Hello and welcome to the IYW.
I hope you are having a great weekend and enjoying meeting fellow creatives.
I wanted to share another project that I've been working on, besides "Seeing Rachel".
Here is an animated urban fantasy series, called Gulag Earth(TM).
A while back I posted a job for a concept artist, on the Stage 32 site and from that I employed the services of Finnuala O'Higgins. The artwork is from the pilot episode and this is a scene set in Buenos Aires.
Here's a little about the project from the draft pitch sheet:
Genre: Animated (anime) social urban fantasy series
Format: Serialised
Nutshell: When free-will is outlawed, how do young people resist the government and subvert its authority, when it is empowered by dark spiritual beings called the Archons?
Tagline: Be careful of your allegiances; some may be deadly.
Poster Tagline: One Planet. One Prison. One Door Out.
Logline: (V1) - When the whole Earth is a prison, and the people who resist are put to death without trial, those who long for freedom must evade the authorities to bring into being…a New Eden.
Comparables: Satoshi Kon (Paprika) meets and falls in love with the Animatrix.
Why now?: People are fearful of the rise of Authoritarianism, of State’s that incarcerates and tortures its own subjects. No matter where we look on the Earth, there is concern for a growing sense of a world spinning out of control and human rights seem to be the last thing on the mind of such States: China, Russia, North Korea, Myanmar, The Philippines, Iran, Argentina, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Belarus, to name but a few.
Film and TV can help us reimagine a future without the dehumanising forces of these tyrannical governments. The good people of Earth are wearied of being commodities for the powerbrokers.
And that's the edited highlights, which will no doubt be edited again. I have employed Finnuala's services again to work on a pitch deck design as well as a promotional piece with one of the characters telling us his story. (I'm looking for an Argentinian voice actor for this one).
I really enjoyed working with Finnuala and that's why we are now working on some different elements for the series. The initial work included two images from the pilot and six character designs. This process has helped me with the world-building stage of the story. All I'll say, is that if you are wondering about connecting with people here on the site and sussing out that it can provide great benefits, then this is a testimony that it does! Thank you Finnuala!
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Hi, Geoff Hall. Hope you're having a great weekend and enjoying meeting fellow creatives too. The artwork looks fantastic and the story sounds incredible! Can't wait to watch Gulag Earth!
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Hi Geoff Hall greetings again :). Thanks for sharing the info about your exciting project.
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David Zannoni thank you, David. I’m looking forward to bringing this to the world.
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Maurice Vaughan thank you, Maurice. I’m thrilled that you love the artwork. It was great working with Finnuala and I learnt a lot in the process. And like you, I can’t wait to see it and let the world know about Gulag Earth.
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You're welcome, Geoff Hall. I'm going to keep Finnuala in mind for artwork.
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Maurice Vaughan brilliant, Maurice. Finnuala is great to work with and she gave me very clear terms and conditions on our agreement. I’m hope she’s going to pop in to the Lounge at some point and introduce herself. Have a great weekend.
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Hope Finnuala pops in to the Lounge and introduces herself too, Geoff Hall. Thanks. Have a great weekend.
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Geoff Hall, I’m so excited about Gulag Earth and it’s fantastic to hear that you found such a strong collaborator through the Stage 32 Job Board! The artwork and world-building sound amazing already, and I can’t wait to see how it continues to take shape.
We’re truly lucky to have you as a leader in this community. You never fail to bring a smile to my face, and I always look forward to our conversations in the lounges. Your generosity, creativity, and humor are a huge part of what makes Stage 32 feel like home.
I hope you and the family are having a great weekend, my friend. Always cheering you on!
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Ashley Renée Smith! thank you, Ashley.
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Geoff Hall UHHH LOVE THE TITLE! Gulag Earth? Get outta here! Sooo good. I'm a title person man and that sounds intriguing asf! :)
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Thankyou Geoff! this is such an exciting project and I can't wait to see it all come to life!
Why do you mention Russia? You don't know how we live. Why don't you write the truth about English history?
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Yes why do you mention Russia. I am currently reading Taking Manhattan, the extraordinary events that created New York and shaped America by Russell Shorto. Some nice English history in it. And Dutch as well.
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Hey, thank you Rosie Schreiber
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Finnuala O'Higgins Finnuala, you’ve sent me on a journey with your creations. Thank you! I can’t wait to see our new project take shape.
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Arthur Charpentier erm, the inspiration for the title came from the Russian Gulags. Death by forced labour. Britain is too bland to warrant any urban fantasy vibe and your current leader is not exactly an exemplary humanitarian, so it still resonates today.
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Willem Elzenga I like Dutch History, Willem. I studied Dutch Art of the 17th Century in my art history degree. We travelled the Dutch galleries one year, and the Belgian too. I loved that course!
Geoff Hall, I won't argue about politics, but I will say that you are greatly mistaken. The brutality of the Gulag has been greatly exaggerated by Western propaganda, as have other stories about the cruelty of Russian tsars. I recommend reading about the Orthodox prisons of Tsarist Russia, which were much more brutal and existed for much longer, spanning centuries. However, it is inappropriate to write about the harshness of the Christian Church, especially in the West and Europe.
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Arthur Charpentier thanks, Arthur. I have researched the topic and the claim that the truth about the Gulags has been exaggerated by western propaganda is outrageous. I also think that Alexander Solzhenitsyn would disagree with your claims!
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Geoff Hall, I hope Soros's foundation will give you the money to make a blockbuster about a prison planet.