Phot by Ian Brown
TheBruvs.com is an adult comedy animation series about a family of London villains trying to go straight in a new home in Essex. And failing big time. Their old, violent ways always seem to stay with them. The main characters are Doug and Den Bruv, West Essex girl (WEG) Chanterelle, the brothers’ old Dad, their sister Janice and her son Jason. You can watch The Bruvs on Youtube. There are 11 episodes running on the UKTV channel.
Ian has been writing and producing in TV, film, and commercials for 30 years. He’s written or produced for the likes of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan, The Simpsons, Harrison Ford, Charlton Heston, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson, Youtubers Joe Sugg and Caspar Lee, Peter O’Toole, Richard Harris, Bruce Forsyth, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Alan Sugar and many more.
We had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Ian, the writer, and producer of TheBruvs.com. Check out the interview below.
Hi, Ian! We’re excited to learn more about “TheBruvs.com.” Tell us what inspired the series.
The idea came from people who live around me in East London. The main characters – brothers Doug and Den Bruv – kind of exist in real life. They’re made up of a mix of people but I could not possibly say names of those who inspired them. I’m too scared.
TheBruvs.com is an adult comedy, animation series about a family of London villains trying to go straight.
The idea of die-hard criminals trying to mend their ways but failing just appealed to me. Luckily it also appealed to animation director Eoin Clarke. He designed the characters and brings to life all TheBruvs family – brothers Doug and Den, Chanterelle, Jason, Dad, and Janice. The fact the brothers are trying to bottle up all their instincts to be violent and aggressive in everyday life and generally release all that on each other leads them into all sorts of misadventures.
Was there a particular event or time in your life, when you decided filmmaking was going to be your career?
I have always loved the movies and TV. I knew I wanted to be a writer. I started out as a journalist and moved into news and current affairs TV. Then, into entertainment and comedy. For one show, I was lucky enough to write a script for The Simpsons which the producers liked and they made a special animation using my script. That fired me more to make TheBruvs’ animations happen.
As you enter the realm of animation, what makes a film great for you?
I like comedy. Any film – or TV for that matter – that makes me laugh is a winner with me. I was raised on Disney and have since been blown away by Pixar. But the Despicable Me series is great. Animation opens so many opportunities to do great visual gags.
It is said that it all starts with the script, then an amazing cast. What are your thoughts on this?
As I am the main writer and do most of the voices on The Bruvs I have to agree totally. The script is important. We work on that as a team. We’re only a small set up, so Eoin, myself and our sound and editing wiz Paul Richmond work on it all the way through recording the voices. We’ll even revisit the recording if better gags come to mind.
What has been the most important lesson you had to learn from TheBruvs.com? How did that lesson happen?
There have been a few big lessons – just how long animation takes. Plus the cost of it. We are a tiny team with a tiny budget. But the results are always worth the wait. Sometimes we have to adapt over-ambitious ideas as they would take too long to animate. That is challenging – but in a good way. Then there is the fact we are principally a web series. I have had to learn social media pretty quickly. I’m no expert – but I’m now all over twitter, facebook, Instagram and Tumblr pushing The Bruvs.
You’re also known for your art. What keeps you inspired?
All pop culture inspires The Bruvs, along with news stories and life in general. The Bruvs is a vehicle to react to stuff that life throws at you.
Thus far, what has been the best experience working in the film industry?
Seeing our little films on the big screen at a film festival. And winning the prize for Best Animation at that festival. Absolutely mind-blowing and a very proud moment. People say they don’t do this stuff for recognition. I think they might not be telling the whole truth.
Do you have any upcoming projects that we haven’t mentioned?
More and more from The Bruvs. We have new films in production and we are moving into books and podcasts. The characters seem to have limitless possibilities for us. We have already moved into music thanks to the talents of Stig Winslet and Pete Harbour who have come up with our theme tune and special songs – like our Halloween anthem Brick or Treat.
Complete this sentence, if I had an opportunity to do anything I want, I would do ___________.
All that I want with The Bruvs – longer films, a bigger team, animate all the stories we have for them and reach everyone we can to let them see The Bruvs for themselves.
Social Links:
IMDB: Ian Brown
IMDB: The Bruvs
Website: TheBruvs.com
YouTube: The Bruvs
Featured Image Credit:Photo Courtesy of Ian Brown
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