LANEY PENN

GB FUN FACT: Laney was based off the character "Watts" from the movie 

"Some Kind Of Wonderful".

GB FUN FACT: Laney was originally the drummer of Grojband.

LANEY PENN

Short in stature, tall in ambition; Laney is the rock of this rock and roll band. This red-haired firecracker is the band's bassist and self-proclaimed BAND MANAGER. 
Laney's biggest secret is her MEGA-CRUSH on Corey. She sees him as a true star in the making and for whatever reasons thinks he'd never be into her (being mistaken for a dude doesn't help her self esteem much). Her thick shield of sarcasm makes her feelings toward Corey painfully obvious to everyone but Corey.

Laney takes a bum wrap for being the only girl in an otherwise all boy rock-outfit. Even though she can hang with the best of them, she has secret dreams of being treated like a lady. She openly mocks frilly girly-girl things, but her bedroom is a rainbowed shrine to unicorns, teen magazines and boy bands. NO ONE WILL EVER SEE HER ROOM!

If you ask anyone at Elementary High what they think of Laney Penn – they'd simply say “Who? You mean that dude over there?” 

Above: Laney rotation

Yup  - That's a lot of costumes. But this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. We

have 52 unique and fun filled adventures for Laney and her friends. I see many more costumes in her future. 

GB FAN ART!!!

Courtesy of Hobo Divine ;)

Grojband's 1st Fan Art - Run Corey!!!!

Compliments of Janet Yi

And another great piece from artist Hanna Fiese

Thanks so much! Art by Molly Torsvik

How cute is this Laney - Thanks simonTBLR

MAYOR MELLOW

MAYOR MELLOW

Best known for being LOUDER than anyone he’s trying to keep quiet. Mellow’s a walking, talking contradiction. Whether he’s shouting in your ear or over the town’s built-in ‘MR SPEAKER system’, Mayor Mellow is either in your face or on your case with his unlikely cohort, a picture of his deceased mother, which he publicly confides in, like Norman Bates in Psycho (sans le murder). On top of his mayoral duties, Mellow wears EVERY other official hat in town (post office, warden, police constable etc.) He takes his job way more seriously than he should - this guy is EVERYWHERE.

As annoying as he is, the Mayor’s intentions are good. He wants nothing more than to keep his town and its citizens happy, safe and ‘peaceville’. But ‘the band’ keeps harshing his mellow. He’s afraid their success will turn his peaceful little town into a zoo full of corporate crocodiles and power tie-d producers. He plots to silence the band but his ideas are so absurdly ill- conceived, they always leave HIM with egg on his face. And despite all his ‘peace keeping’ efforts, the Mayor isn’t even a BLIP on the band’s RADAR. But that won’t stop him (and his mom) from trying again tomorrow.

MOTHER below

OUR FIRST GROJBAND SCREENING!!!

JOY!

Screening the first episode of Grojband this morning. 

Amazing to see every ones hard work coming together. 

(We're actually seeing the visuals married with the full audio mix for the first time)

~Thank you GB team!

FremantleMedia Enterprises Announces World Tour For Grojband

MIPCOM, 9 OCTOBER 2012: FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) today announced a series of international TV deals for the kids’ comedy series about a wannabe rock band, Grojband.  The 52 x 11 minutes animation is a TELETOON Original Production by Fresh TV. FME manages the worldwide (excluding Canada) TV distribution, home entertainment and brand licensing rights for the series.

New buyers cover major territories including France (Lagadère), Italy (Switchover Media), Australia (ABC) and Latin America (Cartoon Network). These acquisitions follow the announcement earlier this year that Cartoon Network USA became the US broadcast partner for the series.

WANTED

WANTED: STORYBOARD ARTISTS to work on our new series GROJBAND.

Interested? Please send board samples to neptoonstudios@gmail.com - Must be a resident of Ontario, Canada.

CREEP AWAY CAMP

Design by Aleksandar Prohaska

Paint by Martin Smith

THE GARAGE

Paint by Martin Smith

Garage concept art by Ed Lee

Considering that Corey and the band were going to be spending a lot of time in this location, we had to take some liberties with the size of the garage. We also added a second level with a loft bedroom so that Trina would be in constant 'ear shot' of the gangs shenanigans.

PEACEVILLE

Peaceville (long shot).  Concept art - Ed Lee

GROJBAND PICKS

You can pick your friends. And you can pick your nose. But you shouldn't pick your friends nose - unless you have one of these… GROJBAND PICKS!!!!

CARTOON NETWORK TAKES GROJBAND

FremantleMedia Enterprises 

Books Grojband A Gig On 

Cartoon Network USA

TRINA RIFFIN

TRINA RIFFIN – Sister/Keeper of words

“Just try to imagine... Just Imagine... How little I care and junk”

This emotional 16 year old is Corey's sister and ARCH- NEMESIS (think Icky Vicky from Fairly Odd Parents). Trina's got no clue that Corey's stealing her diary and thinks his ANNOYING little band is nothing more than a waste of good garage space. A garage SHE could be using as her own private bedroom.

Trina is the QUEEN BEE at Elementary High. She’s as popular as she is feared by students and teachers alike. People don’t hang with Trina cuz they want to - they simply have to. Being Trina’s friend is kinda like a job. And when she has the ability to make you or break you (status wise), some girls <cough-Mina> will do just about anything to stay in her good books. Trina knows she has this school and its faculty wrapped around her little finger and she uses it to her advantage every chance she gets.

“Think of our friendship as your internship to popularity”

Trina's diary entries are a mirror of her personality - self-important, melodramatic and read like something off the pages of a gossipy teen mag. And even though Core and the band do their fair share to make her act like a complete diva-tard, in the end it's her own crappy attitude that gets in the way of her success and happiness.

Trina’s off in her own sweet sixteen world where the most important things are her, herself and guys...that like HER. One guy in particular takes up a lot of Trina’s bubbly energy - Nick Mallory. HUNK ALERT! She’s in constant pursuit of his suiting and won’t let a little thing like her dumb brother get in the way. Nick has an amazing effect on Trina. She gets all kind and cutesy when he’s around. It’s the only time you’ll ever see her with her guard down. In a lot of ways, Nick’s presence makes things way easier on Corey when getting the diary, cause Trina's so dreamed- out!

If you ask anyone at Elementary High what they think of Trina Riffin – they'd ANONYMOUSLY say “She ain’t pretty she just looks that way”.

Above board panels where for the original pilot "Smash Up Terby". Courtesy of Paul Watling.

Above are a few pose sheets from the actual production. As you can see - James Walsh and the posing team are doing a great job matching the original posing style we loved so much from the original pilot. 

THE NEWMANS

THE NEWMANS

Every band has a RIVAL band, right? Well, THE NEWMANS take being rivals to a new level. The Newmans are just as ambitious as Corey’s band and often manage to scoop them on upcoming gigs. Safe to say that Corey and the band aren’t huge on them. Who can blame them? The Newmans have the same fan base, the same style of songs - they even look the same. ALMOST! These Grojband doppelgangers are GENDER OPPOSITES to Corey’s band. The Newmans are made up of 3 GIRLS and 1 GUY - Carrie (vox/guitar -- and Mina’s little sister), Kim (Keys), Konnie (bass) and Larry (drums). Although this rival band can hold their own in a BATTLE OF THE BANDS, they have their own set of ‘unique quirks’ that make them just as unlikely to succeed outside the small town of Peaceville.

(Screen grab from S1E03 Creep Away Camp)

POSING GROJBAND

IMO, posing is one of the most CRUCIAL elements in a Flash production. It's our only defence against stiff looking movement and helps us to get as close as possible to traditional looking animation.

Above you'll see how we've taken the rough board panel and posed out the characters to match the action. You can also see how the artist has referenced where she's used "re-use" elements already drawn in previous poses. This is done to avoid the same elements (hands facial expressions etc.) going through the pipeline over and over again. It also helps to keep the characters "on model".

MINA BEFF

MINA BEFF

Mina is Trina’s best friend who had her name legally changed to create the whole rhyming thing (to be honest, Trina demanded it). Her original name was Bernadette. “Like, gag!” Mina is pretty much a mirror image of Trina and is her “yes man” loyal to a fault. Although Mina’s always getting stepped on by the bossy Trina, she enjoys the ‘rub-off’ popularity she gets for being her bestie. Mina’s along for the ride - and believe us - with Trina driving, that is one BUMPY ride.

GROJBAND FUN FACT

Betcha didn't know that Mina's last name came from the abbreviated  term for the saying "Best Friends Forever"

GROJBAND FUN FACT

Betcha didn't know that I was thinking of VELMA from Scooby Doo when I was designing her.

EL CHEWPOOCACA

El Chewpoocaca loves Nick Mallory.

Grojband's gunna run in to all sorts of strange characters while trying to pump Peaceville full of teenaged angst - including this child chomping Chewpoocaca.

MORNING DOODLE

My morning - ADVENTURE TIME - inspired doodle.

KIN & KON

KIN and KON – The Wonder Twins (you wonder if they’re really twins)

According to Legend (Legend’ being something they made up), Kin and Kon were born Siamese twins and they have the scars to prove it. The not-so identical brothers also claim that they can communicate to each other with their minds and often finish each other’s sentences - poorly. But the oddities don’t stop there. Kin and Kon speak a secret 'TWIN' language that no one else understands. Some even question whether Kin and Kon understand it. Together, Kin and Kon harness the power of rock. They’re fully into the band, and speak about it like Jack and Kyle from ‘Tenacious D’.

KIN - Keys

What KIN lacks in brawn he more than makes up for in BRAINS (think DATA from Goonies). Kin has a real head for inventing creative gadgets, many of which come in handy when trying to borrow Trina's diary.

Kin likes it LOUD! He's in charge of the band's PYROTECHNICS, lighting, computers and any TECH related instrumentation.

KON – Drums

Twice as big and half as smart as his older twin. Kon provides some much needed MUSCLE and despite his massive girth he has a surprising GENTLE GIANT disposition.

Kon has a 'thing' for Trina (grody) and at times we get a glimpse that Kon is more intelligent than he appears and that his dim-witted persona is merely an act.

If you ask anyone at Elementary High what they think of Kin and Kon – they'd simply say... On second thought, NEVER MIND. You’re better off not knowing.