Skip to main content

Zack in Time - Support an Independent 2D Animated Series that is Creating Opportunities for New Talent

Zack in Time Poster

Z
ack in Time is an independent, 2D animated series about a biracial 13-year-old  teen, who has trouble fitting in at his new school, until he finds a time-traveling watch developed by a secret government agency. 

Created by Christian Haynes, who I featured in December of 2021, and produced by Imhapie, the production has now launched a Kickstarter (which runs until October 25th, 2024) to fund the development of the series pilot episode, as well as a full series, which is ready to produce.


Why You Should Support Zack in Time

Zack In Time is more than just another 2D animated series hoping to be successful, and is worth your consideration on two levels.

Not only does the series hope to tell a fun and authentic story, showcasing unique characters but also, behind the scenes, the producers hope it continues to be a launching pad for young artists' careers. 


A Relatable Story that Promotes Diversity and Representation

The story of Zack in Time reflects the struggle that we all feel at some point in our lives (but mostly in our teens) - awkward, out of place, isolated and maybe a little bit confused about who we are meant to be. 

Diversity and representation of minorities is greatly needed in animation today. By showcasing a lovable biracial character, the production hopes to take a step in celebrating the beautiful array of cultures that reflect the human experience.

Christian Haynes, the creator of Zack In Time, wrote and directed the pilot episode and led a writing team to develop a full season of the series.


An Independent Studio that is Already Supporting Up and Coming Talent

The Zack In Time pilot episode was developed as a proof of concept for an entire series by creating an artistic incubator for up-and-coming industry professionals. 

Paige Powell-Revis, the Producer of the first episode of Zack In Time, and the founder of Imhapie LLC. has worked in various departments of the entertainment industry for 8 years, and now works full-time as a 3D artist and production manager at Monster City Studios. 

She continues to build studio operations for Imhapie and oversees new projects coming through the pipeline, with a crew that consists of 175+ creatives from countries all over the world, from a dozen time zone differences, language barriers and learning curves, all coming together through their unifying love of 2D animation!

Many of Imhapie's crew members have gone on to intern or work at major studios like Nickelodeon, Pixar, DreamWorks and many more. 

Producing more episodes of Zack In Time will help to nurture and expand Imhapie's network, creating more opportunities for students to experience life-changing successes, by becoming industry professionals.


Visit the Kickstarter and Support Independent 2D Animation

If you would like to support a truly independent production, that is also supporting up and coming talent in the animation industry world wide, please visit the Zack in Time Kickstarter page (and share the page within your networks too!). 

At the time of writing Zack in Time had reached 70% of its goal. Kickstarter only releases funds to projects that reach their goals, so do something wonderful and make sure Zack in Time doesn't fall short. Be sure to check out some of the amazing rewards including live pitching your own script (with written feedback) to Imhapie's CEO.




o---o--- ---o--- o---

Did you find this article useful?
Subscribe to my newsletter and get the
latest articles delivered to your inbox.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Infinite Monkey Theorem Animated Short - Part 5

Scene 2 from my storyboard, Infinite Monkeys. Work on my Infinite Monkey animated short is definitely back on track since my last update and my previous part 4 post . To get things moving again I've decided not to spend time creating a final draft storyboard that uses all the actual props and characters. This is something that you'd generally do if you were planning to show the storyboard to someone else for feedback. At this point I'm not planning to do that so I'm going bypass it and create and animate each scene as I go, saving a bit of time.

Eight 2D Animation Apps For Your Phone or Tablet Mobile Device

M obile productivity apps have become so capable that they can be great alternatives to their PC/MAC equivalents or serve as great tools in their own right when you're away from your desk. While some apps simply mimic their desktop counterparts, others offer well thought out, touch-friendly interfaces that are easier and more fun to use. Every so often I check out what's available for 2D animation for Android devices, since that's what I use, that can complement my workflow with Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 5. Some may be available for Apple devices as well. Below I've listed six free (F) apps (with optional paid (P) upgrades) on the Google Play Store that you might want to explore. Some are just fun apps on their own while others may be useful as part of your workflow on bigger animation projects. Not all are exclusively animation apps and could be used on any production. JotterPad (F/P) The name JotterPad makes this sound like a notepad application but it's ...

Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 4 Released - Not So Crazy Anymore

If you're the kind of 2D animator that needs to get high quality work out fast then you should be taking a serious look at Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 4 because that is the key feature that informs almost everything this application is capable of. Formerly known as CrazyTalk Animator 3, the release of Cartoon Animator 4 (CA4) reveals an application that goes out of its way to make high end 2D puppet rig and motion graphic animations easier to create quickly, and as intuitively as possible. That's not to say there isn't a learning curve but another great strength of CA4 is that you won't get lost in a sea of icons, tools, menus and more. The initial user interface is less complicated and more logically laid out than one may have used to put together a powerpoint presentation.

Prome AI Sketch Render Tool - Your Tradigital Clean Up and Colorist Artist for Character and Background Design

Random character head, Biro sketches drawn by TET (left). Render by PromeAI (right) using Prome's Sketch Render tool set to 'Comon:Cartoon, Render Mode: Outline'. W hile I don't do New Year Resolutions, one of my plans for the year ahead is to do more of my own art. Specifically character design drawn in an actual, physical sketchbook.  To that end, I have been spending the last half hour of most days drawing a page or two of random biro sketches in my sketchbook and posting the pages to my Instagram account  (this link will take you to one of my posts). These sketches are mostly practicing my skills because I don't really draw regularly anymore. Here is a tip, if you do this kind of sketching, and push yourself to keep doing it, you will see many drawings that could be taken further, even if you don't have anything they're suited for just at the moment. Which is where my second favorite AI Image Tool (after Leonardo.ai )  PromeAI comes into play. PromeAI ...

Inochi2D - Free Open Source 2D VTuber Avatar Rigging and Puppeteering Software (Part 1)

Inochi2D Creator - Free Open Source VTuber Software. If you've been looking for a way to live perform as a 2D cartoon avatar on camera, whether it be for a live stream or for pre-recorded content like educational videos, then VTuber software is a low cost (or even no cost) option worth looking into. In my previous post, How to Become a VTuber - 2D and 3D Software for Creating and Controlling Your Avatar , I took a brief look at the relatively new but completely free and open source Inochi2D  which I thought showed great potential for my own needs of creating a live performance character rig for my own TET Avatar that I use for all my promotional materials. While it is possible to live perform my character using Cartoon Animator itself, Reallusion's MotionLive2D capture system isn't great - with lip sync in particular. More importantly though, I can't exactly teach people how to use Cartoon Animator if I'm using Cartoon Animator to control my Avatar. What is Inochi2D...

Wonder Unit Storyboarder - Free Storyboarding Software for People Who Can (or Can't) Draw

Wonder Unit Storyboarder.  As an independent and solo animator I'm always tempted to try and skip storyboarding my animated shorts because they're usually only single scene sketch comedy type jokes. As a result I have many unfinished projects that kind of petered out due to having no clear finishing line. Storyboarding your productions, no matter how small, gives you a step by step guide of every shot that needs to be completed (no planning shots as you animate). It also allows you to create an animatic that gives you a rough preview of the finished production. In short, you shouldn't skip storyboards as they, generally, increase the chance of the project being completed. Disclaimer - I'm Not a Fan of Storyboarder Upfront, Wonder Unit's Storyboarder  is not my preferred storyboarding software. However it's completely free, has a number of very compelling featu...

Koolmoves Tutorials for GoAnimate - Parts 1 and 2

Quite a few people on GoAnimate have asked me to make a Koolmoves tutorial for creating flash props and characters suitable for use with the GoAnimate Studio. Well that day is finally here with this series of four videos that will give you more than enough learning to at least be making your own flash props - and will give you a kick start for animating characters too. Tutorial 1 The first video will step you through the process of setting up a template file suitable for using as a starting point for all your flash props and backgrounds. More than that, the way the template is set up is exactly how you need it for creating your own GoAnimate Community Characters - a feature that is currently only available to GoAnimate Beta Users but, if GoAnimate makes it widely available, you'll be ready. The tutorial finishes with showing how to upload your flash props/backgrounds/characters etc. into the GoAnimate Studio. Tutorial 2, Part 1 In part 1 I show you how to import a trace i...