Science fiction television channel SYFY has greenlit Psycho Psalms, a stop motion animation directed by David Braun (Film/Video BFA 13) and Nicholas D’Agostino (Film/Video MFA 17). Psycho Psalms is produced by LA-based creative film studio Open The Portal (OTP), for which Braun serves as creative director.
Psycho Psalms, OTP’s first original pilot, will premiere as part of SYFY’s newly expanded late-night animation block slate. Billed as a “stop motion dark comedy project,” the animation follows Timecrow, a D-list cartoon character from the 1940s, and his cast of fellow misfits as they are plucked from a portal into the “present day postmodern Internet hellscape.” As noted in a recent Animation World Network article, “These offbeat characters will take you to a dark place, but they won’t leave you there.”
The first official concept of Braun’s character Timecrow premiered in his student film Tick Tock Timecrow (2010), which screened as part of 24700’s “Film Fridays” segment. Braun established OTP in 2015 and has since developed works for clients including Disney, Mattel, and Adult Swim, as well as original shorts that premiered and won awards in the film festival circuit.
D’Agostino is a stop motion animator and director of Pox Films, an independent production company. He also serves as Experimental Animation faculty in the School of Film/Video.