[July 13, 2010 – Port St. Lucie, FL] Today, Frozen Beach Studios is officially announcing their collaboration with comedian/actor Scott Thompson (The Kids in the Hall) to bring his character Danny Husk to life in an original graphic novel (OGN).  Danny Husk: The Hollow Planet will be released by IDW Publishing in October 2010.

Scott Thompson has been playing the character Danny Husk for over twenty years and wrote the screenplay on which the OGN is based.  Now, thanks to Frozen Beach Studios, Danny Husk is jumping from the television screen to the printed page. Scott Thompson worked hand in hand with Frozen Beach Studios at every step of comic production, helping them bring his vision to life.  “Scott was open to suggestions and ideas and really relied on us as professionals to do right by his creation.” says Stephan Nilson, President of Frozen Beach Studios.

[July 7, 2010 – Port St. Lucie, FL] Independent creators are proving that it doesn’t take a large studio to come up with a money making idea.  The summer 2008 blockbusterWanted started life as an independent comic book by Top Cow.  Since release, the movie has raked in more than $340 million worldwide.  Before Wanted, there was Dark Horse Comics’ Hellboy, which captured $260 million worldwide between two films.  Now, the indies are taking their next step, into animation, as Frozen Beach Studios announces that the comic book series Atomik Mike has been optioned by Solipsist Films for animated feature film development.

Atomik Mike was originally released as a comic book with Alias Entertainment in May 2006.  The second series and two trade paperbacks were released by Desperado Publishing. The comic book series follows the misadventures of Mike Connors and his salvage company crew as they pursue Captain Tariq and Mr. Peck, the two men responsible for transforming Mike into a monkey.

“Atomik Mike is a wonderful creation by the guys at Frozen Beach.  Great story telling and we cannot wait to bring Atomik Mike and this world to life, “said the President of Solipsist Films, Stephen L’Heureux.  Solipsist Films tapped into the entrepreneurial studio Root Films to lead the production process.  Root Films will be writing, directing and overseeing design and animation with creative input from Frozen Beach throughout the process. “”The opportunity to work with Zack and Ed on our second collaboration with such a rich brand and layered characters was something we could not pass up,” L’Heureux remarked.

Stephan Nilson, president of Frozen Beach Studios, started his work with comics in 2001 with a limited budget, a small pool of independent readers and fierce competition.   Today, Nilson has optioned several of his titles.  In addition to Atomik Mike, Solipsist has optioned the Frozen Beach Studios title Upgraded.  The Pound, scheduled for comic book release in Fall 2010, is optioned for theatrical development by Kevin Spacey’s production company, Trigger Street.  Government Bodies, originally released under the Across the Pond Studios imprint, is optioned with Nu Image for television development with Nilson attached to write the pilot.

Nilson readily offers advice to would-be creators.  “I guess the best advice I could give is to make sure your work is professional. Whether it’s a comic or script, TV or movie, honestly compare it to other works in the market. You have to be honest with yourself. Does it truly stack up to what people are paying to read and watch? If it doesn’t go back and fix it, and never go with your first draft no matter how awesome you think it is. There will always be something to tighten up.”

Nilson is represented by William Morris Endeavor. Visit Frozen Beach Studios at San Diego Comic Con 2010, Booth #2107.

Attending San Diego Comic Con? Stop by the Frozen Beach Studios Booth #2107 for a Scott Thompson/CGC Exclusive!

You may know Scott Thompson from the television sketch comedy classic Kids in the Hall. But did you know that he had joined forces with Frozen Beach Studios to create the new comic “Danny Husk: The Hollow Planet?” ONLY 60 of these exclusives will be sold, through lottery, 30 on Friday and 30 on Saturday. So get there early!

Click here for the full story.

Beginning, Monday, March 1, 2010, issues one through four of Atomik Mike will be released in a series of panels, for free, at www.atomikmikethecomic.com.

Each week day, the creators of Atomik Mike, Stephan Nilson and Izzy Cruz, will post new panels of the comic, blog about the content and accept questions and comments on the Frozen Beach Studios Facebook Fan Page, located at http://www.facebook.com/frozenbeach?ref=ts

Fans who interact with the creators on the Frozen Beach Studios Fan Page will be entered to win original Atomik Mike artwork and a CGC-graded 9.8 alternative cover for Issue #1 of Atomik Mike.

Award-winning publishing house becomes new IDW imprint

IDW Publishing and Desperado today announced a publishing agreement, which will bring Desperado’s impressive roster of talented creators and expansive catalog of books to IDW under a new imprint.

Founded in January 2005 by Eisner Award-winning comics veteran Joe Pruett, Desperado quickly established itself as a high-end publisher of art books, graphic novels, and comics. Desperado titles have been nominated for five Eisner Awards and won two since 2007, and repeatedly feature the comic industry’s top creative talent.

“We are very excited to have Desperado join us,” said IDW chief operating officer, Greg Goldstein. “Desperado’s books and roster of creators are both very impressive, and as an IDW imprint, Joe will have the flexibility and support to expand both. It’s really a win-win situation.”

IDW’s new imprint will continue to offer the high quality books and feature the talented creators for which Desperado is known. The 2010 line up already includes industry greats, such as Dave Dorman, Tony Harris and George Perez. These books, as well as Desperado’s comics and graphic novels, will be released under the new imprint.

“I was sold from the first conversation,” said Pruett. “If there was one company that I would admit to being envious of, it would be IDW. Watching them transform from a start-up company to the present day publishing beast has been nothing if not inspiring. Everything about IDW speaks to how much they love this industry and love what they are doing. We at Desperado look forward to a long, prosperous relationship. As the famous quote goes, ‘I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.’”

Today I was witness to something that reinforced my love for this industry and that I made the right choice to follow this career path no matter how difficult it can be from time to time.

A friend and I were waiting for our check at lunch today when a guy in his thirties , Paul (I got his name later) walked into the restaurant. I didn’t see him more than heard him. Not that he was making a lot of noise or drawing attention to himself, but it was the familiar rustle of the plastic bags we get at comic book stores. I knew it was comic Wednesday. Without looking at this guy I turned to my friend and established my dominance of the geek-dom by telling him, “Someone just brought in comics.” Nailed it! Paul sits at his table and removes his new comics (and it was an impressive pile) from his comic bag and proceeds to bag and board them while waiting for the waitress. He continues to work while having a polite but slightly awkward conversation about comics and art with the waitress. Now at this point I’m thinking to myself that we have a serious collector because of his attention to detail while sliding his comics into the protective sleeves, but what really impressed me was what he did when he was finished with his project. He organized the books in the order he wanted and started reading them. I sat there for a moment looking at him (I believe I was even staring, sorry Paul). It was great to see someone so intently enjoying reading his comics. Obviously he takes care of them, but it was my opinion that he does that in order to have the books last. I don’t think he’s the type to rush out and Ebay the latest comic gimmick.

I got a chance to introduce myself and talk with Paul, a very casual guy. He seemed a bit skeptical at first. I’m betting he thought my friend and I were going to bag on him for bringing in comics. I told him my name and that I read too, more of the independents than he was familiar with but comic fans are comic fans. By the end of the conversation I got a much better feel for Paul. He’s an avid reader as much as a collector.

The point of this ramble is that meeting a comic fan is just as exhilarating for us as it is for them. I was suffering some serious burnout this week working on three different projects, but now it’s all I can do to finish typing up my thoughts here so I can get back to work. With that I’ll end it a big THANK YOU to all the “Pauls” out there.

Cheers!

Now you have no excuses, you can read the entire first issue of Atomik Mike Volume Two for free right here on the new Frozen Beach Studios site! Check it out, and let us know what you think. Hopefully you’ll enjoy that little yellow monkey as much as we do.

Read the entire first issue free!

Mini-MegaCon is finally upon us! We will be at the show both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. If you will be there stop by and pick-up a book or just say hello, we will be in the Independent Press section, at table Blue 2. We will have some great specials on books (buy two trades and get a 9.8 CGC comic for free) and we’ll be premiering the original graphic novel Extinction.

That’s right Frozen Beach Studios’ first original graphic novel is complete and will be in next month’s previews. A special sneak peek will be available in two weeks at Mini MegaCon in Orlando, Florida. Swing by artist alley to see Stephan Nilson (creator/writer) to get a first-look at the book beautifully illustrated by Kevin Stokes and masterfully lettered by Charles Pritchett. You can see the first nine pages here. Also, you can start following Frozen Beach Studios on twitter under FBStudios. We’ll be updating our production information as well as convention spots.

Cheers,
Stephan

We are holding auditions Saturday April 25th, 2009 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. for a new scripted webisode series that will be shot in Stuart, Florida. If you are interested in learning more see the full posting here. You can send your headshot and resume to stephan@frozenbeachstudios.com.