As with ANY investment or business partnership due diligence would have avoided this debacle. Though it may not sell, if the writing is good enough, they may remember you for future script assignments. Everything you do may seem like a waste of time—until it isn’t. Good sources of information on what is selling are: Animation World Network, ASIFA Hollywood, and Kid Screen Magazine. But I’ll guarantee you this—the only way you can win is by communicating and persisting. Everyone has a script—hairdressers, gardeners, pool boys, bartenders, Hells Angels, prostitutes—even writers. It'd still be rare to, you know, get your series made if you don't have contacts/experience, but it has indeed happened. The most likely response could be who are you and what company do you represent. That's what I think of when I talk about animation. It is not a genre. Jeffrey Scott has written over 700 animated and live-action TV and film scripts for Sony, Warner Bros., Disney, Universal, Paramount, Columbia, PBS, Sesame Workshop, Marvel, Hanna-Barbera and others. They have a huge number of people trying to give them ideas, they are really not short of them no matter how special you think your story is. I wrote this article to share whatever little I know. again, if you are coming from outside the industry i'd strongly advise partnering with others. Other than major studios, there are really only two categories of buyers: production companies and independent producers. Tunde Vollenbroek is a writer at Cartoon Brew, focusing on issues related to professional development. Thousands of times a year. Let’s assume you have a good script. Everyone has a script. It's more about who you know. Let them know you have a script. a friend of mine who already has very good relations and access to executives; would be very hesitant to go down the route of pitching because even if someone accepts your idea for a show, it could still mean losing ownership of your creations and your story might be changed beyond recognition. Thanks Laurie, when I see those numbers I get the point that no wonder animation films tend to come from big studios. What is known as an IP (Intellectual property) is a broad term related to all creations of the mind, when it comes to entertainment though, you can think of an IP as a story with characters, a video game, a comic book, a cartoon, etc.. basically anything that is original and you came up with it. TOONS! That's how Jennifer Lee became an animation writer and even Ted Elliot and Terry Rosio came from the live action world and were hired as project writers. Below is a poster of what I'm currently working on - making a movie called 'Killer Eyes'. Even if someone is able to give us a rough estimate,it would help us a great deal in this direction. There are several different steps that anyone who's trying to pitch their cartoon idea should know before they just go out and start submitting it to anyone who'll care to listen though. So I would advise you not to try to get an agent. Unfortunately, we have no idea of how much it will cost to produce it. The trick is selling it. Animation news you can use Support independent publishing. Please do not send me E-mails asking me to fund your project. Absolutely. None were true indies, right? It takes a lot more time, effort and (often) resources to make a feature-length animated feature of any kind. All Rights Reserved. have a "shelf" for Animation. Email me at GetJeffrey[at]JeffreyScott.tv. I would just focus on the story if it's good there are a few production companies that work differently than the studio system AND if it's good it could just be a great writing sample so that when a Dreamworks or Paramount has an OWA you have that sample to present for the job. Magazine Cartooning: How to Find Markets for Your Cartoons. Not only would that investor have go into hiding and change all of his contact information, but I would no longer be on his list of people he trusts. The Loonier the better. it's basically just presenting your idea to a potential buyer. Say you sell it for $5, you will only need 2000 views to get to that $10,000 figure we talked about earlier. Yeah, it helps if your script is good. The trick isn’t writing a script. Be the one who doesn’t give up. But not anymore. Each market list you find will give you lists of people interested in a certain type of product. Fact is 90+% of all animated features are comedy forward. Continue submitting your cartoon to different markets until someone agrees to purchase the idea. If you give up you’re just making room for the person who didn’t. It will cost you a bit, but a few hundred dollars spent to make a few good contacts is well worth it. And to make my blog as good as it can be I welcome your input. And I, for one, have a vast amount of nothing to share with you. For example, in the United States, most animated series are not pitched at production forums in the presence of distributors and broadcasters. When pitching you are trying to convince an executive to invest money in your idea which is an extremely difficult thing to do. To learn more about his craft and credits visit his website at www.JeffreyScott.tv. I have several projects available with marketable toy tie-ins. It is a hard sell. A general idea is good. Submit your cartoon for consideration. And he lands on mars successfully. Hi Lauran, From what I've read and partially experienced myself, SELLING an animated feature script is very, very rare. It is important to do your research beforehand and understand to whom you’ll be pitching your project and in what format. most chinese companies won't talk to people they don't have a relationship with but if you have a kick ass script you might get Xing Xing to read. If you've worked behind the monitor doing movie VFX or creating game assets for a long time, like many; you might have the dream of one day telling your own story or developing your own characters. Do the same with Facebook, Twitter, etc. During my years of attending and pitching at European markets like Cartoon Springboard and Annecy, I’ve scribbled down many do’s and don’ts about how to pitch at these events. There are probably tens of thousands of good scripts slowly being eaten by dust mites all over the world. How sell my Animation TV series . It doesn’t matter. Now they have layers of barriers: security guards, secretaries, assistants, bodyguards and an occasional moat (with and without alligators). Seems a shame. I solidly agree with Mayerson views, and I picked for you some of his blogs over here: Don't Pitch to Buyers, Pitch to the Audience Part 1, Part 4 and Part 6. An animated script is NEVER finished in that reality. You communicate with the networks that they are connected to. Do something different. We have a concept in mind and would like to turn it into 3D Animated TV series for kids. This series contains around 150 episodes. Now just for the record, I haven't yet actually created any IP or sold any animated series, but I worked for places like Lucasfilm where I was dumbfounded about the profit figures for licensing in an annual meeting, I also worked with smaller cartoon producers, have read a few books on the subject, done some research and asked around. Visit AWN on Twitter Visit AWN on Instagram Visit AWN on Google Plus Visit AWN on FlipBoard Subscribe to AWN. Sell their videos on a subscription or one-time-purchase basis Create and launch OTT video streaming apps for mobile devices and TV From entertainers to educators, Uscreen has worked with thousands of content creators from vastly different industries in helping them sell … I’ll address Hulu in another article, but for now, let’s focus on Netflix. Copyright 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. We’re in a visual industry after all. It is business first and art second. If the person you're after isn’t on LinkedIn it doesn’t matter. You should look to international sources. Go to conventions like American Film Market. By the way, I like the story concept.