Celebrity Deathmatch creator Eric Fogel helms his passion project -- a stop-motion animated post-apocalyptic action/adventure called “Havoc.”
Celebrity Deathmatch creator Eric Fogel is helming his passion project -- a post apocalyptic action/adventure done completely in stop-motion animation.
With a BFA in Film/TV from New York University, Fogel has been directing animation for over 18 years. His first animated series was MTV’s The Head, which acquired a cult following and spawned a successful graphic novel. Fogel next combined his love of stop-motion animation and celebrity bashing to create the hit series Celebrity Deathmatch. The Deathmatch premiere was one of the highest rated specials in the history of MTV. The series ran for six seasons with over a hundred episodes and prompted Entertainment Weekly to name him as one of TV's most creative people.
After a brief tour directing CG features for Mattel, Eric returned to stop-motion animation with the E! faux documentary series, Starveillance. In 2008, Eric partnered with Michael Eisner's Tornante Company to produce Nick at Night's first animated original, Glenn Martin, DDS, which in 2010 was honored with an Annie Award nomination and two Gemini Awards for Best Animated Series and Best Director.
With three out of five of this year's Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature being Frankenweenie, Pirates and ParaNorman, stop-motion is alive and well. Fogel seeks to push the medium further, exploring an arena previously untouched by stop-motion animation – the action/adventure genre. Havoc will potentially be the first film of its kind, a stop-motion action film...but who is Havoc?
Havoc is a lone warrior, forced into battle against a legion of vicious mutants. At stake: his survival AND the fate of humankind! Part human, part genetic mutation, Havoc is a man at odds with the brutal, post-apocalyptic landscape he calls home. He’s an underdog you can’t help but root for, a hero who won’t truly succeed until learns to embrace his own humanity.
Havoc is everything Fogel loves about stop-motion animation – incredible detail, rich storytelling, kick-ass characters. It’s the culmination of a dream of his that spans decades.
Fogel has launched a crowd-funding campaign for the project on Kickstarter, with the goal of producing a three-minute short film to introduce Havoc, the character, as well as the tone and visual style of the world in which he lives. Once completed, this “proof of concept” film will be shopped to studios in order to secure a backer for a feature-length version of the film.
Fogel has been in the business long enough to know that creating something new and different is never easy, but always worth it. So if you love stop-motion animation as much as he does, or you're a Celebrity Deathmatch fan, and want to learn more about Fogel’s latest project, head over to the Fans of Havoc Facebook page.
Source: Wasteland Productions
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
