We love working within the walls of Nickelodeon Studios, and then with the other crews in town, talking to people looking for the chance to make their first commercial cartoons. We made six Random! cartoons with returning creators, but that's 33 creators we've never had a chance to know before.

New this time around was our effort on the Internet. We started Frederator's blogs in those prehistoric days of 2004, and the more we posted about new Random! pitches, the more new pitches cascaded in. The launch of Channel Frederator in November 2005 just added to the fray.

AF: What goal are you trying to accomplish with these shorts? Have any of the Random! Cartoons been tapped as potential ongoing series?

FS: Random! Cartoons fulfilled my goals from our first day. We've met some incredible talent and I'm sure we'll be working with everyone again many times over the years.

There are already two series in production (Fanboy & Chum Chum at Nickelodeon, and Adventure Time at Cartoon Network) [and] we're developing even more for series or feature films.

AF: All of the Random! shorts I've seen so far proudly label themselves as "Made in Hollywood" at the end of the credits. Is all of the animation for these shorts handled in the U.S., and is all of the work being done at one central location?

FS: Lots of cartoons are made in the United States, contrary to popular opinion, and as you say, we're darn proud of it. On the case of Random!, two thirds of the production is done stateside (most in California, but some in New York, Boston and elsewhere), with writing, boarding, design and color, direction, casting, recording, scoring and post production. Animation is often done across the world, from Canada to Asia.

Our Random! Cartoons production home base is at Nickelodeon Animation Studios [in Hollywood].

AF: One thing that I've really enjoyed about the various Frederator anthologies (KaBlam! was a favorite back in my college days) is the range of style, format and tone that the studio is willing to try. Do you keep a general target audience in mind when creating each short, or do you expect certain cartoons not to go over well with certain audiences?

FS: We love it when viewers love our cartoons, and everyone on our team wants to find audiences for their shorts. We've always felt that style and tone are just two of the elements a filmmaker uses to make his or her film, and we don't feel limited by trends of the moment. We look to whatever inspires the creator, figuring it'll inspire everyone else too. We make shorts for all kinds of audiences, and we're cognizant of where they run and who's watching, like The Meth Minute 39 shorts for adults on the Internet.

Random! Cartoons is made for Nickelodeon and all the creators know their audience is kids. But, they're not limited by kids. In the end, our creators make funny cartoons with great characters, and we don't talk down to those kids, we make ourselves laugh and I think it's why so many of our cartoons have broad, popular appeal. A note of clarification: Frederator didn't produce KaBlam! (though I sure wish we had). The very talented producer/writer Bob Mittenthal produced Kablam!, with Will McRobb & Chris Viscardi. I was initially involved with Action League Now!, but had to drop out when I went to Hanna-Barbera.

AF: Has the current economic downturn altered any of Frederator's plans for the next year or so?

FS: It's always challenging for everyone in a down economy, and Frederator's not exceptional. We're finding it harder to find financing for projects, but we feel more than lucky to be doing as well as we are today. In the final analysis, like all production companies making popular films, we're only as successful as our ability to make cartoons our audiences love.

AF: What is Frederator's current relationship with Nickelodeon Studios?

FS: Frederator's in the midst of a long run, special relationship with Nickelodeon. For 12 years we were exclusive producers, now we're "first look," with four series on the air, three in production (two at the studio) and a number in consideration. We happily continue to be network consultants.

AF: In the summer of 2007, you, Kevin Kolde and Eric Gardner founded Frederator Films, with the express goal of creating feature films under a $20 million budget. Do you have any features in progress at the moment?

FS: Frederator Films has a number of studio and independent pictures in various stages of development or production. You'll be the first to hear about them.

Doug TenNapel, writer/director Solomon Fix, Squirly Town

Mike Gray, creator/writer/co-producer Thom Cat, writer/director The Infinite Goliath

Kyle A. Carrozza, creator/producer MooBeard the Cow Pirate

Niki Yang, storyboard artist Two Witch Sisters, Victor the Delivery Dog

Pendleton Ward, cartoonist, Adventure Time and The Bravest Warriors

AF: How long have you been in animation? What's your background in the industry?

Doug TenNapel's Solomon Fix. All Random! Cartoons images courtesy of Frederator Studios.

Doug TenNapel: I've been in animation since I worked on Attack of the Killer Tomatoes back in 1991. I've done storyboards, voices, casting, voice direction, writing, directing, animating and character design. I got my chops by animating for videogames and making my own puppet animation movies growing up.

Mike Gray: I have been working since 1995 after graduating college, though my degree was not in animation (I was self-taught initially). Instead, I have been lucky to have worked with, or to have known, several people who have taught me a lot about animation and/or shaped who I am today: my brother Doug Gray (a very talented animator and artist), Nick Stern (animator who began work in the '70s with Filmation), and the great Maurice Noble, whom I am proud to say called me one of his "Noble Boys."

I own my own company called "Pencil for Hire," and I do animation, illustration, writing, design and even some standup comedy.