It brings me great pride and excitement to share with you that The Waterman Movie has continued to push forward with production, leaving only splintered hurdles and crumbled roadblocks in it’s wake. I couldn’t be happier with what has come from the collaborative efforts of CJC Entertainment and Waterman Studios.

In an effort to raise funds for the continued production of the movie, I would like to invite you to participate in a unique event! Welcome to Waterman Studios first silent auction! Below you will find an assortment of interesting items that could all be yours if the price is right. The rules are simple. If you see something you like, email me at
Bryan@WatermanStudios.com with your bid. If you are the highest bidder at the end of the auction, you win that item! All proceeds will go to the production of The Waterman Movie.

The Screaming Squid – 11 x 14 Painting

Auction Ends February 20, 2012

This one-of-a-kind painting is based on a panel from my comic strip Squid and Sandwich. The piece was created using acrylic paint on canvas and comes signed and dated.

Song Bird – 11 x 14 Painting

Auction Ends February 20, 2012

This is another one of my very rare original paintings. The piece was created using acrylic paint on canvas and comes signed and dated.

Jonathan Papelbon Signed Baseball & $100 Gift Card to the Red Sox Team Store

Auction Ends February 20, 2012

This authentic 2007 signed Jonathan Papelbon baseball comes in a tough plastic display case and includes it’s own Certificate of Authenticity.

As a bonus, I’m including a $100 gift card to the Red Sox Team Store!

Authentic Screen-Used Props from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean

Auction Ends February 20, 2012

This set contains three authentic screen-used props from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean.

• - Three “gold” doubloons
• - “Gold” Vase
• - Pirate Sword

Set also comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Custom Background Extra in The Waterman Movie

Auction Ends February 20, 2012

A custom character will be designed based on your likeness and will appear in the movie as a background extra.

If you see something you like, email me at Bryan@WatermanStudios.com with your bid.

The above storyboard is for a joke that I’ve been wanting to use for a long time now. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Olmec, he’s the giant Aztec-ian rock face from Nickelodeon’s 90′s hit Legends of the Hidden Temple. Every time Olmec would lower his gate to allow children to rummage through his templed innards, he would let out this horrible grinding noise (EXACTLY LIKE THIS) and an unspeakable discomfort would drape itself across the faces of everyone.

Thank you so much to the talented individuals at Learning Touch for allowing me to be a part of this amazing project.

For the full collection of First Words apps, please visit www.LearningTouch.com!

“Stand Up For The Waterman Movie” was held at the Two Roads Theater in Studio City. The owner was incredibly inviting, generous, and kind and the comics that came out were all hilarious. Several of the comics even took a moment to talk about what fans they were of Leslie Nielsen and how he had influenced their careers, which I thought was very cool. The show nearly sold out leaving only four or five seats open. It truly was an amazing night and I would like to thank everyone involved, so to the Two Roads Theater, Wilder Shaw, Ezra Edmond, Andrew Holmgren, Robin Higgins, Frankie Castro, Jacob Rubin, Sally DiGirolamo, Jesse McGrath, Dash Kwiatkowski, OJ Patterson, Skyler Stone, and everyone who attended the show, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And to those who were able to make it out to our industry event at The Federal Bar in North Hollywood, I hope you had as much fun as I did. Thank you to The Federal Bar and Jenga for donating the space and providing the fun! Check out the new Jenga XXL coming soon!

This trip was, more than anything else, an inspiration. I had the opportunity to meet so many amazingly talented individuals whose work has been a tremendous influence on me throughout the years, and who were all willing to donate their time and talent to this project for the same reason that I am.

To everyone I met in Los Angeles, I truly can’t thank you enough for what you have done for both this project and for me personally. With each person I met and with each word of encouragement and support that was offered, I have never been more inspired to head back to work, destroy every obstacle that stands in the way and produce my finest work yet in honor of a dear friend.

Very Sincerely,

Bryan Waterman

Though no one has stepped forward to make a substantial donation towards the project (aside from the generous contributions from our fans,) it means so much to me that I give Leslie another opportunity to make people laugh, that myself along with the talented animators at CJC Entertainment, have agreed to produce the movie with the equipment we have.

With that said, we continue to seek financial support for things like new hardware and studio time. All things that would increase the speed and ease of production and get this movie to your looking balls faster.

Continue to check back for more movie updates and to donate click DONATE.

-Bryan Waterman

The story behind this film’s development is one of both triumph and heartbreak. More after the jump.

To Whom It May Concern,

My name is Bryan Waterman. I am the creator and director of The Waterman Movie. The story behind this film’s development is one of both triumph and heartbreak. The film is based on an online animated series I started as a high school student back in August 2003 entitled Waterman (and yes I am well aware of my wizard-like abilities to come up with project titles). The series quickly went on to win countless awards, attract millions of viewers from around the world and nearly land it’s own spot on the FOX network. It was a ride that I never expected to take and I could have never predicted what it was all leading up to.

When I had decided to end the series, I wrote what I believed would be the last episode. Upon completion of the fifty-six page script, I realized that I had written what would later become The Waterman Movie. The storyline revolves around a new character named Ready Espanosa (a world famous explorer that disappears during an expedition). Espanosa was based on the characters of comedic legend, Leslie Nielsen. Leslie was the reason that I got into comedy in the first place, and it had been a dream of mine to one day work alongside him. Each and every time I read the dialogue for Ready Espanosa, I heard Leslie’s voice. So, I took a chance and began the long journey of contacting the man himself to play the part.

I was able to get in touch with a playhouse in Canada where Leslie had spoken several years prior to my search. The playhouse put me in touch with an agency that unfortunately no longer represented him. However, that agency was able to put me in touch with a woman by the name of Elisa Amsterdam who worked for the agency that represented him. Elisa and I exchanged email after email. I would send her information about the project, and she would relay it to Leslie directly. It was so amazing that it almost seemed too good to be true, and nothing gave me that feeling more than the two months that Elisa stopped returning my emails. It wasn’t until I sent my final email to Elisa that I was informed that she had passed away. Saddened by the loss of someone that I now considered a friend and having to quickly come to terms with the fact that my connection to Leslie had now been lost, I began contemplating whether or not to continue with the project at all. Then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I received an email from Leslie that said:

“Hi Bryan,

Could you please email us with a phone number – or call me?

Thanks,

Leslie Nielsen”

The next day, Leslie and I spoke for three hours about everything under the sun. I told him all about the project and within the first conversation he was on board, pro bono. In the following months, I would drive to Canada to hand deliver him the script and later direct him while he recorded his lines for the film. In the following years, Leslie and I would become close friends, but, due to financial constraints, the movie would continue to struggle to make it’s way into production. After nearly bankrupting both myself and Waterman Studios in an attempt to fund the project, I launched a campaign via Kickstarter.com to raise the funds needed to put the film into production. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach our goal and were unable to move forward with production.

Then, on November 28, 2010, Leslie passed away due to complications with pneumonia at the age of eighty-four (his final film resting in my shaking hands.) The bittersweetness of Leslie’s passing was that it brought a lot of attention to The Waterman Movie. Those who have come forward to express interest in assisting the project include the amazingly talented artists and animators behind CJC Entertainment, who have offered their time and services to the project, as well as the incredible individuals at IndustryWorks, who have offered to distribute the film internationally upon its completion. While these generous offers will contribute to the one day successful completion of the film, The Waterman Movie remains in a state of financial limbo.

I have lost too much over the years that this project has been in development to never see it come to fruition, and the only personal gain that I have any interest in obtaining from all of this would be the satisfaction of giving my friend Leslie Nielsen another opportunity to keep us laughing.

Very Sincerely,

Bryan Waterman

Please submit your question by leaving a comment below this post and we’ll get back to you with an answer soon!