I know this is asking a lot.... (new children's animated shorts)

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I know this is asking a lot.... (new children's animated shorts)

My Dad passed away last Feruary. While he was ill I was inspired to create a children's cartoon, which I have dedicated to my Dad. He saw some of the work before he went and knew I was dedicating it him. I have just finished doing an animated promo showcasing some of the characters and the whole idea. My © and legalities are just about finished and I will soon put this on a website for all to see (right around xmas). I have the hopes of bringing the cartoon shorts to television. What I am asking is... who should I be talking to first to get this ball rolling? I have a pilot written and more episode ideas written as well as many more characters, etc. I am just not sure where to start now that it is ready to be looked at by the industry. It's an innovative, animated cartoon idea. It's for young children, like a Saturday morning shorts type thing, maybe 2 cartoons per half hour.... I am unsure weather to approach animators, animation studios, other production studios, tv stations, which companies? Although I animated the clip, It's more the writing and production that I am interested in. Should I be looking for animators to do the pilot myself or should I look for a company interested in handling the whole project. Well, as you can see, I have never done this before... and this is where I am starting..right HERE. Tonight I have a "premiere" for all those who helped in making the promo... voice-overs, camera lending for an interview for the website, etc. The finished promo has only been seen by family members so far, some young children who love it already.... good feeling. Well, thank you for reading this and I look forward to hearing from those in the know, as to what my next steps might be. I know it's hard without seeing my work yet, but it's greatly appreciated. Who knows.... this might be the Next Big Thing.

Jeff

Your best bet would be to create a production bible consisting of all the material you have and pitch that to the local networks. There's yearly pitching sessions in LA, I imagine there's something similar in Canada. You should probably just contact the networks and ask them for further information.
Remember that these things tend to take a looooong time, so don't expect to get this off the ground in a month or two.

good luck,
~D

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy [i]-Tom Waits
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Thanx Dave...

This "bible"... does that mean my animated demo, storyboards, sketches, written story ideas, other character picutres, etc.? Does it all need to be on disc, shown on my laptop or is paper good as well? I take it I would meet with them personally as opposed to "sending" anything?

Since I only have a promo animation of some of the characters.... if a network is interested, what happens as far as actually putting the episodes together, animating, etc? Does the network do those things or will it be up to me to supply these things... and do you know what happens as far as $ is concerned if a network is interested?

Sorry for another BARRAGE of questions.... I'm just trying to get some idea of the steps involved and what actually happens if someone is interested.

Thanx again for your advice,

Jeff

The bible is basically the entire package you have (concept, script, designs, characters, animation, etc). It varies.

check out these articles about pitching :

http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&sval=pitching&article_no=1962

http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&sval=pitching&article_no=193

http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&sval=pitching&article_no=268

They'll answer more questions than I can ;)

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy [i]-Tom Waits
[/i]

Hi Jeff,

Dave is right, pitching the bible to the local networks is your best bet. I have some experience in pitching the ideas for an animated show to a TV Network, which I can share with you.
Me and my friend got this idea which we thought could be made into an animated show. We fleshed out the characters both writing wise and drawing wise. We created some stories and back stories and once when we were assured with the concept, we created a short 2 minute pilot. Since we are both animators it was easy for us to produce the pilot to give an idea to the network about the eventual look of the show. Then along with the pilot and all the other material (character sketches, character descriptions, inspirational drawings, synopses etc) whic is also called 'Bible' in animation jargon, we approached a network.
You can take appointment with the programming department of your local networks and then meet them personally and present your package to them (You can find telephone numbers of the networks through industry resource websites on the internet) You can also attend one of the trade shows which keep taking place the whole year round such as Natpe, Mipcom Jr, Mifa etc and screen your work there for potential buyers. You can produce a short animated film with the characters of your show and enter it into various film festivals. Most sucessful TV series have their origins in short films. There are plenty of ways of getting your idea out, just spend some more time on internet and you will get most of the info you need.
Now it's one thing to pitch a show to the network and it's another thing to get it green lit. Dave is right when he says that it takes a loong time before your idea can get off the ground, but then you shouldn't be in animation if you are not patient. Usually the main roadblock in the production of an animated show is Money. If you don't have an animation studio, you need services of some studio, this would cost money and somebody has to pay for it. It could be you or it could be the network. Usually networks don't like to produce, they like to acquire. So if somehow you can produce your show you can sell easily to the networks which in turn will broadcast your show. There could be several ways of getting funding for your idea, you will basically have to keep trying.
Once if you have the idea in place for your animated show and the money to produce it, then there is little which can stop your show from being on TV. Feel free to ask for more information on this subject.

Regards,
HelterSketler.

Great advice & info...

Thanx to you guys I am gaining some knowledge on this whole thing. I will spend some more time looking at those links Dave and get my "bible" together & if you can, HS, can you maybe elaborate a little more on the funding aspect? Also, did u get your show on television? If so, what exactly did you do from that point? Get funding? Self animate? Thanx again and anything else at all ya's can add here will be great...

Thanx,

Jeff