm just telling you what I did or am doing at my personal blog. It's different, right guys?

But if you're running a business, advertising is extremely important. So important, people will literally try anything just to grab your attention. From dressing up in costumes on the street to studying a viewers brain pattern while exposed to certain video clips so they can then create movie trailers that actively trigger selected emotional responses from an audiences.

Not sure if it's necessary to go that far but just imagine if you didn't see that ad for the latest Star Wars installment? I seriously don't even want to consider it. So my (overly obvious) epiphany was this: No one can enjoy your work if they don't know it exists. And why not talk about something you're proud of or you loved doing? That's the craziest part. So I'm jumping in with both feet, folks and I suggest all you other artists do the same. Get your stuff out there and share what you love so I can enjoy it - and hopefully you'll enjoy ours.

On that note...

~D

STUFF!

Very excited this fine morning - We released our first design ‘OMO One’, an original design created specifically for this limited set of products, through the good folks at Red Bubble! To check them out, click on the image above or right HERE

I'm super picky about the quality of things. Whenever I get something and it doesn't meet my unrealistic standards, I go on a 45 minute, old man rant to my poor wife. It's unhealthy. BUT, it does mean I was on the look out, scouring the web, look through company about pages and endless customer reviews, checking for the best possible product we can put out there.

The world is polluted with a ton of stuff just made to get out there and turn around a buck. People are entitled to do that free from old man judgement ( I tell myself in the reflection in my spoon ) but I don't want to contribute to that with my own company. So this design was made just for these products and is not available on anything that takes print. That is, unless you want it ;)

So we're happy to go through Red Bubble. Great quality, organic options, Apple approved gear, and most importantly - happy customers. If you're looking for a new iPhone/iPod/iPad case, tshirt, etc - check it out!


~D

PS: Introduced my wife to Star Trek: The Next Generation at last. I've fulfilled my geek duty to create an additional Trekker. My 2 year old is next.

More Questions!

Since we released Sing Along's first project OMO, as mentioned before, we had some questions about the product. Some of the questions concerned the absence of any Digital Rights Management on our work. And what is DRM anyway? Well I wrote a little piece over at the Sing Along blog addressing the question and our current position on the use of DRM.

You can check it out HERE

You can get your own copy of OMO, Sing Along Picture’s debut project (starting for only $5), HERE

Take care, folks and we'll talk soon! As always feel free to shoot us any questions or comments you might have HERE

~D

OMO has Arrived!

Ah.. OMO is up and ready to go at last! Click on the image or HERE to head over to the sparkling fresh Sing Along Pictures Store!

Which brings me to my next point - creating an online store is... difficult. Not for all you normies out there, just for me. HTML is like algebra to me and if you ask my high school math teacher, he'll tell you that means I suck at it. Well, I sucked at it. Now, I can do it and all it cost me was time. Time to learn and the time it took to collect all the hair I lost. You all collect hair, right?

Anyway, so glad Omo is out there now - it was worth the hair loss. To me, it's not just a project but a bit of a symbol that if you're determined enough you can do the stuff you like.

~D

Monday Night!

Happy Monday night, folks! Running a little late on the ol' personal blogosphere! I've been pretty busy lately - working on a couple projects while going through the final stages of OMO before the release! So things are a bit hectic but going good!

So updates! We announced on Saturday Sing Along Pictures' first project will be being released on Nov. 27th 2012 and today we put up a new teaser for OMO. If you want to check it out and some other little details, head over to Sing Along HERE

I'll have more to say soon but I'm pretty focused on the release so bare with me. We want this thing to be as good as we can get it so we're pouring in the extra hours. Hopefully you guys dig it!

~D

OMO Release Date Announced!

Announcement day! Today we announced the release date of Sing Along Pictures' first project, OMO!

There's still a lot to finish but we're pretty excited to be able share exactly what we've been working on for so long. OMO will be available for purchase on Nov. 27th 2012. Click on the image above or HERE for more information and details about what's going to be available.

Can't wait for you to see it!

~D

Just about there!

Good morning folks! Hope everyone had a good long weekend! Unless it wasn't long then I apologize for rubbing it in. It's the start of the week and as always we have some news to share over at Sing Along Pictures and another sneak peek at our first project, "Omo".

Lots to do still so I got to get back to it but hopefully you guys are digging the teasers so far. They'll be wrapping up shortly and Omo will be available soon. It's been a dream making this thing with such amazing artists. Getting exciting and hope you guys enjoy.

~D

Halloween Week!

It's Halloween already of at the studio! Head over to Sing Along Pictures for a look at the card Maki painted and some Sing Along news for Twitter (for Japan users too!) and Google+ users.

Soooo how was your weekend, my dearest, readers? Apart form working on Omo, we've been wrapping up Lost, at last. I'm a little torn. I mean, they keep killing my favorite characters. Can I just forgive that? I mean, I can - forgiveness is important, folks. Just everyone I like on that show meets their maker. Like I'm this awesome death curse. Which I'm not in reality - YOU HEAR THAT UNIVERSE?!

Anyway, just wanted to keep you up to date on my extremely late viewing of a series that ended years ago.

OMO: Visiting Soon...

A good Monday to you, dear readers! The video you see here is 'OMO: Visiting Soon...', a short clip I directed taking a peek into the making of Sing Along Pictures' first project. AAANNND this clip is also the first clip on our brand new YouTube Channel! As always, to learn more about what we're up to you can head over to the Sing Along Pictures site and our Facebook page.

Art of Omo

Happy week start, everyone! We got some more news to share over at the Sing Along Pictures site - click HERE to check it out and to catch up on some other things we have going on!

Pretty excited about this news! I'm a huge, what's the right word? ... addict of the 'art of' books from the many films, comics, and other story projects I love out there. I may be biased as the work that goes into these books is where my career stems from, but it goes deeper than that. I think it's because it's a glimpse into this crazy world of potentials and an opportunity to see the work/inside the minds of some of my favorite artists. I love a ton of these but my right now favs are The Art of Porco Rosso, The Art of Kung-Fu Panda, and The Making of the Empire Strikes Back. Oh man, The Art of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, The Art of Up... The Art of Ponyo... Alright you get it, lots of amazing stuff out there. Anyway, just love this stuff so it's really, really, great to be able to offer our own very soon. 

Alright that's it - Let's have a good Monday, folks. 

Omo

Big news today for all of us over at Sing Along Pictures - we revealed the big part of of our debut project: Omo. If you're unfamiliar you can go and check out what I'm talking about HERE

It's kind of a special day, at least for me. Although it's not a complete reveal of exactly what we're doing, it's the first time we've shown anybody a big part of what we've been working on for over a year: the main character of our debut project. Which is a bit scary. This seemingly simple design wonderfully created by Maki Fujimoto, has been through many, many iterations, meetings, and 3am epiphanies as we tried to create Omo and his story. To put all that effort into something, and then to keep it secret, is super hard for somebody like me who has a debilitating compulsion to share. But it's been a labor of love so despite my fears, it's a complete joy to share it all with you guys today, and we hope you like it.

Stay tuned to find out just who this little guy is and what he's doing here by checking Sing Along Pictures or by following us on Facebook.

More More Peeks...

Another weekly update over at Sing Along Pictures - you can now count on 7 fingers how many days until Omo's full reveal! Click HERE for a look!

Omo's launch will be happening soon (more on that later) so in preparation we've been putting in time on the weekend. No tears though, it's super enjoyable. But that said, it IS having an impact on my movie watching career so this weekend all I could do was polish off season 4 of Lost. Never have I loved, then hated, then loved, then loved, then hated, then came to an understanding, then hated, a group of characters so quickly. It's an emotional roller coaster, folks.

Thus concludes my thoughts on a show everyone else has seen years prior, for today. Happy Monday.

More Peeks...

The reveals keep coming over at Sing Along Pictures, folks! Click HERE to check it out! In addition to revealing who Omo is, we'll soon be revealing the specifics on our debut project which I'm very excited for.

So this weekend I saw Cabin in the Woods again and let me tell you, re-watching that film is crazy worth it. The first time watching you're the kids and the second time you're the others. I might have said too much...

Just go buy this film and shoot me your eternal gratitude in the comments section.

Reveals All Around..

We're revealing things over at Sing Along Pictures - click HERE to check it out!

Hope you enjoyed your weekend my dear readers. I spent part of my weekend white knuckling take-out utensils while continuing to finally watching Lost. What's with this island, amiright?

You'll find a way...

Another update over at Sing Along Pictures!

Man... it's a joy to do this stuff for work. Doing what you love can feel difficult at times, even impossible. But folks, I assure you, if you stick with it, whatever it is, you'll find a way.

More Clues...

Another teaser over at Sing Along Pictures!

Man, I'm getting excited for our first project to be released. It's pretty exciting for me to see it grow and develop. A long time ago, once I had an idea, I used to always try to keep the work as close to the original concept as possible. That's only great if you're the only human on Earth with ideas (you and I certainly are not). Maintaining the original spark of the idea is important, but luckily I discovered if you open yourself up to the new ideas, the genius of others, and even the "accidents", you'll allow your project to reach heights you alone couldn't take it.

Anyway! Hope you all had a great weekend and got out to the theatres (or if you had to, your home theatres). May I recommend Hope Springs?

Omo Teaser

Another teaser from Sing Along Pictures! To stay up to date on it's happenings you can check out the blog HERE

Man, it's been a busy summer! From the LFH book (*see previous post), Omo (*See above image), planning out future Sing Along's projects, and a new story blog, it's enough to break my already broken brain. But whatever, it always talked me out of stuff anyway...

Oh, the Teasing...

Artwork by the wonderful Maki Fujimoto

What's this? Secret illustrations solving the mysteries of life? Coded images revealing a path to sunken treasure?? Sing Along Picture's debut project??? Only time will tell, folks. Stay tuned...