We have tons of posters, stickers, and postcards.  If you live in the Michiana area (St. Joseph County, Elkhart County, Niles, etc), we’d like to send you these items for FREE through U.S. Mail to help spread the word about our awesome premiere event September 17-19.  Put them up at work, school, give them to friends – anywhere that can help get the word out about the premiere.

If you’d like to help us spread the word, send us an e-mail at with how many of each material you’d like along with your mailing address.

Again, these are totally FREE.  The only thing we ask is that you actually use these promo materials to tell others about the Fresh Fruit Pie premiere.  We’re pretty low budget and spent money to make these, so we’d rather not see them used to make paper airplanes or as bonfire fuel.  They’re promo items, so let’s promo up the town!

Got the itch to make some noise? Then drop us a line at with how many posters, stickers, and postcards you want – and where we should send them to.  Let’s make this premiere awesome!

If you want, you can format the e-mail like the following:

• X – Posters
• X – Pages of Stickers (12 stickers per page)
• X – Postcards
• Send to:  423 My Address
  South Bend, IN  46661

Related posts:

1. World Premiere: Sept. 17-19. DVD Release: Oct. 5.

Finally, after over a year of casting, script development, prop-building, production, and post-production, the first episode of Fresh Fruit Pie is complete – and boy, are we happy with it!  It’s been a long and hard road, filled with literal blood, sweat, and tears – but in the end, all of that toil is going to be worth it.  We’re very proud of all the actors, crew, and other partners that turned Fresh Fruit Pie from a dream into a reality.

This week we sent the DVD master and DVD cover art to Disc Makers, who gave us a generous discount for a rush job after hearing our vision.  We should receive our shipment of DVDs in just a few short weeks.

We’re really happy with how the DVD cover art came out.  Click the image on the left to see a larger version of it.  What you see here will be folded and inserted into a standard Amaray case.  The front cover is located towards the right of the image, the spine in the middle, and the back cover to the left.  We were looking for a design that could be re-themed for each episode but still maintain a sense of consistency.   Overall, we’re really happy with it and feel it was 100% worth the time and money spent to make the DVD cover art a reality!

Here’s also a glimpse of the artwork for the disc itself.  We love the kind of art that can placed in a circle, and a DVD or a CD creates a perfect canvas to make this unique kind of “circle” art.  Fun!

The Fresh Fruit Pie World Premiere is coming up in less than three weeks.  (Don’t forget to reserve some seats).  And also, the DVD release is only five weeks away!

Isn’t it crazy?  Maybe it is, but crazy suits us quite well.

Related posts:

1. Fresh Fruit Pie Website Up and Running
2. Two-Thirds of FFP In the Can

Yes, today we’re announcing the launch dates of “Party!”, the first episode of Fresh Fruit Pie.  It’s been a long time coming, but we’re all extremely excited and confident that it’s well worth the wait.

The World Premiere

If you live within driving distance of South Bend/Mishawaka, Indiana, be sure to come to the world premiere of Fresh Fruit Pie!  We’re taking over the Hyatt Place in Mishawaka for the entire weekend of September 17-19, and we’ll be showing non-stop, back-to-back events where you get to see the new show – for FREE.

That’s right – FREE!  Refreshments, too – all FREE.  Invite your friends!  Invite your family!  You can’t miss this – it’s going to be pure awesome.

The only problem? Seating is very limited.  We highly recommend that you make your reservations now so that you can get the time you want.  Of course, you can always come to the event and look for empty seats in case people who reserve are no-shows, but those will also be limited and filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

So again, make your reservations now.  It’s really easy and fast.

The DVD Launch

Let’s say you’re going camping the weekend of September 17-19.  Maybe you live 1000 miles away from Indiana (smart decision, considering our winters here).  That’s totally cool, too!  The DVD will release just a few short weeks after the premiere on October 5, 2010.   It will be available through this website and selected retailers.

Want to help us get Fresh Fruit Pie into MORE stores?

Then vote to get Fresh Fruit Pie widely distributed across the world!  Invite your friends to vote, too.  The more people who believe in our cause, the more stores will stock our show, and the more people will experience our vision of awesome family entertainment!

We’re really excited for the things that are coming.  Thank you all for being a part of it.

P.S. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, check it out at http://www.freshfruitpie.com/trailer.

Related posts:

1. How to Invite All Facebook Friends to the Premiere Event
2. Free Posters, Stickers, and Postcards
3. Pick Your Favorite Logo – Vote Now!

A little info about the first episode of Fresh Fruit Pie:  “Party!”

Everyone wants to be happy.  Or do they?

There’s a lot to be happy about in life, but instead of enjoying what we have, we worry and gripe about what we don’t have.  We tend to ignore all the good things in life and focus on the little inconveniences.

Filled with non-stop hilarious sketches and authentic scenarios, “Party!” jumps into the story of life to discover the secret of true happiness and joy.

The full episode of “Party!” releases DVD Fall 2010. Remember to vote to get Fresh Fruit Pie into stores!

Related posts:

1. World Premiere: Sept. 17-19. DVD Release: Oct. 5.
2. New Trailer Launches in May
3. Two-Thirds of FFP In the Can

I must warn you, it’ll be action-packed and not for the faint of heart.  In fact, we have so many gags in the full show that a lot of material has to be cut from the trailer, otherwise the trailer will be too long!

A few days ago, two boys, age 10 and 15, secretly stood behind me watching as I previewed a rough cut of the trailer on my laptop.  After a few minutes, I felt drool hit the top of my head – I turned around, and I caught the two boys staring googly-eyed at my monitor, hungry for more.  I think it was the 15-year-old that drooled.  That’s a good sign.

So, if you have it edited, why not release it now? Lots of music, sound editing, and special effects still need to be done.  Plus, we’ll be getting feedback from other industry professionals before making it live to the public.  This guarantees we launch the absolute best trailer for Fresh Fruit Pie!

All will be perfected and ready to shine to the world by early May.   Check back as often as possible, become a facebook fan, or follow us on twitter to be first in line to watch the upcoming trailer release.

For now – Vote to get Fresh Fruit Pie into stores.

Fresh Fruit Pie isn’t just a product, it’s a movement – to make the world of family entertainment awesome.   Our company is small, passionate, and uncontrolled by the big studios – which means we don’t have to report to uncreative “money people” and can focus completely on making amazing videos.  Revolutions by nature must start small before growing huge:  they challenge the established way of doing things.

The one key to making this revolution successful?  Getting Fresh Fruit Pie into big stores such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

However, there’s one problem.  The stores don’t respect small studios, only big ones like Fox or Warner Brothers.  They only stock titles that have tons of marketing dollars thrown at them or a huge grassroots following.

That’s where we come in.  If we can build a huge community behind a revolutionary kids video such as Fresh Fruit Pie, if we can build a list of 5,000…10,000…or even 100,000 people, the stores will have to listen, or they’ll feel like they’re missing out on the next big thing (which is correct).

You can be part of this movement by casting your vote right now. Type your e-mail into the box below and hit “Sign Me Up!” to join our ranks of world-changers. We’ll keep you updated on Fresh Fruit Pie’s latest happenings, including exclusive news and awesome offers. As always, we’ll never sell your e-mail address to anyone or spam you with useless garbage.

Every vote counts. Seriously. So join now to be part of something huge.

Related posts:

1. Trailer Released for First Episode: “Party!”
2. Logo Contest Launches Today – Prize $300
3. World Premiere: Sept. 17-19. DVD Release: Oct. 5.

Like we mentioned in our last post, our internship program is not typical in any way, shape, or form.  We have no desire to belittle our interns with meaningless paper-shuffling or coffee brewing.  With the Fresh Fruit Pie internship program, our interns will earn real behind-the-scenes experience.  When finished with our program, interns will gain an edge needed to thrive in the brutally competitive entertainment business.

You’ve got my attention.  Give me details…

The first episode of Fresh Fruit Pie launches this fall, and there’s a huge amount of cool things that need to happen before then.  Interns will get ground-floor access to the workings behind this launch and build a portfolio of experience that can’t be purchased.

We will accept resumés and cover letters through April 9, 2010.  Internships start mid-May and last until mid-August.

Our internship positions are really exciting: titles like New Media Marketing, Public Relations, and Comedy Journalism.

Sure you’ve got cool job titles, but why work with a small film company instead of a big studio?

With a big studio, you’ll get lost in the hustle and bustle.  You’ll file papers in cabinets or get stuck making junky coffee all summer long.  Boring.  And think about it – would you really want something like the following on your resume?

Big Studio X. Paper Shuffler – Summer 2010
- Shuffled papers all day long while son of rich filmmaker from the 1970’s makes dumb movie off dumb script
- Got yelled at when I didn’t meet paper shuffling quota
- Took boss’s laundry to the cleaners in expedient and efficient fashion

We’re small and intimate, but we make as big a splash as we can.  With the Fresh Fruit Pie project, everything you do will directly make a difference.  Isn’t that what made you choose your major in the first place, to ultimately work on a team of talented people doing what you’re truly passionate about?

You got me… I’m sold.  So how do I sign up?

Check out our summer film internship position page to submit your resumé and cover letter.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Related posts:

1. Film Internships Coming Summer 2010
2. Best Logo Design Selected
3. Up Wins Best Animated Feature Film Oscar for 2010 … Duh

Why are we doing this?

At Fresh Fruit Pie, we have a vision for completely turning around kids and family entertainment.  For the most part, family entertainment has this stigma of being horribly boring and lame.

And that reputation would be correct.  Most family entertainment is lame.  Not only do adults gag at it, but many of today’s kids do too, which is why they often turn to TV made for grown-ups, with violence and adult themes flaunting all its glory.

Since we truly believe in this revolution, it would be pretty narrow-minded of us to focus only on our own show. It will take a huge movement to change this industry, which is why we’re getting things rolling in publishing an updated list of the top 10 videos in family entertainment.  If people purchase more of these titles, more will be made, and thus we change the industry in the most powerful way possible:  by voting with our wallets.

What are the selection criteria for this list?

Pretty tough, actually.  Quite a bit of research goes into this list, scouring several sources to present the top in family entertainment.  Here are the list’s requirements:

1)      Released on DVD in the last year

We all know that Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins are timeless, family-safe classics, but today’s kids don’t just want to watch movies that came out before mom and dad were born.  They want new, new, new!  They want the hottest and latest.  If we feed them a 100% diet of G-rated musicals from the 1960s, they will eventually be lured away to more modern content with adult themes.

2)      “Family-Approved” by the Dove Foundation

We really like these guys.  Our friends at the Dove Foundation have nearly the same vision as we do.  Their “family-approved” seal is hugely respected in the industry as an indicator that a video is safe for family viewing.  They are extremely strict in determining whether the content is “kid-safe” or not, which makes their seal highly valuable and trustworthy.

3)      Best-Seller or Rising Star

Good morals aren’t enough.  No kid wants to watch moral, but boring, garbage.  Adults either, for that matter.  One thing that’s been proven time and time again:  people vote with their wallets.  If something’s good, lots of people will buy it.  The cream naturally rises to the top.  So to fit this list, a video has to sell very well or at least show growing sales.

I was shocked how few titles fit these simple criteria.  Hours of research in creating the first revision of the list resulted in only eight currently available titles.  Two pre-order titles were added to fill the list to 10.  Hopefully, this won’t happen too often in the future, but it just goes to show how few videos there are out that fit the simple description of new, great family entertainment.

That’s why we’re so crazy about this vision to cause a revolt in the family entertainment industry.

Related posts:

1. A Revolution in Kids Videos
2. New Trailer Launches in May
3. Film Internships Coming Summer 2010

After a two week call for entries, another two weeks of online voting, and countless discussions over coffee and Kool-Aid, we’ve decided hands-down to select U.S. artist Luis Jauregui’s “Fruit on Pie Tray” logo submission as the winner of the Fresh Fruit Pie logo design contest.

We were very impressed by the logo’s fun, simple, unique, and edgy look. It’s a great concept that will take the Fresh Fruit Pie vision to a whole new level. We dig the bold color choices. We love the goofy, edible-looking smiley fruit characters. We especially grew attached to the pie tray, which has a striking resemblance to Cloud City from Empire Strikes Back.

Our standards were extremely high for the best logo design. It needed punch, pizzazz, eye-catching power, and giggle appeal. It also needed to look classic, iconic, and stand out on its own. The winning logo fulfilled all of those insanely strict requests – the best of all worlds rolled into one. We’re so excited to begin stamping this logo design on business cards, t-shirts, posters, this website, and of course most importantly, the DVD release in Fall 2010.

When starting the contest, we envisioned a logo so original and striking that when people see the logo by itself, they would immediately think of our show.  A great logo design can be recognized whether its brand name is printed next to it or not.  Look at Nike (swoosh), McDonalds (golden arches), Olympics (five rings), NBC (peacock), and AT&T (blue fork scratches across a white ball).  The images speak for themselves, and the brands are hugely successful.  Why shouldn’t we learn something from those successes?

We’re making progress.  Big progress.  And you’re a part of this exciting journey.   Stay tuned for upcoming, new behind-the-scenes stories, application info for our summer internship program, and coolest of all – an article about the grand-scale, Fresh Fruit Pie vision.  Good times.

Related posts:

1. Logo Contest Launches Today – Prize $300
2. Pick Your Favorite Logo – Vote Now!

We’ve got something exciting brewing at Fresh Fruit Pie.  Not something halfway exciting like most things, but really, truly exciting.

And this enticing nugget of news happens to be…(drumroll)…

A new Fresh Fruit Pie film internship program.  Summer – 2010. That’s right.  We’re opening the door to a few talented college students who want in on the action that’s coming with the release of Fresh Fruit Pie.

Looking for a way into the film industry? Our film internships will offer a fantastic way to break in.  Film internships are as good as (or even better than) taking college film classes, because instead of playing made-up games in an academic environment, you’ll play real games in the real world, with real audiences and real risk.

Why are we doing this? One of the toughest parts about the film industry is its extremely competitive nature and difficulty of breaking in.  It’s been said that getting a first job in the field is like trying out for the NBA – out of 100 applicants, maybe one will make it.

We’ve felt this pain ourselves.  Been there.  Done that.  The same thought repeats over and over again:  “If someone would just give me a chance to prove myself, I could really go far.”

But no one seems to be in the business of giving chances.

We’re going to change that.

We believe in giving chances.  We believe in creating opportunities that help students stick out from the crowd, to be the one in 100 that’s selected for the job.

And how do we plan to do this? By offering summer internships that themselves stick out from the crowd.

Most internships are famous for wasting their candidates’ summers away with endless paper shuffling and coffee brewing.  Instead, our interns will learn skills that are actually sought after in the entertainment industry: grassroots marketing and PR techniques, killer web content development, lean video production/distribution logistics, and much more.

We’re passionate about finding and nurturing future leaders, and if you qualify, you could very well be part of that vision.  Along with creating amazing shows, we’re helping create a new generation of bright and savvy film professionals.

As we get closer to the release date of the series’ first episode, there will be a flurry of activity around Fresh Fruit Pie: parties, screenings, media blitzes, street team storms, you name it.  If you’re a talented and eager college student highly interested in working in the entertainment industry, and you’re pumped to get swept into the frenzy that’s about to happen at Fresh Fruit Films, stay tuned to FreshFruitPie.com over the next few weeks as we finalize the announcements for our summer internships.

Related posts:

1. Summer Film Internships for 2010 are Here
2. Up Wins Best Animated Feature Film Oscar for 2010 … Duh
3. New Top 10 Kids Video List Launched

Excuse me. What does “in the can” mean?

“In the can” is a movie industry word that means footage has been filmed but not yet edited to a final video.  It comes from the old days when, after shooting, a finished reel would be placed into a special can to be sent to the film developer for processing.

“In the can” doesn’t mean packaging pork & beans into microwaveable tin cans.

Wait, tin cans aren’t microwaveable.  Well, scratch that, they are, but putting tin cans into the microwave can cause the microwave to melt, explode, or otherwise become permanently useless.*

How much footage does it take to make 20 minutes of a Fresh Fruit Pie episode?  So far, we’ve shot about 5 hours of total video.

Hold on a second, 5 hours?! Why 5 hours?

Normally, it takes a lot of bad footage to make a good video.  In the case of Fresh Fruit Pie, it takes a lot of good footage to make a great video.  That’s why we shoot 15 minutes of raw video for every 1 minute of finished video.  We care so much about Fresh Fruit Pie that we’re dedicated to make it one of the most hyper, jam-packed, crazy fun shows you’ll see this side of the Pacific Ocean (we hear Japan makes some wacky stuff).

A lot of exciting things are happening at the production studio.  Word on the street is that the next article on FreshFruitPie.com will give you a behind-the-scenes look at exactly how the mad scientists at Fresh Fruit Films do their work.  And over the next few weeks, our rogue production team will be wrapping up the shoot of the first episode.  So keep checking back for progress updates and the latest news.

* Hint:  if you turn on mom and dad’s microwave while anything metal is inside, you’d better be ready to spend the next ten years locked in your bedroom without Internet or video games.  DO NOT TRY AT HOME.  Instead, feed your curiosity by watching this video: