Mister Avid Draws

Our film Saving Sally is now free on Youtube <3

This film took our team 12 youth sucking years to make. It had a theatrical run in the Philippines back in 2016 then did international festivals in 2017. Distribution is a tricky thing to manage & it was on Netflix for 5 years but only in selected areas. We are glad that it is now free to be seen by anyone, anywhere.

Have you ever wanted to be a Zombie in a movie but are too shy to be in front of a camera? Well support Zsazsa Zaturnnah on Kickstarter & make your dream come true! You get to be a part of the Zombie horde & get your own cool character sheets <3

As a studio, one of our dreams for the local industry is for us to develop a Filipino style the way Anime is distinctly Japanese & Cal Arts is American. We do not really know how that can be achieved but we assume it starts with drawing characters that look Pinoy & setting them in local environments. We review a lot of student portfolios & most everyone draws people with sharp noses, fair skin & long legs.

But since Anime does not look ethnically Japanese, maybe we don't really need brown characters to have a distinct Filipino style?

Japanese people are comfortable with their skin. At one point in Japan's history, they closed themselves to the world, seeing the rest of it as inferior. They do not need literal representation in their cartoons because they know who they are & their place in the world. Their pride in being Japanese is deep. Filipinos are the inverse. We were subjugated so we suffer from colonial mentality to the point that being brown, even if it's the majority color, is not an ideal aesthetic. We have Morena Beauties, but skin whitening remains a major business.

"Wag ka maglaro sa araw, papangit ka!"

Being a predominantly Catholic country, Jesus & Mama Mary are visually represented as caucasian even if they are ethnically Middle Eastern. "God created man in his image" but we do not look like him. Can you imagine what that does to a national self esteem? Meanwhile, Buddha, who is Indian, looks Chinese in China & Japanese in Japan. Making your deity look like you seems to be fundamental in building a national identity.

Many Filipinos have such low regard to being Filipino. Pinoy Pride is tied to accomplishments outside our country. Pride is supposed to be internal, something that does not change whatever your status is and yet Pinoy Pride often exists through validation from 1st World institutions. So MAYBE (just maybe since we are not socio cultural experts) we do need to represent ourselves more literally in cartoons for the sake of every Pinoy kid who was told not to play too long under the sun because they will get dark and ugly.

Please support our Kickstarter so we could see more characters that look like us <3

Check out our work in progress:

(Share our Kickstarter bit.ly/zaturnnah) "Sirena" is the Filipino word for "mermaid" but it's also slang for being gay. The origin of the term comes from a 1980s "comedy" sketch on local tv where a stereotypical macho father pushes down the head of his effeminate son into a drum of water then pulls them up & shouts "Are you a boy or a girl?!" the child says "Girl" then gets pushed down the water again & again until they beg the father to stop. "ARE YOU A BOY OR A GIRL?!!" Just when you think the tortured child would say "Boy" they weakly mutter "Sirena (Mermaid)" Canned laughter follows. End Scene. Child abuse as a joke. Those were, dumber, scarier times.

"Sirena" has since been more popularly known as a local Pride anthem by the artist Gloc9. The song tells the story of a father violently ashamed of his gay son. Said father eventually grows old & sick with no one caring for him until the very son he drove away comes back. He is humbled, sees the error of his ways & asks for forgiveness. It's a great song, look it up. Pop culture trivia aside, thank you to the kind humans of Studio Heartbreak for boosting our crowdfunding signal

Please help us make the Zsazsa Zaturnnah film (bit.ly/zaturnnah) & help grow queer cinema in the animated medium.

Zsazsa Zaturnnah is the story of a shy gay man who swallows a magical rock that transforms him in to flamboyant female superhero!

We just launched Kickstarter to get this film made :)

It takes ages to make an animated film. Our studio, Rocketsheep, is now in year 4 of production so we put this sizzle reel together to remind us of our progress. We can't wait to finish this film & share it with the universe ❤