I got in contact with Jerry O’Flaherty’s wife and I’d like to share this with you:
I just wanted to let you know that Jerry and I have been fans of your site for awhile now. I’m glad the news is finally out there about Jerry directing the movie. He encouraged me to write you guys and let you know how much your positive energy has had an impact on him. Your opinions mean a lot. The Larry Kenney podcast was very cool (we listened to it together just the other night) and I hope that you trust that the ThunderCats film is in good hands.
Jerry’s a very talented, easy going guy and anything you want to know
about him or his plans for the movie, please don’t hesitate to ask. I know he will be happy to talk to you and keep you in the loop as much as he can. Your site is top-notch and your support is important.
I emailed Mary and requested an interview with Jerry and will post it on the site. I think having some background information on him (like whether or not he knows anything about ThunderCats) will definitely get fans interested and more supportive of him.
Also, the fact that we could potentially get some exclusive information is going to help the site get linked all over the web…which means, Mark will finally get his wish of having the site on the front page of Google when he searches for ThunderCats!
I’m so pleased for you guys! and if they need any creative assistance Chris is definately your man! He knows the cartoon inside out and would certain clear up any discrepancies anywhere!
Amazing news my friends. You have all worked so hard over the last couple of years and you deserve this praise. Happy days!
and of course Manny does indeed rock, but not only because of this but other non related Thundercats stuff he has helped me with.
LOL, well, I wouldn’t go that far, but I’d nonetheless be happy to take on a Creative Consultant’s job - I wouldn’t even ask for a salary, just a selection of hot looking secretaries! (j/k!)
Indeed we have, but don’t count yourself out of that equation, Neil my friend - don’t forget that what made this site stand out in the first place (and indeed was the most comprehensive area of the site when we launched, and arguably still to this day) was the awesome Toy Guide that you & MannyC put together! You’ve been a major architect of this site, you equally deserve any praise that comes our way!
Which is awesome to know, Neil my friend - I think we can all be happy with the way things have turned out! The best days of this site’s life would appear to lie ahead of it, and that, given that it comes more than two years after its inception, is something to celebrate!
Guys I couldnt be any more prouder to be part of this. Manny I must say that without the hard work you have put out and without your drive to make TCL happen all this wouldnt be possible. Just knowing that THE director and his wife are great fans of the site is so humbling. With that being said we just may get exclusive news, its looking good for TCL and we should be more visible now on the Google ranks. Despite all thats going on with me right now, news like this make each day so much better.
It’s true that at first the toy section was perhaps the most comprehensive area of the site but I must say that I cant quite say its the one that stands out the most. I mean TCL has evolved and grown so much over the last 2 years that it is just almost unbelievable that all this has been done with a team of less than 10 people. All this has been possible only from the dedication we have all put into this project. Each and every one of us should be proud of our accomplishments…the future for the ThunderCats franchise is looking very bright. Its been quite a ride, and I seriously see myself doing this even after I’m 40 years old.
I couldn’t have put it any better, MannyC, and I think your comments hit the nail bang on the head! At the risk of turning this into a really mushy thread, it’s worth remembering that without MannyF, this site wouldn’t be here - he was the guy who stepped up to the plate, not just with the money but with the vision and the leadership, and I think when we as a team bask in the success of this site, MannyF is the man we should think of!
Guys, there is so much positive energy surrounding this site now, I feel sure that the next few months are going to be some of the best we’ve ever had!
Everyone’s done a great job…so we all deserve credit for the current and continuing success of the site.
Just a small update – Mary sent me another email letting me know that she’ll pass me any information that comes her way. I now have Jerry’s private email address and sent him a message hoping to get an interview! Also, Mary said “There will be another flurry of activity the first week of November” and that she will keep me posted.
I think he was writing this on his iPhone…Mary said he went out to buy one the last time I wrote her.
Manny,
Thanks for writing and my apologies for taking a few days to respond.
Also thanks for the good wishes and I really am thrilled to be a part
of this franchise now. Things are going fantastic but we’re still in
the super early days of getting everything lined up properly so I’m
not at liberty, just yet, to do any interviews. I think the project
will be on more comfortable footing in a month or so and then we can
chat about where we’re going with it.
Thanks again and keep up the good work,
-jerry o
I guess I jumped the gun on the interview thing. :oops: May be in a couple months time.
Oh by the way, I know I didn’t say it earlier, but Jerry and Mary have said that anything they tell me should be kept between me and the team unless otherwise said. I’ll relay everything that I can to you guys because I trust everyone on the team, but mums the word to anyone else please.
EDIT: In fairness, I would say that, to be fair, Jerry doesn’t reveal a lot in the podcast interview - he talks a bit about what he thinks ThunderCats fans will make of the movie, but essentially says that he doesn’t have a lot of info to reveal, either because of the early stage of development or because he’s “gagged”. Nonetheless, wouldn’t it be great if Jerry were to contribute a short, say, 2-minute audio quote to be getting on with for an episode of ThunderCast?!
I emailed Mary the week before Thanksgiving about the petition, but I haven’t received a response from her since the one I posted on here. I’m sure they’re busy because of the holidays. I’ll probably send her and Jerry an email again soon.
EDIT: Okay I did listen to the podcast and Jerry only spoke about the movie towards the end of the interview. I’m going to be extracting some quotes from the podcast and putting it on the front page as a news post. I don’t feel too bad after listening to the episode. It was mostly about Gears of War.
Got a new email from Jerry. I emailed him earlier today asking him if he knew of any ThunderCats-related announcements at Toy Fair. The bad news is, he doesn’t know of any announcements, but that WB might have something planned without letting him know.
He did mention a bit of a teaser…
[I]Hey Manny,
Holidays were great for us and I hope the same for you and yours. The film is progressing everyday but not at a point where I can talk just yet. I don’t know anything about an announcement coming at the Toy Fair. It would seem to me that we’re still too early in visual development to be saying anything this year but then Warners might have plans I’m not seeing. If you hear anything specific let me know and I can confirm or deny it then
…there will most likely be something new coming out in late February and I’ll want to make sure you guys get enough warning to be able to report on it first hand and not be seeing it other places first. More info as it firms up.
-jerry o[/I]
I hope the news is something interesting!
To be honest, Neil, when Jerry states that there will be something new, I imagine he’s talking about new news pertaining to the forthcoming movie - as the TCat movie’s director, I wouldn’t have thought that Jerry would be the one telling us about WB’s comic book or DVD release plans unless they related directly to the movie (and possibly not even then).
IMO, what we’re likely to see around then is perhaps a character design concept image as a “teaser” or something like that, in much the way that the very first shot of Leonardo from last year’s CGI Ninja Turtles movie was revealed almost as soon as it was completed, a long while before the movie’s release. It’s all clever marketing on the part of the companies releasing these movies, designed to create interest and hype which gradually builds to a greater and greater pitch the closer to the movie’s release you get - bear in mind that TMNT was also a WB movie, so I imagine that they would employ similiar marketing strategies with ThunderCats. For TMNT, they posted the concept images on www.ninjaturtles.com, which is the official site for the Turtles as created by the studio that created them in the very beginning - if Jerry’s going to be giving us exclusive info to reveal, that means he’s planning to use TCL as the closest thing online to an official ThunderCats site!!
Jerry sent me an email with a link to an interview he did with GameDaily. He’ll be discussing the said topics in the article at GDC on Friday (today). Basically, it’s more about the technology aspect of the visual production, but if you’re into video games, it is a very interesting article.
I’ve written a news post about it, but I decided to hold off publishing it because I wanted to give the Hiring post some time to get attention. It’s currently a draft, so I’ll just hit the publish button when I wake up in seven hours.
