news archives 2005

2005 News:

Don't goose this duck

Tickle's the name, playing coy is his game

A cranky duck kept poking his bill into Ethan Long's illustrations while he worked on an idea about farm animals solving mysteries.

"I started drawing all these pictures, and this little duck character kept coming up," Long said.

"I tried to fit him in a storybook and I tried to fit him into something else. There was about a year of that."
Then Long discovered Mo Willems' pigeon books.

"I saw them in the store. I said, 'Hell, man, look at that,' " Long said. "This guy comes out with this line art, and I went, 'Holy S (probably stands for Santa), you can do anything with children's books.' "

Long added a touch-and-feel aspect to his children's story, and Tickle the Duck, who has irresistibly fluffy spots on his body and ticklish feet, found a home with Little, Brown publishers.

Long's daughter Katie, 10, provided inspiration for the story. When she was a toddler, Long says, Katie would tell him to stop tickling her, but then she'd want more.

The book is dedicated to Katie and her hamhocks, Long's name for the fatty part of her baby legs.

Long, 37, describes the duck as "cute but kind of cranky. Kind of elusive but funny and childish. It has this ornery old-man appeal. It's kind of me."

He's plotting a move from Longwood, Florida, to Tallahassee with his wife and children (they also have two sons, ages 3 and 2), while he works on more books and an animated series, Farm Force.

A Farm Force pilot aired on Nicktoons, and the series is in development with Porchlight Entertainment. Long and his partner, The Blair Witch Project producer Rob Cowie, hope to have episodes ready to air in two years.

"It's basically 'farm animals get struck by a nuclear tornado and they get superpowers.' At the same time their nemesis Moojo escapes from a mad-cow facility and wreaks havoc on the countryside. And there's a bunch of guest villains. It's kind of based off the Batman series," Long said. "It's a concept that started with the duck in it but turned into something else."

Moving On Up

November 17, 2005; Publishers Weekly

Tickle the Duck! is a novelty book that has taken its publisher, Little, Brown, by surprise. Starring a testy duck who warns readers not to tickle him, the touch-and-feel title was originally scheduled to be published next February, to coincide with spring and Easter. But once the sales reps and then book buyers saw it and began expressing their enthusiasm, February seemed too far away.

According to Celeste Risko, Little, Brown's national accounts manager, as soon as she presented the book to Borders, Sarah Jagenow, one of the chain's children's buyers, told her, "Oh no, you have to move this up." Jagenow predicted to Risko that Tickle the Duck! could be a big holiday gift title at its stores. "Everyone at BGI has fallen in love with the duck," says Risko. "The book appeals to both kids and adults. It's got that subversive humor to it. It's not your ordinary Pat the Bunny book."

The strong interest from Borders, along with the book's status as an in-house favorite, helped spur the publisher's decision to release the book this September, and they have gone back to press for an additional 50,000 copies, for a total of 75,000 copies in print. Little, Brown has also signed the author/illustrator for a second book, due in spring 2007, called Stop Kissing Me.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Mary Kay Haseley
Project Firefly Animation Studios
Phone: 407-224-5192 marykay.haseley@projectfirefly.com
www.ProjectFirefly.com

Nextoons: The Nicktoons Film Festival 2005 Viewers Choice Award goes to Project Firefly’s Farm Force - “Send in the Clones”!

ORLANDO,FL, September 30,2005 - PROJECT FIREFLY, LLC, the extraordinarily talented Orlando-based animation studio, is the winner of this year’s Nextoons:The Nicktoons Film Festival Viewer’s Choice Award for its film, Farm Force: “Send in the Clones”. Farm Force is an action-packed comedy centered around three seemingly ordinary farm animals, a chicken (Layla), a pig (Bigg) and a fish (Fishstix), who gain super powers after being struck by lightning from a super-charged nuclear tornado. The fledgling trio of superheroes pledge wing, hoof, and fin to protect their farm and the surrounding countryside from the evil schemes of their nemesis, Moojo, the mad cow, and an array of guest villains. “We are thrilled that the incredible team of artists at Project Firefly is being recognized for their talents, along with Ethan Long (creator) and Robin Cowie (co-producer), who collectively brought this project to fruition,” said Dominic Carola, President and co-founder. “Our next exciting step is to secure distribution for future episodes,” added Paulo Alvarado who co-directed with Carola. Project Firefly represents a unique blend of creative talent, proven experience and abundant potential. Founded by four veteran animators in March 2004 after the closure of the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida Studio where the four had worked, the company has quickly grown by adding many of their former animation colleagues. The company’s first big-screen debut will come in early 2006 with a Universal Pictures feature release of which Project Firefly is doing about a quarter of the film. Project Firefly is a full service animation studio providing both 2-D and 3-D quality animation for theatrical and video releases, television series, commercials and interactive/internet media. Project Firefly generates original content as well as offers outsourcing support. For more information, contact Project Firefly Animation Studios at 407.224.6730 or 800.264.0266 or visit www.ProjectFirefly.com.

Project Firefly Animation Studios and Chili Pictures Premiere the Animated Pilot “Farm Force”

WHO/WHAT: Orlando based Project Firefly Animation Studios and Chili Pictures will premiere their co-produced animated television pilot “Farm Force.”

WHEN/WHERE: Sunday, January 16, 2005 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Digital Media Arts Center 39 S. Magnolia Avenue Orlando. FL 32801-2603

DETAILS: Farm Force is an action-packed animated comedy series about three ordinary farm animals, a chicken (Layla), a pig (Bigg) and a fish (Fishstix) who gain super powers after being struck by lightning from a super charged nuclear tornado. The fledgling trio of superheroes pledge wing, hoof and fin to protect their farm and the surrounding countryside from the evil schemes of their nemesis, Moojo, the Mad Cow. Farm Force is a co-production of Project Firefly Animation Studios and Chili Pictures. Created by Ethan Long, Farm Force was produced by Robin Cowie and directed by Dominic Carola and Paulo Alvarado. Ethan Long, Chili Pictures, is a 1991 graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design and has illustrated for such clients as Dutton’s Children’s Books, Little Brown and Holiday House. Robin Cowie, Chili Pictures, is a filmmaker and television producer. Cowie produced The Blair Witch Project, two television series, and numerous television specials and commercials. Project Firefly’s Dominic Carola and Paulo Alvarado spent over a decade apiece working for Walt Disney Feature Animation. Carola quickly rose through the animation ranks, animating on such films as THE LION KING, MULAN, LILO AND STITCH and BROTHER BEAR. Paulo Alvarado’s background includes such varied disciplines as character design, storyboarding and visual development. Project Firefly is a full service animation studio providing 2-D and 3-D animation and artwork for theatrical and video releases, television series, commercials, interactive/internet media, children’s books and educational films.

[Editor’s note: For more information or to RSVP, please contact Jennifer Hand, 407/224-5192 or day of at 407-765-8712]

MSNBC - Project Firefly primed for TV, big-screen debuts

By Cindy Barth, Orlando Business Journal
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET Aug. 21, 2005

ORLANDO -- After 18 months quietly developing animation projects and clients, Project Firefly Animation Studios is about to make two big-screen debuts.

On Aug. 27, the Project Firefly-animated Farm Force— the tale of three ordinary farm animals who gain super powers after being struck by a super-charged nuclear tornado -- has been selected to appear in Nickelodeon's Nextoon: The Nicktoons Film Festival 2005. The animated short, created by Ethan Long and produced by Robin Cowie (The Blair Witch Project), also will be simulcast on www.nicktoons.com and rerun on Aug. 28 on NickToons.

But the young company's crown jewel to date will come with the Feb. 10, 2006, big-screen debut of Universal Pictures' and Imagine Entertainment's Curious George movie based on the popular H.A. Rey children's book series about a little monkey who continually finds himself in a series of misadventures. Project Firefly is doing "20 to 25 percent of the animation," says studio President Dominic Carola, including the animation of George.

Produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Jon Shapiro and David Kirschner, the 82-minute film will feature the voices of Will Ferrell, Dick Van Dyke, Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy and Joan Plowright.

"To say we've had a big year is kind of an understatement I guess," says Carola. "We believed that we had the talent to do this successfully here in Orlando, and it's good to see it starting to gain speed now."

Finding a niche

Gaining speed doesn't quite do justice as far as describing what Project Firefly has accomplished in just a little more than a year.

Founded by Carola, Gregg Azzopardi, John Webber and Paulo Alvarado in March 2004 after the closure of Disney's Florida animation studios where the four partners worked, Project Firefly took up residence on the back lots of Universal Orlando with a staff of five.

Fast forward to today, and the 2-D/3-D animation studio now has 37 full-time staff, with another 25 who work as contractors on an as-needed basis with projects. In fact, notes Alvarado, a few of their former work mates at Disney have returned to the area to team up once again with the partners.

Webber says a couple of factors that have allowed Project Firefly to establish itself so quickly are the combined experience of the partners — 50-plus years among them, including work on films such as The Lion King and Brother Bear — and the work-style setup of the studio itself where most of the artists multitask. That, says Alvarado, "allows all of us an opportunity to do things that we might never get to do at a big studio. And we can still grow, but not have to get really big because we all share in the work."

Next on the studio's agenda: creation of original Project Firefly storylines.

"Taking on the projects we already are doing has given us the financial footing to now look ahead to doing what we always intended -- our own stories that we own the rights to," says Carola.

And, adds Azzopardi, "We are pretty close to getting there."

Friendly focus

With work on Curious George expected to be completed in November, Project Firefly is already working ahead on seven or eight other projects its name will be attached to, says Carola. While many projects can't be disclosed yet due to confidentiality agreements, Carola does say that the partners are still maintaining their Disney ties, working on animation for the entertainment giant's Pooh's Halloween and Brother Bear 2, among other things.

And while Project Firefly has been somewhat of a well-kept secret so far, expect that to change soon too, says Suzy Allen, vice president of film and digital media development for the Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Commission.

"These guys are going to be one of our best success stories in the next few years," says Allen.

Pamela Tuscany-Warren, senior director of marketing and business development for Universal Studios' Florida Production Group, agrees and says Project Firefly is bringing "all kinds of energy" to the local industry.

All that aside, though, Carola says his focus will remain on the one area he and the partners believe is most critical to the studio's ultimate success: original content.

Says the veteran animator, "The ability to do our own original content -- that will be our ultimate measuring stick for success. That's when we will have truly arrived."