From anime inspiration to award-winning innovation,

Joshua Bullock is crafting worlds that educate and empower!

🎥 Join us Tuesday, Oct 28 @ 8 PM EST as we talk with the animator and entrepreneur behind Playwatch Kids, Monarchs, My Daughter is a Monster Slayer, Ghoul Sitters, and the 3x Telly Award-winning Black History Beats!

He’s worked with DreamWorks, Blizzard, Netflix, and the NFL, and now he’s here on Blerd’s Eyeview to drop gems on creativity, culture, and the future of animation.

Watch on YouTube and Twitch!

YouTube ➡️ @blerdseyeview

Twitch ➡️ @blerdseyeview1

#BlerdsEyeview #JoshuaBullock #Animation #BlackCreators #STEM #EducationThroughArt #BlerdStation

Sam.

Sa.

The catalog destined for the shadow realm y' all should never act who you kidding with me about to turn this to fury road since animated I'm the one who congratulated winners like it's laminated Damn, I made this 16 like a guillotine it's fascinating if you think that you're ahead you'll be decapitated all that aside, I ain't nearly here to rap nerds I'm here to tell you who representing for the black nerds and to remind you neither one of these are bad words biggest living mirrors they just choose to see it bad words who be the leaders of discussion when the topic trans dissections got the culture under microscopic man who got the type that you can miss it from your spider man make you feel like an expert on this subject by the.

Time.

Viewership is mad nice all these other shows don't seem to cut it that's a bad off off the books with unscripted jos?

You can't write no vampires but these interviews yeah, this is the best part rhymes on Mandalorian independence made a best score starting a war with these stars you won't get this is the way you play a game of life a death star so far removed from the drama we don't know this but won't hesitate to shed a light like a patron sh when Mr.

Manage troubles at a disadvantage must be something in the dip your toe because you know it's warm where can you find another show with such a fine cast?

And if you try to box a minute playing Minecraft basically to sum it up like you find out this crew's the best and it figures like a line graph a mary man like the words I do I know you don't have to have absurd IQs they know you can relate because they're nerds like you like see the world from a blur you are now tuned in and without further ado.

Hey, everybody.

Welcome back.

Another episode of Birds.

I view I'm your man on the wall host and captain of the ship, Chris Fury.

Thank you for tuning in.

We are live Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8pm Eastern.

YouTube and Twitch.

You can also catch us wherever you listen to your podcast.

And you can also catch past episodes on always press record television.

That's APRTV on your Roku and Amazon fire devices.

Let's get this party started.

My man, my guy.

Navy Montel's in the building.

What's going on, my man?

How you doing, dude?

All right.

I'm trying to get this rattle out my throat, out my chest, you know, getting over that head cold.

Every.

Everybody, I think everybody's going through in some way, shape or form.

When you wake up sounding like Barry White, you end up sounding like, what was his name?

Robert Williams.

It's wild.

I'm like, I turned around.

I'm like, everybody, the job got sick.

Everybody at the house is sick.

Everybody, my son's house got sick.

I'm like, yo, it's.

I heard a girl today.

I was.

When you said Barry White, I'm looking at her today, and I'm like, it's called a hot toddy.

You might want to take one because you sound like me right now.

So I got a couple things I got to show you.

One of the things that people know about me is one of my favorite games that I played, I until I stopped because they changed the system, was Hero Clicks.

Well, one of my guys knew I had the power battery, and he wanted to do a trade, and I said, what do you have?

He gave me a rare Jon Stewart, bro.

Oh, boy, that thing, man, I gotta.

I'm about to pull him back out again.

I'm about to pull out the Justice Society and the Justice League and Legion superheroes and all of them.

So that was a flex.

But that is a Flex, man.

I was like, Annie's.

Oh, okay, let me stop.

Let me stop, because I'll go on all day about Hero Clicks.

It was one of the few things that got me through life.

Now, for you, good sir, I had to show you this because I knew you and Spark would appreciate this.

For those that's that's listening later on the show, I'm raising my hands in victory.

Number 63.

That's what's up.

It was that, Is that part of the, the, the guys that he didn't know he had.

No, this is from another one, bro.

I, I and, and, and for you, you would understand.

Hey, Lindy, you would understand this.

Yep.

Y' all remember.

Yeah.

If you know anything about Shazam.

We used.

That was Saturday morning requirement right there.

All of us watched Shazam.

Because we all screamed it in the living room.

And this is Shazam.

Number 28.

Look, I, I see, he says, here he goes.

Placed at the top of the segment.

Lizzy, don't start with me, okay?

Today, what I had, damn.

I, I, trust me, I get to flex with my friends because I don't really flex.

And I know Spartans in there somewhere.

Going, are you kidding me?

Somewhere.

Just like, damn it.

I can hear him going, are you kidding me?

I'm Sorry, sir.

Sorry.

I wish you were here.

Thank you.

Malika, how are you, man?

How are you doing?

I'm good.

Oh, I'm doing good.

The interwebs is being weird again.

Okay, that should be doing it should be fine now.

Okay, so as I said before, how are you doing, my friend?

I'm doing good.

I'm actually quite well this past weekend.

You know what?

Let me get Whoopi in.

Hold on.

Let me get Whoopi in.

Let's.

Let's get in my.

My favorite nail technique, yo.

And she be rocking with the hairdo.

Let's go.

Before I go on, Whoopi been doing her thing with the nails for spooky nails.

On.

On Press fresh press by Z on Tick tock.

So you need to be checking those out.

Goosebumps.

That's all I got is.

This past weekend in Columbus.

First off, I need you to unmute yourself.

We need that melodious voice to come across the airwaves, my dear.

First off, this past weekend, all of Blur Station has been on the grind.

Let's start there.

We had the Unmuted series on IG Live with Cedric Williams, and our very own lady Mandalore was hosting the second part of that.

We had Urban action showcase where CJ of 3 Black Geeks was out and he was doing his elbow rubbing.

I said elbow rubbing, you dirty bastards.

There's probably dirty bastards that will find a way to make that bad.

And then I was at the Blood and Bourbon event down in Columbus, Ohio, where they premiered the concept trailer for the Blur Station original series, Blood Dealers.

So we've been busy this past weekend.

Like, we've been locked in working.

Let me tell you, the grind is real on the creative level.

And all of us have had our moments where we just don't want to sit in front of a camera or a microphone or.

Or pick up a pen or anything like that, and it's okay.

Take that break.

Trust it is not required for you to create something every day, every week, because you're going to burn yourself out quick.

So step back if you need to.

Take it from me.

I had to step back for a little bit.

That's why I'm getting back to my YouTube, because my baby, I. I've been neglecting my baby, and I'm sorry.

And I hope she'll forgive me.

I hope so.

Look, I watched welcome to Dairy, and all he got to say is, bro, bro.

I ain't even watched it.

I haven't watched it.

I haven't even seen it yet.

Already.

You.

There's something wrong with you.

Is it that good?

I literally just watched.

I, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm a bit eccentric.

I just watched the season.

I, I watched the season finale of Only Nerds in the Building.

And yes, we're getting the season six for those who watch it.

Oh, wow.

So I'm, I'm ecstatic.

I'm ecstatic.

I was like, I'm at work and I'm like, yes.

I need to know is welcome to dairy that good?

Yes, that's what I need to do.

The first episode is directed by Andrew Machete, who is the director who did the first and second of the reboot of it, the one that was the two part movies.

Tim Curry.

Yeah, she gave, she gave him Curry the new one.

Okay, okay.

So he did.

Just watch it.

Just watch it.

Damn it.

I'm a Stephen King aficionado.

Out of all my shelves of books, three of them are dedicated to Stephen King books.

So.

Okay, watch this.

I, I, it's on my, it's on my list.

I'm not disappointed.

It is on my list.

It's just, I'm like, been busy all weekend.

We have a special guest in the house.

This man has worked with numerous outlets, including ESPN and, and many others.

His animation in art, in bridging and bridging.

The gap between that in education is something to be admired.

And his animation will also be seen over on Blur Station.

I am talking about Joshua Bullock of Playwatch.

What's up, homie?

What's going on, man?

What's going on, Josh?

What's good?

You guys can hear me, right?

Yes, Perfect.

Okay.

Okay.

Perfect.

Perfect.

Good to see you again, sir.

Good to see you again, man.

Yeah.

Good to see you again.

What's happening?

So, yeah, it's Josh, my guy.

I do want to do one correction, though.

I wish I did something with espn.

Okay.

It was NFL, so we did something with the, yeah, it was a, it was a commercial spot thing with the NFL and Netflix for one piece when that came out.

Yes.

Are you doing something for the new season.

Man?

That's all right.

We got you now we're Blur Station.

It's fine.

So go ahead, Navy.

I said, can I say, it is so amazing to see one of my Naptown fam doing the damn thing.

Okay.

Because when we had him on roof of the Blur, that's when I found out that, yo, we're from the same city and our high schools are not too far from each other.

So that was a. Yep.

That Connects everything.

Yes, sir.

Oh, oh, hold on.

I got something for you.

I got something for you.

Look at this.

So this is.

This is from my new.

My.

My daughter is a monster slayer.

If.

If y' all have read it, it's on webtoons right now.

Here, hold on.

Let me turn this.

Let me see if I can see this.

Let's go.

It takes place in Indianapolis, baby.

Yo, nap town in the place.

Let's go, man.

I was gonna build up to my a monster slayer, but this is how you got on my personal radar was I'm like, I seen this, and I'm like, I don't know what this is, but I'm already on board.

I.

All I seen is a black father, his daughter, and his daughter holding a sword.

Yeah, that's all you need to know.

That's it.

That was all I needed.

That's all I need.

So my.

My daughter is a monster slayer.

What is the premise of.

This is.

Of this webtoon in soon to be.

Animation, so just to give, like, just a quick blurb and not really dive into it because I don't want to, you know, spoil the surprises that are coming.

But it follows Ty, his daughter Naya, and basically, yeah, they fight monsters.

He finds out that his daughter can fight monsters.

So his baby daughter, she's 1 years old, basically mirroring what I'm going through right now.

So I got a one year old.

And yeah, just she.

She out here fighting monsters.

And then there's some other wacky stuff going on, but you're gonna have to read it to find out what's.

What's going on.

I don't want to give away too much.

Now.

I've seen.

I've seen some.

I seen some other pictures today.

Earlier today when I was at work.

Yes, I do this while I'm at work.

There's no shame.

And I noticed her protag.

The protagonist also has a kid who seems to be in the same field, but not ex, but obviously the bad guy.

Is that.

That's what it looks like.

Wait, which.

Which one was that?

I think it was a father and his son.

Oh, oh, oh.

Hero.

Hero man and hero boy.

Okay.

No, no, They're.

They're.

They're.

They're.

They're good guys.

But yeah, like.

Like I said, I don't want to give away because I.

There's.

There's a.

There's a bunch of parents, essentially.

So it's a community of parents and their kids.

So wait.

This is classic.

I love this.

I know.

I love this because the fact that you have parents that have a bunch of toddlers.

Yep.

That can wreck havoc right now.

Is anything any parent could like, oh, yes, I know.

Dislike.

First of all, anyone know you give anything to a one year old, you already know they're just full of destruction.

So you.

The premise itself is just pure genius.

It's so simple.

What made you decide to come up with that particular concept?

I'm curious about this.

So.

So last year, my daughter Corey was born.

And it was funny because it, it was literally, my wife and I, we were kind of just.

We're changing her diaper one day.

You know, babies stare at fans, right?

They just, they just.

There's a whole bunch of stuff out there about baby staring at fans.

And so, you know, my crazy ass.

Was like, what if, what if there's.

A demon up there.

And she's staring.

At this thing like, I'm gonna whoop its ass when you're not looking.

And that's where it, that's where it.

It spiraled from.

When you say that.

And I think about like this thing when people say, especially in black families, they say when a baby is smiling and they're not looking at you, they're looking like over your shoulder or something.

They're like, they see angels or something like that, you know, or they see the answers.

Here he is, he says, oh, no, they see fans, they see demons.

It's a different thing.

You know, concepts like that.

Or seeing Jack.

Jack from the Incredibles.

Yeah.

Dealing with the raccoon.

And I'm like, look, I. I will watch this.

You know, this is interesting.

So we already.

You've already told us the concept of how you did it and the premise behind of the web T. But let's talk about Play Watch.

Yeah, yeah.

Let'S go into that.

Okay.

Where.

It's a long story.

Where do you want me to begin?

We got time.

Start at the beginning.

What's the concept to Play Watch?

Because there's a lot of.

I see there's a lot of characters that you have like monarchs and everything.

And yeah, also the black history fact stuff, which we need more of.

Thank you.

Let's talk about the concept and the premise of Play Watch.

And what's.

What was that?

Like, where did that come from?

So my business partner and I, Matt White, we.

So we started an animation studio around the beginning of the pandemic.

We both have been doing separate things and then we were like, you know, what if we just started.

He's been Badgering me.

He's actually my former professor.

I went to the University of St. Francis.

And so he's been badgering me for a while.

Hey, you know, start your own studio.

And I never did it.

And then finally he was just like, you know what, you know, with the pandemic and everything happening, let's just start this.

So that's pretty much where it came from at first.

What it was is we kind of wanted to bridge a gap between.

We saw like this, this gap when it came to creator.

Creators of color not being able to get their stuff out there.

Pretty much what you guys are doing right now.

We were like, we want to try to bridge the gap with animation, like just cartoons.

And so when we first started, we brought in a couple other business partners and we actually, you know, got, you know, got a, got friends and family to kind of put money in as, as kind of like a first round investment.

And, and yeah, we just went, we, we went all around everywhere we could find really cool artwork and animation.

And we were just like, hey, do you want to, Would you join something like this?

And so then we realized, we realized that was very, very difficult to kind of put all that together, especially in the kids space, because a lot of people, it's hard to get people to invest in the kids space, especially when it comes to, you know, black and brown children.

So then one of my other professors from the same school, he came to me and he was just like.

Because we, we met with him and we were kind of trying to give business advice because, you know, he's a business guru.

He was like, what did you think about education?

Like, did you think about like diving into education and animation?

We were like, no, we never, we didn't think about that.

We just went in pure entertainment.

So that's where we went in.

We went to the education side and ever since then, that's what we've been doing.

We've been just creating all the, all of this educational entertainment for children.

And you know, we joined up with a group called Jason Learning.

They have like over 30 years of educational experience with teachers all over the nation.

And so we've really been catering our content, the stuff that we create.

So like with Gabby galactic counting and stuff like that, we cater that to the teachers, like the teachers who we talk to.

And we're like, hey, guide us through how you would teach the class and we'll do that with our animations.

And then one of the things that we're really getting into right now is we are getting into doing Doing more local animation, local based animation.

So, you know, for people here in Indianapolis, for instance, you know, we're really trying to work with people here about, you know, getting the Pacers involved or getting the Colts involved or getting, like, you know, the Children's Museum involved, where, you know.

But then we also have one of our business partners is in Texas, so being able to do, you know, stuff with Houston or doing, you know, just doing different things with different areas and catering the animation.

So Gabby might talk about the Children's Museum or the Colts here, and then she'll talk about, you know, the Washington Commanders or something, you know, in another.

In another place.

But it's the same lesson, just changing stuff for those kids.

So that's really what we've been working on and trying to make that work.

But at this point in time, yeah, we.

We have.

I mean, we have Gabby Galactic, we have Black History beats, we have Kim Bae, we have 12th street, which we just have a sizzle trailer for that.

But that's one of our other shows.

You know, we worked with a guy, Terrence, with my friend T, and he does a lot of really, really cool songs.

If you go to the YouTube, our YouTube platform, you can kind of see some of the stuff that he does.

Healthy hip hop.

So, like, we've teamed up with a whole bunch of really, really talented people to kind of create this.

This educational space for kids.

Let's see, now that you've done all that and now you're working with Blurred Station.

Yes, we will have these things at Blur Station as well.

So if you want your children to watch something that's educational and fun.

Yeah, yeah.

And I want to show one of the.

One of the pieces that we have is.

Is this one's about Bessie Coleman.

And if you don't know who Bessie Coleman is, you will.

Now.

I could really use a wish right now.

I could really use a wish right now.

I just want to fly over the ocean Like I'm Betsy Coleman, the first African American woman to fly a plane.

The first woman to make a difference.

And it made a change.

It's never hard for all of us to go and do the same.

Yes, she came from poverty, but she just kept fighting.

The first one of her kind.

They get some polylights and I know I can do the same if I just keep fighting.

And I just want to fly high because I'm not frightened yet.

She flew through the clouds we fly high so ain't no way that they just bringing her down.

She glide high and did stunts in front of the crowd when you're in the plane, you don't need lanes Just get off the ground.

She had brothers and sisters just like any other.

If you got brothers and sisters, tell them that you love them.

She even stayed in France.

She even learned how to speak French and even made some friends.

It doesn't matter what you color is all God's plan yeah, we all can fly together help each other land M. Coleman gave a speech to help us all win.

If I could make a wish, it'll be more friends.

I just want to fly over the ocean Like I'm Betsy Coleman, the first African American woman to fly a plane.

The first woman to make a difference and it made a change.

It's never hard for all of us to go and do the same.

Yes, she came from poverty, but she just kept fighting.

The first one of her kind to get some.

And I know I can do the same if I just keep fighting.

And I just want to fly high because I'm not frightened.

Yeah, they didn't name the queen best because she really did a bit.

They even put her to a test.

She flew high and did a bit.

In seven months, she achieved all her goals and didn't you and I can do the same we all equal in the flesh if I can have one wish then I wish to be the best Like Betsy Coleman over the ocean flying fast like a chair her brothers told her to fly she tried she didn't regret now we all can do it next yeah, we all can be the best Life be hard but don't forget don't give up and never quit yeah, we all can be a one I'm Betsy Coleman Took a risk Close your eyes and make a wish Chase your dreams and never quit and it all makes sense I just want to fly over the ocean Like I'm Betsy Coleman the first African American woman to fly a plane the first woman to make a difference and it made a change.

It's never hard for all of us to go and do the same yes, she came from poverty, but she just kept fighting.

The first one of her kind to get some pilot license.

And I know I can do the same if I just keep fighting.

And I just want to fly high because I'm not frightened.

God bless America.

My goodness.

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

Can I just say Schoolhouse Rock that vibe.

That's the vibe right there.

I ain't gonna lie.

I started tearing up the minute it came on.

And you see her go to the window, open it up and I'm feeling it now you See her go the plane go across the moon and she cracks his big old smile My man.

My man.

Yeah.

Yeah.

God inspired the next generation, man.

That's what black history beats is.

It's, it's taken, you know, it's taking something from my childhood and trying to pass that on.

You know, I, I mean, that's actually the concept of it was Schoolhouse Rock match with hip hop and black history beat or black history.

You know, I, I grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons.

I was watching that abc, you know, one Saturday morning, and every, between every single episode of whatever I was watching, they would play Schoolhouse Rock.

Yo.

I like that.

That was.

Navy hit the nail on the head when he said Schoolhouse Rock.

And I was just like, Exactly.

The fact that you can still see Schoolhouse Rock videos, people are posting up the stuff that's going on right now.

We have ways to fix this, but telling our history, because, let's face it, they keep trying to wipe it out, they keep trying to erase it, they keep trying to disregard it.

This is good.

We need more of this.

Think how's it working with the people that you're working with and building these?

Because we need a lot of that.

Whoopi, you got a question?

I've always got a question.

That is true.

I'm just curious what it's gonna be, because her questions slap.

They always slap me.

My question is, I like to ask people what they would talk, what they would say to their younger selves about the space that they're occupying.

Now.

If you could look back and speak to, to a younger Josh, a much younger Josh, and be like, hey, this is what's going to happen.

Here's some advice I want to impart to you to get to where you need to go.

What would you say to your younger self?

Don't do it.

No.

No, to my, to my younger self, I would just say, you know, one of the things I would say to my younger self is, look, you know, keep drawing, keep, keep dreaming, because one day you're going to be able, you know, you're going to be able to create an entire universe of cartoons for the next generation of kids.

So don't stop drawing.

Do your homework.

Do your homework and study for your test.

Don't just draw all day, because that's, you know.

But definitely, yeah.

Yes.

I, I, I was blessed enough that it, it's, it's working out.

It's working out pretty well.

I.

When did you decide that this is what you wanted?

This was the steps you wanted to do.

This was the thing you wanted to do.

Oh, it's, it's literally been since I was a kid.

I mean, I've.

So what really got me, what really got me into knowing that I could do this was being able to see black characters on, on black cartoon characters on tv.

So being able to see, like, you know, Static Shock was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid.

Being able to see that, Being able to see.

My parents had us watching Bebe's Kids when I was a kid, not Love Baby's Kids.

Kind of hard for everybody not to like that movie.

But, I mean, it opened up.

What it did is it opened up, it opened up a world to me that I didn't know.

Like, I, I didn't know that I could do that.

I, you know, I wanted to.

You know, my parents wanted me to be an architect.

That's what they wanted me to go to school for.

That's kind of where my path was up into middle school.

And then I realized I suck at math.

So I was like, I can't keep doing this.

At least he's honest about it.

Most people wouldn't even admit that unless.

It'S involved with money.

You are not alone, brother.

Yeah.

Of the triangulation.

I might have lost me.

They lost me.

I'm sorry, we did what?

Excuse me.

Here's a question to retort.

Will this put money in my pocket?

Let's think about the hypotenuse, the cause and the effect.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That was that.

And that was that.

That was that good old Belzer Middle School.

I, I realized that, yeah, I can't, I can't do this.

So, you know, I, I, for a little bit, even throughout all high school, you know, I was just kind of going through the motions.

And then it really wasn't until, you know, I started looking for a college, you know, because I wanted to go to animation.

I knew I wanted to do that, but I just didn't know, like, what I could do with it.

I was on the track of, I want to go to Disney, you know, and I want to do the Disney thing or I want to do the Pixar thing.

And so then I get to college, and then I get into Maya and realize I suck at math.

And, you know, and I was like.

Well, can't do this either.

So.

But no, I, I, I just, I realized, like, there's more to just, you know, chasing the dream of Disney, to chasing that dream of, of Pixar and DreamWorks and everything that everybody wants to go towards, you know, I, I turned my career towards YouTube.

At the time when I graduated, YouTube animation was really coming up and becoming a big thing.

And that's where, that's where I went.

So.

And then from there, it's just, this has been what I've been doing.

You mentioned you wanting, wanting to go the Disney route in Pixar out.

And it's funny you say that, because I was the same thing with art.

And, you know, I remember my mother saying, what do you want to do?

I said, I want to draw at Marvel.

And then realizing that years later, like, that's not it, you know, that that wouldn't either.

That's not my path.

But however, realizing later I can build my own and, and we're seeing that now, we're seeing a lot more of our own.

Build that.

Lady Mandalore's in the building.

Hi.

Sorry.

It's all right.

You're here.

Oh, my gosh.

Hi.

No, but realizing that and we're seeing more of us build our own and not taking that, that well known or, well, scene spot, you don't, you don't have to go to Disney, you don't have to go to Marvel, you don't have to go to dc.

Those are great.

But what happens if you build it yourself?

Yep.

You know, you, you kind of stay out of the way of the BS because you know, when you, once, once you're in the field, you start seeing things behind the curtain.

Yeah, yeah.

You start seeing me behind the curtain, you're just like, oh, no.

I, I saw something very real from.

There's a guy I follow, Eric Calderon.

I follow.

He, he was a producer for Afro Samurai Resurrection and he was on Beavis and Butthead and some, some of the Transformer movies.

But anyways, he, he has a YouTube channel.

And basically what he does is he kind of guides animators.

Like he tells animators, hey, this is how you get a job.

This how you pitch.

This is how you, you know, make your portfolio acceptable for studio to pick you up.

And he recently put out a video and it was, it was disheartening.

And I could even tell he was very, like, hesitant to post it, but he was just like, essentially, the animation industry is cooked.

He's like, there's guys that I've been, that have basically my resume or a resume, you know, close to what I have, they can't find a job.

They can't find a job.

Studios aren't pitch, aren't taking pitches.

Luckily for me, I was able to pitch something last week.

But like, he's like, pitching probably won't be a thing for creators in the future at these bigger studios because they're all locking in.

And this.

This is all I've been hearing.

They're all locking in on IP they already own.

Yep.

They want to.

They want to take that IP and push it as far as they can, and they don't want to invest in anything new right now.

You're right.

No, you're right.

Between that and AI being a major factor in a lot of things.

Yeah.

Yeah.

This is why, you see.

And we mentioned Disney.

This is why, you see.

Well, why are they doing this for this product?

Why are we getting another.

Literally, what was it?

D23 Brazil.

I think it was earlier this year.

And they say.

They made their announcements and they say Toy Story 5.

And people were just.

There were people that were.

Some were excited, but other people were like, why are we getting another Toy Story?

Yeah, I. I get the Incredibles, but why are we getting another Toy Story?

I thought we were done with that whole thing.

You know, kids don't even play with toys anymore, which.

Which is crazy.

That's the premise of the movie.

Ted is in my room for a reason.

This is a reminder of what I grew up with.

Okay, well, no interwebs.

None of that.

We had sticks and rocks.

We made it work.

Okay.

Doggone it.

However, when you have.

When you have platforms like Blur Station, which they see a lot of black animators with a lot of original ideas and a lot of potential.

Black history beats monarchs.

My daughter's a monster slayer.

When you see Creative Theory World, when you see rock bottom studios, when you see all these people and they have these amazing.

Captain Zero.

When you see all these amazing projects that have nothing to do with, like, mainstream stuff.

And don't get me wrong, it's fun to watch mainstream stuff, but how many times do you see that story?

And it's the same rehash.

It's the same rehash.

It's the same rehash.

And then you turn around and you get something original, fresh, new.

And then you're just like, I like this.

I need more.

Where can I find it?

Or where can I support it, for that matter?

Yeah, 100.

I. I want to know.

Josh.

Hi.

Hello again.

Yes, hello again.

I'm sorry.

Oh, I just.

Your.

Your screen just popped up.

There you are.

Glad to have you back.

Glad you're here.

Thank you.

But deep question.

What makes you want to stay in this realm of independence?

Like, what make.

What keeps you from, like, let's say Disney does Send you a check tomorrow or send you an offer tomorrow.

Like, is there, what is your Sophie's Choice?

Like what, what would keep you with indie versus going to somebody like Disney?

I think the biggest thing for me about independent is being independent is just the freedom being, the freedom of not only just owning your property, but also the freedom of also being able to kind of tell the story that you want to tell it.

One thing that I've been told, and again, like I said, I've been pitching to major studios, you know, the stuff that I have and the one thing I'm always told is like, you know, yeah, you can pitch that thing.

The first thing that I was told was I had to go through a whole script writing boot camp with the, the guy, my agent, the guy I'm working with, he was just like, you need to learn how to write scripts.

Because if you can't write a script, they're going to tell the story how they want to tell it.

So you need to write, learn how to write a script.

You need to learn how to write, you know, a pitch bible or a bible for your show, all that stuff.

And that's, you know, and I mean you still need that stuff when you're independent.

But again, that's just the studio trying to control your narrative and control the story that you're trying to tell.

And a lot of I, I see a lot of artists struggle with that.

I've seen a lot of people who've had major shows, you know, go at odds.

I mean, famously I'm spacing on her name right now.

But the creator of Our House, I mean, she had it out for Disney, you know, an all out brawl and even to this day still has an all out brawl with Disney.

So it's just these studios, you know, they have what they, they have what they think people want and they push it out there.

And if they got to change your whole story around, they'll do it.

But the biggest thing that I love about being independent is the fans love what you're putting out there.

They appreciate it and they want to see what you have to offer.

You know, what your, what, what story that you're trying to tell.

I can't tell you how long over the years people have said you have a property of any, a famous property and then the studios get their hands on it and they just.

Cannibalize it.

Yeah, I've seen it time and time again and there and being in this industry that we're doing, doing this platform and we, you know, being exposed to Things behind the scenes, we get to see what actually happened.

You know, people are so quick to say it was the writer's fault, it was the director's fault.

Someone said Boondocks, yeah, perfect example.

Yeah.

He fought.

I mean, pretty soon he was just like, this is, this is too much.

Yeah, Dave Chappelle, famously Dave Chappelle.

Yeah.

This is his baby.

And he had a team of creators, but county central want to do what they wanted to do.

And he said, I'll walk.

Which is why that third season, while funny, wasn't nearly as funny, you know, and he'll say it.

He's like, don't watch the show till his money again.

And whether he does something with it or not later in the future, we don't know.

But we know, but we see it.

We've seen it.

I, I've seen.

First of all, Play Watch is beautiful.

Anyone who watches this gets the vibe of back what it was to sit in front of the TV and I'm gonna date myself, I don't even care.

1978, sit in front of my grandmother's big old Magnavox.

Color not moving.

The minute that Schoolhouse Rock segment came on, nothing else in the world mattered.

Because at that moment, you had music, you had, you were educated, and it was memorable.

We fast forward to Play Watch.

That's the vibe that I get from this.

When you created Playwatch, was that the vibe you were going for back from the Schoolhouse Rock days, where at that moment, being a kid was a lot more than just watching cartoons because you were learning something.

I mean, 100.

That was the, that was the vibe I wanted that Saturday morning cartoon feel where you were just excited because, you know, I mean, because even today, like, kids got access to cartoons 247 now.

I mean, they can watch their cartoon.

You know, my kids, they watch cartoons all day over and over again, you know, and, and growing up and, you know, the new cartoon show, even though we had cartoons all week, the newest episodes were on Saturdays.

So those, that was the vibe that I was like, I want to bring that back with Playwatch with, you know, black history beats.

I wanted to have, to have that same feeling that I had where you're learning something, but that at the same time, you know, you're enjoying and, and, and rocking out to whatever you're listening to.

And it's, it sticks in here because, you know, that's the biggest thing that, you know, I, I, I mean, it's not something I've learned, I've known, but I'm still, I'm Relearning it with.

With my.

My one year old.

I mean, she.

She got Ms. Rachel songs down like this.

I mean, like this.

Now she don't.

She don't know the words.

I mean, she can say some of the words, but she hums most of it.

But.

But I mean, it sticks.

It works.

I mean, and that's.

You know, I'm glad I'm even mentioned Schoolhouse Right, because a lot of people don't mention Zach of all trades.

Wow.

That was Luther Vandross doing that voice.

Yeah, I remember Zack of All Trade.

Oh, my goodness.

Like.

And they will show you serve the same one throughout the Saturday it was on abc.

They would show you that same one in between the commercial breaks or between episodes.

And you will get Zach all Dre talking about, you don't have to lay on the heel.

Jack and Jill.

You can go ahead and learn to do some.

A new skill.

Literally.

That's how he said it.

Like, yeah, baby, look up Zach.

All trades.

It's.

They got them on.

They got think like three or four.

And.

And it helps that it's Luther Vandross.

So it really goes over smooth.

So.

So, like, I like the way this sounds.

Mama's entertained, the kids is entertained.

Everybody's happy.

So.

But seeing those types of shows is something that is necessarily needed now.

And I'm glad we're saying that and, and seeing that and talking about it and putting it out there, because you don't get too much of that.

No, you don't get too much.

And it's fine to watch, you know, stuff to dumb it down and whatever.

That's cool.

We did too.

But, you know, this was.

This was another way of learning, you know, because especially if it's catchy and the human brain catches on to stuff like that get repeated.

They repeated.

It's in their head.

Just like you said.

Your daughter may not know words, but she knows that's Ms. Rachel.

You know, it's like.

And it's teaching her something.

So now imagine.

Imagine something that's geared towards us too and teaching it like the Bessie Coleman like.

And you're learning that and you're learning.

You slip.

Wow.

Bestie Coleman.

I didn't know that existed, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, and it goes.

It goes deeper because the one thing, the one vehicle that black history beats has that can really make it stand out with everything else is the fact that, like, not only are we teaching black history through, you know, the visuals, so you're.

We're, you know, you're Hearing the lyrics, you're hearing, you know, what these, these people went through.

You're learning about figures that you never really, you know, never really known about.

Like one, one of the ones we, we're trying to work on and get out is one on Ida B.

Wells.

And, and then after that, you know, of course, Muhammad Ali is one that, you know, we, everybody, a lot of people know who Muhammad Ali's Ali is.

And then doing one on like black Wall street and a lot of, you know, I, I talked with somebody where they were like, well, what would you do on black Wall Street?

And I'm like, well, I would have a joyful song about how successful black Wall street was.

We don't have to talk about what happened to it.

I mean, we can, but the conversation needs to start at not the, not the tragedy.

Yeah, destroy the kids already.

But that's all we in our media.

I mean, we've had the Watchmen do it.

We've had Lovecraft country do it where it's the tragedy, it's the tragedy of it.

And it's never the success and the beauty of what black people were able to create in a country that didn't want us to create that fast.

Right, right.

Someone is trying to get in contact with somebody.

Yeah, Someone calling me.

I know we're not being hailed.

However, tell them you put your setting on NDA Negro don't ask, you know, straight up.

But, but even with, but even going as far as like introducing, you know, the, the, the music that black, that black people, you know, having the idea for Ida B.

Wells was like introducing like a flowetry esque song or sound to it because she's a journalist and having the words weaving through, through the whole animation.

Her words, you know, I had to be Wells words weaving through the animation as you go through her history.

Like that's the kind of stuff where it's like, you know, we're reaching sinners levels of getting deep where we're listening to I don't know how many different musical genres along with the blues, you.

Know, again, guess where it was starting.

Bama says, I feel like black people do.

If black people didn't exist in this country, they wouldn't stand for very long.

No, this is true.

Yeah, I count at least about 80 to 90 of things that have been created.

This is just the stuff that's been created.

Correct.

Tell it, sir, tell it.

Your ass being one of them.

Shout out Spartan like, look, we take.

Away the soap and deodorant.

That alone.

Oh no.

They would have to walk up steps and have warm food to be stored away.

Come on.

Walk away with penicillin and the Internet.

Oh, guess what?

It was like, you're gonna have the Black Plague all over again.

Oh, man.

So, Josh, so was there a particular topic when you started doing playwatch, Especially the Black History beach, which is genius.

Was there a particular topic that you wanted to do or to animate or to speak on or a particular personality?

When I started it.

When I started it, I wanted to do one.

Oh.

Oh, there we go.

And that's.

That was actually the first episode.

The first episode was on Martin Luther King Jr.

The First.

We.

And funny enough, so we did that episode.

We had college kids help us.

So we kind of did, like, an internship thing.

I was.

I was out of school at that point, but some of the students from my.

From St. Francis helped me create that episode, along with Matt helping and guiding it.

And we were able to get that thing on in the telly Awards, and it won three telly awards for music and animation and children's media.

And we, like, were on the highlight.

Highlight reel for it and everything.

That was awesome.

But he just.

I love how you just breathe.

Yeah.

You did not learn all this newer stuff about you tonight, sir.

Did we not have a conversation about all of this before?

You're hiding from us.

Okay, sir, Sir, I got.

I gotta build the story.

Build the story up.

I'm still buying you White Castle when I come home.

Okay?

Just be up front, bro.

Just be up front, man.

Give it all up front.

And then you ain't got enough.

No meat left, but.

Exactly.

But it gets better.

Because then my former or my business partner Matt, he put it on PBS because he had connections at PBS.

Put it on PBS.

So it aired nationally on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for a couple years with.

With PBS.

I'm mad at you.

She is not happy with you.

We were talking about Playwatch.

We were talking about Mon.

To be fair, we were talking about Monarch.

And, yeah, he wasn't gonna tell us everything.

And I. I had to stand.

That's that New York and him.

I. I can't.

I can't, y'.

All.

I can't.

This moment's been brought.

On multiple platforms here.

I'm just saying, if you want it, we got it for you.

Josh.

Now you made her.

You made a man.

Now I say I gotta deal with her now, so you get to go home.

Oh, I. I apologize.

I'm very sorry.

I. I'm just mad because we can't praise you multi a multitude of times for all of your things.

That's all you can be.

You can be because this is a three time Tilly award winner, PBS maybe going strong nationally.

It's out there.

And when you have the, the concept and when you have the ideas actually fleshed out, what does that even feel like?

To know that something you work so hard and so diligently on and, and toiled night and day and then finally, you know, all the ups and downs and then finally to not only walk away with a telly award, but to have something shown across the country knowing that that's going to improve somebody's livelihood.

I mean, it's, it's, it's a little surreal.

I actually got a, I got a photo the other day from somebody in New Zealand who said, I found a monarch's book in a school library and they took a picture of it.

They're like, this is in New Zealand.

Auckland, New Zealand.

And I'm just like.

It felt like it's.

And I mean, I've sent books out.

I've sent books because I've had, you know, I've had people in Africa, people in, in Europe and you know, order books.

So I, I mean, I, it's not, it's nothing.

Like, it didn't really surprise me, but at the same time I was still surprised because I'm like, it's, it's in a school in New Zealand.

So I mean, it's, it's surreal.

It's really like young Josh would just, Young Josh would be proud, I'll put it that way.

And I'm like, at least it paid off.

All the getting in trouble in school for drawing and not doing your homework and not paying attention.

And.

He said, he says, he goes back in the time machine and says, no, go ahead and do that because we're gonna need that later.

Other thing a little bit less and focus on this a little bit more.

Yeah, yeah.

Like, no, I need you to put the firecracker in the toilet if this doesn't happen.

It's a nexus of things like, I need you to do this.

So you get political punishment.

So you figure out three, then you figure out, okay, there you go.

So all.

To have all those things involved and, and built up and to be praised in those ways.

And like you said, to have somebody from New Zealand and take a picture and say, hey, look what I got.

This is in the school over in New Zealand.

New Zealand, you know?

Yeah, that's.

So you are literally worldwide now, sir.

You are Literally and literally.

Literature, Lily Worldwide.

How does that strike you?

Whoop.

These eyes got big just now.

I mean.

Is it.

It's exciting.

It's scary, too.

It's.

It's very.

It's a little.

It's a little scary in a good way.

I don't want to say it's scary in a very good way.

Right.

That's good.

You know what?

You've heard enough.

More voice.

Ladies, do you have anything that you wanted to talk to?

Talk?

Yeah, shut up.

I'm tired of hearing me talk.

I wanted to say in the Bessie Coleman short.

I just love looking at all the colory textures of the hair of each little brown.

Brown and black girl and boy.

It was just.

It just made me smile.

And Lady Mandalore's tearing up slightly.

Oh, no.

I'm focused on typing.

I'm trying to type.

I'm listening to her.

But also.

Yeah, no hair.

The follicular wave is on effect, ladies and gentlemen.

The follicular wave.

Lady.

I think that's something.

And I'm glad, you know, I'm glad both you said that, because that is something you don't get to see enough of.

But also, just like having them be.

Okay, this is not necessarily true, because monsters.

But they're a normal family.

Like, they're.

They're normal.

They do normal things.

Like, it's not.

It's not a struggle to survive normaly.

It's a struggle to.

At least with the.

With.

Demon slayer.

Demon slayer.

Monster slayer.

Jesus Christ.

Oh, no, it's okay.

It's.

It's nice to have that sense of normalcy as.

As a family for them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I didn't want a story where he's, you know, he's chasing the girl and all that kind of stuff.

And, you know, I. I wanted to show first and foremost, like, no, they're a regular, normal, everyday black family, because that's what we are.

We're not, you know, all these stereotypes.

Like, they.

They want to play video games.

That's what they want to do.

Because that's what we all want to do at the end of the day.

We just want to play some video games or read a nice book or.

Or, you know, whatever people want to do.

And I just.

I wanted something normal, especially where the setting is being in Indianapolis, Indiana, where it's like, you know, normally everything is set in New York or set in a black, up, black space.

And it's like.

No, it's in.

It's in Indianapolis, Indiana, around some cornfields.

Because we out here too.

I Escaped.

So that says something about it.

So, yeah, I mean, that's fine.

I should have been in New York.

Nah, we can't have everything happening out of New York.

There's other states, cities and states.

Look, I'm sitting.

I'm sitting in Ohio.

Every time I turn around somebody in the DMV in New York, and I'm like, really?

Really?

Yeah.

We get sparks.

And it was like, just like James Gunn, Superman.

Hey.

And this is Brooklyn.

Yeah, right.

I was just happy.

Stranger things.

I was happy.

Stranger things took place in Indiana.

I was like, at least we got that.

Where's Indiana?

I don't know.

Somewhere around Idaho, I guess.

Someplace flat.

Yeah.

No hills.

You go from Ohio to Illinois, you will not hit us.

That's how I was going to see my son when he was stationed in Colorado, passing through Kansas.

I'm like, I'm seeing this flat, man.

Get plenty of sky.

I can go to sleep and wake up and still be on the straightaway.

Oh, my gosh.

No.

But seeing these types of projects is definitely necessary.

First off, let me thank you for, you know, checking us out over at Blurry Station and joining up.

And secondly, thank you for inviting me.

Having so many projects that not only enhance but will teach more children, black or white, you know, about so many more things.

And so that's absolutely necessary to see now at this point in the game that we're living.

We got to tell this next generation, hey, listen up.

But just.

Well, we got.

We gotta work on the re.

We're working on the reading side of things, because in the Indiana and a lot of other states, the reading is.

We're hearing the readings really bad.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah, we gotta fix that.

Like, we're like, hey, we gotta learn y' all a few things.

Hold on now.

Yeah.

Like, here, sit down and read this.

Yeah.

As a survivor of the Indianapolis public school system.

Yeah.

Where we went by school numbers and not by names.

Yeah.

It definitely, definitely sounds like prison.

Yo.

You didn't.

There were no names.

You're like, okay, we go.

I go to school.

I go to 56.

Oh.

I go to 78.

Word.

Okay.

I went to 41.

44.

And that's what it was until you got to high school.

Yep.

You got the high school.

And then.

Yeah, that's when you can name school.

I would be.

So what school do you go to?

79.

Yeah.

78.

I don't know.

I still remember all of mine.

Huh.

I had.

What did we have?

We had PS.

PS 116, 234 we had is 8.

80 is 8.

There was a whole numbers.

Sounds like code names.

What the crazy thing was Indianapolis.

You never said ips you just said the number because it was all ips.

There was.

And.

And then you.

I think the only school that was part of IPS but wasn't was Bray Buff.

That was the.

That was the prep school.

My.

My wife went to Bruff.

I. I got accepted.

And then, you know, life started lifeing.

So I couldn't go.

Yeah, all right.

I went to a. I wish I.

Thank God for book.

So.

Because the teachers we had there, they were not only.

They was like, oh.

I. I love my teachers, man.

Let me tell you.

One introduced me to cosplay.

The other introduced me to journalism.

I mean, I got that introduction.

Even one introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons.

So, you know, there was that.

What's the matter you.

If, you know.

You know, she had the letterman sweater and everything.

Oh, God.

So what's next for Playwatch?

So the one.

The next thing for us is we're just trying to raise that next round of funds.

That's.

That's our number one priority right now is raising those funds so we can start animating some more stuff.

We have Black History Beats books, actually, that we are getting ready to put out.

So we got a shop.

We're getting ready to have these put out.

Oh, let's go, Jackie Robinson.

And then you got mlk put you up there and you got Bessie.

That's dope.

So we're trying to.

We're trying to fix the reading problem.

That's the next thing.

Every sentence.

Yes, yes.

But yeah, so we're doing that, and then we are actually working on a platform for Playwatch.

So it's called Jason Playwatch.

It'll be a learning platform, kind of like an ABC mouse or a.

What's it, K through K through 12, I think the other one.

So something like that where it'll have, you know, entertainment.

We'll have our.

Our Play Watch, you know, entertainment videos on there.

But then we'll also have a ton of learning videos for pre K. So early education.

That's what's up.

So we're getting them early.

Get.

Get them in there early.

That's what's up.

Brooklyn Tech.

So we're gonna go and we're gonna take a quick break.

When we come back, we got a little news and we got some horror pop quiz and fun facts to drop a little bit.

Oh, can Josh hang out with us.

That's what I was gonna ask him.

I cannot.

Okay, that's fine.

The man got some animation in re.

In writing to do like I got.

I gotta get this next web tune out.

I gotta get this next.

The next episode up.

Lady Mandalore.

Go ahead.

Can we.

Can we talk about.

Can we talk about welcome to dairy?

Are we talking about welcome to dairy?

Oh, my God.

I want to talk about it really, really, really, really, really bad.

I know you do, but we haven't seen it yet.

I don't care.

I don't care.

This is a New York school system.

Will I be watching it?

Despite what Lady Mandalore says, yes, I will will be watching it.

It's no such thing as spoiling for me unless I tell you not.

I'm not even a horror person.

But I want to watch it.

I won't.

I won't spoil it.

If you let me talk about it.

If you.

If you don't let me talk about it.

Wait.

Stop.

Spoil it.

If I didn't talk about.

Okay, Josh, where can they find you?

So if you want to find my m. My daughter is a monster slayer.

Monarchs clutch, you can go to at Monarchscomic on Instagram on Tick tock threads.

If you want the play watch stuff, just play watch kids on Instagram and.

Yeah, and then playwatchkids.com if you want to go on there and see what we have to offer.

Josh, you.

One, thank you for joining up with Blur Station.

Two, thank you for the content that you're providing.

And three, y' all go follow this man platforms and show not only just watch it, but show your support because we need to see some more of this type of stuff.

We need black entertainment.

Yes.

Black edutainment.

And as Mal said earlier.

School.

School.

Hip house rock.

That's what it is.

Schoolhouse Hip Hop.

That's what we call it.

We gonna be.

We're gonna be right back.

Queen Ramonda lives.

Let's find out.

Thanks again, Josh, for coming through.

Appreciate it.

Take a break.

Thank you, Sam.

Go now.

Let's reach out with that's great job.

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I don't know about your weekend, but our weekend's been busy.

And while that weekend has been busy, we've been getting here with a little bit of something that we did not expect to see.

So IG had the nerve to drop on our timelines the Queen Angela Bassett dressed as Queen Ramonda from Black Panther.

And all I can think of is did I was there behind us.

Are they showing this behind the scenes stuff that I didn't see on my Blu ray or.

So I had no clue what the frack was going on.

But she looked amazing, as she always does.

She always does the first episode.

But yeah, it turns out Vogue had a whole modeling thing going on.

I think Vogue.

How would.

If I'm not mistaken, it was.

I will look it up, but I.

Believe it was like Vogue Hollywood or something like that.

You know, it looked like they were one of the backlogs and they.

They dressed it up and everybody just.

Vogue World Hollywood.

Yeah, Hollywood.

And we.

And, and, and while, you know, Kira's a big fashionista, you know, and I.

And I'm learning.

And I'm learning fashion, you know, seeing.

Seeing the first thing that we seen wasn't even the first thing that they did.

That was so much later in the show.

So much later in the show that it threw us off.

So to show you what we're talking about, you seen part of the cast, but this is what we see.

Did not get gear back dressed as General magazine.

Here we go.

Little, little, little, little slide show.

Tiana Taylor was right by her side as one of the.

One of the Dora.

Yeah, Stuck.

Damn it.

Stuck.

And there's the Queen.

Now that.

Look, let me pause this right here.

That looked good.

Hold on, hold on.

I don't think it's showing up on.

I'm getting paused faces.

Yeah, it's not going.

I'm getting.

I'm getting games.

Those scowls from the Dora Milaje.

There she is now she's up.

Yeah.

Oh, wow.

And then.

And then this.

It doesn't help to have Dams and Eatrus by her side walking down.

The.

The lot with her fueling more freaking rumors that he being in Black Panther 3.

I mean, I guess it's fine.

Really.

Really?

I guess.

I mean, I don't.

I don't.

Okay, never mind that.

That's not what we're here for anyway.

We're here for the Queen.

Stopped you before.

I'm just saying we're here for the Queen.

That's.

That's what we're here for.

Look at Okoye.

Look at that.

And this is all the stuff that.

Oh, she's gonna kill me.

The.

The.

The.

The designer For Carter.

Ruth Carter.

Good God.

Ruth.

Carter was there.

She was there.

No, this is her.

No, these are the costumes.

Like, they made.

Never seen this look.

Oh, she does not let everything.

She keeps some things close to the chest.

She don't let everything.

And is it me?

But was some of the design in this dress giving?

And I'm talking on this one.

Was it giving a little storm to you?

No, just not.

Not the overall look.

But there was a certain aesthetic in the dress.

I mean, very, very.

If you want to squint a little bit.

Yes, because it was.

It was a certain design look, and it would.

It reminded me of one of the storms look looks.

Honestly, if you paint that green and give her a little bit more poof on the shoulders.

That's what she had when she went to go see Doom.

That.

But those looks.

I mean, the purple, the color.

Just the color, like, you can't find.

Where do you find that and decide that that's the color that you want?

You got to get that custom dyed, baby.

You can't just be like, oh, I found it on a.

On a.

On a.

You know, it.

It.