Based on the original graphic novels created by Nathaniel Bowden and Tracy Yardley and published by TOKYOPOP, the world of the Riding Shotgun animated series takes place in the near future. The gun industry has finally managed to justify the existence of firearms in mainstream society... by secretly lobbying to privatize capital punishment. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can become a licensed assassin.

There’s an assassin’s guild, guidelines for killing, and an assassin’s honor code that should be followed. But don’t let that fool you. At entry level, it’s about as glamorous as delivering pizzas. Doyle and Abby are two low-level hired guns trying to make it big in the world of professional assassins.

Released in August of 2013 on Mondo Media’s YouTube channel, the original 6-minute pilot amassed over a million views in the first month alone. And the real kicker? It was age-gated! That means people had to actually log-in or create fake accounts just to watch! (Don’t worry, your secret is safe with us.) We were overwhelmed with the comments asking for MOAR, and that’s exactly what we’re going to give you. But first we need your help.

If you haven't seen the pilot episode yet, check it out below.  This should give you a little taste of the sexy, high-octane adventures that we've got in store for you. Enjoy:

Our goal is to produce a minimum of two (or more!) brand new 3-minute episodes. But of course - the more money we raise, the more hits Doyle and Abby can take on. The series will be written & directed by Hollywood filmmaker Michael Davis, animated by Copernicus Studios, produced by TOKYOPOP, and distributed by Mondo Media. Production will begin immediately, with the first episode being released in the summer of 2014.

To help make this a reality, apply for your very own assassin’s license by filling out the appropriate forms (signing up for IndieGoGo) and paying your fees (your donation, which will go directly to funding our production), and you can help Doyle and Abby to take on more jobs and climb the ranks of the assassin’s guild.

UPDATE: We are proud to announce that the supremely talented Yuri Lowenthal will be reprising his role as Doyle in the Riding Shotgun Animated Series!  Check out his message to the fans:

What do you get for backing Riding Shotgun, aside from more awesome episodes? Check out the list of rewards below.

We know what you're thinking, and you're right. This is a lot of money for 2 episodes. I mean, Doyle and Abby would have to cap a lot of baddies to ever see such a fat stack. But to make feature-film quality animation like Riding Shotgun isn't cheap, and it takes a whole lot longer to make than most of us would like to wait. So here’s why we are asking for $125,000 and up:

Like the 6-minute pilot, the Riding Shotgun series will be traditionally animated, which means each element is drawn by hand. It’s time and labor intensive, but that’s what it takes to make Abby look so hot.

The series pre-production stage will consist of writing, storyboarding, casting and recording (in a top-of-the-line audio production facility), creating an animatic (shooting the storyboard with the final recorded dialogue), designing (backgrounds, characters, props, effects), coloring (of those models, effects, backgrounds, props, etc), and timing (which requires the director to go frame by frame creating exposure sheets). There will be as many as 20 cast and crew members on the pre-production side alone.

Check out this video from writer/director Michael Davis explaining his creative process for the animated pilot:

After pre-production, the talented animation team at Copernicus will take all those assets to their studio in Nova Scotia, where dozens of artists will draw every element for every frame, layout, key pose, animate, in-between, ink and paint, and, finally, composite. Director Michael Davis will be involved in every portion of the production, to ensure that his vision, and the original tone that you all loved from the pilot, will make its way into the final product.

Then in the post-production stage: the animation is edited; sound effects, including foley, are recorded and added; and the composer creates the score. The sounds effects, music, and dialog are finally blended together with the animation in the last step of production, called the final mix. It’s an extensive process, but everyone on the team is experienced in creating high-quality animation and committed to bringing the world of Riding Shotgun to life.

Let’s just be honest with one another. If we want to keep the over-the-top action and sexiness of the pilot episode, there’s NO WAY we could put Riding Shotgun on traditional television. We would have to cut out all the good stuff, and we don't want to censor the content. It’s what you loved about the original 6-minute short, and it’s what we love to create.

Keeping Riding Shotgun on Mondo Media’s YouTube channel gives us the freedom to produce the craziest, most amazing action animation possible. If you thought the pilot was over-the-top, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

But keeping Riding Shotgun online means we can’t access traditional funding avenues. That’s where you come in. Thanks to IndieGoGo, you, the fans, have a chance to help make more of a show you love! Together, we can create the series we want to make, how we want to make it.

Raising the money on IndieGoGo also means we can make the series when we want to make it. Traditional financing and distribution could take years to put together, but we all want MOAR Riding Shotgun now. As soon as we are successfully funded, we will immediately enter production.

And if we exceed our initial goal, we'll produce more episodes while continuing to reward you for your support. Here’s what we currently have planned:

The Riding Shotgun series will be written & directed by Hollywood filmmaker Michael Davis, animated by Copernicus Studios, produced by TOKYOPOP, and distributed by Mondo Media.

MICHAEL DAVIS - "RIDING SHOTGUN" WRITER/DIRECTOR

Michael Davis is the visionary filmmaker behind the cult classic film, Shoot ‘Em Up, starring Clive Owen, Monica Bellucci and Paul Giamatti. Some of his other credits include Beanstalk, Eight Days a Week, and 100 Girls, as well as storyboarding for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! His blend of over-the-top action, comedy, and sex make Riding Shotgun what it is. 

COPERNICUS STUDIOS - "RIDING SHOTGUN" ANIMATION STUDIO

Based defiantly in glorious Halifax Nova Scotia Canada, Copernicus Studios Inc. is an artist-driven animation production studio. Our focus is producing original cinema quality content for TV, film, and interactive media. Some of our past projects include international co-pro series Garth and Bev for Cbeebies; the Emmy Nominated Artopia pilot episode for PBS; and Animated Music Videos for international recording stars Jack Black, Nelly Furtado, and “Weird” Al Yankovic. 

TOKYOPOP - "RIDING SHOTGUN" PRODUCER

Founded in 1997 by entrepreneur and filmmaker Stu Levy, TOKYOPOP established the market for manga in North America, introducing the term to the English language in the process. Over its history, TOKYOPOP has published over 3000 books, distributed anime and Asian films on home video and television, licensed merchandise to consumer goods companies, created graphic novels of major brands and led the way digitally in social media, e-commerce and user-generated content. TOKYOPOP’s brand expanded internationally with offices in Europe and Japan and a network of over 160 partners in more than 50 countries and 30 languages. Through TOKYOPOP, Stu has produced live-action and animated film and television content based on its extensive intellectual property library, including Priest, America’s Greatest Otaku, Van Von Hunter, and a slate of projects currently in development.

MONDO MEDIA - "RIDING SHOTGUN" DISTRIBUTOR

Short, viral and deadly funny! Mondo is where frowns and sadness go to die, and animated series like Happy Tree Friends and Dick Figures sip champagne and eat the finest mermaid sushi. Mondo Media is the most-viewed animation channel on YouTube where it recently passed the 2 billion-view mark to become one of the top 10 most-viewed non-music channels on YouTube. Happy Tree Friends, the company's breakout hit, is viewed on TV in over 50 markets worldwide and is recognized as the most-viewed web series of all time with over 1 billion video views since its launch in 2000. The company's revenue is derived from a blend of online ad revenue, television licensing and merchandise. Mondo Media is a privately owned company based in San Francisco with offices in Los Angeles.

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