PROBOT NEWS

DECEMBER 14 , 2005
Things are happening quickly around ProbotHQ as of late. Here are the latest developments:

PROBOT VIDCASTS
We are now offering high quality vidcasts of Probot videos, ALIEN 5² and PROBOT: A NEW HOPE, free (as always) with more to come! These m4v files can be played on itunes and video ipods, and are the highest quality video format we've ever been able to offer for download!!! Even if you've seen the movies before, download this version and see the difference. Before the best we could offer was about a 5.5 of 10 for video quality. These m4v files are about 8.9 out of 10!!
YOU DON"T NEED AN IPOD TO PLAY THEM. Just itunes on your computer. I don't have a video ipod, do you? If so watch the podcast and give us some feedback!

WRITE YOUR OWN PROBOT REVIEW
Our message boards are open...
write reviews, ask questions, tell us about an action-figure movie you're making, or just make up some bull*$#%, just LEAVE YOUR MARK!

FARRAH EPISODE 2 - SPECIAL EDITION
I am adding the final touches to the special edition edit of
FARRAH EPISODE 2: "Farrah Saves the Day"
check back later this week for an update...

PROBOT SUPER SECRET PROJECT
We are hatching plans for a project in 2006 that is so super-secret that i can't even tell you about it now...
because you'll blab it to everyone, that's why!
oh please, remember last time?
no.
don't ask again...
okay fine, for a hint, watch this.

Our message boards are up and running, so please come by and say hello.
There are about 50 custom Probot Avatars to use on the boards. Just register to be a member and select an avatar from the drop-down menu on the Modify Profile page.

Or click here to download a Probot Avatar for use on other message boards.
And check back soon for more...

First, a big thanks to my dear friend, Laura Roberts for including me and Probot in this year's Pandemonium Collective Halloween Bash! It was an honor to be included! The night was a big success and the Probot installation was front and center! It was quite an event: fire breathing contortionists, acrobats, fairies, demons, interesting paintings and sculptures, pretentious performance artists, and Probot's silly toy movies to lighten the mood...

All previous attempts to have boards have failed due to SPAM, so i hope this works...

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29TH, 2005 8PM-2AM
1639 18TH STREET, SANTA MONICA
(OFF OLYMPIC)

http://www.thepandemoniumcollective.org/

Special thanks to Laura Roberts of the Collective for including us!!
Last year it was huge and full of amazing stuff!
LIVE MUSIC, ART, BOOZE AND ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE OF ALL GENDERS IN SEXY COSTUMES, WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR ON
HALLOWS EVE!

It has been a while since my last update, but never fear, the Probot Team has been hard at work behind the scenes:

ROBOT CHICKEN - TOYS ON TV

If you haven't heard...
Seth Green is producing a show for adultswim that is quite possibly the finest television ever made. It's called ROBOT CHICKEN and it's a sketch comedy show made with action figures and stop-motion animation. The animation is great, and the writing is extremly dark and twisted, just the way we like it! Thank Zeus that Seth is in charge! Anyone who likes Probot movies should check it out on Cartoon Network Sundays at 11pm!

And for all of you who have long wondered if a Wampa could solve a Rubix Cube... We finally have the answer!

JANUARY 5th 2005
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

ProbotProductions.com is celebrating 6 YEARS online!

Thanks for making 2004 our biggest year yet,
with over 100,000 visitors and over a million hits!

But we've got big plans for 2005...

- Farrah! Episodes 1, 2, & 3
SPECIAL EDITIONS
Digitally re-edited and remastered from the raw tapes,
Farrah's first 3 episodes have never looked or sounded better!
This special edition includes extra footage and effects
that were not in the original edit.
Episode 1: Farrah Shares A Smile SPECIAL EDITION
is online now!

- Farrah! Episode 4
In pre-production now

- PLUS a new and totally original story with all custom figures
written by Sebastian O'Brien

Dec 31, 2004

PROBOTPRODUCTIONS.COM FEATUREDED IN UNIVERSITY NEW MEDIA STUDIES

This Holiday season was brightened for us when we discovered that our website has been included in the cirriculum of schools and universities all over the world, including Catholic High Schools in Canada and a college in Hong Kong.

Academic interest in toy cinema was first sparked by Professor Henry Jenkins,
Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at M.I.T. ,
who mentioned PROBOT in a 2001 essay titled, "Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture". We were honored to be included in the essay. And now that Fan Films are an increasingly recognized artform, it seems that more campuses are discussing this topic.

At the University of Wisconsin this Fall, students watched scenes from ALIEN 5 and ALIEN 5² in class, and then discussed Jenkins' essay. Professor Lisa Nakamura was kind enough to send me the discussion questions from the class:

1) Jenkins writes that consumers demand “the right to participate
in the creation and distribution of media narratives.”
—is this a conflict between media consumers and producers?
what are the arguments for and against consumers deserving this right?

2) Jenkins writes that digital cinema’s strength is that it circumvents
the “cultural gatekeepers who have narrowed the potential diversity
of network television or Hollywood cinema.”
discuss, agree/disagree, produce examples to support a position on this topic

3) Jenkins writes that “creative reworkings of science fiction film and television”
are no longer a sign of a person who has “too much time on their hands,”
but rather an “increasingly central aspect of how contemporary popular
culture operates.” Discuss, agree/disagree.
might this have a negative effect on what has been termed "originality"?
interrogate this term "originality"--does it make sense to use it in the digital age?

I dropped out of film school before the digital revolution and was never much of a fan of Film Theory, but my partners and i have been discussing these issues for years, so it's nice to know we're not just shooting the breeze.

So anyone who came to this website to kill time, be aware...
you could be earning college credit for this!

Oct 31, 2004

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We've been rebuilding the website from scratch on a new server. We have a new look and a lot more bandwidth! So as we rebuild we will be eventually adding more movies from the Probot vault! Also we will be adding Quicktime versions of some movies now available only in Realplayer. We appreciate your patience while we remodel the site. If you run into a dead link, just come back in a few days and try again.

We are proud to announce that ALIEN 5² will be airing on Cable Access TV in Salem, MA. Thanks to Brian Alves for making it possible! We don't know exactly when yet, but we'll try to keep you posted.

If you want to see a Probot movie on your Cable Access channel, contact us.

August 26, 2004

The "Breaking Ground" event for THE PANDEMONIUM COLLECTIVE on the 14th was a big success! It was an honor to be a part of the show. We had a great time and met a lot of nice people. Special thanks to Laura Roberts for including us.

August 08 , 2004

We are pleased to announce that ALIEN 5 SQUARED is going to be screened as part of THE PANDEMONIUM COLLECTIVE inaugural event next Saturday, August 14th at Selah Artistic Giving Center, 1001 E. 1st St. #15, Downtown LA, 90012:

THE PANDEMONIUM COLLECTIVE is a new, and rapidly expanding, Los Angeles based artists' network, promoting all kinds of art. Check out their website here.

Special thanks to Laura Roberts of the Collective for getting us involved!!

July 1st, 2004

We have finally worked out our bandwidth issues, and are pleased to announce that the 100MB Hi-Res version of ALIEN 5 SQUARED is now available free for everyone. ProbotProductions.com may have to shut down now and again if we exceed our bandwidth. However we feel that's better than charging a fee. Thanks for your patience while we sorted things out. Special thanks to Melanie Towers for hosting part 1! Thanks also to Willie Goldman from alienscollection.com for helping to coordinate a host site.

We also have a 17.4MB Streaming version for those of you with dial-up connections.

Both Hi-Res and Streaming versions are available here:

http://www.probotproductions.com/alien5squared.htm

and for all Alien-related news and info
please visit

June 26 , 2004

Finally, we are proud to announce the official release of ALIEN 5 SQUARED.

This is our biggest and boldest (though not technically our longest) movie to date!
Featuring a huge cast of action figures and lots of cool special effects!

The toys are brought to life by an amazing group of talented actors, led by our newest discovery, Flora Whitfield, as Ripley. The supporting cast features many new voices as well as several Probot All-Stars such as Sebastian O'Brien, Carla Remy Norton, Sean T. Drinkwater, and Liz Enthisiasm!

Unfortunately we had to pull down most of our other films to make room for A5sq but we hope to bring them back soon.

TO RECIEVE A FREE DVD OD ALIEN 5 SQUARED BY MAIL, BECOME A PROBOT PATRON. DONATE $10 ON THE HOME PAGE.

June 17 , 2004

UPDATE:

This week we are putting the final touches on ALIEN 5 SQUARED, and should be releasing it very soon! A5sq is the most cinematic and action-packed film we have ever made. Over a year in production and 30 minutes in length, we promise this dark comedy will deliver for Alien fans and toy lovers of all kinds.

VHS and DVD versions of ALIEN 5 SQUARED will be available soon HERE.

April 14 , 2004

Check out our new PREVIEW for ALIEN 5squared!!!

COMING SUMMER 2004

A5sq PREVIEW
QUICKTIME VERSION

March 18, 2004

We hope you like the new look of probotproductions.com!

ALIEN 5 squared update:
We've added a few new animated gifs to our Alien5squared GALLERY

March 02, 2004

Wow! It has been a while since I have been able to update the website. You see, our main computer broke last autumn and we just got a new one...

The bad news is that we missed our goal of completing ALIEN 5 squared by last Halloween. Our apologies for that misleading information...

The GOOD NEWS is that we are still working very hard on ALIEN 5squared and it is going to be our most action packed film ever!

We've added lots of new images to the Alien 5squared GALLERY. . .

In other news. . .

We have learned that Dave Grohl (of Nirvana/ Foo-Fighters/ Queens of the Stoneage) has formed a new Heavy Metal band called PROBOT. It makes us smile to think that he enjoys our Toy Cinema so much that he named his band after us!

JANUARY 01, 2004

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
WWW.PROBOTPRODUCTIONS.COM
IS
----------- >>> CELEBRATING 5 YEARS ONLINE!! <<<---------

We had over 46,000 visitors last year and we would like to thank you all for dropping by!

2004 is going to be our biggest year ever so please continue to spread the word.

JULY 20th, 2003

Production of Alien 5sqared is in full swing, and we've posted a few images:

May 10th, 2003

Coming Soon...

EARTH. . . Well, it's about ****ing time!

expected release date
OCT.31 2003

This Halloween...
your nightmares come true!

April 16th, 2003

TOYFARE MAGAZINE - ISSUE #70
JUNE 2003

ON STANDS NOW!!!

We are pleased to announce that
ToyFare Magazine has been kind enough to feature us again in their "Buzz" section, in a piece about toy cinema on the web.

[CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PLUG]

Many thanks to Paul DeBetta and Zach Oat for including us!
Be sure and pick up a copy of ToyFare Issue #70, in comic book/collectibes stores and on newsstands now!!

This is the 2nd time we have been plugged in ToyFare
(see Aug 10,2001 below)

CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS ARCHIVES