Watchtoon.com Launches Family Friendly Cartoon Community

Kelly Bedrich, Co-Founder and President of Cypress Capital Investments, is continuing to realize his company core purpose “to build, operate, and improve sites that impact user’s lives” with his latest venture, Watchtoon.com. 

An innovative approach to video sharing, Watchtoon is focused on curating high quality, all-ages appropriate animated content for kids and parents to enjoy together, while attracting new animators to contribute unique videos. And you know what? It's exceptionally cool.

Bedrich's company, Cypress Capital Investments, was looking to invest in a website that would provide premium content to a targeted audience. "We wanted a place on the web where users could upload and share videos that were positive, safe and appropriate for our kids to watch. We also wanted a place for up-and-coming independent animators to share their creations, to get feedback, and hone their skills," he explained.

This project is remarkably well-suited to the core values held by Cypress Capital Investments, which include the motto "Innovation is everywhere." Bedrich founded his company this year, and it's clear that he is infusing all of his undertakings with the passionate, committed spirit that we saw from him during our interview. Certainly, the roots of Watchtoon speak to Bedrich's unique ability to blend his personal life into his professional endeavors, which speaks to another of his company core values--"Be true to yourself."

Bedrich began development on Watchtoon back in June after a road trip with his family inspired him to rethink capturing the attention of young minds, a daunting task in today's age of constant, competitive sources of input. Both of his kids were on their phones, and he finally managed to grab their interest by talking about some of their favorite classic cartoons. This was the lightbulb moment for Bedrich--"While we were talking, I wanted them to have a place where they could safely watch [cartoons] without getting distracted and also be able to share their own movie creations with other kids."

Bedrich worked closely with Seattle Software Developers, the cutting edge development firm located next to Google in Bellevue, Washington to craft a seamless, attractive site with an outstanding user interface that would be easy for their community to navigate--and they knocked it out of the park. 

Bedrich also took on the enviable task of finding great content to meet the needs of both kids and animators. As a cartoon fan himself, the role is a perfect fit. While he describes his favorites as "pretty mainstream," he fondly recalls Looney Tunes as a childhood staple. "What was fun about it was that it was just once a week on Saturdays and the cartoons themselves were seemingly random," he said. "The format would let the anticipation build until BOOM! Roadrunner would come on and the next 7 minutes would be awesome. Scooby-Doo and Peanuts also have special places for me. Looking back on them now, it’s really interesting to learn about the animation techniques that were invented/used and how they still appeal to new generations."

And how does he hope Watchtoon will appeal to future generations?

"My son and his friends are always making funny videos on their smart phones and they are very interested in editing and publishing these videos to share with their friends," Bedrich began. "They are also very interested in learning how animation works and how to use software to edit and create videos. We’re among the millions of people who love cartoons and animation in general. The field of animation has exploded in the last decade with advances in software and technology. Many universities and technical schools are creating outstanding curriculums in this field as the demand for qualified animators grows."

Bedrich's focus on the future is admirable, and shapes the direction he plans to take Watchtoon. In addition to creating a place for animators to share content, he would like to build it into a revenue model for those creators to sell their content. With both animation and comics spawning talented tastemakers who redefine pop culture and media, it's a testament to Bedrich's forward thinking approach to establish a home-base for their products. With children's animation powerhouses such as Adventure Time, The Legend of Korra, Steven Universe and Bob's Burgers dominating the airwaves, it's clear that the genre will thrive for decades to come.

Bedrich's awareness of the value of animation is precisely what makes Watchtoon special--while other large video sharing sites offer an unstructured, broad assortment of content, Watchoon is focused on one niche: kid friendly cartoons. With categories ranging from pets, sports, music, gaming, holiday, robotics, cooking and international, there truly is something for everyone. "While we recognize that we’re the new guy on the block we want to give our audience a fun, safe place where they can find good content and we as parents can feel good about what they’re seeing," Bedrich said. "We also want to partner with and serve the amazing animation talent that exists so that we can provide good content."

The site is now fully operational and truly delivers on Bedrich's vision, just six months after the original inception. From the web design, to the intuitive navigation, to the diversity of content, Watchtoon is an incredible accomplishment. 

For more information, visit www.watchtoon.com and www.cypresscapitalventures.com.

To contact Seattle Software Developers visit www.Seattlesoftwaredevelopers.com.