My ears are still ringing from attending E3 last week.  But this time I came away with a much different perspective on the industry. 

I attended the very first E3 way back in the dark ages of 1994.  I ventured into a male dominated world of shooters, racing and “boobalicous” avatars (as well as booth babes).  I was one woman out of maybe a hundred or more young men to attend.  I was there to see what the animation potential from this renegade group from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), would have for a mere mortal animation studio. 

You just don’t make animation and then play it, in the game business.  It is a unique combination of equipment, programming/technology and art. 

What happens at these markets? Who goes?  Let me lift the curtain on these shows.  All of these conventions were created for the purpose of buying and selling television shows. Just so you know, there are markets for the sales of feature films, music, games and other content, which I will talk about in the future.  But let’s concentrate on the “small screen” for the time being. 

Co-productions seem to be the standard for most independent animation projects.  But what does this mean?  Where does this money come from?  Today’s co-productions are as solid as a house of cards.  A small breeze and the whole thing could collapse. It all starts with a great concept? So, one would think.  But really it is sort of a convergence not a start.  The first card is a great concept.  Will the show idea appeal to an audience?  Can it be translated into a brand?  Will it be accepted beyond the US territory?  Can there be a life beyond the series? 

Thirty, forty and even fifty meetings in four days is nothing.  But the question is the quantity yielding the quality?  The more people you meet with the more information gathered, but if your purpose is to sell a show to a distribution company, then targeting distributors early in the appointment making is critical. 

For television, money eventually comes from ad sales. Advertising is what the acquisition executives, programming executives and development executives look toward when making a decision on content.  Will the show attract viewers? 

Commercials have the highest budgets above any other type of production. The advertiser only has 30 seconds to convince the viewer to buy their brand of toilet paper.   Frame for frame a commercial costs more then even LORD OF THE RINGS. 

When I say to friends and family that I am off to New York, France or other parts of the world, they all are envious.  They think that I am off for a couple of meetings and then off sunbathing on the Cote D’Azur or drinking at some swank place in the Big Apple. No Way!

I am still preparing to go to MIPCOM.  I have my flight, my apartment and great room mates all arranged.  But I got a late start on making appointments.  At this time I usually have about 40 or 45 appointments.  So far, I have about 30 with 10 days counting. 

However, I must say, these appointments are ones that want to see me for the right reasons. They have business to discuss, not just a meeting to kiss on the cheeks and pass the time.  So quality over quantity is what I am going for.

Now that sunlight is being cast on my KidScreen notebook I am assessing the results.  I must say it was a more positive event then in the past.  One major player asked me for production bids for a television series. Another company asked for a client to quote on a style of animation for a DVD feature.

I thought I was the only one who came to the realization that I’m not coming home with signed contracts.  As a successful producer and creator of content, she said that her expectations are the same as mine. But would she miss a market?  No.