Me, Stuart and Chris Bemand wrote a silly song.

And so... something was missing. We needed a big moment for Zoe to swoon with love over this new guy at school (who of course was just Tom in disguise). It needed something bigger than just her saying how much she was in love, she really needed to break into song. Initially I wanted a fantasy with rainbows and unicorns, but we only had a cow, and a baboon and we had to make do with the character work already designed. We didn't even have a horse design that we could turn into a unicorn. Well... necessity is the mother of invention, and the father of songwriting, so Stuart Evans, me and Chris Bemand wrote a song... The Cow Of Love. Its wonderfully stupid and Samantha Barks belts it out so well that she makes it sound like pure class. Enjoy.

TBI The Last Word. Wish I could have that with my kids.

On a break.

I am on a break. from David Freedman on Vimeo.

Groove High, cutting room floor

I wanted Scoot to have a very limited vocabulary. The odd word here and there. Well it made me and the editor laugh at least. Oh well... that's showbiz. Still, Scoot's few words are gone but never forgotten. When my kids are having potatoes, I lean over slowly and stare, wide eyed... and in Scoot's voice I say, 'Mmm po- tay -toh'. They laugh, but I'm sure they will have me sectioned eventually.

scoot says potatoes from David Freedman on Vimeo.

New Pickups for Lucky Fred

Spanish production and distribution company Imira Entertainment has inked several new deals with broadcasters for animated series Lucky Fred. RTM (Malaysia), e-Vision (United Arab Emirates), TG4 (Ireland) and Kidz (Turkey) have jumped on-board for the 52 x 12-minute 2D comic series for kids ages six to 12, adding to a growing list of more than 155 territories that have acquired the show. Others include TF1 (France), Disney Channel (Spain, France, Italy, Germany, India, Israel, Australia) and Nickelodeon (Benelux, Scandinavia, Latin America, Asia, South Korea).

Lucky Fred, an Imira co-production with Televisió de Catalunya (Spain), RAI Fiction (Italy) and Top Draw Animation (Philippines), follows the adventures of 13-year-old Fred who has a
personal robot that can transform into anything he wants.

The deals follow shortly after Imira announced a Lucky Fred app will be available worldwide via the Andriod Store and iTunes’ App Store.Read more: http://kidscreen.com/2012/03/26/new-pickups-for-imiras-lucky-fred/#ixzz1qFQsZ5tL

Zoe on a date with an older man... and a tiger.

A nice frame from Groove High.

Is that a foot?

Needless to say, this didn't get through S&P. A classic from the cutting room floor.

Damned nominated for best student film at the Baa's.

Damned Trailer from Richard Phelan on Vimeo.

Tom says I love you.

A nice scene that will never be seen. Even though Zoe never actually hears Tom, it was felt that this crossed a line in their relationship. Personally, it's one of my favourite moments ever. And thanks to the internet, it lives on.

Tom says I love you. from David Freedman on Vimeo.

Childhood dreams come true.

I've had some very cool meetings lately, including this one with Marty Krofft. And look, a Sleestack from Land Of The Lost! Aaaaagh!!!

The office was amazing, with my entire childhood on display. Sadly I'm too busy at the moment with other work and Sid & Marty needs material yesterday... but still, how cool is that?! He even gave me a signed Sigmund toy. Swoon!

Valentines Day is Lamingtines Day

In LA for a few meetings and some tacos.

New York has the Statue of Liberty, Malibu has this guy. No contest.

Kidscreen fun

I was just in New York for Kidscreen where I ran a mentor table (when did I become old enough to mentor anyone?) and spoke of the various pet peeves of both creatives and execs, which often overlap. Good fun and some wonderful new contacts. Much talk about Lamington, which I wasn't planning to talk about, but did... and looks like he'll be shifting up a notch sooner than later in his quiet sad quest for licensing world domination.

Cute. But no Barry White

We used to have Barry White 'oh yeah' type of music playing over this scene. And so we had to come up with something different, and Eric Reinwart, our composer came up with many different things, and none of them made us laugh as much as the Barry White stuff... until this one.

A belated Lucky Fred Xmas Card, because I only just found it.

I was sifting through some old emails and found this while I was away. Cute. Can't wait for the show to come on the air. Soon, apparantly very soon on Disney XD.

Sad. I've been with Monteiro Rose Agency now for 15 years now and Candy was my first agent. Candy was amazing, inspiring and she taught me calm. She took on me and Alan Gilbey way back when despite us being totally inexperienced in TV, and in the wrong country. She showed us the way and invested in us. A lot. When Candy believed in a client, she believed with all her heart. She raised us from pups. I have wonderful memories and lessons learned (she gave sage, SAGE, advice) and I will always have deep gratitude for her unwavering belief. A very sad loss.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118049671

Zoe, er I mean Samantha to star in Les Mis

Our Zoe, from Groove High just got cast to play Eponine in the upcoming movie adaptation of Les Miserables.

We knew when we were filming in Ireland that she got the call to audition, (she played the part in the West End) and we all know she's gorgeous and can belt out a tune... and in fact hardly ever stops singing, and quite frankly she's one of the hardest working gals in showbiz, so... it's no surprise.

So congratulations Zoe, er... I mean Sam. See you on the big screen. And of course on the small screen on Disney Channel this spring. We're all dang proud.

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/159707/samantha-barks-not-taylor-swift-to-play-eponine-in-les-miserables-movie-musical/

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/02/01/samantha-barks-les-mis/http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/02/01/samantha-barks-les-mis/

Forking heck.

Nice little article on Lamington in Total Licensing UK.

I scanned the clipping, but can I find a link to the article online? No. Oh well. It's nice to know the little puppy is generating some ink... on real paper!

Bullseye

When James Hutchinson and I set out to make Lamington, we felt it was best aimed at teen girls. In fact, we felt that he was the Rob Pattinson of puppies.

He's just started to spread on Facebook. And the stats show a near perfect bullseye. The circled bit is girls aged 13 - 17.

Lamington would be proud, if only he knew what that emotion was.

A superb storyboard artist, animator, revolutionary.

Well he looks like a revolutionary, but he's not. Stefan is a fabulous storyboard artist and one of the reasons Groove High is so groovy.

Why the beard? Not Movember, this started a while back. Stefan is simply protesting the lack of government in Belgium by not shaving until they form a new government. It's a popular protest and apparantly much of Belgium look like this now.

Simon Bullen - Groove High editing marathon

What? It can't be. All the offlines finished?! All to time? Simon Bullen super editor. Those weren't long days... Just short nights. Simon. Are you ok Simon? What's that? You've lost the ability to blink?

Me and the Missus Make a Cameo in Groove High

Editing in Ireland.

Just look at that. Sunshine in Ireland! You know why it's sunny? Because there's only one episode left to edit on the live action part of Groove High. It's sunny outside and deep inside my soul.

See that intense look in my eye? That's me trying to think of how I'm going to trim 2 hours out of what's meant to be a 20 minute episode. Ok, 3 minutes, but it can sometimes feel like more. I'm sure we'll do it. We always do, and ironically once you cut something, you might miss it, but you never actually want to put it back. When it's gone, it's gone.

See that pub behind me? That's where a pint of Guiness is being poured now, in anticipation of us finishing the last offline and getting it up on the ftp to Disney.

And tomorrow it's back on a plane to London. Life is good.

The last bit from the first season.

There's a fine line between corny and sentimental. Johnny played the final moment without the dialogue.

No words needed. Less is often more.