Another post about pitching an Animated Series. This if for the young students with a fantastic idea for a series. It suggests you might want to get a bit of experience before you call for a meeting.
A lot of the time, this blog reads like a lesson plan, notes for a book or a blowhard spouting off. Someday it may be all of those things, especially the blowhard part. But in this form I try to keep posts to a reasonable length so I may not cover every point that you might hear from me if we were sketching across the table from each other, sharing stories and Chai Tea at Priscilla's in Burbank.
I cut out a huge junk from the previous post about pitching. It felt negative to start out talking about pitching before you're ready. But then I got this comment from Michael Lachman:
Thanks for the advice, Tad. I hope to pitch my first pitch sometime this summer. By the way, what chance do you think a short 20 year old (who could pass for 13) and has no professional experience in animation have with scoring a development deal?
Chances are great... if you're closely related to somebody very high up in the network or studio you're pitching to, or if you have a hard drive in a very safe place, filled with "those kinds of pictures" of the various studio chiefs and development execs. If not, your chances are slim.
First off, you probably won't get a meeting. You know that development guy I talked about who can't say "yes" but acts as a filter for the really bad, redundant, ill-suited and mediocre pitches? Well, you get to him through a secretary who does the first culling. She'll probably ask who you're represented by.
It's not that they're dying to give 10 percent of your potential earnings to somebody who is not you, it's that they want the protection that an agent provides. In other words, they want to be assured that you're not a flake who will try to sue them because you pitch a show with a talking lemur and they put on a show with a talking koala, which is fuzzy just like a lemur. Also, the fact that you have an agent means that you have a certain level of quality in your work; at least one person thinks you will be selling enough work to make some coin for him. BTW, if you figure out a way around the this system, you'll probably piss everybody off.
You might get a chance to pitch if you become an intern at the studio or network where you want to work. I don't know how to become an intern. Different studios have different policies. But sometimes informal pitches or at least casual access to low level development execs are one of the perks. Being an intern is actually a great way to get a feel for things.
But let's forget about the difficulty of actually getting a face to face with somebody on the development ladder. When artists and writers ask me about pitching to development, I often say, "Don't do it." I say that to those who are brand new to the industry, brimming with enthusiasm with a sack filled with ideas they've been working on since eighth grade and a mindset nowhere near being jaded about the world of animation. Don't. Do. It.
Why not? Well, to begin with, you don't know how the industry works. You don't know how a production works. You don't know the cliche ideas, the character-types that no one wants to see or what costs a lot in a script and how to tell the same story cheaply. You need a give amount of time to just soak up the way things work. I trust you'll bring some new ideas and new energy to the table, but you want to know which table you're supposed to be sitting at.
But mostly, it's because I assume you want to be part of the development of your idea. A writer or artist that's only been in the industry for a year is most likely not ready to run a show. An artist might really be impressing people with his storyboard work but it will be a while before that kid is given a chance to direct (if he even wants to). Producing and animated series costs tens of MILLIONS of dollars. Who are you going to trust that money to? An artist with a distinctive style may be paired with someone developing a show but he won't be running the series.
Let's say you get the meeting and they love, love, love your idea. The contract will give you a couple of thou for just optioning your work. Waaaaaay down at the other end of the process, when they greenlight the series, you will get a big payment from them to actually buy your idea from you. (You don't get to own it) In the meantime, if things go well, there's a bible of some sort, an outline, a script and an animatic to be created from that script. None of that work is guaranteed to you. At each point, it will be at the studio'sdiscretion as to whether or not to use you. You'll probably get some sort of "consultant fee" along the way but the only way you get to write any of the above is if they feel you have the experience to pull it off. Otherwise, they can't take the risk. If you dig in your heels and demand to be the one who does all that, they'll walk away from the deal. They can't take the risk. Remember it's TENS of millions of dollars.
I'm not saying wait to make more money. I'm saying wait so that you can be the one to put words into the mouths of your characters, the one to determine the world they live in and the adventures they'll have. That's the joy of show running and you don't want to give it away because you didn't have the patience to wait and learn as much as you can.
And you know what happens as you wait? You get better. The idea gets better or gets tossed and replaced by a better idea. When to pitch? When you know that you can make the major creative contributions necessary to turn the idea into a series. When they'd be fools not to include you in every step of the way because you're the best one to develop it.
So being young looking doesn't hurt you, it's a plus, although the real trick is looking twenty when you're forty. Short? Not a factor. You'll be more memorable and easier for your pals to caricature.
Also don't pitch in November because everyone goes away for the holidays and nothing gets done until February. You probably want to avoid the weeks when new shows are debuting because that's all they'll be worried about.
Obviously this is not just a letter to Michael, it's to every student or young animation worker with an interest in pitching. May you alll have his ambition and confidence. -- Tad
Comments