PROJECTS
Alien 5
(Fanfilm 1998)
Puppetry, cinematography, effects, editing, direction
135K Streams
Star Wars Prequel
(Fanfilm series 1999-2006)
Puppetry, cinematography, effects, writing, editing, direction
150K Streams
Farrah!
(Celebrity parody series 1999-2005)
Puppetry, cinematography, effects, editing, direction
30K Streams
Star Wars in 3 Minutes
(Commissioned web content, Hasbro, Inc.)
Puppetry, cinematography, effects, editing, direction
525K Streams
ALIEN 5²
(Fanfilm 2004)
Puppetry, cinematography, effects, editing, direction
150K Streams
Interviews with Cast & Creators of "Greg The Bunny"
Interviewer, camerawork, editing, direction
50K Streams
The Cellblock Life
(Celebrity parody series 2007)
Puppetry, cinematography, effects, editing, direction
80K Streams
The Simian
(HD Feature film in production)
Puppetry, cinematography, effects, editing, direction
PHOTOS
VIRAL-VIDEO HITMAKERS PRODUCING UNIQUE ANIMATED FEATURE
PROBOT PRODUCTIONS' STORY
Probot Productions was founded in 1998 by former Emerson College film students,
Damon Wellner and Sebastian O'Brien, as an
experimental attempt to create a universe of "living" toys, and to lampoon Hollywood
with its own merchandise. Probot's world of Toy-Cinema was hatched out of the
elaborate action-figure battles staged by Damon, Sebastian, and their toy collecting
friends. Their first project, ALIEN 5, was made with no editing
facilities, so the entire movie had to be shot in sequence, and edited in-camera,
a painstaking process which took 6 months to complete. The resulting 22 minute
video was finished for under $150.
After ALIEN 5 debuted on Public Access TV in Cambridge, MA, ProbotProductions.com
went online in January 1999. Damon and TeamProbot produced several shorts by
2000, and the Probot website soon developed a large cult fanbase, and was twice
featured in the pages of ToyFare Magazine. The company received
a different kind of notoriety when the Director of the Comparative Media
Studies Program at M.I.T. included Probot Productions in an essay about
a new trend of indie filmmaking called "media convergence". Damon's creative,
low-budget effects were used as an example of innovativeD.I.Y. moviemaking,
and since then Probot Productions has been included as part of the syllabi of
several schools and universities worldwide.
Probot's epic Star Wars parody, PREQUEL, caught the attention
of Hasbro, Inc. makers of the Star Wars toy line. Impressed, Hasbro
commissioned Probot to produce recreations of scenes from the Star Wars Saga
for their website. Probot met the challenge of reproducing the cinematography
and effects shot-for-shot, using 4" action-figures. To help achieve this, the
in-camera effects were enhanced in post-production with CGI elements, resulting
in a unique blend of old and new-school styles. The video has had a resurgence
as a hit viral-video on YouTube, and as a featured video on
MySpaceTV, with over 420,000 views so far.
Since relocating to Hollywood in 2000, the team's production values have soared.
Damon has learned more about the professional techniques of visual effects,
miniature photography, and pyrotechnics, while working freelance for visual
effects companies. Damon assisted the model-makers and pyrotechnics crews for
big budget Hollywood features including Hellboy, Resident
Evil 2, and The Punisher. Probot's 2004 release, ALIEN
5², a 30 minute sequel to ALIEN 5, was the culmination of all
they had learned about storytelling and effects. Until now.
THE SIMIAN FEATURE FILM PROJECT
While the company continues to release a steady stream of new Toy-Cinema viral-videos
each year, Probot's latest project, a feature film titled, The Simian,
promises to take the company to the next level. It is a co-production of Cinefile
Video, and after 18 months of pre-production, the film is in production
now. The screenplay is an entirely original concept and story by Sebastian O'Brien,
and is being shot and directed by Damon Wellner. The budget, just under $30,000,
while microscopic by Hollywood standards, will be enormous in the microcinematic
world of Probot Productions.
The entire cast consists of custom-designed, 7" scale action-figures, sculpted by a corral of talented sculptors and action-figure customizers.
The original story combines elements of super-hero comics and classic monster movies. Probot's effects team will be pushing the envelope of Toy-Cinema
with a newly developed technique by the director to digitally animate the character's faces. The result will be a truly unique film that will be hard to
categorize, but easy to enjoy!
DOWNLOAD THE PRESS RELEASE >>
PRESS
"Best Star Wars Remakes"
by Lore Sjoberg
WIRED, July 2008
"Toying with Hollywood" by Dagney C. Ernest, MaineCoastNOW.com, April 2008
"In These Films, Toy Action Figures Come First" by Jay Davis, Village Soup, April 2008
"Belfast's First Comic Arts Festival" by Walter Griffin, Bangor Daily News, April 2008
"Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?" by Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture & Rethinking Media Change, August 2006
"Action Figures Replace Actors in New Medium" by Paul DeBetta, ToyFare Magazine, June 2003
"Toys Take Tinstletown" by Casey Seijas, ToyFare Magazine, October 2001
QUOTES
"Probot Productions have made probably the greatest action figure film of all time. This is a must watch... witness the mayhem that is unleashed on the toy version of Los Angeles." Entertainment Geekly
"Somewhere between awesome and really awesome, there’s ‘Raiders of the Toy Box’. It’s a bit like my childhood come true, really." The Balls Room
"Over the top and very funny!" Angelic Heaven
"Now that's what we call an ACTION sequence!" Star Wars® Trade Federation
"Rising stars of the new toy cinema... forging new ground in filmmaking... armed with nothing but a camera, a website and a buttload of action figures..." ToyFare Magazine
"These guys really know their stuff." PlanetFandom
"These action figure movies require constant resourcefulness on the part of the amateur filmmakers... Probot has been able to mimic the original film's light saber battles, space weaponry, and holographic images." Professor Henry Jenkins