Robert Feldman

When we found out that we got the interview with Mr Robert Feldman, we felt like a kid on christmas morning. If you don't know who Dr Shroud is please read this interview and go buy the DVD's! You'll be doing yourself a favor.

We'd like to thank Robert for doing this. He truly has a gift, and we are grateful for this opportunity to share a bit of insight into his creepy world.

1. For those out there that don't know who you are can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

My name is Rob Feldman and I am a content creator, animator and all round evil guy. I produce animated (mostly horror) cartoons for mobile devices and web. My one property, “Dr. Shroud”, has garnered a pretty sizeable fan base on the web over the past 6+ years.
My newer properties “The Hyrde”, “Cyko KO” and others are in development for mobile as well.

2. Tell us about Dr. Shroud. Where did the idea come from?

I kind of sketched him out one day as a fun thing to do---I was always a comic fan but had lost touch with them over the years. I sat down one day and fleshed him out in yellow and green, adding some background and stories. I had never seen a married superhero
with kids, so I added the daughter element to add some sort of conflict that draws him back in. The vampire theme came a bit later, combining my love for horror.

3. Without giving away too many secrets can you give us a little bit on the revamped Dr. Shroud?

Sure. Since the content for mobile is shorter, you’ll see an episode that starts and ends in less than 2 minutes. I know that sounds short, but the challenge is to create episodes that work as stand alones and as a whole. As for the storylines, it takes place about
a year after the very liberal city of Necropolis attempts to cure the vampire population through a fumigation. All the vampires have been mutated including the brand new white Dr. Shroud. There are a bunch of new odd looking characters that you’ll see as Dr. Shroud journeys through the city looking for Wendy and uncovering even more about his twisted past. I’m excited to employ smoother animation and solid writing.

4. Tell us about your new project "The Hyrde".

The Hyrde is a new animated series I’m working on for mobile. It’s sort of likeFrankenstein meets the Matrix with a sort of Lord of the Rings technology. It’s about three reanimated corpses (Inspector Spectre, Ghoul Gal and Zombor) who are charged by the Illuminati to protect an ancient box and destroy the evil it released. I use NJ folklore as the backdrop for the episodes using things all the way from the Jersey Devil to the Pig Lady. The box can be equated to Pandora’s box, but it goes even beyond her in terms of its age. I live in NJ, so it’s a lot of fun to explore what’s around me---Weird NJ is a huge help!

5. Who and what are some of your influences?

I grew up on old Marvel Comics---Stan Lee, Kirby, Ditko, John Buscema, John Byrne. I also watched too much tv any kid really should---mostly live action shows like the Shazam/ Isis hour, anything Sid and Marty Krofft. I liked comics, but my real love was live action---The Incredible Hulk, Batman, Wonder Woman (ROWR!) the short lived Spider-man series. Of
course, I’m totally into horror and always was. I don’t read comics as much, but I prefer the newer indie stuff---I can’t believe some of the mainstream comics they print actually remain in print. Nowadays, I watch a lot of horror, B-movie Roger Corman type stuff, some Japanese flicks and always the older 60’s and 70’s horror. Some of that stuff is completely
whack. Yes, I used “whack”.

6. Your animations are now available for mobile devices,
tell us about this and does this mean no more web
episodes?

I had gotten a lotta lip over the mobile thing. I think the web audience saw it as abandonment, but I think they need to see the bigger picture. Mobile is really the next tv when you think about it. The carriers are like the networks who control all the content---they’ll ALWAYS find a way to make money either through ads, pay per click or whatever. Right now it’s SO NEW that I’m not sure they even know what to do with mobile video, but I do know that:

1) it is not going away and

2) money is to be made.

I think the most important thing to know is that mobile is NOT the Internet---with mobile, there is a revenue scheme attached to the distribution. With the web, they had no idea how to make money---they found that out much later.

I chose to go the mobile route because it affords an opportunity to make money so that I can exploit my stuff everywhere else. The web is great to establish a fan base, but it’s hard to make money there. It’s also the way to rebuild the brand since we (the mobile content company and me) are in first---no one else is really making EXCLUSIVE mobile content. Sure, they have tv clips and movie clips, but to actually make episodes FOR mobile means doing something unique---I’m all about that. I was there way back after the dotcom crash and I hope I’m there again---this time a little bit earlier in the game.

As for Dr. Shroud being again on the web, the simple is answer is YES---I am working that all out now to find a home for them and they will most likely be cross pollinated with the web, comics and other stuff. This is the year for all of that to come. And yes, you’ll be using your mobile as much as you use the internet now, just give it some time. You probably thought the same thing as email way back when----and you see now how necessary it is.

7. Tell us about your new studio EarWorm Media?

EarWorm is a new media studio that specializes in creating animated content for mobile, web and tv. There’s a bunch of stuff going on and I am getting my feet wet with all the business stuff----I really am not a businessman in the true sense and find that component the most boring, though the most essential. The focus of the studio is in getting my properties out there for mobile as well as everywhere else. We also do service work of all kinds: animation, content repurposing for mobile, web design, etc.

8. The original Dr. Shroud is available on DVD, where can fans get a copy of the DVD and do you see your current and future projects going that route as well?

They can get the DVD through Amazon, Best Buy, Target and a few others, all online. Or drop me a line with 15 bucks and I can send you one of mine with some stickers. Yes, I foresee a DVD or other tangible format with all of my properties at some point. Maybe
the DVD will have morphed into something else by then? I’d really love to have a designer Dr. Shroud flash drive with the content on there, that would be cool. Maybe an action figure with playable content, who knows.

9. Growing up were you always interested in art and animation?

Yes. I liked comics and cartoons, but again, always liked the horror and live action stuff. I found myself creating new characters a lot—I always wanted something to call my own. A lot of my ideas really sucked (some would argue that they still do!), but it was always more fun to create than to actually do the drawing.

10. Any advice for the aspiring artists out there? What are some of the biggest obstacles you've faced in getting to where you are today?

Yes----to steal advice from Rodney Dangerfield in“Back to School”, live at home for as long as you can and have your parents pay for everything. Works your ass off getting some good stuff together, talk to some pros, ignore their advice (most get off by telling you that you stink) and then ultimately get the balls to make something and put it out there yourself. Don’t rely on someone to buy your idea because you think it’s awesome. If you think it’s great, put some money behind it (after all, you DO live with your folks!) and then put it out there. In this day and age “the deal” is up to you---there is no reason you should wait to produce something. If it’s good , it’ll fly. If not, you just lost some cash (big whoop), but did
something you enjoy. Try it again until you find something you’re good at. A lot of times “the perfect deal” means it will sit there collecting dust. Start a buzz and let it roll---people would rather acquire your content than to pay you to produce it. Above all, you have to have fun and love it---when people see that, it’s infectious. I had done that with comics and had a great time---the comics were awful, but so much fun to produce and sell.

11. Seeing as we deal with horror and comics, what are some of your favorite horror movies and comic book characters?

Horror movies: Halloween, Carrie, Amityville Horror, Silence of the Lambs, Session 9, Suicide Club (horror?---great movie), Lost Boys, Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Blair Witch Project (I have a funny story with that one), Last Man on Earth, 2 many 2 mention. Ever see Motel Hell? Man, gold!

Comic Book Characters: Batman, Hellboy. I always wanted to like the Hulk, but wanted to see a “Dark Hulk”---he’s a Frankenstein sort of creature, but it never went down that path, would like to see that. Beyond that, I like a lot of characters, but again, don’t read them that much or at all.

12. Any upcoming projects or events you would like to tell
us about?

Well, it’s likely that I’ll be producing a bunch of episodes of Dr. Shroud, The Hyrde and Cyko KO (new one) soon for release at year’s end. Right now I am working out the financial parts of that. Following will be a comic book of sorts as well as some other pitches I’m working on for a couple of start ups. The great thing about EarWorm is that I get to do this stuff every day! So, you’ll be seeing a lot more of me in the next year or two to come---stay tuned to
your mobile devices and web!