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Embarrassingly, this, the fifth edition of our ongoing “get to know my client” interview series, was actually one of the first interviews I conducted, all the way back in October of 2009. Well, better late than never.
So without further ado, here’s my interview with Vic Dunlop, veteran comic/comedian, one of the writers/directors of Dirty Jokes: The Movie, for which I did several animated sequences, and who also had a small cameo role in the project that won’t die, My Suicide.
Please describe yourself and/or your business.
Vic Dunlop, comedian, producer, director, writer, creator, father, grandfather, entrepreneur, I’m a legend in my own pants. I’ve been in the comedy industry for the past 34 years in one capacity or another.
Describe how you came upon using Greasy Pig Studios’ services, and what we ended up doing together.
Greasy Pig Studios was brought to my attention by David Lee Miller, writer, director and producer of the Berlin Film Festival, award winning film, “My Suicide”. Upon seeing the film and the great and innovative use of the animation in it, I asked, “who was the animator” because I was looking for one for a comedy film I was producing at the time, called “Dirty Jokes, The Movie”. David passed on the info to this day, that I am eternally grateful for, Greasy Pig Studios, talk to Arvin Bautista. Arvin, or Mr. Greasy Pig as I refer to him, and I met and it was love at first sight. I immediately tied him up for the animation in our feature film. He captured the humor in an animated state that we required. Soon later we worked on another project, again animating some children’s jokes on a project called “Jokes 4 Kids”. He was so easy to work with, allowing me to feel part of the process that I asked him to help design a website for children that I was about to launch called, “Dexter The Texter”.
Any interesting trivia/anecdotes about our working relationship?
Arvin was so quiet and polite and introspective that I was concerned that he would find working with a couple of loud, obnoxious, rude, vulgar comic writer/producers would make him feel evil and unclean but soon realized that he was open minded and had a great sense of humor. In other words he was truly a Greasy Pig.
If you can, describe what makes for a good client/contractor relationship. How can the freelancer make sure to satisfy the client, and how can the client get the most bang for their buck from the contractor?
I look for creativity in anyone I work with and hire. Sometimes I am bogged down with a million thoughts and situations and problems when I am producing a film and don’t have the mindset to make or feel creative so I want my freelance contractor to come to me with creative ideas and solutions but not get hurt or angry when the final decision is not always what you expect.
As a small businessperson yourself, what are your tips for someone in your field, just starting out?
Stay the course. Don’t give up on your ideas or concepts. Take all suggestions but make the final decision on your own. The old saying is true, “If at first you don’t succeed, give up”. I mean, “try again”. As I tell young comics who I see for the first time on stage, “keep the day job”.
What are your preferred methods of communication when it comes to your business? How actively do you advertise yourself, and via what methods?
Your work speaks for itself. I network constantly. I am always in the trenches. I listen to all that’s going on. I am constantly in a creative state of mind. I believe that as a producer I must have at least a half dozen projects in development at all times. It’s like watering plants. You’ve got a bunch of them growing because you water them everyday. When one starts to sprout up, you nurture that a bit more to get it to the next stage of its
development.
Is there anything you’ve been up to recently that you’d like the readers to know about?
I am working feverishly on my kids book called, “Dexter The Texter”, a comedy book for tweenagers. Along with that book I am preparing to launch a website of the same title, which is a kids version of youtube. Where kids can go view comedy videos that parents will support and not have to worry about the content being inappropriate.
and finally, for the “accolades section” of my site, if you wouldn’t mind giving a short testimonial.
I can only say that I had a great experience working with Arvin at Greasy Pig Studios. He was a true professional. Never late for appointments, which is very important to me, as it is one of my pet peeves. He was quick in his response to questions and solutions concerning his work and any tweeks that we had to make to the creative process. And best of all, as a producer, he was fair and reasonable with his salary, and worked within my budget, so as to not compromise the art. I plan on working with Arvin and Greasy Pig Studios on anything I have. If he’ll let me.
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