With content demands exploding across platforms — and fresh off the success of the Team Coco Snapchat animated series — we started exploring original IP of our own. Partnering with comedian, writer and producer J. Chris Newberg, we developed A Lot of People Don’t Know This… The True Stories Behind Misheard Song Lyrics. After workshopping the story, Chris delivered a script, we built a show bible and interest from networks and a top producer followed. To sell the show, the next step was clear: animate a proof of concept.
 
 
 
 

Every great animation starts with structure. We storyboarded every scene, shot by shot, ensuring the script’s comedy flowed visually. This blueprint let us pressure-test timing, sight gags and transitions before a single frame was animated.
 
 
 
 

Everyone has listened to a song and thought for sure the lyrics said one word or phrase, only to learn later they were way off. “Hotel California” is considered the most recognized song by The Eagles, but few people have questioned where the phrase “Cool Whip in my hair” came from. We created a backstory about how Don Henley came up with the famous line and rest of the song.

After the voiceover was recorded, we chopped up and timed the storyboards to the audio to determine the length of each shot and the entire piece. A well-done animatic determines not just the animations flow but also if you’re on one shot for too long and need additional animated scenes to fill gaps.
 
 
 
 

To capture the feel of 1977, our team designed characters with the lines, tones and palettes of Rock’s golden age. Simple yet expressive, the character illustrations reflected the time period while bringing the pitch deck art to life. For future episodes, the style could flex to match the decade of each misheard lyric, making the series visually fresh while narratively connected.