This summer has been unexpectedly busy for me and I have not had much time to animate. However, I am moving to a new apartment soon, where I will have a dedicated animation studio! I am also preparing to attend BrickCon at the end of September. In addition to selling Chapter 1 DVDs there, I am going have the first segment of Chapter 2 ready to show there, and hopefully will get back to a normal release schedule after that. Thanks for your patience!

P.S. I am sending out the very first NNN Newsletter today. Sign-up if you want to receive e-mail updates about the series.

There was always a good crowd of people around the iMac watching Chapter 1 and many people knew the words so well they were mouthing along with the video. At one point a boy came up to the table and when I introduced myself he said, “You’re the David Pickett?!” and started jumping up and down. Many people commented on their favorite characters (ROBOphelia, Leggsly, and Cornelius Crocogator all rated high) or scenes (the Anti-Green Commercial still takes the cake). During the closing ceremony we were sitting next to a mother who told us, “my kids found your series on iTunes and have it on their ipods. I went to check it out and I said ‘hey, this is actually good!’” It’s moments like this that make me feel like all the hard work I’ve put into the series has been absolutely worth it.

You can see more photos from the event on our FaceBook and flickr pages. We will be traveling to BrickCon in September, so hopefully I’ll get to meet even more of you there. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to animating Chapter 2!

The CreateSpace printing is really great, I just got my proof copy and absolutely love it. These pictures were taken on my iphone so they doesn’t really do it justice, but the packaging is really fantastic. I tested the DVD on several DVD players and computers and didn’t encounter any problems. It’s set for all regions so you should be able to watch it anywhere in the world.

If you aren’t sure whether you want to purchase this DVD, let me remind you of all the great content it includes:

Chapter 1: New Beginnings
+Director’s Commentary
+English subtitles
Deleted Scene
Chapter 2 Trailer
Original NNN Teaser
Choose Your Own Storyline: The Fight for Paradise Hills
Stuck in the Mud
And even though you can view all of this content for free online (except for the commentary and subtitles) buying the DVD will let you watch everything on the big screen in the comfort of your living room. And you can feel good about yourself for helping to support an independent production. What are you waiting for? Go order your copy now! Tell your friends!

Also, there’s now an NNN newsletter you can subscribe to.

In this, the pilot episode of The Nightly News at Nine, there is a massive prison break out caused by a soccer game gone horribly awry. One of the escaped convicts is Malifios, a villain intent on destroying New Block City. The NNN team learns more about Malifios’s previous attempts to destroy the city as well as the New Block Citizens reaction to his threat to destroy their city. Meanwhile a war is mounting between the colors Green and Orange.

The initial concept for this series first came to me in Summer 2006. Script development began in Sprint 2007. I started filming in February 2009. I put in about 102 hours of animating and countless hours of building, recording, editing and so forth. Used a bunch of new techniques (for me) – masking, blue screening and lip syncing.

1.1 – Out Of Bonds
1.2 – SVELT Commercial
1.3 – SVELT Interview
1.4 – Pro-Green Commercial
1.5 – On the Street with Steve Deepsea
1.6 – Anti-Green Commercial
1.7 – The Orange-Green War Begins
1.X – Deleted Scene – Sherry & Robert

On Vimeo On YouTube

Part 7 of 7 of “New Beginnings”

Also available via youtube