To make it easier to view our Blog Posts, please select a Category above to narrow the list of posts.
Zoetifex Blog
Below is a list of all of our Blog Posts with the recent post first. To narrow your choice of posts, use the Category Links to the right.
- 13 November 2012 /
- by zoetifex Studios /
Hey zonuts,
Well, it's been a while since I made a blog post so I thought this would be a good time to get everybody caught up on the state of zoetifex Studios.
Sometimes being absent can mean two different things. It either means that you are so busy that you don't have time to keep people updated, or it means that you have just simply gone away. Thankfully we're still here! So, yes you can take that to mean that I have been very busy trying to move things forward.
It really seems like we've had a big revolving door around here. People have come and they have gone; they've gotten excited about wanting to help out and then the excitement faded; promises have been made and promises have been broken; we've had huge gains and setbacks just as big; we started new ideas for new projects and have continued working on current projects; We've formed new business alliances and have lost others. In other words, things are pretty normal for a start up animation studio around here.
Taking on an endeavor such as this is difficult to begin with, but we are really fighting a difficult battle by trying to do all of this during bad economic times. I can understand how some people would get frustrated and want to give up quite easily because this is very difficult. It takes a strong stomach and the strong will and a strong faith. It's certainly not meant for everybody. But then again if it was, more people would be doing this. I just believe that the more difficult the challenge - the greater the reward.
Okay, so enough of the rhetoric. What's going on with our projects? Christmas Magic has seen its ups and downs. But the plain simple fact of the matter is we need to get started on this project before the end of the year or we will not be able to get this done in time for Christmas of 2013. There have been several roadblocks for us, and the biggest one being funding. We have been close several times to reaching our goal on paper only to have certain people back out. I try not to make this a direct reflection on the project because there had to be something exciting there for them to want to even consider investing in the project. I really just think it's a matter of the tough economic times we are in right now and people are a little nervous about pulling the trigger on anything big. One way that we could definitely get this project off the ground would be to partner with another studio. I was in talks with another studio from India but they've kind of dropped off the radar right now. I started another conversation with another studio and we're still ongoing with our talks. And over the next week or two I plan on starting up other conversations to see what kind of interest there is out there to have some other high-level animation Studios from other parts of the world want to help us out and get involved. I think the first thing that I've got to consider is that we just need to get a project out there. Once the project is out there and people can see the type of work we can do, then we can start focusing on building the studio.
As for Operation: Mindcrime, I'm very excited to say that we will be launching a new Kickstarter project within the next week or so. We are going to use the money from this project to work on the trailer for the film. We've had several discussions with investors and they would just love to see what this thing is going to look like before they invest. We think the Kickstarter is the best way to make this happen.
I have been asked by several people what the reelection of Pres. Obama means for us. I don't really want to get all political so let me just state that this is having no effect on our ability to move forward. We can make excuses all day long about how bad the economy is, but the bottom line is there are plenty of people out there with money to invest in things - we just need to talk to these people and let them see what a great investment it would be to invest in zoetifex.
So what is next? After we are successful with the Kickstarter project we will begin working on the trailer for Operation: Mindcrime immediately. We are also continuing to develop some other programs for television. We hope to get to the point soon where we can get a pitch package together to present to different networks in hopes that somebody takes one of the shows up.
We will continue to collect resumes and demo reels and build a library of phenomenal artists from all over the world. We are thankful for all of the wonderful people that have wanted to come work for us and have sent their resumes and have been very patiently waiting for the time that we start our first production. The only thing I can say to those artists who are waiting to see what happens is, hang in there. Like I said we appreciate your patience and we are trying as hard as we can to get things moving. I guess in retrospect we've only been at this for a few years and we only had the projects that we have right now for not even a year. So while this seems like it's taking forever to me and probably to some others, I think we're actually making a lot of headway and a lot of progress in a little bit of time.
So, hopefully I got you caught up to where we are at right now. I will try to make more frequent blog posts so that there's not too much catching up to do. Thanks your time in reading this and thanks for your interest in following us we really appreciate you.
Sincerely,
Michael M .Kadrie
- 19 March 2012 /
- by zoetifex Studios /
Hey zonuts! Now that I downloaded the Blogger App for my iPhone, (and in conjunction with the Dragon Naturally Speaking App), it might make it easier for me to start the Blogs back up. Hopefully I can find the time.
Stay Tooned!
- 16 January 2012 /
- by zoetifex Studios /
Well, it's finally here - the first zoetifex Facebook contest.
This contest is open to anyone (and I mean anyone). You know how most contests tell you "employees, family members or anyone affiliated with [company name] are not eligible"? Well, we here at zoetifex don't usually follow the rules and this is no exception. So even if you have worked with us, or know us or have just heard of us - YOU ARE ELIGIBLE!!
So, what is the contest?
Here are the details:
We want you to create our gidget/mascot/critter/icon/whosywhatsy (for the sake of arguments, we will call it a symbol).
We are looking for something that we can get real creative with and have a lot of fun with. This symbol will be used at the beginning of all of our projects in an animated format, tied in with our logo. So what are we looking for?
Your design can be submitted in a number of formats. You can send us a 2d illustration, sketch or representation. You can send us an image of a 3D model or even a clay model. Or you can even make a costume if you like (though I would not recommend it. We would only use it for comedy purposes). If you want to be ambitious, you could animate the symbol in 2d or 3d (though it will look cool, there is no extra credit. You will be judged like everyone else).
What will you win?
The person who designs the winning symbol will get $5000 in cash, their name as a "Special Thanks" on all of our credits and bragging rights to all of your friends and family members. We will also send you the first production on DVD that will include your design in our splash logo at the beginning of our film. And to make things most excellent for you, we will announce to the whole world in a press release that you have been declared the winner!
The catch (I knew there had to be one).
1) The concept you create will be considered a "work in progress" and either you will be asked to help develop the symbol further, or you will turn over the concept to our crack department team of evil geniuses (or is that geni?) to help develop the idea further.
2) This contest will continue for as long as it takes to find a winner. We understand that sometimes it takes a while for these things to develop. So, in order to make sure we have enough ideas to pick from, we will run this contest until July 31, 2012 or until we get at least 50 entries (whichever comes first). If after the July 31, 2012 deadline, we still don't have a decisive winner, we reserve the right to continue the search until we do find one that we love. (Remember, I told you we don't follow the rules). That being said, I am sure we will find ourselves a winner before the July 31, 2012 deadline. I am confident in the creative talent that is out there. So tell all of your creative friends to get busy.
3) The winner will be paid the $5000 amount after we have selected a clear winner.
4) If for some reason, we come up empty, we will roll the winning amount into the next contest (but seriously, don't give up on this one).
And finally:
We will not use any of your ideas for any other purposes other than to judge this contest. This contest is available to anyone in the world and the winning amount of $5000 will be in US Dollars.
Important!!
Do not post any of your submissions online or on our Facebook wall. Please send all submissions to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
If you have sketches or wish to send a DVD/CD-Rom, you can send those to:
zoetifex Studios
P.O. Box 97839
Pittsburgh, PA 15227
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Good Luck to everyone!!
Be sure to "Like" us on Facebook!