Out of the Inkwell

Here's a story I wrote for this week's papers. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles proved that one can never tell what the next pop culture hit might be or where it might come from.


Do you ever think that there’s nothing on television to watch? Jeff Jubinville did, but then he did something about it – the Granby resident wrote his own television series and is in the process of getting produced.

A junior at Western New England College, the political science major created Spirit Warriors, an animated series involving four characters at a supernatural martial arts school.

Jubinville said the show works on several levels and has both action and humor.

Jubinville started writing the show a year ago and has contracted with a Utah-based animation studio to produce a three and half-minute presentation reel.

Jubinville and Uprising Motion Studios plan to introduce the program at the National Association of Television Programming Executives annual convention in Las Vegas on Jan. 24 through 26. He is hoping that show’s preview reel and concept attracts the attention of a network or syndication executive who would like to produce the program.

Jubinville and his parents are financing the show’s pilot themselves.

“My parents definitely support me. They are very generous,” he said.

Jubinville said that he was “not really into TV until I started writing.” He was not an animation fan, either.

He explained that he began analyzing what was on and what people were watching to determine the direction of a new show.

He was attracted to animation because of the freedom the medium allowed him.

So far, Jubinville has over 800 pages of material written and said he was well within a second season of the series. The show has the look and feel of anime – Japanese animation – and Jubinville said the show is aimed at a teenage audience.

“It’s definitely not a kid’s show,” he said.

He added that his 14 year-old brother loves the show’s concept and is eager to read each script as Jubinville finishes one.

He has sent scripst to the animation studios, along with character sketches. The studio has done final versions of the characters and has assembled a storyboard for the preview reel. He has also flown to Utah several times to consult with the studio on his project.

When asked how a career in show business matches his political science major, Jubinville admitted, “To be honest, I probably should have switched my major.”