by Russell R Cera
If you happen to find yourself in Ridley Park Pennsylvania, strolling past The Gas Light Restaurant on Hinckley Avenue, you might just notice that Summertime Fun In The Sun has hit in full force! Spread across the historic establishment's front windows, James Lincke's GUARDS, (created and produced by James Lincke and Russell R Cera of RJA Creations) is making it's exciting promotional debut splash! GUARDS, if you haven't been keeping up on RJA Creations' productions, is currently being developed for eventual submission to networks as a family friendly wild and "Wunderful" animated television show!
Why "Wunderful" you ask?
The story revolves around the dashing lifeguard extraordinaire Wilton Wunder and his daily misadventures while working at a local, run down swim club! Wil is joined by a diverse cast of heroes, heroines and villains, all who have a major part to play in whether their Swim Club can keep it's doors open or if it gets shut down for good! Rupadega Park Swim Club (the R.P.S.C. for short), as well as the entire town of Rupadega Park is lovingly inspired by, you guessed it, Ridley Park, Pennsylvania! In other words, art is imitating life with all of the wild wacky adventures of the animated series mirroring real life places, people, events and experiences!
Ridley Park's own James Lincke as well as his brother Wil, were the real life inspiration for Wunder's character who not so coincidentally is documenting all he hears and sees at the club to eventually develop a tell-all animated series, just like the actual creator of GUARDS had done for over a decade! Even with James putting so much artistic effort into GUARDS over all that time, he still wasn't exactly sure how to translate all of the delicious ingredients into a marketable, congruent piece that best demonstrated what he wanted GUARDS to be. Yet in 2007, James would meet another artist with similar creative goals as himself, breathing new life into the production.
Enter Russell R Cera of West Chester, Pennsylvania and the formulation of RJA Creations (the combined creative efforts of James (Lincke) and Russell. "When James first showed me GUARDS, meaning all of his conceptual art, notes, writings and video, I didn't know quite what to make of it." Says Cera. "I knew it was brilliant, but there was so much, almost too much; more groundwork than entire production studios filled with talented people could produce. It was so personal and truly overwhelming to witness."
In 2008, James and Russell decided to make GUARDS their first and cornerstone project of RJA Creations, finally hammering everything down into a well conceived product. "It wasn't until James completed the final illustrations of the cast and I had rendered them in full color that I truly recognized that GUARDS could in fact, become a very real entity. Then we began writing a full 22 episode first season and it really just jumped right off the page! The characters were breathing, living; they all interacted in deeper ways than their images could relate and so each one became an identifiable persona. Then an underlying storyline was born amidst this series of zany adventures and it was suddenly achievable to the both of us."
Now, the duo are only a short length from completing a lavish illustrated visual pitch book guide as well as a fully written pitch treatment they hope will really open some eyes in the entertainment industry. "I can't for the life of me imagine that people in the industry will not find Guards entertaining or intriguing enough to at very least consider it a viable show." Russell adds. "Even if the work is submitted through the proper channels and the reaction is not what we're hoping for, it will not be because GUARDS isn't expertly produced. We are putting all of our creative effort into illustrating and writing, crossing T's and dotting I's, making sure everything is understandable and for all intents and purposes, real."
Alongside with producing the confidential work for submission, James and Russell really wanted to share this creation with the public in a way that not only served to protect the entity but garnish a groundswell of support. In 2012, the lifeguardstudio blog spot was born - a potpourri of art and story, personal thoughts and reflections all based on and surrounding the GUARDS universe. "You'll find just about anything you can imagine on lifeguardstudio." Says Jim Lincke "Short of us revealing the entire story, GUARDS is in fact being self published, has an easily accessed portal to communicate the idea and intent and is all about just having fun during the creative process! We want to share that fun with anyone willing to join us on the journey!"
In June of 2012, RJA Creations also presented their productions at the Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con, where GUARDS was again a key component in getting their message out. "It was brilliant getting to share our creative efforts with the people that are, in fact, your hopeful audience. In the end, it has to speak to fans moreover than anybody!" Says Jim.
The Gas Light also intends on holding a "Meet The Artists" night in the near future, where both James Lincke and Russell R Cera will be hosting to meet the good patrons, talk about GUARDS, RJA Creations and their ongoing efforts to bring their projects to life! They will also be promoting their recently opened Indiegogo campaign, where the artists hope to raise funds for delivering GUARDS to would be parties for consideration. By donating to the campaign, all funds will go directly to the production of GUARDS as well as RJA Creations for the sole purpose of seeing these works through for public entertainment. Also, the contributor is gifted back a series of "perks", depending upon their donation amount.By donating to the RJA Creations campaign, one can look forward to owning original or fine art prints as well as t shirts and other merchandise created exclusively by the artists of RJA Creations!
As for the Gas Light Restaurant itself, this quaint piece of Ridley Park history is home to a wonderful menu as well as their newly opened Stone Grill dining experience! The ambience is intimate with landmark local history adorning the walls of it's quaint dining areas, back patio, as well as full bar. Please visit the Gas Light Restaurant website for more information!
So please do stop by if you're a resident of Ridley Park or even if visiting from out of town! Not only will you enjoy a memorable dining experience at the Gas Light Restaurant you'll also have a chance to join in all the Summertime Fun in the Sun at THE GUARDS GALLERY AT THE GAS LIGHT!
HAMMERHEADS HO!!!!
