Diabolical U.
The animated series of Hell on earth.
Genre: Comedy (mature)
Demographic: Adults aged 19 – 35
Format: 15 - 18 minute episodes, 8 - 10 episodes per season, multiple seasons
Demographic: Adults aged 19 – 35
Format: 15 - 18 minute episodes, 8 - 10 episodes per season, multiple seasons
The Devil will see you now…
Diabolical ‘U’
At 'Diabolical University,' Satan, with the help of his loyal minions Goat and Doomerang, teaches a wickedly entertaining class in the dark arts of diabolical behaviour to students whose past actions have fast tracked them straight to hell after their demise.
At 'Diabolical University,' Satan, with the help of his loyal minions Goat and Doomerang, teaches a wickedly entertaining class in the dark arts of diabolical behaviour to students whose past actions have fast tracked them straight to hell after their demise.
Synopsis:
Imagine taking a university ethics class taught by Satan himself. With the assistance of an entity called Doomerang and a hapless goat named Goat, Satan leads his students through increasingly diabolical acts, each designed to test their cunning and malevolence. Success in these trials ensures a higher status in Hell's hierarchy. Despite each class lasting several hours, the students barely perceive any time passing.
Imagine taking a university ethics class taught by Satan himself. With the assistance of an entity called Doomerang and a hapless goat named Goat, Satan leads his students through increasingly diabolical acts, each designed to test their cunning and malevolence. Success in these trials ensures a higher status in Hell's hierarchy. Despite each class lasting several hours, the students barely perceive any time passing.
Diabolical University is built on a direct portal to Hell, creating a chaotic and unpredictable environment. Although the concept is new for Satan and his associates, they’ve decided to document the experience live as a reality series.
Viewers can expect a substantial amount of mishaps, including set malfunctions, policy infractions, and candid behind-the-scenes moments, providing a unique glimpse into the underworld's most diabolical educational experiment.
Character Designs:
Satan and GOAT - Satan’s red right hand.
Satan is in reality a shapeless entity, and therefore has to assume a body that is recognizable to humans. He has chosen the figure of a marionette found in the street shops of Tijuana.
GOAT is, well, a goat.
A devout French Canadian Catholic and his twin brother die in a boating accident. By divine plan, Goat was destined for heaven while his brother was supposed to go to hell. However, due to a clerical error in the afterlife, their destinies were swapped: Goat ended up in hell, and his brother ascended to heaven. Faced with an overwhelming amount of paperwork to fix the mistake, both God and Satan decided to let the error stand.
Frustrated and indignant, Goat frequently complained to Satan about the injustice. Despite several warnings to cease his grievances, Goat persisted. Finally, Satan, fed up with the incessant complaints, turned Goat into an actual goat.
Frustrated and indignant, Goat frequently complained to Satan about the injustice. Despite several warnings to cease his grievances, Goat persisted. Finally, Satan, fed up with the incessant complaints, turned Goat into an actual goat.
Preview episode: GOAT - behind the scenes
Episodes are developed using a combination of 2D and 3D animation with rigged characters. Lipsync is achieved on the fly using Adobe Character Animator, allowing for live performances and interviews with the characters being voiced in real time.
At the Devil's command, GOAT is constantly researching ways to expand their marketing reach. To reduce the time he actually has to spend with the Devil, he has convinced his highness that some of their appearances could be AI generated. Given that the Devil is a shapeless form, GOAT knows that he will appreciate not having to be present in costume all of the time.
Diabolical U. is a production in development by Secunda Persona:
Leroy Bakelmun - Co-creator / writer
Born in London UK, 1961 to a Dutch Burgher-Singhalese father and British mother, I grew up in Montreal, QC after my family immigrated to Canada in 1967. As well as apprenticing in my grandmother’s painting studio, I was an active participant-observer of the cultural underground scene in Montreal in the 1980s, collaborating with visual and performance artists and fronting the post-punk rock bands “Leroy and the Tour Guides” and “Satan’s Landlord.” After spending time in my father’s native Sri Lanka, I returned to Canada, moving to Vancouver in 1997 where I established Geogem jewelers, a bespoke design-build fine jewelry house. After a sojourn in California, where I founded Reliabrite, an LED lighting design company, and worked as a fine jewelry designer and appraiser, I returned to British Colombia in 2017 and developed my practice as an abstract painter in Victoria. As a BIPOC immigrant, my work uses abstraction and diasporic traces to explore issues of center and periphery, subalterneity, globalization, belonging, and identity.
Jayeson Lyonns - Co-creator / artist
Born in BC, and raised near a rodeo in Innisfail, Alberta, Jay is a visual artist working out of his studio in Victoria, BC, gathering inspiration from a theatre Fox, the streets of East Van, old motorcycles, and musical instruments. On his return from academia at The Alberta University of the Arts (known then as ACAD), he was recruited into game development at Electronic Arts, and has since explored the landscapes of commercial advertising, website development, and fine art exhibitions. “My foundations are in drawing, and I often work with block prints and watercolours. I’m currently working with mixed reality content for advertising, animated short films, tattoos and music videos. I’ve always been keen on technology, having developed interactive applications and games since I was first introduced to the computer, however there must be a balance between screen time and getting your hands dirty. Working with Augmented Reality helps to bridge that void between the virtual and physical worlds.” Having lived his formative years on a farm, Jay also enjoys working on machinery, which could explain his work in printmaking, and most probably his obsession with old motorcycles.
Alison Jenkins - Music - https://onelittlefox.com/
With vocals that can leap from high and ethereal to a whiskey-soaked gutpunch- often in a single song- LittleFox explores genres from folk/pop and roots, to blues and even cabaret. Guided by the textures of violin, mandolin, pedal steel, accordion, ukulele, and banjo, and locked in by a rock-solid rhythm section, LittleFox features the original songs of singer/multi-instrumentalist Alison Jenkins, and her thoughtful original songs are about love, death, longing, belonging, and finding your way in strange times.
Her first EP, Desire Lines, was released in Spring 2022, and her second EP, Ghost In This House, produced and recorded by World Peach Records, was released in May 2023. A single, Vesuvius, followed in May 2024. Her next EP, tentatively titled Natural Disasters, will be released in the summer of 2025.
While the recordings are an intimate showcase of Jenkins' songwriting skill, LittleFox's live shows bring exceptional passion and energy to the stage, whether they're performing as a solo act, a 5-piece, or even a 9-piece with a string section! LittleFox has performed at many of Vancouver's beloved live music venues, including the Heatley, The Painted Ship, the Sylvia Hotel, and Gastown's Guilt & Co. They have played the White Rock Buskers Festival, the White Rock Blues Festival, and the 2023 Khatsahlano Street Party.
The current band lineup consists of: Alison Jenkins (lead vocals, ukulele, banjo, accordion), Allan Haley (pedal steel, mandolin), Masae Day (violin, vocals), Alex Marr (drums), and David Marr (electric bass, vocals).
