I'm getting an average of one e-mail per day lately asking me when the new Garfield animated series — the one I've been working on for more than a year — will debut. Well, it has debuted. It's on France 3, which is the second largest French public television channel and it's doing so well there that we're about to start on a second season. 26 half-hours have been done and production will soon commence on 26 more. I've been writing and voice-directing. We do both of those in English.
And for some reason, I'm also listed as one of the Executive Producers. ("Executive Producer" is one of those titles that can mean almost anything. I worked on a TV show once that had two Executive Producers. One worked a 60+ hour week, involved in every stage of production. The other did absolutely nothing on the series...and I mean nothing, apart from cashing large paychecks. I don't think he even watched the show.)
So it is on. It just isn't on in America yet. When might that happen? I have no idea. I mean, I'm sure that's going to happen but I don't know when or where. As soon as something's firm, I'll report it here.
If you've ever dreamed of a career in voiceover work, take the 13 minutes and watch this film. Not all v.o. gigs go like this but everyone who does them for a living has had sessions that went just like the one you'll see if you click. And if you do view it, stick with it all the way to the end.
Certain songs seem to rocket through the "cabaret" circuit. For a while there, every time I went to see a performer singing show tunes (or similar songs), I could bet and win serious money that the repertoire would include the number, "My Simple Christmas Wish." It was written by a clever tunesmith named David Friedman, though if you Google it, as I just did, you can find a lot of other folks getting the credit. But I'm pretty sure it was Friedman.
I've probably heard this song in a dozen club acts, maybe more, and it works best when it's sung by a young, up-and-coming performer. It takes on special meaning — which I'm not so sure I like — when offered by nine-year-old Lily Taylor. With some laundered lyrics, no less.
April 2, 2009
