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Courtesy of Brandyn Chambers
From left to right: Co-director JT Hagaman, creator (and voice of Tuesday) Jabril Mack, and producer Brandyn Chambers
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Courtesy of Brandyn Chambers
Jabril Mack and Anthony Ruff
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Courtesy of Brandyn Chambers
From left to right: Haley Kloess, JT Hagaman, Jabril Mack, Briana Henry, and Brandyn Chambers
Monday. The beginning of the workweek. The day we all dread. What would Monday be like if she was a character? Would we dislike her because we hate Mondays?
That's the premise behind The Weeklings, a new animated series created by a former St. Louisan and a St. Louis native. The show stars the days of the week and holidays as characters, and all those feelings you have about Monday or Sunday are personified onto those characters.
And you guessed it—everyone loves Friday. Friday is the cool guy.
Jabril Mack, who lived in the Gateway City for four years, and Brandyn Chambers, a 'Lou native, are two of the creators of the series. They met in a classroom at Mary Emily Bryan Middle School in Weldon Spring, Missouri, where they began creating cartoons. “They weren’t as good as The Weeklings, but it was a start,” Chambers says.
Their interest in cartoons never faltered. They continued to create and dream of someday owning their own animation studio through their college years, with Mack studying in Los Angeles and Chambers studying at Columbia College in Missouri.
During their senior year of college, they created an LLC for an animation studio. They began creating shorts and explainer videos for companies, “but it really wasn’t exactly what we wanted to do,” explains Chambers. “We were in the right field, but being on the service side of things, we were always waiting for that one opportunity.”
After doing that work for over a year, Chambers says “we decided to go get the opportunity ourselves.”
Courtesy of Brandyn Chambers
Mack approached Chambers and JT Hagaman, another one of their partners, about an idea he had. Mack proceeded to explain the concept behind The Weeklings. Chambers recalls that he and Hagaman loved the idea. “It’s really simple, and I feel like people understand it. People go around everyday thinking about how they hate Mondays and how they love Fridays.”
They created a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to create their pilot episode, and in one week, they reached their goal of $20,000.
They spent the next six months in LA creating the pilot episode with a team of voice actors and musical composers. “We think of everyone as part of our team, from the actors to the contributors on Kickstarter,” says Chambers. “Without them, this wouldn’t exist.”
The pilot episode seems to be taking off in the same way that their Kickstarter campaign did. They posted the video on YouTube late last week, and each day the number of views far exceeds their expectations.
“I think we’re at 17,000 views and this is within five days," Chamber says. "I was telling my partner I just hope we can get to 10K and now it’s at 17K. It’s passing expectations as we go along.” (As of press time, there are now almost 21,000 views.)
It’s a simple cartoon with a deep meaning and that seems to resonate with people. “It’s great to see people relate to all the characters. We’ve had fans say, ‘Gosh, I’m just like Thursday,’ or ‘I relate to Friday,’” says Chambers.
The series aims to bring people from different cultures and backgrounds together. “Chinese New Year and Fourth of July hanging out shows that anyone can live together in peace and harmony,” says Chambers.
Chambers shares many of the ideas they have for future episodes, but right now they have to focus their efforts on promoting their pilot. They’re hoping that it’ll continue to connect with people.
“The best part is we’ve had people say, 'I love Monday.' If you can get somebody to say I love Monday...” Chambers trails off with a laugh.
