Bushwick

Adult Animated Video: ‘Twillerama’ festival is a dirty hit

June 17, 2014 By Matthew Taub Special to Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn Brief
Twillermania's first event was a success
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“I didn’t expect to literally walk into some of my all time favorites in the independent animation scene,” said Drew Wolke of Bushwick. “And at the same time, I’m catching new works from unknown artists who are promising, yet original and unexpected.”

All of this, with an adult-oriented theme and animated hosts.

The “Twillerama” Animation Anthology at Videology in Williamsburg Saturday evening was a ‘festival’ of sorts–mocking more serious film awards ceremonies, it was hosted by two fictional animated characters. Jeff Twiller and Randy J. Johnson discerned their favorite shorts from a supposed youtube broadcast atop a trash heap in a satirical parallel between Brooklyn and Queens, called “Slushing Brooks.” 

If their dialogue was brash and their assessments crude, they were the perfect accompaniment to the outlandish, bizarre, and hilarious showcase of material they premiered: a miscarriage in a shopping aisle treated like a minor inconvenience, a first date viewed only from the inside of a woman’s mouth, and a small child turned inside out, among others. Disturbing as the topics were, they all managed to leave the audience laughing.

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Morgan Miller painstakingly hand-drew the host characters over four months from his home in an industrial section of Williamsburg. He also provided the voice of Jeff Twiller.

He came up with the idea for the festival with his friend Josh Kleefeld, whom he met at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where they both graduated from film school in 2000. Kleefeld provided the voice for co-host Randy J. Johnson. Recordings were accomplished at a studio in Brooklyn.

Todd Hanson, of the The Onion, made a guest appearance as an animated character and voiced himself.


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