Last summer, @cosimo179 and I were deep in contract negotiations for our web series, H+. I guess the waiting was starting to drive us a bit crazy, so we decided to channel some of that nervous energy into a little weekend project. Something that would allow us to sort of shake it out.

Since Cosimo and I both have a strong interest in dance (Cosimo is a contemporary dancer and choreographer himself), we figured it could also serve as an experiment for a future dance project on the web.

So we invited nine dancers to my apartment one Saturday morning. They had no idea what we were planning to do and no preparation. And over the next three hours, Cosimo choreographed and I shot this video. Later that night we edited it. And now, almost a full year later, we’re sharing it for the first time here.

1. No… it’s not a coincidence that So You Think You Can Dance premieres this week.
2. Some of you may recognize SYTYCD star, Will Wingfield, in the video.
3. My sister is the one being swung around in a circle.
4. It was an insanely talented and fast working group of dancers… I was blown away.

And if you’ve seen the Wisely video Through any Window, you’ll probably recognize the location… except it’s from the opposite angle. Yes, this is my apartment. I’ve done a few projects here over the past decade.

The song is a remix of the Bedroom Walls tune Somewhere in Newhall. I love this band. Check out their other music on iTunes if you get a chance.

I’m still digesting last night’s episode of Lost, and I may have something to say about it by the weekend.

But today, I’d like to introduce you to The Only Robot in Third Grade.

Like the previous Cowboy Chris piece, I created this in the first half of 2000 as a sort of test.

The Only Robot In Third Grade (Teaser) from John Cabrera on Vimeo.

This little thing inspired us to write and produce the full pilot webisode later that year. My hope is to have that ready to show you all by the end of this month.

Please, please, please keep in mind, what you are about to watch was created almost a dacade ago. This is literally the FIRST thing I ever made using Flash. It’s based on @seangunn‘s ridiculous comic strip of the same name. And yes, that’s my voice (lol)… both characters.

NOTE: If you get the message “Sorry. This video no longer exists.” Just try refreshing the page. Vimeo is doing some server upgrades, causing that to happen occasionally.

Cowboy Chris from John Cabrera on Vimeo.

Soon after this was made, Sean, Lee Kirk, Larry Fitzgibbon and I started playing around with a few ideas for animated web projects. This was right before the last dot com bubble burst, and well… we just didn’t get there in time.

But there was one particular project we were all really excited about. I spent a LOT more time with Flash over the next couple months and we eventually completed a pilot webisode. I’m still a bit bummed we weren’t able to do anything with it.

Well, I just found all the files on an old drive, so what better place to premiere it than in an upcoming post. Here’s a little teaser pic to tide you over.

Should I be nervous??

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while. The story behind it is pretty simple.

In 2006 my film The Man Who Invented the Moon played at The Midwest Independent Film Festival, an ongoing festival in Chicago comprised of monthly screenings. Later that year it was nominated for best comedy and was included in an online voting process.

After a month of voting, the organizers of the festival called me to see if any of our team could accept the award if we won. I told them I wasn’t sure. Then they suggested we shoot a quick ‘thank you’ video.

I thought that was kinda funny. So later that night I met the writer, Lee Kirk, for a drink, and we tossed around some ideas for what that might be. The next evening we shot this.

And they played it.

Acceptance Speech: MWITM from John Cabrera on Vimeo.