Are blacks and whites finally living in harmony, or is it The Man's Hallucinatrometer? You can find out in episode nine of Undercover Brother. © Urban Entertainment.

Painters On The Scene
John Ridley could not sound happier in describing his first experiences in Net animation. On Undercover Brother, he says, "It was literally from the time I got the first script in and the time we got up on the Internet was about three weeks. It's a very streamlined process and one of the great things about working with UrbanEntertainment is that they don't develop. They only pick up things that they want to do. Once I pitched the idea to Mike and he approved it, we were good to go. They're there to really help the artist," Ridley continues, "and that's what is exciting about working in the Internet. It's not about the money, it's about having the opportunity to be creative and have people support your creativity." That new attitude was especially relevant with his second series Those Who Walk In Darkness which stars a black, female lead. "When I first went out with this property," he says, referring to making the rounds at traditional media studios, "the first thing that people always asked me was, 'Does it have to be a black woman?' And I'd say, 'Well, no it doesn't have to be a black woman. I choose to make her a black woman.' That never came up with UrbanEntertainment -- and that's actually one of the things that was very attractive to them because they know that that is an audience that's not being served. So, they had more incentives, not less, to go with this property. And obviously, I'm very gratified about that."

Ridley is also enjoying the 'smallness' of Web production, elucidating how his world in television series is replete with huge crews, revolving directors and tons of writers. For his Net series, on the other hand, "If I need to make a phone call, I don't have to call 50 people. I can call Mike and say, 'Hey, can we change this,' or 'Add that"...and it gets done." Ridley speaks highly of Flip Your Lid (the studio animating both his series) saying, "They do a great job and they're very creative people, as well." Same goes for his voice actors, he states. "When they go in, they know the kinds of things that I like and they are not afraid to come up with some ideas that are also very funny on their own."

Tina Andrews' Sistas 'N The City portrays four African-American women in Urban's fifth original series. © Urban Entertainment.

Tina Andrews is also elated by her first time out in animation and Internet production. Her adventure began when Jenkinson approached her last June. "One of the things that I was lamenting about at the time," she says, "was the fact that we couldn't get any really cute, quirky black shows to be committed to on the networks. I would say, 'Where are the black Ally McBeals? Where are the black Providences? Where are the black Sex in the City's?'" And when Jenkinson replied that that was just the kind of material she could develop for UrbanEntertainment -- where she would have complete autonomy to do whatever she wanted to do and say whatever she wanted to say -- those were golden words.