Episode 039 - WITHDRAWALS' Jorja Hudson and Kelly Stier/ROBOSPLAAT Voice Actor Greg Cipes

On this special double episode of The Viewfinder Podcast, you'll hear interviews with filmmakers Jorja Hudson and Kelly Stier (the producers of a new comedy film called WITHDRAWALS) and veteran voice actor Greg Cipes (best known for his roles in popular cartoons like TEEN TITANS and Nickelodeon's TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES), who joins us to talk about his work on the wacky new animated web series RoboSplaat.

WITHDRAWALS

First up, Hudson and Stier join me to discuss their partnership on a funny yet thought-provoking short film about a subject that many people still feel afraid to talk about openly: mental illness. Written and directed by Hudson, WITHDRAWALS co-stars Jenny Gorelick, Andrea Simons, Fareeha Khan and Charlotte Gilbert as four friends - Bianca, Quinn, Peggy and Rosa - who share an unusually detached reaction to the unexpected death of their pop music idol.

In the aftermath of that incident, this unified quartet decides to take their emotionless statuses one step further by collectively quitting their antidepressants together. They all go on to experience very different side effects, leading them to the eventual conclusion that everyone has to do what’s right for their own mental health.

In presenting their film to audiences, Hudson and Stier hope to offer an entertaining yet honest look at how people deal with the challenges of living a well-balanced emotional life, while proving that getting help with those challenges is nothing to feel ashamed about. WITHDRAWALS will next play at the upcoming virtual Cinema Femme Fest between August 6th-9th.

ROBOSPLAAT

For years it was known as the “Ink Splaat”, the playful icon of the Emmy award-winning production company responsible for much of Nickelodeon’s classic toon content over the years: Klasky-Csupo, founded by veteran animators Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo.

Given its ubiquity and the cult following it’s received from generations of toon fans throughout the world, company co-founder Arlene Klasky and animator Sergei Shramkovsky gave the character new life, new arms, new legs, a new name - RoboSplaat - and a new voice in veteran voice actor Greg Cipes, best known for his roles on TEEN TITANS, TEEN TITANS GO!, BEN 10 and Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Now, all those elements come together in two new projects from Klasky Csupo: RoboSplaat, the web series, which airs new episodes each Wednesday and Saturday on YouTube and Instagram, and a soon-to-debut interactive video game called Splaativerse, which gives players the chance to put Robosplaat in all kinds of fun adventures while enhancing the character with a variety of different sound effects. Cipes joins us to discuss the origins of Robosplaat and what viewers - kids and grown-ups alike - can expect from this offbeat yet entertaining character.

Check out new episodes of RoboSplaat on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdZ001zSMD4rJ57m2cOkcSw

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robosplaat/

For more information on WITHDRAWALS, visit its Instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/withdrawalsfilm/

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