Thursday, January 7, 2016

TOONBOOM Article About Web Series Greg and Charmaine

A nice article went up on Toomboom's website today about my new web series Greg and Charmaine.   Click here to be redirected to their website.  A copy of the text is included below:

The animated web series “Greg and Charmaine” debuted as a Funny or Die Exclusive December 17th 2015.  This marketed co-creators Dan Ewen and Tom Richner, debut on the highly popular site Funny or Die. “Dan and I had kicked around various concepts and pitches in the past, all of which led to an unending abyss of sadness,” Richner said. “We decided it was time to make something from scratch.”
The process was not that simple, as Ewen is based in Santa Monica, and Richner was animating in Columbus, Ohio, 2,250 miles away. “We had this nice, little production pipeline going where Dan would write and record the episodes, then rifle the audio to me for animation,” Richner adds. “We hope people enjoy watching them as much as we did making them.”
The series revolves around a quirky family in suburban Atlanta, where chicken franchises flank yoga studios and new ideas mingle with old. “The ‘New South’ has always fascinated me,” explains co-creator and writer Ewen, an Athens, Georgia native. “New ideas spread faster and further now than ever before. Tom and I agreed that it was fertile ground, and we’re honored that the fancy pants Funny or Die people seem to think it isn’t horrible.”
Ewen also felt like a fresher take on the South was called for. “The media tends to boil the region down into clips of Larry the Cable Guy riding jet skis and popping Prilosec, no offense to Larry the Cable Guy’s fans, jet ski enthusiasts, and or those who suffer from heartburn, which is a very real thing.”
In addition to working as a layout artist and timer on “The Simpsons”, Richner continues to work as a freelance artist and animator and is currently an Associate Professor of animation at the Columbus College of Art and Design. Ewen wrote and is producing the franchise reboot, SON OF ERNEST. His DEAR SATAN is at 20th Century Fox, with the Farrelly Brothers set to direct. Ewen also has a blind TV deal at Universal Cable Productions. He is repped by APA. Richner and Ewen originally met as film students at Denison University, in Granville, Ohio.