Mike Hollingsworth, Supervising Director of “Inside Job” for Netflix, as well as “BoJack Horseman” & “Tuca and Bertie” | AW 40 - podcast episode cover

Mike Hollingsworth, Supervising Director of “Inside Job” for Netflix, as well as “BoJack Horseman” & “Tuca and Bertie” | AW 40

Jan 31, 202243 minEp. 40
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Episode description

In this week’s episode, we “literally” go through the looking glass with one of the most prolific animators today! For this episode, I am joined by the one and only Mike Hollingsworth, whose works include the hit Netflix animation series Bojack Horseman, Inside Job, and Tuca & Bertie. He has also directed for a number of other series and does voice work for Bojack.

Join us as Mike and I talk about a host of topics, starting his trajectory from standup comic to animator and pitch room wonder boy to supervising director! Plus, Mike shares the hilarious story of how Hugh Grant negged him at the Critics Choice Awards. Furthermore, Mike also shares some exclusive stories about his animation projects Inside Job and Bojack Horseman. 

 

Timestamp:

[5:08] Mike talks about Inside Job

[8:40] Mike talks about Bojack Horseman

[10:45] Mike’s pitch room wonder boy days

[21:05] Meeting Hugh Grant in a mismatched suit 

[28:49] How Mike got started in animation

[36:32] Mike’s favorite character to animate

Follow along with Alicyn's Wonderland on:

Instagram: @Alicyn

TikTok: @alicynpackard

YouTube: Alicyn Packard

Twitter: @Alicyn 

Alicyn's Wonderland | Inside the World of Animation & Games

Transcript

Alicyn  

Welcome to Alison's Wonderland. I'm your host, Alison Packard. Join us as we journey through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole into the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Hey, do a girl a favor, and please subscribe to this podcast and go on iTunes and leave us a good review. If you like the show, please help spread the word. It really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much. Hello, Happy Wonderland Wednesday, I cannot believe that we are smack dab in the middle of the week and how? What are we against? Is anyone else they go in and I hope you guys are holding up and hanging in. Okay, I know that has been a lot this week with all the fires in the west coast and everything that is happening. I know a lot of people have been under a lot of pressure. And so I just want you to know this is like I wanted to be outside today because first of all, we can kind of see the sky today, which is exciting. So second of all, this little sunshine is my little ray of sunshine that I am beaming out at you. So I hope you feel the ray. And I hope you're down with the ray. But the good news is Mike Hollingsworth coming to talk to us today. Mike is not only an all around cool guy, but he's been working in animation for over a decade supervising director on Bojack Horseman. He was supervising director on Touka and Birdy and he's working on a brand new show right now called inside job. So let's see what he can tell us about the show. Okay, there he is. My,


Unknown Speaker  

my actually we have we brought a nanny back into the house. I have a four year old and she's from Michigan. She's 21 years old or something. And yeah, so I you know, and we've told her vaguely that we make cartoons, make TV shows. And then she was romping around the house with my son. And I was I was in the closet yelling, acting yelling, doing all this temp audio for this animatic and then I've popped out of the closet, and she was kind of right there. And she's looking at me and I was like, oh, sorry, I was recording for this show that I'm working on a temp audio, you know, for a TV show. And she said in that closet. I was like yeah, we just happened to the closet to somebody sometimes. And she's like, and this is for a TV show. And it's like not in the end it's temp but


Alicyn  

But yeah, that's what you were yelling right?


Unknown Speaker  

Yeah, it was I mean the show I'm working on now inside job which comes out in 2020 2021 maybe October maybe around a year from now or maybe sooner but yes, it is certainly an adult show.


Alicyn  

And not just an adult so but certainly it


Unknown Speaker  

is certainly an adult show there's lots of it's a whole new Netflix has no s&p So you can swear up a storm all you want okay, awesome. Exactly. I guess Instagram has no s&p either but yeah, so it is a kind of I also was a supervising director of the two converti which was another Netflix show that was cancelled by Netflix and then just got picked up by Adult Swim but oh, that yeah, it was picked up by Adult Swim which is great. I wasn't gonna be there Mia. They're making another season which is terrific. It's the it is effectively now the first female created show on Adult Swim apparel Wow. Yeah very kind of a Broly place for content it was working for them I suppose but maybe not for society or it was working for them while society was still growing during those Brock Obama years, whatever was growing out, but now that it's a kinder gentler time under Donald Trump where everybody's a little bit more sensitive. That just wasn't flying anymore so they finally put in a female creator but yes, thank you for having me on your upside down show you're so welcome. And you are you fancy yourself like to out be alice in wonderland of this show? Write


Alicyn  

good things. And Mike nevermind, we won't go there.


Unknown Speaker  

Well, when you say we won't go there, you're we might not like there's a place. No, you make it sound like there wasn't place to go. But you're like well, I know something about Mike but I won't share the audience. That's actually


Alicyn  

nothing there. Thanks question.


Unknown Speaker  

We won't go there because there's nothing there.


Alicyn  

Chad To me, just me. So wait, I want to hear more about inside job though because the premise sounds really interesting, especially for today's


Unknown Speaker  

Yes, yeah, Inside Job is show I'm an executive producer on for Netflix. It's Netflix's first in house, animated adult show and Netflix is opened up. They were in the process of opening up a giant animation studio in Hollywood before COVID hit now we're Oh, from home. So there's a big giant brand new studio just sitting there on Vine and Vine and Melrose. But yeah, Inside Job is a show about a secret branch of the United States government that manages and runs all like a shadow government like all conspiracies, like they're the ones who faked the moon landing, like the mock man works there. Slender Man works there, like all of this kind of stuff. And and yeah, it's like, the great show for the time about politics. You know, it's, it's political without being too specific. But it touches on all of these conspiracy theories, and all of these kind of themes that are so prevalent in society at this point, you know, like, right wing types, you know, like,


Alicyn  

do you get into it? Yeah. Did you? Do you hit a pizza gate, or


Unknown Speaker  

no, they don't hit a pizza gate. But in a world where people are so obsessed with pizza gate that they're running around shooting up Washington, DC, it's a fun, it's a fun show.


Alicyn  

You get to play play within that world.


Unknown Speaker  

Yes, you get to play within that world. It's definitely a show for adults. It's a female created show. It's created by God Takeuchi, who was previously a writer on disenchantment, and Gravity Falls, just to name a few things. And it's a beautiful show. It's really kind of like, Netflix is really big swing right out of the box. Like, I'm not, it's not a spoiler to say, but each one of these episodes have a feature. It just is a lush, lush show with, you know about really cool things like technology, monsters, mythical creatures than aliens and all this crazy stuff. So yeah, it's a fun thing. It's a fun show. And I look forward to everybody checking it out. When it comes out. It seems like we're living the same day over and over again, at this point in time. It's just stopped. But


Alicyn  

oh, this is so much better. Okay, now I'm turning myself upside down to see. Okay. Yeah, maybe now I can make eye contact with you. I think that's better. I definitely can't read anybody's comments, though, because I can't really read upside


Unknown Speaker  

down. I mean, I could turn my thing back around.


Alicyn  

I think it's time I think it's time.


Unknown Speaker  

Are you trying? That I sometimes have a problem with? Are you telling me the joke is over? Not always. The joke is over.


Alicyn  

Just keep going with it. Like a dead horse. Just beat that horse, you know? Like this. Oh, Jack. Should we take it back around? Should we take it back? To Bo Jack?


Unknown Speaker  

Yeah. To bow jack.


Alicyn  

So Jack? Yeah. So yeah. So you're the supervising director on that show? Do you supervise the directors? What?


Unknown Speaker  

Yeah, it was it was a it was a title that continually changed. Everything is be this what does that word just kind of shifting and everything like, on Season One of Bojack you know, as a supervising director, and I was like, getting in there and fixing every single storyboard file and fixing every single character file and drawing over every single background, and just really keeping everything on track. And then by season six,


Alicyn  

meanwhile, everybody's like, why are you drawing on my file?


Unknown Speaker  

On season six, when I started writing director about at that point, I was also co EP and I really, like we had, we had so much retention, retention, that by that time I and the whole crew really knew what how to make the show and, and, and how everything was made. And so we we didn't, so I was doing more producer stuff, like just sitting in so many meetings and like sitting in meetings where I was approving Funko Pop designs of Bojack and the characters rather than like, going file, reviewed every scene file by the director. They had all been directing for so many seasons that the show was on autopilot, but was running far more smoothly. But yeah, in the essence of supervising directing director, I was a director of directors and I just kind of overseeing the whole process. On the art side, Raphael, the creator, was the showrunner and was overseeing all of the writing all of the casting and dealing with the voice with the cast. And, and, and our side goals.


Alicyn  

And you also vote did some voices for the show? Correct? I did. Tell us about that.


Unknown Speaker  

Yeah, it was a it was a fun thing. I mean, I feel like, like, I never went to college for animation, I did stand up. And I feel like, I feel like my whole life I've been a phony that has just been meanwhile, like, I'm totally capable or everything, but I just maybe always have Asperger's Syndrome, because I never went to college. I went from doing stand up to running animated show, Well lucky. Out of those two skill sets. Yeah, but part of that I do feel like I've always kind of like, been kind of like a grifter. And I use people to come over to their house to swim in their pool sometime. But part of that would, I would write up kind of jokes, and put a ton of material into Bo Jax. And I would do so after all, the voice actors had recorded their lines, and they were, they'd already done their sessions. So I would put, I would put jokes in all this kind of like downbeat stuff, like scene resets. And I would and then but the voice actors have already done and so and I would go in and do my voices across the street in the sound booth pool and record to me across the street. So I could do this line. And they're like, can you just do in their phone and send it to me, I was like, but I had this grift where I was like, I want the sound, I want my voiceover to be of good quality. And then I and then I was very nice to the editors, the editors are your, your good friends, and you should see kind of them. Because they can really help you. I would tell the editors like just let this temp just keep cruising through like don't say anything about just if they ask you about it. Something Mike put in here, but if they don't ask you about it, just let it cruise through. And basically I would grift my way into another paycheck of pulling down vo on these episodes and then once one of my bills went through, then you know how they got you for three


Alicyn  

as you know voices Yeah. So just to explain to our listeners that the way it works for animated television on a SAG contract, once you are hired to do one voice you can do up to three voices for the same price. So that's why vocal versatility is great. And yeah, so they you'd go in for one voice and then they would I have


Unknown Speaker  

I am not very good at vocal versatility. Once I got one they would throw me to other


Alicyn  

but you funny so you and you wrote the words so it's kind of like stand up, you know,


Unknown Speaker  

I was in somehow it is completely separate. But somehow I always managed to end up doing old ladies.


Alicyn  

Can we hear your old lady?


Unknown Speaker  

I mean, it kind of sounds like this voice. The voice my voice? No, I mean, I guess I would talk like this. I'm terrible.


Alicyn  

Oh, wow. Yeah, this really good


Unknown Speaker  

little little story. Right? Yeah, you do it? Yeah, you do oh


Alicyn  

a lot about my eyes shut and shit on my lap. pervy grandma,


Unknown Speaker  

my mind. No good. The best hand grandma's


Alicyn  

there's just so many of them out there.


Unknown Speaker  

What I was one of my early vo Griffes was because I'm not a professional video artist. I was doing a show trip tank, which was a full show with a like a sketch animated sketch show. And I they wanted to cast the casting agent who you probably know I forget IB Eisenberg IV Eisenberg. He wanted to she was going to cast this character was like this character and this character and I was doing and I was like, I'm just going to do it because I just want to pull another check. And I should get a good job. But I'm a novice. And I came in and I started recording and I started too big and too fast. And in the record, and I had a professional there was a professional No sound engineer in there recording me. Who is directing? I guess I was directing myself. That's tough. It might have been Scout Raskin. I don't know if he ever Oh, of course I did. He's fantastic. He was in charge at all show but I went too hot and too fast and didn't work. And I was doing a really gravelly voice and I immediately gave myself hiccups. Know that, like you can get I went to I was being too gravelly, I was going too low. And out. And I gave myself hiccups. And so I, so basically, I had to deal with I still needed to record this thing. And the sound engineer was there. We couldn't say like, can you come back in a couple hours. And I needed the audio. So I just had to push through. And I was having so much trouble because I kept hiccuping in the middle of every of every take


Alicyn  

in a grant your granny? Or was this a different character?


Unknown Speaker  

Just like a gravelly sounding homeless man.


Alicyn  

Okay. So could it could it work with the character?


Unknown Speaker  

Well, not. I mean, yes, they pick up but you want them to pick up? Like, at funny spots? Not in the middle of every word. And let's that with the character. No, it didn't. I mean, I was just so mortified, embarrassed at how I, I just, I'm like, wow, it is very evident that I am a non professional voiceover actor. But eventually I cuz I had to record it was like a five minutes, sketch or something. So I had a lot of lines to go through. And on the rhythm that I would pick up through the I would pick up through the first two takes and then I get it in the third take. I could get my third take, I get it cleanly. It was just just a very weird kind of situation. I lost my ring light, my Instagram. I've been using in all these zooms. I found if you put a blank the Google homepage up on your big screen, it serves as a


Alicyn  

one of those your light,


Unknown Speaker  

which is a big white thing that just says Google.


Alicyn  

Can you see people or are they just multiple monitors?


Unknown Speaker  

If I slide it down, it's gone. And here's me with my white, my white Google homepage. No Google, Google homepage.


Alicyn  

Yeah, I'm kind of losing my light here, as well. So major and bear that was a major embarrassing moment for anybody that's just tuning in. We heard my Collingsworth Mike works in animation. He's working on a new show for Netflix called inside job. And he also worked for toucan Birdie and on Bojack Horseman as a supervising director. So for anybody, it's just


Unknown Speaker  

our Bojack superfan. Oh, J.


Alicyn  

Oh, yeah. There's a hidden jokes. Are you sure that's not an account run by you?


Unknown Speaker  

Oh, I mean, purveying, but I don't go that deep. I open it up. But yeah,


Alicyn  

what's up Bojack kitten jokes. Thanks for tuning in to Allison's Wonderland, where we explore the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Please remember to subscribe and leave us a review. For more episodes of Alison's Wonderland, please visit us at www dot Alison packard.com. See you next week.


Unknown Speaker  

Where we get all of our Bojack in she knows about what the news of the show before we do. We were just laughing. We're just we were on the Netflix celebration of our Emmy. We were talking about how we would figure out if and when we won an Emmy this Saturday. And we were all talking about that you would know before all of us if we actually won, because it's like the Creative Arts Emmys and nobody's going this year. You know. We're still only Beyonce. We find out on Saturday and we would figure you know first but that can just


Alicyn  

break. Break a leg.


Unknown Speaker  

Thank you for your service.


Alicyn  

Thank you for checking it out. That's so exciting. What category you guys nominated in best


Unknown Speaker  

documentary series?


Alicyn  

What's the competition on that one?


Unknown Speaker  

You set me up for that joke.


Alicyn  

You're welcome. No,


Unknown Speaker  

we're best animated show.


Alicyn  

Okay. Yeah.


Unknown Speaker  

No voiceover nominees. No nominations this year. It's all the Simpsons. Well, how many how many Emmys do they need? We get it.


Alicyn  

This is just one at first to me. And was it last year?


Unknown Speaker  

Oh, thanks. For what? For show. They beat


Alicyn  

they beat you. Yeah. For sure. But have you guys want best animated show? Yeah, I thought


Unknown Speaker  

we've never won an Emmy, we've won several, we've run three or four Critics Choice. That's a fun award show. Because everybody goes to it because it's the critics, even though it's kind of like, I mean, I have so much fun. For me. It's an amazing time. But for them, it must be a pretty low rent award show. You know what I mean for the celebrities, but they all kind of honor and put in face time with the critics. But it's so amazing who goes to that award show? Like I saw, I saw Tonya Harding there. Like, oh, Anya was nominated.


Alicyn  

I Tonya


Unknown Speaker  

Harding was there and like, I saw Sully Sullenberger there, the guy who landed the plane on the river, like, if Sally movie came out.


Alicyn  

I love that these are the two people that you most want to tell everybody that you saw at the Critics Choice Awards.


Unknown Speaker  

So it's such a weird celebrity side. I amazing. There, I went there with Lisa Hannah law was my partner on Bojack to the designer and my buddy for somebody season. And two of my dates to the Critics Choice Awards. Not really, but for the sake of the story. And I didn't know like what to wear, I made the mistake of googling Critics Choice Awards, because I didn't have a nice black suit that fit me. Uh, huh. Or show and I saw that people were more mix match suits and all kinds of crazy stuff there. So I was like, Oh, great. I'll put together a mix mismatch mix match suit. Yeah. And I got there. And I realized those are the celebrities that mix match suits. And those are about 1% of the people who are there. 90% of the people there who are the critic agents. Job is stuffy people, and they're all wearing just black tuxes. Oh, I really, for myself stood out. I felt very awkward. But maybe I just felt awkward. Maybe, you know, nobody's looking at you. You know, maybe you look cool. But then Lisa and I were in the security line right behind Hugh Grant, the famous movie actor. Yeah, sure. Talking to his date, that he probably picked up on the side of the road on the way to the show, and hey, you got a dress he, he turned in, he looked at me in my mismatch suit. And then he did a double take and looked at me again, and turned and addressed me and he said, he said, You know, I almost wore the same thing tonight. I last night I laid out on my bed. And in order to be ready to go for today's ceremony. But then when it came time to get dressed, I said, You know what? You're just not brave enough to wear your heart and you are brave enough. And then he just turned with the secure pay. And Lisa started tight. And I felt about two inches tall. She was like you just got nagged by you, man. It was it was I mean, it was fucking rough. But it was I mean, it was worth it for the story of how he made fun of me, but I got it and Lisa just loved


Alicyn  

it. Oh, that's pretty great.


Unknown Speaker  

I went the very next day and bought like a nice I was like never. I bought a nice fitted black suit. A penguin suit. It was made by a company penguin. I never showing up to looking different at all I am. My goal is to blend as much as I can. I want no one to see me or know me.


Alicyn  

Yeah, that's an amazing story, though. You know what? Cute, cute. Can't wear an outfit like you can so yeah, I mean, could you wear such ridiculous? I mean, I couldn't see him in that top at all.


Unknown Speaker  

He couldn't pull this off. He


Alicyn  

couldn't pull it off. No. No. Well,


Unknown Speaker  

yeah, so yeah.


Alicyn  

So I'm so interested to I mean, obviously, we know you're working from home. You have a four year old How is like what has changed in your life since quarantine. And also your wife is an animation and that's a secret. No better are you guys working side by side? How does that we work


Unknown Speaker  

side by side. But then it was we we had to, she went in converted a extra bedroom into an office because it was just kind of rough. Because our son always had access to us. Yeah,


Alicyn  

I feel you on that the door,


Unknown Speaker  

the door is just a big thing, just to have the door close. And my wife wants to always put forth like a upper very professional image of herself on all her zooms and stuff like, you know, I'm a director on the show, and I got this, like, everything's going perfect for me. I cared less. I didn't care as much like if my son ran up in the middle of this, that's just the situation like, like, I'm working. I'm working hard and working from home. And my son is going to run up every once in a while. And they I mean, he, yeah, Larry's kitty runs up. He kind of comes up and there'll be a loan the meeting, he runs up, there's some hilarious shit. You know, like, I imagine or my invisible friend Leipold the octopus. Oh, we always said try try again. And then he just runs away. I mean, how are you gonna beat that?


Alicyn  

Maybe he needs his own animated series. Uh, yeah,


Unknown Speaker  

I was thinking of making a cartoon of him and my dog all have you seen my dog? All right, Allison.


Alicyn  

Oh, perhaps? I haven't yet. Can we can all make a cameo right now on the show.


Unknown Speaker  

You sleep on the couch? Bam.


Alicyn  

Lulla Hey, Spaceman. Hey, Sara. It's so good to see some of you guys, for anybody that's just tuning in. I'm not just talking to a bookshelf. Tonight. I swear. This is my Collingsworth and this is his dog


Unknown Speaker  

doo doo doo doo doo pppppp. This is all of she's our co worker. They I mean, this is a hackneyed joke at this time. But this is they say this is a big national tragedy all this pandemic and having to stay at home for us human. But for a little doggies. This has been like the greatest thing that ever happened to them. You will head and rub our bellies all day. You're available to us. For us. Yeah.


Alicyn  

My cat too. I think he's like, yeah.


Unknown Speaker  

This is so great. I do have to say Allison. I have been getting a lot of compliments lately on my my ability to do cat sound effects.


Alicyn  

Let's hear it. You're ready waiting for Yeah.


Unknown Speaker  

Hi. What do you think? is really good?


Alicyn  

Yeah, totally solid. Totally solid. Oh, my goodness. There's so many mosquitoes out here. If you guys are just wondering why I'm just keep shifting around. Ah, so crazy. Remember when there was no mosquitoes in Los Angeles a few years ago. Now he is. Now I have hordes.


Unknown Speaker  

I got hit really bad today just sitting here working? I was I'm wearing pants even on inside because of mosquitoes. But then Oh, no. And then I just was like, my foot itches. And I go to look down there. I pull my chair back and I see that mosquito come out from under my desk and then eating my foot


Alicyn  

know who they are. But anyways, for anybody that's just tuning in. We're with Mike Collins. We're Mike. I'm also curious now, how did you get your start in animation? i There may be people out there that are looking to break into animation. Maybe I know you didn't go to college. And you were doing stand up comedy. But how did you get from here to there?


Unknown Speaker  

Yeah, that is I have a super atypical way of getting into animation. But it's very weird. There is no one way I mean, the best way to get into animation is to go to CalArts or SVA or Ringling. Or what else? No. And maybe SCAD for that one. But yes, pain at the mall? Yeah, if you go to those schools definitely build a it's great because you just kind of go there and build a network of people who will become your colleagues and in the next few years, you just feel filled. Because like getting these jobs and keeping these jobs are all about social structure and kind of like at least I found it. It's like just being very keyed in socially and kind of being a part of the community and everything Like, when I got the Flojet job, I did not go to college for animation. But I was doing stand up and I just started, like at the beginning of the web page of YouTube. I just started making YouTube YouTube cartoons. And there was websites, new grounds, which was like, where a ton of people were making cartoons. And I was making these cartoons and I started submitting them to festivals, the very first cartoon I made, I submitted around and it ended up I ended up getting it into the HBO Aspen Comedy Festival. Oh my gosh, that's amazing. an amnesty and in France, like the biggest Animation Festival, until I was like, shit, can


Alicyn  

we say that?


Unknown Speaker  

It's called the mustache contest, and mustache contest, okay. It's a cartoon I made a long time ago. But and through doing that I, I would go to the festivals. And I would meet so many other animators and filmmakers at these film festivals. And just really started building a social structure out of that, that was like my college, going to film festivals and doing film festivals. And from doing those, I met a young lady Caroline, who was a terrific filmmaker, really funny animator, and just chatting her up and getting to know her. And then when they were looking for somebody to direct the pilot of Bojack they were looking for somebody who had good comedic sensibilities. That Well, there's this guy, Mike Collins, who I met at the animation block party in New York. And and then I and then they brought me in, and I ended up getting hired from the festival connection. And that's amazing. Yeah, when Raphael the Creator, Bojack. When I mentioned in the, I think maybe he met some other folks. And, and I was I started talking to him. I just started talking about how I had new mutual people and and had done stand up for a decade. He's like, You do stand up? I was like, Yeah, I have to stand up. He's like, stand up comedy. I was like, yeah, in your in animation. I was like, Yeah, I'm an animator, but I do stand up comedy. It's like, on a stage. Like, yeah, I go up on stage. And he was like, This doesn't make sense to me at all how those two things you know, like, because animators are all mostly like, inside kids who are real dodgy with eye contact, you know, but yeah, to be able to kind of like work a room. Stand up, stand up comedy club is not very different than editorial room. Like, there's an audience in there. And oh, yeah, he's and the creators and the producers and stuff. And it can get pretty awkward. And rough in that room. And you got to bring that room back around. And that was, remember the line producer pulled me aside after season one. It was like, You are great in that room. Like you paid for the show. By being light on your feet in that room. Because it was that first season was fucking rough. We had to make we were the third or fourth Netflix show. SHAN we had to when they greenlit us, they said you're greenlit if you could have this show done in six months. And it hadn't even had a writers room hadn't even been brought together yet. Wow. Felt half hour episodes that we had to make in a in six months soup to nuts, the whole thing done. That's crazy. When you make a deal, that's like a deal with the devil. And you're and and when you make a deal with the devil, you're gonna throw bodies at that thing. And by that I mean people can get fired. In the process like, people you you get. I remember the line producer, the production manager on the first day came up to me and he said, on the very first day of production, he says, Mike, I just want to tell you that it's been a pleasure working with you on Trip tank, but I do not think our friendship will survive this process. But I just want to let you know that I mean, no. It's not because I don't think you're a nice gentleman, but it's just that's the situation we're in. And he was right. Our friendship did not survive that process.


Alicyn  

He's not watching the show right now.


Unknown Speaker  

But what my greatest achievements I think, is that I did keep it light and known got fired. We did not nobody did not throw bodies at that problem. That's awesome. Yeah, I just, I, I protected everybody by being, you know, a court jester who could draw. And


Alicyn  

I mean, yeah, so you started as an animator, but you're in terms of drawing. I mean, that was just a hobby passion. Something that you love to do. I mean, bug spray.


Unknown Speaker  

I both love to drive carry my brother. Always huge cartoon fans we love Tex Avery Chuck Jones Jim Henson so we were always drawing and create but then I also really love Saturday Night Live and you know, Daily Show and kids in the hall and everything and so I was very, very stand up comedy.


Alicyn  

It's kind of a perfect fit for you. A show like Bojack yeah to Yeah, again,


Unknown Speaker  

but my favorite show I think I ever worked on was a show I worked on with Allison the Mr.


Alicyn  

Mannion? Yeah, that was how we first met. Yeah, that


Unknown Speaker  

was the that was a show that I was a director on, oh, so many years ago. And I have to say, that was one of the best jobs I ever had. Because the characters were all circles and squares. It was very easy to it was not easy, but it was it helped a lot in the storyboarding, that all the characters were just shapes.


Alicyn  

Right, right. Right. Yeah. That made your job easier.


Unknown Speaker  

That anatomical stuff.


Alicyn  

And that we boarding on that show or your animator?


Unknown Speaker  

Yeah. And it was really fun because it was like a little sketch show. And the characters were all like, yeah, guitar players.


Alicyn  

Yeah, Kate Boutilier. And Eric Casimiro. created that show. Yeah, well, actually, let's see. We have a question from the audience. Would you like to take it from get lost with Lee Shrewsbury spend your favorite character to animate my favorite


Unknown Speaker  

character to animate? I did enjoy forwarding the lot on the Mr. Men show. Yeah. Goodness gracious. I mean, I really love that. I mean, we had so much fun making toucan birdie. Yeah. It was fantastic. But toucan birdie was really a big flex for all of us on our cartooning ability, our animation ability, because that that cartoon is Tex Avery meets adult animation. It was all the themes of a contemporary adult show. Just mashed up with all of the zany zaniness and insanity of a Fleischer cartoon or have a have a Tex Avery cartoon. We just had so much fun doing that. And we did it ourselves. Like we had a terrific overseas studio, but we plus the hell out of that animation. On the back end, though Touka and Birdy. I'm very proud of what we did on that show.


Alicyn  

I love that show. That's like, just so fun. Well, that's exciting that they're coming back for season two on cartoon on Adult Swim.


Unknown Speaker  

I'm really looking forward to it. I'm excited for that. But about because it means that season one will be on Adult Swim too, and just give a wider audience to all of that great work within that season one


Alicyn  

and maybe more chair, Nick.


Unknown Speaker  

I did voices on chicken burrito. I did


Alicyn  

check. As Jim says toucan birdie is such a unique and important show. Oh my god. I agree. It was great. That's great. That's great news. I hadn't heard that. Yeah, you heard it here. First guys.


Unknown Speaker  

It was one of the it was one of the only shows ever run by a female show runner. I think the only other one was maybe donate


Alicyn  

animated. Yes, Ellie. Yeah. Okay. Definitely not.


Unknown Speaker  

Daria, or something. Oh, wow. That lat long ago.


Alicyn  

And now we're seeing that shift for sure. A wise luck


Unknown Speaker  

working on it. Like, there. I was the supervisor of it. And there were jokes in there. There was a joke. There was an episode where the whole beast storyline was about 30 sharing her porn. Her and her boyfriend were pairing the kind of porn they were into with each other. And, and he was into more porn porn. And he was into British, those British dramas like Downton Abbey turned her on. And I was I was supervising it. And I was like, I was like, I don't really get this like this. Like, it seems belaboured We keep returning to this and it's not. It's just seems like the same beat over and over again. And then we screened the animatic with the whole crew, which was most was more than half female. And they were cracking up at those jokes. They really hit with them and I was like, oh, you know what, I didn't realize these jokes aren't for me. This these are jokes are for these ladies. Like I didn't get it. He was born straight white man. And yoke is gonna be for me. And I was like, This is fucking awesome that there's a show. Because I mean, if you family guys Simpsons, all the jokes are for basically like, for white men, you know, white men writing like, and if somebody else happens to enjoy it, that's great too. But this was a show where all the jokes weren't for straight white men. There were jokes for ladies and jokes for ladies for gay people and, and it was it was refreshing to be involved with with that and to help it be made into the watch. Yeah,


Alicyn  

yeah. Well I love to Ken, Bertie. So that's great to hear. It's coming back and Adult Swim. I am literally getting eaten alive out here. So I think that it's time to wrap up the interview so that I have less than 37 mosquito bites which suffer anything. Suffer for art.


Unknown Speaker  

Yeah, you gotta suffer for your art, everyone. So


Alicyn  

I'm suffering? Just, you know, putting it out there. But it was Does anybody else have any more questions for my Collingsworth before we go, if you guys want to check out next week, I'm interviewing Pat Brady, who is a an animation voiceover agent at CESD talent. And she's going to be coming in and joining us and talking all about the world of casting and what it looks like from that side of the table. So awesome. Mike,


Unknown Speaker  

thank you. Thank you for that. I


Alicyn  

was Wait, what was the term that you used about somebody that lit that you were saying? How you how you managed to get your animated voiceover credits. What did you What did you do your your What was your word


Unknown Speaker  

there? A grifter, a caster and a bounder?


Alicyn  

You guys everybody gets extra credit so they can use grifter in a sentence this week. And I want to hear I want to hear how you used it. So hopefully you'll subscribe and yeah, definitely good luck on Saturday. We hope you in the me kindly. Although, you know, this would be the one year where there's like no fun after party too. So that's a bit of a bummer, but


Unknown Speaker  

I pretty much got into showbiz for the free champagne. It's not fair.


Alicyn  

Yeah, there's it maybe you could have a yeah, you can have the champagne anyway. You know, I know. A Fortunately you can have a lot of champagne during this show. Yeah, that I that I'll have to buy. Well, if you're willing to give out your address on this program. Maybe people will want to send you a free bottle of champagne, but that sound alright. Okay, my guess is a good chatting with you. Thank you so much and good luck on Saturday. Bye, guys. He thanks again and we hope you tune in next week, guys. Okay. Thanks for tuning in to Alison's Wonderland, where we explore the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Please remember to subscribe and leave us a review. For more episodes of Alison's Wonderland. Please visit us at www dot Alison packer.com See you next week.


Transcribed by https://otter.ai



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