Conspire Conference in Chicago

I'm heading out tomorrow to the Conspire Conference in Chicago.

I'd appreciate your prayers for a safe, productive trip of learning and meeting others ministering to children.

Also, please pray for my family while I'll be away for a few days. Thanks!

Disney Legend Ollie Johnson (1912-2008) | Animation Magazine

Disney Legend Ollie Johnson (1912-2008) | Animation Magazine

More here too.

Very sad. Big loss.

Booples: Do Everything Without Complaining

Just a quick note to let you know that the latest Booples video is onlne now! Watch it here!



I'd love to hear your feedback!



Also, thanks to all the bloggers and others taking part in the 1-Step Affiliate Program. 40% commission is our way of saying thanks!





Booples is a series of Christian children's animated videos designed to entertain kids with silly, funny videos that include a lesson based on a Bible verse and a song with the verse in the lyrics (learn the song = memorize the verse!).

Livin’ With Me! Reviews "Booples 2: Yikity Blar!"

Livin’ With Me! Reviews Booples: "A cute DVD for your kids that teaches Biblical lessons, has fun music and is cheap? What else could you ask for?"

A very positive review of "Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" from Livinwithme.com.

NRB Convention highlights

The NRB convention was too big and great to sum up, but I also don't want to overwhelm anyone w/ a sea of words. So here's the highlights...




- Got in free thanks to Kirk Longhofer
- Met Phil Vischer the first day (pic on left)
- Met several other great people
- Heard Michael W. Smith play
- Met George and Daniel Temple from SermonSpice.com
- Went to Phil Vischer's session on his upcoming Jelly Telly and got to hang out w/ him some more
- Heard Mark Zoradi and Glen Keane from Disney speak
- Met countless great people on the expo floor who were all very encouraging and inspiring especially Maralee Dawn (pic below)




I hope to follow up on the contacts I made at the expo and look forward to some great opportunities to partner w/ people for broadcast, production, distribution, etc. It was great to be in that environment w/ so many people who share a heart for ministry through media!

Praise God!

NRB Convention

I'm flying out tomorrow to attend the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville. I plan on meeting with TBN's Smile of a Child, SermonSpice, Axiom.TV, the Australian Christian Channel and others while I'm out there.

I'll try to post some updates while I'm out there???

If you're going, let me know!

Booples wins a Telly Award!

I just found out this morning that Booples won a Telly Award for "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish"!!!

It's for the 29th Annual awards so it's not on their site yet, but I got the letter this morning!

Praise God!

HollywoodJesus: Features Booples on front page!

HollywoodJesus: "Booples 2: Yikity Blar | Light-hearted Fare | Melinda Ledman"

HollywoodJesus links to the recent review of "Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" from their front page!

Thanks to Melinda Ledman for her great review!

HollywoodJesus.com - Booples 2: Yikity Blar

"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" reviewed at HollywoodJesus.com...

HJ Live! � Booples 2: Yikkity Blar: "I’m not sure I could ask for a more ideal use of film in my child’s life."

Booples 2: Yikkity Blar

Light-hearted Fare

With food for the soul

Melinda Ledman | 02/03/08 | TV, Editorials

I reviewed the original Booples cartoon a year or so ago, and really liked it for what it had to offer—scripture memorization, the easy way. Truth is, I know that words put to music are much easier to memorize, but I’m just not a musician. I’m a storyteller… which also helps with memorization, incidentally. A story is an excellent mnemonic device. So, when Booples came along, combining the stories, the verses, and the songs, I was pretty pleased!!

This second installation is pretty much more of the same. Some of the episodes on the DVD are better, while others are pretty corny. I had hoped the visual cartoon quality would improve a little this go-round, but I understand the fact that indie filmmakers don’t have giant pocketbooks to make all their dreams come true. Still, the device is successful. My kids not only remember the words to Bible verses, but they remember the application through the stories.

A true story: My oldest daughter was unprecedentedly generous to her little sister one day. I asked her why she did what she did and what prompted her kindness (you know, one of those typical stupid mom questions that she’ll roll her eyes at when she’s older). She shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I just wanted to share. Like that story.” Then she flippantly went off bobbing her head and singing to herself, “Be kind and compassionate to one another…” I’m not sure I could ask for a more ideal use of film in my child’s life.

There is an ongoing debate about whether there truly is a market for “Christian” films and family friendly movie fare. One side argues for clean, moral content, while the other side argues that audiences are already too film savvy to go for it. I think there is definitely a market in children’s programming. Not only will young children ALWAYS go for a cartoon, but parents are still quite protective of their children at young ages. They want only the “best” information going in—hoping that the best information will also come out one day. But we have to be careful not to let television and film become a crutch, an excuse not to teach. Plopping a kid down in front of Veggie Tales or Booples doesn’t necessarily produce clear-thinking, well-behaved teenagers. I believe media is a tool in the hand of a parent. “Good” media and “bad” media can achieve the same result, if handled right.

In the end, I support the ventures of independent filmmakers like Bear Cahill (Booples) who give parents alternative media to work with—because even I don’t always feel like being a model parent every day. There are just some days when I don’t feel like making up a spontaneous Bible lesson or finding applications for the shows that don’t have anything good to say. Sometimes, it’s nice to have a break. Sometimes, I simply need to veg out and let someone else do the talking (and singing, and dancing, and entertaining!). So I’ll keep my Booples DVD handy. Give them a try while they’re still way cheaper than Veggie Tales. You can find them online at www.Booples.com.

Next Booples! Episode: "Children of God" - John 1:12

I'm currently working on the next episode of Booples! which will be the first episode on the 3rd DVD.

The episode is currently titled "Children of God" with the message verse being John 1:12

Yet to all who received him,
to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God

I have made some improvements to the Booples' world - adding some depth to the background (as you can see from the images below) w/ additional hills and a focus range so the distance objects are slightly blurred.



The song by Pete Buchwald is great as always and I'm really excited about some new aspects of the stories I don't want to write about just yet.

Let me know what you think!

Past Booples! News...

11.30.07	--	Booples affiliation program featured on the Christian Affiliate Network (CAN) (full article)
11.26.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" featured on MamasLike.com (full article)
11.24.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" featured in the MamasLike.com "Holiday Gift Guide" (full article)
11.21.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" reviewed at Bergers Reviews (full article)
11.17.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" featured Christmas gift idea at Christianity.About.com (full article)
11.16.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" reviewed by Laura Williams (full review)
11.06.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" reviewed by Trish Berg (full review)
10.27.07	--	Booples' "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" wins best animation and fourth place overall at the Seguin Film and Arts Festival 2007 (press release, official site)
10.23.07	--	Booples review at Kiddie Clique and Bambina Ballerina (here and here)
10.12.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" earns "Dove Family Approved Seal" (details)
10.10.07	--	Booples earns Parents Television Council Seal of Approval (details)
10.05.07	--	Booples to air on AngelTV.org (details)
9.28.07	--	"Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" a finalist at the Seguin Film and Arts Festival (details)
9.7.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" DVD released (Press Release, Details)
7.4.07	--	Booples "David Rocked Goliath" completed.
4.4.07	--	Booples "Forgive Each Other" completed.
3.3.07	--	Booples.com website redesigned.
3.1.07	--	Booples "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" completed.
12.19.06	--	SermonSpice.com lists Boople videos in their children's section
12.06.06	--	Signed w/ SermonSpice.com as online distributor (link)
12.05.06	--	Booples is about.com's Christmas Day 5 "Children's Movie of the Day" (link)
12.01.06	--	Added Booples books and clothes to Booples.com (link press release)
11.17.06	--	Mary Fairchild made Booples #6 on about.com's "Top 10 Christian DVD and Video Series for Children" (link press release)
10.27.06	--	Submitted "Truth" to COMIX35 web animation competition
10.15.06	--	Informed that "Love One Another" was selected by Seguin Film Fest (link press release)
08.24.06	--	Interviewed for Pearls of Shalom on Denton public access ch25
08.22.06	--	Got first Booples T-shirts (link)
08.09.06	--	Submitted Google video "Love One Another" (link)
08.08.06	--	Interviewed for Denton Perspective public access ch 25
08.01.06	--	kidssundayschool.com ministry of the month (link)
06.12.06	--	Airing on Denton public access ch. 25
05.17.06	--	Contract and airing on Smile of a Child network (link press release)
05.15.06	--	Dove Foundation approval (link)
04.27.06	--	HollywoodJesus.com review (link)
04.04.06	--	Booples DVD officially released
03.28.06	--	Booples First sale

Booples on Cross-Eyed Reviews

Booples! - Childrens Bible Songs DVDs free clips online

Booples! gets 5 out of 5 on Cross-Eyed Reviews!

And is awarded their "Seal of Approval"

Thanks!!!

The Animation Podcast

The Animation Podcast



Great animation podcast of interviews w/ big names in animation.

The Laughs Will Go On...: Booples!

A review of Booples! on another site...

The Laughs Will Go On...: Booples!: "Once again, it had great lessons - like forgiveness, or God's faithfulness and each episode has a fun song at the end of it. Of course Tate had fun doing new dance moves to the songs (haha!) and I had fun watching both the DVD and him!"

The On Course Podcast - August 2007 - Phil Vischer

The On Course Podcast - August 2007 - Phil Vischer

A great interview w/ Phil Vischer. Enjoy.

Boople fans are geniuses!

I ran my blogs through this analysis site and one got 'elementary' and another got 'high school', but my Booples blog got 'genius'!

It just goes to show how smart Booples fans are...

Books for Moms: Booples - DVD for Kids

Books for Moms: Booples - DVD for Kids: "I kid you not, before the second story ended, I could hear her singing along with the Bible verse song, and my heart melted."

Read the full review here

The new Booples DVD, "Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" has been released by Booples.com and is available from their website!

"The new Booples DVD, 'Booples 2: Yikity Blar!' has been released by Booples.com and is available from their website! "

press release

Booples video "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" wins at Seguin!

Booples video "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" wins at Seguin!

(I-Newswire) - For the second year, Booples.com has submitted a video to the Seguin Film and Arts Festival ( http://www.seguinfestival.org/ ). This year not only did the video "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" win best animation, but also fourth place overall!

SermonSpice.com

Booples are available for downloadable sale at SermonSpice.com!

Check out the site to view videos, see descriptions, reviews, etc. of Booples videos and other videos and countdowns.

"The goal of spice info is to provide information
pertaining to who we are as a company, our
philosophy, and other information that we
hope you'll find helpful and useful."

It's a great source for videos for sermons, countdowns, Sunday school, etc. Check it out!

New Booples Affiliate program...

You can copy and paste text from the Booples site into your website or blog and you're selling Booples products! Booples.com takes care of payment, processing, shipping, etc. You just email in your contact info and URL. Click here for details

The items look like this:



You can add your own comments around it using text from the site, your thoughts, quotes from other reviews, etc.

Booples Bible Verse Songs CD!

The Booples Bible Verse Songs CD has been released!

The Booples songs CD includes all the Booples songs from the first 2 DVDs each containing a Bible verse in the song...

* "Not Curly, But Straight"- Proverbs 3:5-6
* "Love One Another" - John 13:34-35
* "Treasure In Heaven" - Matthew 6:20-21
* "Forgive Each Other" - Ephesians 4:32
* "Don't Want to go to Tarshish" - Luke 11:28
* "David Rocked Goliath" - 1 Corinthians 1:25
* "For All to See" - Psalm 33:4
* BONUS TRACK: "Look Around" - John 1:12 - Not Previously Released!


Also available for download at CDBaby.com and iTunes.

Booples named #6 on About.com's "Top 10 Christian DVD and Video Series for Children"

"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" DVD Released!!!

The second Booples DVD: "Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" has been released!!!

You can view clips at Booples.com.

The Booples site has be redesigned as well as the clothing and other merchandise.

"Yikity Blar!" is also available to buy at Booples.com. There's even a combo deal of the 2 DVDs.

"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" contains...

* "Forgive Each Other" (Ephesians 4:32)
* "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" (Luke 11:28)
* "David Rocked Goliath" (1 Corinthians 1:25)
* "God is Faithful" (Psalm 33:4)
* Plus all 4 song videos from the episodes!
* And a Booples! short: "Fruit of the Spirit"


Each episode uses a Bible verse to teach a lesson from God's word to the Booples and the viewer. The episode's song includes the verse to help apply the message. The songs are catchy and help children remember the lesson and recall the verse!

The DVD also includes the song portion of each episode as separate titles!

Approximate runtime: 45 mins

Closed Caption and English Subtitles

Check it out here!

Anne Hoag's blog mention of Booples

Check out Anne Hoag's mention of Booples in her media blog.

She's doing a research paper on media entrepreneurship and interviewed me about Booples a few weeks ago.

I've seen an early version of the paper and it looks very good, very impressive.

Yikity Blar!

The second Booples DVD, "Booples! 2 Yikity Blar!", is done and off to the duplicators!

I intend to update the website soon to get ready for it and send out announcements, press releases, review copies, etc.

Booples - "God is Faithful"

Hi!

Another Booples video is posted at Booples.com - "God is Faithful"

In the story, Doodle Boople wonders where rainbows come from and what they mean. Bah explains they are God's promise to not flood the earth again and that God is always faithful to His promises:

Psalm 33:4

"For the word of the LORD is right and true;
He is faithful in all He does."

Check it out here and send any thoughts you have (comment below or here)!

You got somethin' to say?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the Booples videos. Let me know what you think and what you'd like to see. What do you like about Booples and what would else would you like to see?

Thanks!

Go here to send your thoughts.

Booples - "David Rocked Goliath"

There's a new Booples video just completed: "David Rocked Goliath"



Tootle wants to be a super hero so she can be used by God. Poodle and Doodle explain that God can use anyone and often does things in ways you wouldn't expect like send a baby (Jesus) to save the world and defeat a giant with a shepard boy (David).

The verse for this episode is 1 Corinthians 1:25:
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

So we can all remember when we're feeling too small for God to use that "David Rocked Goliath".

See the song video and episode preview at TheBooples.com

The video should soon be available for purchase to download from SermonSpice.com

And on DVD in the next few months!!!

Next Booples Episode in the Works!

I'm currently working on the next Booples video titled "David Rocked Goliath"!

The story will be based around the Booples learning how God can use anyone no matter how "small." He used David even though he was just a shepard boy and even saved the world through a baby: Jesus.

The song is one of the best yet!

Recent News: new TV showings

TBN's Smile of a Child now show's Booples weekly at 3:30pm Central on Tuesdays! If you don't get that channel, you can watch online.

Also, I just shipped out DVDs to CGN TV for them to subtitle Booples in Korean and show on their channel around the world.

Hopefully I'll finish a couple more episodes soon and come out w/ another DVD. I've been really busy w/ promotion, film festivals, etc. that I haven't had enough time to actually make the content! :)