Todd Flam
Creative
As the great Seth Godin alluded to on his podcast, sometimes our creative pursuits are a lot like that moment in the schoolyard when it’s time to choose teams. Sometimes, you can’t wait around for someone else to pick you; you’ve got to choose yourself.
And that’s exactly what I did when I created a robot unboxing channel on Youtube, or taught myself to do hand-drawn animation, or contributed religiously to an underground comedy blog.
You gotta keep the chops sharp.
The robot who loved food
Inspired by a slew of Youtube unboxing channels, I decided to do my own version: a robot that would review and explain fast food through the lens of his limited understanding of the human experience. Using discarded pieces of Ikea furniture, I built Flavor over a holiday break, and then dropped him, unceremoniously, onto the internet. Within months, he had developed a loyal following across the world, with one fan sending him a care package of canned curry to review, all the way from Birmingham, England. Another fan in Canada built his daughter a Flavor costume, proudly tweeting the picture on Halloween night. Needless to say, I was moved. With 32 videos now online, the project is currently on hold with plans to expand his reach later this year.
Cartoons for Me and You
I’ve always been a fan of alternative cartoons (Adult Swim and John Krisfalusi, for starters), and even took an animation class in film school. That love for weird, out-there stuff inspired me to bring two of my favorite characters to life with hand-drawn previews. We get to know Passionate Ernie, a true renaissance man who’s about to have to do something very difficult (spoiler: he may have just run over a waterfowl). Then there’s Melancholy Buck, a true romantic given to recounting the great heartbreaks of his life. And seeing him in that pickup truck still gets me.