art by @PKettles; title graphic by @Hibachi

So, this is what I've been working on for the last year. :]

I figured it'd be good to make a personal post coinciding with the announcement to give a bit more context around my personal involvement with the project and the site in general, particularly for peeps who have no clue who I am, so here we go!

Backstory

(scroll down for the tl;dr version)

In October 2023, I finally submitted my first feature-length documentary, Your Friend Logan, to SxSW. The project was a dream since I was 13, born from a deep love and connection to Logan Whitehurst and his creative output, and I had been actively working on it since 2019, so to finally see it to completion was a dream come true. (Spoiler Alert: It did not get in, and I learned a very hard lesson on festivals and distribution that will come in handy down the road)

With that project no longer my main focus, I was left with a large hole of what to work on next, and with graduation from film school approaching, I was forced to think deeply about my future. I wanted to work on something that I cared about passionately, could see me through the next few years, and would be an appropriate level up from the Logan documentary, creatively and challenge-wise.

Newgrounds checked all of those boxes for me.

Personal History with Site

I first recognized Newgrounds existed when I was about 12 years old, and was thoroughly obsessed with Robert Benfer's Klay World series. As I went on, I recognized just how much of what I loved online originated from Newgrounds, and I wanted to be a part of it.

My tenth anniversary with an account was actually about a week ago. I originally registered on the site as @plasticapple on December 30th, 2014, and made a bunch of silly stickfigure animations with the Mac equivalent of Pivot. As time went on, I switched over from stickfigures to lip heads, and changed my name to littlbox. It was during this time that I found a community on the site, and made some of the best friends in my life.

So ye, Newgrounds is important to me. And I feel it deserves a proper-ass documentary.

Organizing

Around Thanksgiving 2023, I reached out to Tom to see if he was alright with me pursuing this project. We talked a bit more about it, and I sent him a link to my prior documentary as an example of what I could pull off. Finally, shortly after the New Year 2024, I got the go-ahead.

The first half of the year was spent entirely doing research. Playing important Flashes, collecting forum posts, and putting together a comprehensive timeline and list of important players throughout the site's history. Knowing how deep the rabbit holes were on the site, I tried to stay relatively on-course and determined the best narrative through-line for the documentary.

The last half of the year was spent reaching out to potential participants. I've reached out to about 60 people, and gotten positive responses from about four dozen of them. I pre-interviewed each of them to get a better sense of their perspective and deepened my knowledge of certain events on the site. This past November, I took a flight out with my cinematographer to LA, and we conducted seven interviews in-person.

Now, here we are, a little over a year after starting, and I'm finally able to talk about the documentary. I'm so excited to be pursuing this, and I hope that with your help, we can have production happen in time to celebrate the site's 30th anniversary!

tl;dr: Made a documentary + love Newgrounds = making Newgrounds documentary.

We'll reveal more about the project in the coming weeks, topping it off with the Kickstarter on the 18th. If you haven't already, save the link to the pre-launch page and get notified when the Kickstarter goes live!

**SAVE THE PRE-LAUNCH LINK!!**

Follow along on our socials:

• WEBSITE: newgroundsdoc.com
• NEWGROUNDS: @NewgroundsDoc
• BLUESKY: @newgroundsdoc.newgrounds.com
• INSTAGRAM: @newgroundsdoc
• TWITTER: @newgroundsdoc
• YOUTUBE: @NewgroundsDoc
• FACEBOOK: Once Upon A Time On The Internet

Thank you guys so much for the response so far. Just wait til you see what we have in store... :)

-littlbox

Hi everyone! It’s that time of year to reflect on how things have been going. So here we GOOOOOOO...

Music

• Made a new album

IN BED!!! on Bandcamp

IN BED!!! on Spotfiy

IN BED!!! consisted of a lot of tracks I had sitting around for a while, and I gave myself the arbitrary deadline of my 24th birthday to have it finished and out. It turned out pretty alright! I’ve always wanted to make an album made up of nighttime songs, and I think this is the closest I’ve gotten to that. 

One of the songs, “it pays to forget”, had a Geometry Dash level based around it, and has turned into my first song on Spotify with over 1000 streams, so that’s nifty! Thanks all!

• Collab’d with @bitbeak on a zine/soundtrack

I helped my friend with the story for a zine he wanted to make, and was lucky enough to help make music for it as well. This was a unique collab – I’ve done soundtrack stuff before, but never for a printed piece of media. It was totally fun, and I do think we succeeded in making something that accompanies the charm of the zine.

HERE'S THE ZINE AND SOUNDTRACK ON NEWGROUNDS:

GIVE US MONIES ON BANDCAMP:

https://bitbeak.bandcamp.com/album/a-quirk-of-nature

• Collab’d with @spicybagel 

I’ve enjoyed Effren’s work for years, and I’m so glad we finally got the chance to make a couple songs together!

Btw, he just put out a new EP, and it’s killer:

https://bagl.bandcamp.com/album/jelly-ep

https://open.spotify.com/album/7K4Jbl61IBrVyfM2U5dKjX?si=tLOD8eouQeWQl4x025OKmw

Someone put together a wicked GD level for “End of the Play” too! Thanks @Racketreff!

Film/Video

• Produced Before/After

After my fourth year film, I was burnt out to a crisp. I couldn’t see past the limiting confines of film school, and it was not fun. Quincy and Austin were two years below me, but seeing their work reminded me of that original spark of fun I had making videos and films. I reached out to them, and we conspired to put together one of their projects.

Before/After turned out wonderfully demented. We shot the entire thing at my house and at a nearby graveyard, and it was a small crew of about 15 friends. It was just a swell time all around, and allowed me to gain a bit more confidence that I can indeed do this thing outside of film school.

• Made poobaby

The proudest thing I’ve ever made. No regrets.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas Reanimated

Such a cool project to be a part of! Shout-out to @Kolumbo for organizing all of this insanity, and to everyone for being so creative with their portion. Still need to sit down and watch the whole thing, but what bits I have seen have been fantastic.

• Your Friend Logan

My feature length documentary that I began in 2019 and finished editing in 2023. This was to be the big year where we premiered Logan at a large film festival, got picked up by a large distributor, and began getting Logan seen by millions!

…it hasn’t turned out that way.

I did a much larger update on the film’s IndieGoGo if you’re interested in going more in-depth, but basically I learned a lot this year from failing to get Logan into the big-name film festivals, and we’re planning on pivoting next year to a much smaller, yet appropriate release. It’s been a long ride, but I’m looking forward to finally getting it onto the screens of the people who care!

Also had to remove a pedophile from the documentary, that was fun. :\

• Secret Project



This is something I’ve been working on the entirety of this year. I can’t say what it is yet, but it has been the largest thing I’ve worked on thus far. It’s a huge passion project that has taken all of my energy and resources, and continues to constructively challenge me. We announce it next week, and I think you guys will be pretty excited when we do. :)

Personal

• Graduated Film School

Finally got out of my self-imposed prison. I’m very grateful for the time I had at school, and the resources that it gave me to further my passion and career, but it came with its fair share of insanity, challenges, and overall exhaustion, so I’m very glad to be out.

• Moved to Wilmington and working at Krispy Kreme.

I see at least a thousand donuts a day. Help me.

• Went to Reykjavik 

This was a graduation gift from my parents. I didn’t know much about Iceland, but it’s always been a place I’ve heard of, so I was curious to go visit. Boy, am I glad I did. A beautiful country with a lovely major city. It was the rest I so desperately needed, and I’m extremely glad I had the chance to visit. Put together this music video with footage and photos from the trip!

• irl meetup with @Sro

I've known this guy for 6 years, someone I never would have met if it weren't for Newgrounds and @FlowDownStream, and we finally met up this past Thanksgiving! He's cool. :)

• Got gf hehe

I’m in my first relationship in five years, and it’s been turning out lovely so far. Her name’s Emily, and she’s well aware of Newgrounds. Being with her has been one of the highlights of my year, and I’m excited to see where things go.

IN SUMMARY...

2024 feels like my busiest year, but I feel I have a lot less to show for it. That's probably going to be a continuing trend as I continue to put less energy into small projects and a lot of energy into larger, more ginormous (that word looks incorrectly spelled, but I swear it's correct) projects. But I'm personally proud of the progress I've made this year, and that what I have put out resonates with some peeps.

How was your year?

:),

Conner

Last September, I got together with my good pal @bitbeak (@idontknowcorp for art) and started organizing a story for a zine he wanted to make about two peeps missing a bus. This became a 10-month endeavor that involved collaborating on a soundtrack, seeing WIPs of the comic coming to realization, and getting a crash course in the best way to print a zine.

Now, I'm pleased to announced, IT IS ALIVE!

Andrew's gonna be posting the comic weekly by chapter, alongside the corresponding track from our score. You can read the first chapter here:

And listen to the accompanying music here:

Also, if you buy the album on BANDCAMP, you get a PDF of the zine, and if you pay $5, you can get a PHYSICAL COPY!

Hope y'all enjoy the work and love that's been put into this.

:),

littlbox

It's been a busy busy time, and I want to post an update about it, but I'm not feeling like writing too much about it, so I'm going to give summary points as to the big things in my life the past six months, along with corresponding photographs.

1) Turned 24 and released album (on the same day):

IN BED!!! on Bandcamp

IN BED!!! on Spotfiy

2) Produced a short film (coming soon...) (I'm on the very right)

3) Graduated from film school

3) Moved to Wilmington, NC

4) Got new glasses.

5) Making progress on personal projects

Overall, it's been a year of big changes, and I'm extremely fortunate to be able to pursue the path I want to be pursuing right now, even if there's bumps along the way (but that's what makes it FUN.... like the band. And yes, they are really good.)

I hope y'all are doing well. Let me know how things are going! Has this year been turning out like you wanted? Good or not so good? What are you grateful for and excited for?

Your bud,

littlbox

So hey –

Last year I whipped together some music for my classmate Nathan Lathroum's entry to Joel Haver's "Make a Movie During The Oscars" contest, where people are invited to spend the three hours the Oscars airs making a movie instead of watching the Oscars. Here's his final result, he also used "Soda Pop" and "Role Models":

This past week, Joel announced the ten best films from this contest, and Nathan's film won! Joel was very kind in especially complimenting my music. You can see the video here (my shout-out is around 10:17):

It was a lovely compliment that put a smile on my face; thanks so much Joel, and congrats to Nathan!

In Other News...

Currently on Spring Break. Halfway through my last semester of school, and it's so refreshing to know that, in the very near future, I'll no longer be confined by school. Instead I'll be confined by life YAYYYY!

In all honesty, I'm really grateful for my time at school, and it's continued to be a fantastic resource that is helping me to grow into independent producing. It'll just be nice for me to finally go out and see if I can actually do this on my own.

Speaking of which, I'm currently developing a short with a couple other peeps from school. I'll be making a more in-depth post about it in the near future, so stay tuned!

The Logan Whitehurst doc continues to move, albeit at a snail's pace – read my latest update HERE.

Also, cassettes from my newest album, In Bed!!!, are still available to purchase from my Bandcamp!

Give one of the tracks a listen here (prob my personal fav off the album):

How are you?

:),

Conner/littlbox

https://youtube.com/live/W9jKel0FzAk

Tomorrow at 11pm EST, I will be livestreaming on my YouTube channel as I lie in bed listening to my newest album IN BED!!! as a tutorial for proper usage of the album in order to avoid musical overdose amongst the youth.

Proper dosage and consumption of music among teens is a growing problem in Civilization, and I hope this stream will educate some of the more unenlightened listeners on this side of the Solar System.

Please forgive me for the heretic YouTube link, but as hard as I tried, I could not find the elusive Newgrounds livestream button here, and must resort to other platforms to accomplish my mission.

Join me as we venture into this terrain of slumber-sounds whilst we relax on our respective mattresses.

Thank you, Newgrounds, for your continued support throughout the years.

:), littlbox

Hey all! I've turned 24 years old today, hooray!

To celebrate, I've finished and put out a new album of music! IN BED!!! consists of five vocal tracks and four ambient ones to mimic the lovely feeling of bedtime activities: sleeping, dreaming, somnolence, insomnia, gooning...

You can listen to a song from the album here:

and you can download the album from Bandcamp here!

To celebrate both the release and my birthday, I'm having a listening party at 11pm EST tonight on Bandcamp! If you're interested, click here to RSVP!

Also, my school just so happens to be screening Akira tonight before the listening party, so I'm gonna eat that up!

Anyways, hope y'all are doing well!

:)

littlbox

Hello all! I hope everyone’s having a merry Christmas season. You all made it thru this year, and I hope that next year brings a ton of cool stuff your way.

Tis the season for a yearly retrospective!

(FalalalalalalalaLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)

I’ll go thru it my usual way, starting with NG-relevant stuff I’ve done this year and working to the sweet sweet center of personal journeys.

littlMixes

I was able to bring back littlMixes for a short time from January-July! It’s always so nice to listen to what other people are up to on the site, and nothing beats the feeling of finding your new favorite Newgrounds song. I’m also very glad to have gotten the chance to talk to @Wilieu about her work – it’s always evolving and very interesting.

I wasn’t able to sustain it all year, simply because I had way too much going on. I love surfing through the NG Audio Portal, but I’m finding it harder and harder to find the time to do so. However, I’m going to make it a point to find some kind of workable routine next year to ensure I keep up with the ongoings of the site.

Music

I put out eight music tracks this year, all of varying genre. Here are some of my highlights:

Was lucky enough to make it in the top 20 of this year’s AIM with this track:

Made a cool irl collab with @bitbeak:

Put together a Secret Santa track that somehow has made it to over 4500+ listens and 100+ downloads!

Thank you to everyone who continues to listen to my music, and to Newgrounds for front-paging this insanity.

Collabs

Didn’t do any vids for NG this year, but participated in two collabs:

Innerspaces:

This is made up of a lotta cool peeps I’ve been chatting quite a bit with in the last year over Discord, all of whom are very talented and creative in their own right (including old FlowDownStream buddy @Sro). It’s always fun to participate in this kinda collab, and I look forward to continuing to chat and create with these people next year!

NGTV Christmas Collab:

Another collab ran by another ol’ FDSer (let’s go @Kolumbo), this was definitely a much more passive entry to a collab. I haven't checked out the collab yet, but I'm super excited to see what everyone contributed!

Now, it’s time to get…

PERSONAL(ish)

Let’s start with

Your Friend Logan

Probably the crown jewel of my achievements this year. This documentary on Logan Whitehurst is something I’ve aspired to since I was 12, so to have it completed is just surreal. I was on-and-of editing the film throughout the year, and spent an entire week in September where I got 3-4 hours of sleep a day to complete the cut in time for festivals. Not recommended for a sustainable living, but definitely was a rewarding experience to be so focused on completing a project. We’ve submitted to a dozen film fests so far, and are continuing to submit to more, so stay tuned!

Film School

This past year, I produced two student films – we shot one in February entitled Lovesong (my 3rd year thesis – I also did music for this one!) and the other in November called The Half Moon Motel (my 4th year one). These both were enlightening, educational, and exhausting experiences. Lovesong is done, and Half Moon is still in the editing process. I don’t think we can make these public, but if anyone wants to see Lovesong, send me a DM and I’ll share the link with you.

Some highlights:

May – I went on a cruise with my family, after which I caught COVID and spent a week doing nothing but sleeping and watching Bee & Puppycat on Netflix. It’s a good show for that kinda thing.

July/August – I moved into a new house with my roommates, two very cool dudes whom I’m grateful to call friends. We also did a few midnight movie screenings on campus before things got real hectic with 4th year films.

September – Immediately after completing a cut of Logan, I went to Colorado to see @bitbeak, and we hung out. I got to play VR Mini Golf, which I’m convinced is the funnest game ever made, especially when you’re flying. Also had Indian food with @PsychoGoldfish.

Burnout

There were some fun and high points throughout the year, but definitely the worst points were my multiple burnouts.

I’m not good at relaxing, nor delegating, nor giving myself credit where credit is due, and so the mix of anxiety, overworking, and low self-esteem makes for one helluva cocktail, and the hangover is terrible. Maybe some peeps here can relate to this? It’s really gotten to a point where I know that these fears and exhaustion spells, if left unchecked, are going to really hinder my progress moving forward, and that's no good!

So, I’ve begun seeing a therapist, and we’re going to see how that route goes. I’m optimistic that, at the very least, it will be a new experience and give me new perspectives on this road block, which is exactly what I need.

In summary…

2023 was a really good year. I got a lot of projects in with a lot of new experiences and new knowledge, and I’m going to take the time this last week to be grateful for this, along with being fortunate enough to have the people I love around me, and good health in spite of eating like crap. Though there were some especially cruddy parts of the year personally, I’m working to make sure that these personal issues become easier to deal with. I’m excited for what 2024 will bring.

And so, until we meet again, I hope y'all have a happy New Year.

:),

littlbox

Hello hello! Long time no see.

I’m a busy busy bee atm (as in “at the moment” — if you try to deposit money from me, be ready to be sorely disappointed), and I haven’t had time at all to contribute to Newgrounds. Once December comes around, I’m going to see about being more active on the site and checking out all the awesome art I’ve been missing out on.

But I come out of my cave today to share some exciting news —

We’ve finished the Logan Whitehurst documentary!

(kinda)

The documentary I’ve been working on for the last 4 ½ years about late artist, musician, and songwriter Logan Whitehurst entitled Your Friend Logan has finally hit the point where we have been submitting it to film festivals, including SxSW and Tribeca, for potential entry.

I emphasize kinda only because there are a few elements we need to solidify over the next few mnths, namely sound and credit-wise, but the movie now is 98% the movie it is going to be.

It’s been a long, sometimes difficult, but mostly fun process, and I’m so grateful to have had the chance to make this passion project, something I’ve wanted to make since I was 13, with some amazing people.

I want to give a tremendous thanks to @RWappin, @spicybagel, @IDontKnowCorp/@bitbeak , @TheMarooned, @Tiltro, and @HenryEYES for their animation contributions, and to @TomFulp, @PsychoGoldfish, @MindChamber, @GoodL, @ninjamuffin99, @Wandaboy, @TheDyingSun, @StufflingDX and everyone else here on Newgrounds that has been so supportive of the project. This documentary seriously could not have been possible without this site, and I am so grateful.

And of course, my co-producer Matlock and cinematographer Sean, two fantastic and invaluable people who believed in me and in this project.

I’ll keep updating as we hear back from festivals and once the film is finally distributed and ready to publicly view. Until then, back to the cave.

:),

littlbox

P.S. Lovin' the NJ Meetup pics I'm seeing. :D

Hello, folk of the Newgrounds!

I'm sorry to say that I will be putting littlMix on hold for the time being. Currently, my schedule is overloaded with my feature-length documentary (which we will be completing and sending out to festivals at the end of the month) and my 4th year thesis film for school, and these will have to take precedent over scouring the audio portal and putting together playlists of my favorite tracks for each month, at least for now.

I adore the talent that continues to show in the music that people post to the site, and I look forward to when I can take the time to truly listen and admire to these tracks again. Until then, keep on creating, and I can't wait to hear what I've been missing.

:),

littlbox