For the past few months, Fowler VW has been working with local video production company Seven Tummy on some fun YouTube videos. We think these folks are super cool and talented. So we wanted to share their story with all our friends. Check out our interview below with co-founders Erin McHenry and T.J. Clark.

What exactly is Seven Tummy and how did it get started?

Let me start by saying what Seven Tummy is not: Seven Tummy isn’t a production company in the traditional sense. We are more creative content producers that use the “one man band” style of production that is popular these days (except our band is a trio). Our trio is a multi-instrumentalist band of writers, photographers, producers, directors, actors, editors, designers, and more than can see an idea from beginning to end and create video content that is fresh and friendly to contemporary media, both social and traditional.

That’s the long version anyway. The short version would be “we make funny for the internet.”

Seven Tummy, quite simply, was started out of the need to do something. On a personal front, we were three laid-off creatives who didn’t want to go soft while unemployed. Professionally, we felt there was a void of web-style video content being created locally. We had a couple ideas for shows and lots of time on our hands so, basically, we just said “let’s do it.”

How did you come up with the name Seven Tummy?

We got kids to feed. We have seven children between the three of us, hence seven tummies that need to be fed (not counting our spouses and ourselves, of course, but the children come first. We do it for the children).

What other projects have you all worked on?

Rock Rulz, a music geek-out show was the first web-show we released. Soon to follow was Mondo Tulsa, a “Daily Show” style news show about current events in Tulsa, fun local business interviews and just random riffs on whatever the heck Rob wanted to rant about.

We have an entire laundry list of projects that we want to launch too, including a game show, a movie review show, music videos for local bands, and other variety shows/podcasts for more local businesses.

Tell us about your experience working with Fowler VW.

Working for Fowler VW has been amazing. Jonathan has given us so much creative control, pretty much just saying “make me laugh.” Jonathan’s humor spectrum is pretty wide so it’s been a blast stretching out to the far out realms of comedy. Volkswagen has such a fun vibe and history, too, so it’s a great subject matter for us. If nothing else, it gives us a great reason to make Rob dress funny and speak in a, uh… “German” dialect. Oh and also we got to show everyone the “Wiggle” in the name of VW. That alone has made it all worth it.

Erin, I know you and Jonathan go way back to film school at OU… got any fun stories on him?

As far as funny stories on Jonathan, I think he might actually have some funnier stories on me unfortunately. However, what is interesting about Jonathan and my relationship with each other is I remember the first class I had with him,”Guerilla Filmmaking.” I remember seeing him when I walked into class and noticing, “wow, that’s a nice looking fellow and I like his shoes.” As soon as class started, our teacher asked us to write a movie in order of “shots.” Instantly, Jonathan and I started to argue and disagree, and I knew who I wasn’t going to sit by for the rest of the semester. However, when it came to committing to final projects, there we were coincidentally interested in the same documentary on the race riots, which later won us a filmmaking award.  Instantly, I found out that Jonathan and I had very similar bizarre senses of humor.  Jonathan is my “brotha from anotha motha.”

What do you love about Oklahoma?

People call Oklahoma the “heartland,” but according to TJ, he has always seen it as the stomach. We get so much culture from surrounding areas filtered though our borders. Then Okies, being the way we are, take that influence, digest it, and do it the way we want. It’s literally a melting pot of ideas and history, fronted by that sooner pioneer spirit that makes us rowdy cowboys testing the rules. Only in Oklahoma can you find dudes like Garth Brooks and Wayne Coyne, masters of their specific genres, living side by side. We have unbearable cold in the winter and scorching humid heat in the summer. Oklahoma runs the scope, man.

“Plus, if Oklahoma is the stomach, that makes Texas the butt. And I like that.”-T.J. Clark