Selling a series... how?

Mature product does not sell well in our markets.

How would you rate "Ghost In The Shield"? I see it as a produce that is out side brocaster norms but I think it would play well on day time television.

style and more-mature content are greatly desired

Can you define 'more mature'?

-C-

How would you rate "Ghost In The Shield"? I see it as a production that is outside broadcaster norms but I think it would play well on day time television.

Take a look at the roster of animated cartoons broadcast in North America and tell me what kind of material--juvenile or mature--predominates.

There are multi-layered biases AGAINST mature animated material on this side of the pond--from consumer to producers to broadcasters.
Its not a question of what is BETTER, it is a question of the trends up until now and that trend has been towards mostly juvenile material.

By "mature", I simply mean the presence of elements, character designs, plot devices, language and sexuality which would not be, currently, deemed appropriate for American children under the age of 16, based on the current accepted social standards. Pretty simple, although it confuses me why the word "mature" has been focused on so heavily.. did I miss some past posts about the word? Come on, lets be real.

Mature material is an issue in North American animation because there is such a strong assocation here that cartoons are meant for children. You have the impressions of consumers, producers, broadcaster and distributors to overcome. That one simple word/label saddles any prospective concept with a weight that more often than not makes the project VERY difficult to get off the ground.
You can count the number of mature-subject-matter animated cartoons currently being broadcast on any kind of regular or prominent schedule on one hand, with fingers reserved--and thats in the shadow of hundreds of other cartoons.
That has not been from lack of effort-because the same themes ARE being produced in other mediums--proving that a interesting inthose themes does exist. In the animation medium, however, the PERCEPTION is that mature material seldom works--again because the perception is that the medium is suited (a bias) towards juvenile material.

There's a percieved mismatch in theme and medium--kind of like trying to match a pornographic film with a sock-puppet show ( and extreme example, but it illustrates the point).
Its not a impossible or insurmountable task though--championing something like mature cartoons is really predicated on the seller's marketing skills and the vision of any interested supporting parties. Its FINDING those two elements and linking them together that will be the hard part and, sadly the only way to do that is get out and wear down the shoe leather.
Its an uphill battle.

One of the great old questions --that's saved many a production, and many a audience ( from a "production") is this one:

Does this have to be animated?

Should the idea be in live-action, instead? CGI? A comic book? Or something else?

Consider that if one is looking at a "style"--that with modern digital film making and CGI effects that style is now a relatively moot point.
Sin City is a striking example of a stylized "live-action" cartoon, something not really possible (or practical) until now.
The ability to manipulate imagery in film in all respects means that the restriction to themes/genres in media is becoming blurred.

Or is it?

We've all been subjected to the horrific cartoon-to-live-action productions and almost all of them ( without exception) blow chunks. They dont work, more often than not, because the demands of supsension of disbelief are harder to gain the more whimsical the visual information is.
There are incongruities to this idea: Babe--about the talking pig--is a marvelously stylized whimsy film--its storybook charm sets it clearly outside reality and ups its fantasy.
The Flintstones, Popeye, Scooby-Doo drek essentially have to resort to parody to get across their logic-Universes--this is because the logic in those Universes falls apart in reality--having a fragility like a soap bubble.

Likewise, sophisticated adult themes fail alot in a animated production.

A animated "Silence of the Lambs" movie anyone??
Of course not, the sincerity of the story and premise become less in a animated medium, and when that sincerity is lost the audience stays away.

Watership Down-a classic "dark" story involving decidely un-dark creatures ( bunny rabbits) is almost never heard of being on anyone favourite animated films list. Its a noted work, its a serious effort--but its too serious.
Conversely,it'd be like launching a serious drama with the title: The Baby that bagged Bin Laden.
You just KNOW that tongue is certainly impaled in cheek on that one.
Its a obvious mismatch of concepts.

This is the cultural bias that has to be overcome.
Animation is a film genre that is as valid as live-action, yet its perceived to be the place-holder for juvenile fantasy and along with that, very simple, very narrow ranged themes addressed to children.
Its a good fit and has been so for decades.
Cartoons are the modern fairy-tales of old, re-told for today.
That being the assumed case, children that grow out of "fairy-tales", also tend to grow out of "cartoons".

Does this thinking make cartoons into some kind of visual pablum?
Oh, probably--they have been that way for years.
The trouble ( and the culinary metaphor) is that adding more adult ingredients doesn't really make pablum "taste" any better. Some folks can pull it off by fiddling/tweaking/adjsting/disgusing etc the stuff, but then what is it in the end?
Adding sophisticated themes to animation is really just like adding fortifying nutrients to pablum, IMO, because it depends on where you come from.
Some (visual) diets like it that way, others don't.

I've seen marvelous "mature" animated films--from IRON GIANT, to Heavy Metal, to Spirited Away to Wings of Honameise.
From MY perspective--these all had merits, but..........I have to ask that question up above: did they have to be animated???

Again, with the tools of today at hand, the answer is no. A Spongebob cartoon is different because its wholy a farcical/whimsical romp thatonly works well in the specified realm of the cartoon. Spongebob in a REAL environment simply does not work--the logic ( illogic??) touchstones that make Spongebob happen in a cartoon come across as trite in a live-action situation.
This is why I, and I think so many others question the practicality of mature themes in animation. Its a niche interest, it has an audience (but the size is anyone's guess), but I've always doubted whether that audience is large enough to make such a trend a staple.

Still does it HAVE TO BE animated??

Question for the ages.

Ahem--take a look at the North American animation market--there's very LITTLE "more-mature" content in shows being made.
Its cheaper to import previously produced and broadcast anime from Japan than it is to even attempt to produce it here.

Do you know your market?

There's your biggest clue as to how to proceed.

I suggest you learn more about the domestic animation industry--it'll mean putting realist in front of idealist.
Its not a "fun" business--there's no pretention in saying that, and I'm a serious artist. I've been in the biz for over 20 years now and I've seen the rise of the anime genre in North America--its ALL been brought about by imports.

There's a lot of folks trying to champion "anime"-style shows in North American animation--they have been doing so for over a decade. What ends up being produced are these distantly associated, faux-anime derived/pseudo-stylized shows that, at best, BADLY ape BAD anime.

Mature product does not sell well in our markets. Broadcasters are squeamish about what the word "mature" entails--hence what gets made is stuff they understand, or pap. Cartoons in North America, are aimed at children--there's a huge tide of not only network, but public association to cartoons here to break up. Good luck.

Don't take my word for the dismal outlook--do the research for yourself. If you truly believe in your idea you owe it to the idea and yourself to learn what the skinny REALLY is.
If your findings put the lie to what I've written here (which I doubt) then you can take those hard numbers ( which you will need) and use them as collateral to make your pitch even more solid.