My latest Bessina Maker short puts a little spin on children’s daydreams of being super cool things. I decided to explore the darker side of those innocent fantasies and show what could go wrong with them. It all plays out to a snappy little tune you can bounce your head to. Enjoy!

Much Love
Travis

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People of Earth! For the many of you who visit my site regularly you mot likely know me as THE RECEPTIONIST. If you don’t…well….catch up!

This year I am trying to take my little web series to the next level. That level is winning an award for my hard work and humor. The Streamy’s is basically the Academy Awards for web shows. It would be just dandy if you take a very short breath from your life, click the link and nominate me! The cool thing is, if you’re really dedicated you can do this once a day…but I’ll be more than happy with just the one nom.

Here’s all the info you will need:

Click HERE

Category : Best Comedy Series

Series Name: THE RECEPTIONIST

Series URL: www.youtube.com/thereceptionist

To all who help me I sincerely thank you. I could not ask for a cooler and more supportive audience.

Much love

Travis

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Nothing like a family musical slaughter to get your day going! Here is my latest construction paper creation. Enjoy!

Much love
Travis

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I couldn’t resist. I had to make one more Halloween themed Receptionist episode. This one explores the fictional origins of how the Jack-O-Lantern may have come to be. Enjoy, and happy Halloween to everyone!

Much love

Travis

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I’m finally back with a new episode of The Receptionist! This week you are getting a gothically delicious Halloween treat! I got pretty involved with the sets and camera with this one, so it took me a little longer than usual. Hope you enjoy. Tis the season to be spooky!

Much love
Travis

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While thinking up new ideas for Receptionist shorts I realized I’d never done a panel to panel comic strip style. This seemed odd as my use of paper seems perfectly geared for just that type of experimentation. Thus the hilariously inanimate object world of police justice was born. Originally I thought this was going ot be a quick and easy one to make…but damn I was wrong. I had to hang the characters from the ceiling along with their speech bubbles, all the while lining them up with me in the shot. No easy task. In the end I am happy with how it turned out visually. Sure I could just use photoshop and make my life easy…but that would defeat the entire world and tone of The Receptionist. I hope you will enjoy, and if you haven’t already, SUBSCRIBE to the series HERE!

Much love
Travis

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Here’s a RECEPTIONIST classic! For more short films made out of construction paper SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Much love

Travis

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I know it’s been awhile, but I finally got off my ass and made a new RECEPTIONIST episode. I tapped into my love of horror once again and made this one extra creepy with a side of giggle sauce. Enjoy!

Much love

Travis

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My independent web series, The Receptionist, seems to be the only artistic thing I do which occasionally puts a little scratch in my wallet. Mostly, I believe, this is because I do it alone and my budgets never reach any higher than $0.00. With no one to pay back I am the sole beneficiary of all the George Washington’s that come my way due to my construction paper world. Oh, how lovely it is to pay my phone bill every so often!

My first paid gig as The Receptionist was nearly 3 years ago when I had just started my channel on YouTube. Back then there weren’t as many personalities and people clawing tooth and nail to be popular. It was much easier to build an audience and a small group of devoted people had found me. An advertising representative recognized my tiny audience and paper-laced madness and contacted me and a few others to create online promo’s for their new movie, Let’s Go to Prison. We were to basically do a video in our own style with the idea of presenting tips on surviving prison life. I was paid a small fee which gassed up my car and got me a few nights of Taco Bell. Here is that video:

 

After that, my channel continued to grow. It was never a subscriber behemoth or anything, but people were discovering my shorts every day and I was developing a bigger audience. So I kept on making um! Suddenly, I am contacted by Comedy Central. They love The Receptionist and are looking to buy content for their web division (which later became atom.com). The CC bought 5 of my old episodes and commissioned me to create 5 new ones as well. This was a very exciting opportunity as I was making these shorts just like I was before, only now I was being paid. The money was nice and allowed me to pay some bills and move out of my 1 room apartment and into a place with dividing walls and rooms with names like, bedroom and kitchen. Here’s an episode I made specifically for Comedy Central:

The Receptionist: Frog Sucks

When I finished the new 5 for CC, they did not hire me to make any more. They played on T.V. a few times but eventually (like most web content) they were forgotten. I went back to YouTube and brushed the cobwebs off the channel. I never started making these for money, and money wasn’t going to stop me from continuing to make them. Thus began, what I call, The Receptionist: Season 2. I was back in production and the episodes were larger in scope, using more of my world and sprinkling in more music than before. Sure I was now a YouTube partner, but anyone who is a partner can tell you (aside from a few choice and lucky individuals) that the money barely exists. If you’re a partner for the money then you are in big trouble. So, recently YouTube contacted me (and a few other’s) to create a promotional piece for HP. They were holding a contest and needed example videos. They would pay me to make a 1 minute video about anything I wanted. I just had to be creative and not show my face. I was going to be making a new video anyway, so why not get a little greenback for it? I created this video for YouTube and HP:

3 years running, and The Receptionist is still the champ for money brought in from artistic endeavour. Perhaps someday I will be paid to make feature films, but until that black magical day arrives, I will be enjoying the process of the construction paper short…and if it happens to pay a bill here and there….so be it.

Much love

Travis

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I always enjoy doing musical Receptionist episodes. I’d probably do them more often if I had the time and the musical resources. This is one I have been meaning to make for a long time now, but always got lazy and made something else. Well, I finally got my shit together and here it is. Enjoy the hell out of it!

Much love
Travis

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