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.

So here’s Crazy Love. This film was made during a 48 hour film competition I participated in years ago called Instant Films. It’s a really charming little movie, written by Jenelle Riley, and it turned out to be one of the best film experiences I’ve had.

Here is how the competition worked: She and a group of writers had 8 hours to write their scripts (from a Friday evening until the next morning). Then I and a group of directors were randomly paired with the scripts, and we literally chose our actors out of a hat. We then had 36 hours to return with a finished film.

I stumbled in with my master tape about 10 minutes before the deadline. An hour later I was sitting in a theater with about 300 people watching all the films. I was so tired I fell asleep.

But we ended up winning the competition, and the film went on to play at a couple festivals… it even garnered a Critics Pick at Palm Springs International Short Film Festival.

Anyway, if you haven’t already watched it… enjoy.