What's the best approach to pitching an animated TV show idea to a studio?
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My suggestions would be:
-polish the package and create a quality marketing image
-offer a promo kit too for the show e.g. :10's, 15's & a :30
-do the unusual e.g. send pizzas for th whole staff with the delivery pizza joint including the dvd / beta / vhs (think "gorilla marketing)
-locate and convince a distributor and get in the back door
-get a fortune 1000 company to buy in on a pre-sponsorship agreement
-start small - go local access channels & build your own mini-network in small 1 - 2 channel markets
Just think "outside the box" and stay the course. Of course this is after you have held a focus test group to see the show has merit likely done before you sink $250K into the first 13.
Have fun but be patient.
What exactly goes into a promo kit? Or by that did you just mean money. :rolleyes:
Order my book Jesus Needs Help on Amazon or download on Kindle.
You can also read the first 18 pages of my next book for free at this link: The Hap Hap Happy Happenstance of Fanny Punongtiti
Try every concievable means, including clothing-optional pitches.
You AND the audience.
"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)
Are you sure you don't mean "guerilla" marketing? Or is that Hanna-Barbera humor? :)
on-air produced station promos with holes for station id's, sponsors, etc..the less the station has to produce, the more complete the package looks. :D
yep...glad you're tooned in :)
Okay, what if you have absoluely no money to do any of those things mentioned above? What if all you have are character designs and treatments to show people?
What then? :confused:
Order my book Jesus Needs Help on Amazon or download on Kindle.
You can also read the first 18 pages of my next book for free at this link: The Hap Hap Happy Happenstance of Fanny Punongtiti
Each company has their own guidelines. Here's my story in the smallest nutshell I can part with:
I have a story that I want Nickelodeon to be a part of in the worst way. I have hopes of a simultaneous animated and live-action version of the same story (think "Sabrina the Teenage Witch").
According to Nickelodeon, they won't accept pitches unless you have an entertainment attorney or an agent. I have neither.
Undaunted, I continued to look for opportunities. Voila, I stumbled across Frederator's "Oh Yeah! Cartoons" program. They will listen to my pitch without all that stuff, and anything they see, Nickelodeon will also see.
So, I am preparing pitch materials for Frederator according to their requirements, knowing that someone at Nick will see them.
I am still at the very earliest point in this process. I have a script for a seven-minute cartoon that stands alone from my series (they don't want an "episode" or an "origin" story). I have an artist who is working on key frame sketches and character drawings for the pitch. If we are chosen as one of the 39 selected cartoons, she will also draw the storyboard. If we're picked up as a regular show, she WON'T do those, because she's east Coast and not moving to work in-house.
Anyway, that's my story so far. Your mileage may vary.
Now, besides having a master story, locations, characters, relationships, theme, etc... you have to have a plan. All these things are your CAR. WHERE do you want to drive your CAR?
Here is my Grand Illusion:
1) Comic. The goal was to get our guys into print. We entered a contest and came in second by a nose and far ahead of third. We wrote a 7-page story that we are also using as the basis for our 7-minute cartoon. It will be coming out in an anthology in the next few months. It's a small thing, but it gets us additional exposure for our characters.
2) Frederator pitch. The goal here is to get chosen and get the 7-minute cartoon in the works.
3) PSA or Public Service Announcements. When Bart Simpson was stuck on FOX with nobody watching, wanna know what made him famous? Butterfinger commercials on all of the other networks. We're not likely to get an "endorsement deal" right now, but I hope to partner with a non-profit agency like YMCA and YWCA. I want four, :30 PSA's with my characters telling kids and parents how they can choose to be heroes in their work, school, neighborhood and home. Then I will work with the Y to get them to all major networks and stations (SF, LA, Chicago, NY, Atlanta, DFW, etc.) Hopefully, people will talk about them someday like the "crying indian" or "mind is a terrible thing to waste" spots. Two minutes of animation, and we may even be able to get it donated. I hope to get these started and finished quickly after we get a greenlight at Frederator, so by the time our cartoon comes out in Fall 2006, people will recognize the characters.
4) Frederator cartoon on the air: Fall 2006
5) 13-episode season on Nickelodeon, fall of 2007.
6) Live-action film in theaters, Summer 2008.
7) Second 13-episode season, Fall 2008.
and so on.
Cocky? Arrogant? No, just hopeful. It's already a year later than I wanted because of the time spent on the comic contest (which took FOREVER). But that made Oh Yeah! possible, and none of it would have happened without that.
I'm wondering what the hope would be for a creator? When you pitch a show to a network, do you always lose ownership if it is picked up?
It seems like in all cases, Family Guy, Spongebob, Fairly Oddparents, the creators are still with their shows. I can see the appeal of that success, especially if your show idea would be impossible to execute on your own.
But what about the more likely case of your show not being picked up? Do you lose the ability to develop it on your own? For example if you pitched a show to OhYeah cartoons, got in the 39 line up and then made a short that didn't become a series, could you continue to work with that idea again?
I'm sure every case is different but I'd appreciate any clarification on what the expectation should be when you're pitching. I guess you're pitching to sell your idea, huh?
Thanks!
Those shows made by Frederator stay the ownership of the creator - except that Frederator owns that one cartoon because they made it. They can do anything with those seven minutes of film that they want. I have no idea whether, as creator, I would every see anything beyond anything I get when I submit the cartoon.
However, they can't make a series or sell the "brand" without you because that's owned by you. I would assume they'd get first dibs at a series, but if they passed, you could shop the idea elsewhere.
Also note: There's nothing wrong with making one series that you lose all rights to and ownership of, if it puts your foot in the door so that you own every show you make thereafter. Personally, I'd be willing to give one series to a network if it gave me the opportunity to make my own series later.
Hi there Haredevil_Hare,
This is what we did. we created pilots and bibles for our shows and took them to Mipcom Jr 2003. We had meetings with some studios and networks but didn't end up selling our ideas there. Back in India we created a more india centric idea and approached Cartoon Network India. Here in India it's not necessary to have an attorney or an agent when you are pitching to a network because networks are not going to produce the show anyways. Network will just approve or disapprove of the idea and if your idea gets a nod you'll have to produce the show independently. In that case ownweship lies with you or whoever has produced the show and Network just gets broadcasting rights for a certain period in a certain territory.
Production of animation shows in India is still in its infant stages because of multiple reasons, but it is bound to explode as the market becomes more mature and animators experience and desire to do original work increases.
Participating in Animation trade events and meeting networks executives and studio heads directly could be a good way of pitching your shows if you have the money for it. But beware!! most of them are there to either sell their own stuff or to catch up with their contacts, but you do get to meet some key people directly so this can be a way to go about it. Another way is to create a kick ass short film based on your idea and enter it into festivals. If it gets distinguished then networks might approach you themselves instead of other way round. I guess this is what happened in case of "Powerpuff girls", "Dexter's lab" and "Courage the cowardly dog". Welcome to the exciting world of creating an animation show, as someone has said before be patient but have fun.
Until next time,
HS
its all about the deal you can get. like helter skelter said since they wont pay for production it dosent matter coz they dont want ownership.
but brent is spot on. you get smething under your belt and then you can always get a meeting based on "Yeah, so the last series i created" :D