Premieres, Dragons, General Happenstance

AAAAH!!

What a crazy past two weeks these have been... Bearpuncher premiered, the Wingfeather Saga premiered and with that I feel like I've entered a new chapter of my life. It all makes me ready to sit down and write a cozy, short(?) recap of what all's been going on. It's something I hope to do more often in the post-Bearpuncher era... I've been particularly inspired by Coleen Baik's The Line Between newsletter, which captures moments across the creative process and publishes every two weeks. I don't want to promise that kind of consistency, but I do want to post more around here, since there's been plenty going on...

Bearpuncher Update

It's been two weeks since Bearpuncher was published to YouTube. In the event that I've done a severely poor job of advertising and you missed the announcement, you can watch it here! For free!

It's been thrilling and satisfying to see its audience evolve: from just me, viewer #1, as it premiered at 8AM, to friends and family throughout the opening weekend, and to the wider world over the following weeks. My main hope, as an unknown channel, was for it to surpass the 4K views of my previous film, Good Boy Richard. And based on Bearpuncher's initial performance, that goal seemed a bit ambitious. I was preparing to hustle and submit this film to dozens of festivals just so that it would be SEEN. By SOMEBODY.

But as of today, it's sitting at 83K views, which is just bonkers. My reaction to that news is all over the place - pride in the film's success and the quality of the artifact, confusion when I see other videos that are much more deserving of such numbers, fear that my next video may not do as well as this one, and gratitude toward the people who made this moment possible. It's that final mood that I've tried to settle into. I do genuinely believe that Bearpuncher's success on the internet is due to real people (most of whom read this blog) who took the time to recommend Bearpuncher, and get the ball rolling. People across the country and  the world  have seen it not because of me, but because of our community. Thank you so much.

I've prayed for months that God will prosper this film, and it's exciting to see that prayer answered. Perhaps the coolest thing so far has been  a highlight on the Animation Obsessive newsletter,  where it was mentioned in the same section as Worthikids and Cartoon Saloon... WOW. I just don't think any accolade could be better than that.

One other thing I'm learning - high viewership does NOT correlate with merch sales... in fact, I haven't sold ANY merch since opening weekend! I'm saying this not to guilt you into buying merch but as a word of warning to any other indie creator who hopes to fund their film that way... it's not easy!

But for all the talk of numbers and views and crap like that, I think my favorite part of the whole release experience was our little premiere party, where the local crew and friends got together to watch it on a big screen (which was SO COOL!) It was a fitting capstone to the whole experience, and a reminder that films are made and watched by real people - and that's who I want to make movies for.

bearpuncher crew

bearpuncher letterboxd admin team

My Father's Dragon

Circling back to the topic of Cartoon Saloon, my dad and I got to watch their newest movie together (as part of our unofficial watchthrough of their filmography) and it's a very sweet movie! It's as visually ambitious as ever, though thematically much simpler than their earlier work. It's very earnest and childlike and endearing, which was enough to get me sufficiently weepy at parts. And that kind of emotional investment means FANART! Which I now have time for! So weird!

Still on the fence about whether the magic effect is Too Much but I need to move on and not dally so long on this particular piece...

So... What's Next?

I've been trying to pump the breaks, turn on the reverse thrusters, and activate several more mechanical metaphors as I adjust to making art and living life without the burden of animating a short film. Turns out, I really DO like drawing (surprise) and drawing for a film helps orient my process and create clear goals. Already I've been diving into the next project, which is shaping up to be an '80s inspired reimagining of a favorite character from my childhood. I want to do something MUCH shorter than Bearpuncher, something nostalgic, something with more traditional mediums, and something attached to an existing property. Less than a week after Bearpuncher released, I was already back at it again, doing a bunch of sketches and trying to absorb an entirely new style.

It's strange because I don't feel spent. I thought I would be EXHAUSTED after Bearpuncher, but instead I'm hungry to make a new, different thing. Yet it feels a little too soon to again submit my life to the tyranny of another creative project. I had barely begun to indulge my non-art hobbies before I found myself putting them back on the shelf... and I think my next project will be better served by an extended period of exploration, marination, and play. Maybe I shouldn't be so anxious to return my life to the same state it's been in for the past 14 months.  I've mentioned before on this blog  that I felt like working on Bearpuncher was holding me back from the travel and adventure I had hoped to have post-college. But despite that, I've come to like the comfort of routine and the satisfaction of measurable progress. I still feel guilty to take a night off and watch Seinfeld. And I'm now scared to change things up, travel somewhere new, or advance my career. It's these concerns that I want to try to address in the (probably brief) time when I'm not going full-speed-ahead on another project.

I think it's fortunate that this season of rest is coinciding so nicely with the holidays, which is a natural time for reflection, and for watching a bunch of movies without feeling guilty... I'm already very much looking forward to Christmas and the new Ryan Reynolds musical looks intriguing!

There's still more to report - I've barely touched on the Wingfeather premiere or my recent fascination with Back to the Future (for some reason) but in the interest of time I will just say that the Wingfeather premiere was LEGIT - I was pretty starstruck seeing the cast and EPs on the red carpet, and Kevin McNally even walked past me! Twice! And my dad came all the way from North Carolina to see the show (and my first screen credit, technically) which meant a lot. Thanks dad :)

dad not pictured here, unfortunately. 

friends are pictured here, fortunately

I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Bluey in this year's parade!! I SURE AM!

See ya soon :)

-dh

Bearpuncher

 Too busy and tired to write much else other than...

Bearpuncher is RELEASED! To y'all! Check it out here:

Thank you for joining me on this journey - for caring and for watching and for making this moment special. Now that we've reached the summit, why don't we sit a while, and watch some cartoons?

best,

dh

Convergence

Things are happening, people. 

On Wednesday I officially announced Bearpuncher's premiere date, which is... TOMORROW. After a couple of relatively relaxed weeks supervising sound design and compositing, everything is now a blur again as we approach the finish line for this two-year-plus project. If making art is like having a baby, we're in the FRANTIC DRIVE TO THE HOSPITAL stage, people. Everything is happening all at once. I'm planning a premiere watch party, in a classroom on campus that could very well be occupied on the day of the event. (This is the downside of no budget and a small apartment.) The merch just arrived, and needs to be photographed for my Gumroad (shameless plug shameless plug). I'm back to caring about social media again, planning posts and checking numbers. In short, I'm spending all of my free time on the project again, trying to get all the details into place in a way that would honor the hundreds of hours of work I must have spent on this thing. 

When I get a moment to sit back and consider all this fanfare I'm building up I still can't decide if I'm spending my energy in the right direction. On one hand, this is a five minute cartoon that's only a little more than a student film. I see much more talented artists like Worthikids and Emily Xu drop their shorts online with only a single, simple post to get the word out. I envy their ability (through follower account or just temperament) to not break a sweat as they carry their films to their audience. 

But on the other hand, this is two years worth of my artistic work, and I'd like people to take a look. And I want look at it with them - animation is incredibly isolating, but I've finally reached the tiny moment when it can become incredibly communal. And I made Bearpuncher for the community. For you. Not for the faceless internet user or the number of views, but for the people I talk with each week. And it's worth the extra effort to gather them together online and in person, and you know, watch the thing. 

I'm thankful for your effort in sharing and anticipating the film. Scrolling through Instagram and seeing the way our little community has rallied around the film is like energy drink for the soul - I almost feel jittery! After tending to this film for so long it's finally time to let it go off into the world. And I can't think of better people to entrust it to. 

So tomorrow! Bearpuncher! Right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XcR9zv3_Gg

See you then :)

-dh