Zoo News




May 15th, 2010:
The ZOO has its own Facebook page! So go check it out and add it to your
list of “likes”! Here’s the link: The ZOO's FACEBOOK Page!

May 5th,2010:
We saw one of our writers and voice of Milton (among others) leave for his
5 month deployment to Alaska. Hurry your ass back, Shawn! AND, you better have
lots of work done when you return or no Xbox for you! ;o) We miss you brother!

April 25th, 2010:
Some of the ZOO crew got together this past weekend to wish one of our own a safe
and quick return from his trip. This came in the form of a PARTY! Thanks to all who made it
out on such short notice. We’ll have a bigger party real soon so that all can attend!

April 23rd, 2010:
I got to test the Beta version of Slam-a-Seal: The Game! It’s really coming along nicely.
If all goes well, we’ll have it up and online by late June!!

January 24th, 2010:
The ZOO: A Holiday Special brought home the “Best Experimental Film” award
this past weekend at the 2010 Trail Dance Film Festival!
Our screening was well received and the audiences went away feeling a little
more festive. A BIG thanks to all who came out to support us!

December 23rd, 2009:
We just got word that "The ZOO: A Holiday Special" has been
nominated for "Best Experimental" at the 2010 Trail Dance Film
Festival. Our short will be shown Sat. January 23rd at 5:15pm,
so come and raise some hell with us!

November 18th, 2009:
We just got word that The ZOO: A Holiday Special is an official selection
of the 2010 Trail Dance Film Festival! The festival is scheduled Januaray 22nd-24th


October 24th, 2009:
Our latest clip, The ZOO: A HOLIDAY
SPECIAL can be viewed in our "VIDEO CLIPS" section.

October 10th, 2009:
We had our annual House Productions
Party. There was plenty of food, drink and fun to be had.
A big thanks to Misti Collins for letting us throw our bash at her place.

September 30th, 2009:
The Fox/Aniboom Holiday Animation
Competition came to an end and all the votes are being tallied.
A big thanks to all who came out to support us with your votes
and comments. Now we sit back and wait for the results.

August 26, 2009:
Our entry for the Fox/Aniboom Holiday
Animation Competition has been uploaded and we now have a
dog in the race. The ZOO: A HOLIDAY SPECIAL went on line
around 8pm yesterday on the Aniboom site listed below.
Voting will start Sept. 1st and will remain open until
Sept. 30th. Be sure and check back then to give us your vote.
It would be much appreciated.

Congratulations to all who worked on this project.
You each did an amazing job. Jake, Shawn, Eddie, Adrian,
and I, all hope you enjoy our work even half as much as we
did making it. Once again the amazing Dave Rabalais came
through with flying colors and delivered a great track for
the flashback sequence as well as the out’tro we’ve come to
know and love.

A special thanks goes out to Steve Davidson for throwing our
way, one of our better jokes used in the clip. It was a very
nice addition to our work. To everyone who missed a chance to
get onboard for this project, we look forward to getting you
back in the folds for the next one.

Again, I say thanks to everyone who put so much effort into
their jobs and gave us a fun clip that we can be proud of.
Next comes the Wrap Party…

CHECK OUT OUR ENTRY HERE: Click Here

August 2nd, 2009:
The Zoo crew went into the studios this evening to record the
voices for our entry into the Fox/Aniboom Holiday Animation Competition.
I say studios because while Eddie, Adrian, Jake and I were breathing life
into our characters here in Tulsa, OK, Shawn was bringing to life Milton
in a studio in Fairbanks, AK. Bill Rogers of Sand Castle Recording Studio
out of Fairbanks, AK did an amazing job as sound engineer in capturing
Shawn’s performance and went out of his way to get us the audio files
promptly. We definitely appreciate his work.

Locally, we had Eddie “Monster” Evens as our sound engineer here in Tulsa,
OK and once again the “Monster” did an amazing job for us. He also contributed
some of his vocal talents to create the voice of Barry the Angel who definitely
had us in stitches. Adrian Forbes brought to life Artie the Angel in a very
memorable fashion. This was Adrian’s first outing with us and I have to say,
if his future performances even reflect a portion of what we saw today, I
have no doubt we will have a place for him for a long time to come.

Jake did an amazing performance of the Badger and I did my best to knock
out Rastus. Together, we were able to create a strong foundation to build
this story. To all those involved, great job. Now to the animation.

JULY 14, 2009:
The script has been broken down, and all shots have
been storyboarded. Next comes the storyboard animatic, cut to the
stand-in audio track recorded Sunday evening.

JULY 11, 2009:
Jake and I had a chance to sit down and discuss
our latest Zoo project with our newest addition to our cast.
Adrian Forbes will be attempting to tackle the tough job of
bringing Artie the Angel to life, and we have no doubt that he
will pull it off quite nicely. So welcome aboard Adrian, and
good luck to you. No pressure or anything, we’re just all counting
on you. :o)

JULY 10, 2009:
Our Fox/Aniboom Holiday Animation Contest script is finished.

July 4, 2009:
* ZOOTHIS.COM LAUNCHES ITS NEW LOOK: Manan has worked quite diligently to
super-charge our site, and it will officially go on line on the 4th of July.
The page load time might have increased, but the wait is well worth it.

June 30, 2009:
PRODUCTION BEGINS for our entry in the Fox-Aniboom Holiday Animation Challenge.

June 19, 2009:
CHANGES IN THE ZOO: (*From the House Productions blog) Well, I've got
some bad news and some good news. Sadly we lost a great member of our
beloved crew recently. No, no one died, but we were all sad when we heard
our very own Vanessa Arita was going home to spend some time with family
and friends. She did a great job as set photographer and breathed life into
our Zoo website for the first time. Not to mention, brought to life some great
characters for the shows pilot. Her hard work will always be appreciated and
never forgotten. She will be missed and we all hope for her quick and safe return.

In my search to find fifteen people to do the work she did, I was fortunate
enough to meet one individual who could at least handle the responsibilities
of the website. Not that it is a small task, by no means, but in the short
time I've worked with this guy, I've come to realize he posses the three
traits that are common in each member of House Productions. Those three
things I look for in a person I work with. Talent, passion, and the ability
to remain humble.

Each of these traits are abundant in our everyday world, but to find them
all in one person is something special. To actually get to work that that
person, well that's just an honor. So I am honored to be the first to welcome
aboard Manan Azhar to the crew as our new web designer.

June 11, 2009:
THE ZOO RELEASES NEW CLIP: That's right. Another clip from Episode 1
has been released throughout the web. In this clip we see Milton helping
Rastus deal with a recent break-up the only way a true friend can; by
getting him drunk and getting him laid.

So if you have the time, go and check The ZOO: MOVING ON, and leave us a comment.
Your scrutiny will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again.
-House

June 06, 2009:
"SLAM-A-SEAL" THE GAME (for our website) goes into its pre-production stages.
There are even talks about a cell phone app as well.

May 15, 2009:
ACCEPTING REELS for new voice artist.

February 17, 2009:
THE C.D.C. (Center for Disease Control) declares Jake Richardson a
"Walking Petri-dish of Venereal Diseases." It warns all to remain at
a safe distance and advises anyone who has made contact with him should
immediately douse themselves in gasoline and strike a match.

January 16–18, 2009:
* The Zoo writers attend Trail Dance Film Festival '09 in Duncan, OK.

May 30, 2008:
* From the House Productions blog:

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who trekked out to Ken's land for our little party
last weekend. Everyone I talked to seemed to have had a good time and the atmosphere was
great to be in. We had a great bunch show up and hang out to roast hot dogs and s'mores.
We had a big fire, cold beer, and enough junk food to last three camping trips. A very
special thanks to Ken Robinson for allowing us use of his property for our party and for
all his help setting it up. Another special thanks to Vanessa Arita for picking up the
delicious food we enjoyed. Overall the party was a sucess and I look forward to when we
can do it again. I know we will have another when Shawn gets back into town in a few months.
Thanks again for hanging out and making it a great party.

May 20, 2008:
* From the House Productions blog:

The Script for Episode II is Finished! That's right. The first draft of what will
be the second episode of The ZOO is done. Now to the re-writes, where I will run it
past the other two writers and watch them make it even better. That's the great
thing about a first draft; it can only get better from here, and right now, I'm
pretty damn happy with it! Also, tomorrow, I pick up the first ZOO t-shirts coming
off the press. They should look good!

January 7–11 , 2008:
* The writers prepare this week for a retreat in Duncan, OK
* Updates to the website in the gallery 01/09
* Updates to the website in the cast and crew list 01/09
* New episode 1 synopsis in the features page 01/09


November 7, 2007:
* From the House Productions blog:
As of this past weekend, all the audio we recorded in the studio has been cut together.
The next step is to cut together a storyboard animatic. I currently have about 60% of
the storyboards done, so it will be at least a month before I have the animatic complete. As for
the audio, I have to say, if I'm already laughing at just the audio track, I can't even imagine
how much fun the fully animated pilot will be. Thanks again for your patience, and I hope to have
something new for you all to check out soon.

October 18, 2007:
* Episode 1 trailer is now available at a number of sites throughout the web.
As of October 16, we reached a combined total of a thousand in views
* trailer is now available online at MegaVideo.com
* trailer is now available online at Aniboom,com
* trailer is now available online at DailyMotion.com
* trailer is now available online at Yahoo! Videos
* trailer is now available online at VideoCommunity.com

September 13–16, 2007:
* world premiere of THE ZOO’s trailer at Southern Winds Film Festival,
where it was played at four venues scattered around the beautiful town of Shawnee, Oklahoma
* trailer is now available online at YouTube.com
* trailer is now available online at MySpace.com
* trailer is now available online at aol.com
* trailer is now available online at OurStage.com

July 22, 2007:
* from the House Productions blog:
I had to do it. With only a short time until we release the trailer
for Episode I of The ZOO,,. I thought it would be funny to release a "sneak peek"
of a teaser trailer. Basically, do a big build-up, then deliver very little,
or nothing... kinda like the "shameless self-promotionalist" that often taint
this great state. Don't worry, the real deal is coming soon, and it will be worth the wait.

April 13–14, 2007:
* second time the ZOO crew steps into the studio
* a new voice talent steps into the studio, Kimberly Poplin

March 3–4, 2007:
* first time the ZOO crew steps into the studio
* the ZOO crew meets our Recording Engineer, Hayden Burlingame
* the ZOO crew meets the new set photographer, Vanessa Arita

February 3, 2007:
* from the House Productions blog:
Alas, the cast got to break in the voices of the characters they are
going to get to know, all too well, in the next few months. I sat down
with each cast member, in front of a mic, and allowed them to hear themselves.
For most of us, voice over work is a new endeavor. My goal was simply to get
everyone comfortable with the sound of his or her voice and start with a foundation
we could both build from. You have to imagine my excitement, watching these men
and women breathing life into the characters I have had in my head for more than
six years. Each brought so much to their character, defining them in ways I could
never have imagined. Considering many of the actors have multiple characters,
each took home a CD with mp3s of their different voices to become more familiar with.

January 26–28, 2007:
* Trail Dance Film Festival [Life’s Little Gaps]
* “When we weren't engrossed in a film, you would find us sitting
in the back, throwing back and forth ideas for future episodes, that
had us in stitches.”

January 20, 2007:
* production meeting: character assignments and schedule distribution

January 6, 2007:
* writer’s meeting: dialogue for THE ZOO trailer

November 10–12, 2006:
* writer’s retreat, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
* production meetings pushed until the new year

October 7, 2006:
* writer’s meeting: outlines for the first six episodes
* from the House Productions blog:
You could say our stories are of love, loss and the struggles
of man, all rolled up in one big fart joke, or you could say they're
outrageous, outlandish, and almost guaranteed to piss some people
off.... or so we are hoping. Either way, we know THE ZOO will make
tears of laughter pour from your dark and stagnant souls. We appreciate
your patience, and look forward to sharing more with you as soon as possible.

August 25, 2006:
* Jake Richardson joins THE ZOO crew

May 15, 2006:
* characters being drawn for the pilot episode (a dozen or so in the past week)
* outline of the third episode coming along quite nicely
* character assignments to be determined soon

December 16–18, 2005:
* Writer’s retreat, Oklahoma City Zoo