Nicholas Blackford is the main face behind Lenny and Friends which makes some of South Florida’s funniest animations. He recently debuted the music video Baby Dick Syndrome.
We had the pleasure to speak with him as he touches up the animation for what’s going to be his next episode of Tomatohead, “The Gaggle Effect“.
How are you?
Nicholas Bradford: I’m good! I’m looking at a current project of Tomatohead! An episode called “The Gaggle Effect”. It’s about Tom the Tomatohead, who is going on what he thinks is a date, with Tracy, voiced by Angelica Zadak of This is Improv, a drop-in Improv class based in South Florida. Tom’s roommate is telling him of the Gaggle of men women have around them—like orbiters. Tom elaborates, it’s like she wants to hang with you—and the other guys who like her.
I know that experience too well. I feel like I’ve dealt with that before.
I think we all have—or will.
You’re pretty involved with a lot of artists, actors, musicians, and comics. How long have you been in the South Florida scene?
Since 2018. I would say the first time I had gone to a show was this bar in Deerfield Beach—American Social. I think it was? And there was this show by Sight Set.
That’s another Scott Crain show?
Yup, you know who that is?!
I do. We’ve played some shows together. Weird transition, but how long have you been animating for?
Since 2008, when I was back in Jamaica— for this music video by a reggae dancehall artist named Anthony Red Rose. The song was called “Under My Skin”. It was the first time I ever got a taste for the animation industry with Kadean Dunbar.
Cool! I used to be signed for a reggae Dancehall label called JammDiggy run by Nick Walker!
Really? I think I worked with him! Broward isn’t really a big place—people are just crammed here!
Yeah—this sounds accurate. Back to animating, Do you remember the animation that inspired you to animate? How old were you when you knew “this is what I want to do?”
How old was I? Around 7 or so. I was a little kid. I got a bunch of fax paper, and I tried to draw a sequence. I didn’t know about light boxes or sequencing, and I just drew something. I grew up on American cable programming. I watched a lot of anime. I watched a lot of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, and loved the inventive things they did with it. I loved this medium for storytelling.
What was your favorite TV show when you were young?
Dexter’s Lab, Cow and Chicken, Angry Beavers, CatDog.
You liked some of the weird shit? Me too. As of today, what’s your favorite animation? Why?
There’s a lot. On YouTube I like Dungeon Soup, it’s 1-minute to 3-minute animations based in medieval times with mythical creatures and are cartoons for adults. One episode talks about how “only the purest may mount me” and it’s about a Unicorn.
Your name is Nicholas?
Last time I checked, yes!
But you animate under the name Lenny and Friends. Tell us a little about the name?
It used to be the name of a company because I used to work for a guy who did not want to pay us as regular employees with a 1099. Some south Florida employers do south Florida things.
Who else is involved in Lenny and Friends?
The people who help me with Lenny and Friends are Chris Krider, a local filmmaker who helps me write episodes and produce them and Adam D. Crain, a professional actor from South Florida who currently lives in Atlanta and voices Tomato Head.
What was your first animation called?
Hit Venue, You can find it on my YouTube Channel, LennyandFriends.com—it’s about a kid who looks at a button that says do not press, and he presses it. He slams the button and sees the button doesn’t do anything. Then an offscreen boxing glove on a spring knocks him out.
Hahaha—I’m dead! Did you release it as Lenny and Friends or under another name? Is it available to the public?
Yup, on my YouTube Channel—Oh wait, it is not my first animation! My first animation was cut-scenes for a flash game called Jack Burn—it is available to the public on the same YouTube channel.
What were you first commissioned to animate?
The first video I was commissioned to animate was a music video for Vladrick Paul called “I’ll Give You Pleasure.” I didn’t accept money for it though, because I never finished it. I don’t think you can find it. There was no rough cut uploaded.
How about what you did accept commission for?
This one for the Reel Idiots, called Buzz Off Insecticide Spray—a 2-minute-long animation about an all-purpose insect spray.
What feelings ran through your head—nervousness, excitement?
The prevailing thought I usually have is, “I hope I finish this on time.”
What was the feedback? Did it get aired or publicized?
It did get aired on the Reel Idiots platform and got 12K views. We shared it all over. Most of the promo was done via social media. Some said that the animation was awesome. They got a chuckle from the scenes, like the little girl poorly demonstrating how the spray works, spraying it into her eyes—and the Buzz Aldrin character spraying the spray into another character’s butt. My girlfriend Gina said, it had “no chill”.
What are your top 3 goals as an animator?
Uhmm— My top 3 goals—One of my goals is to make at least an entire season of Tomatohead. Another goal is to have a dedicated space—like an office or a warehouse with a couple animators working on projects, and my 3rd goal would be to be doing animation full time for myself—not really working for a studio or network, cause you have to take what comes with it—no autonomy. Someone else usually has a say in your work, final product, or idea.
Imagine your shorts like Tomatohead pop, which studio and network would you like to see most take you on?
That’s an interesting question. At one point I would say Adult Swim and Cartoon Network, but now I would say none of them.
Do you have any new animations lined up? When can we expect to see Lenny & Friends post them?
The Gaggle Effect should be out later in the year, like October
