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The story so far: I have a project called "Fly Guy." It's a super hero story, but with a twist. So far, it seems to be a bad thing to everyone I've talked to, that the concept of the story can't be communicated in 30 words or less.

Jab has been helping me for over a year, giving him a project on which to perfect his questionable skillz. :p Feeling like he was working a lot harder on my project than even I was, and knowing he has his own projects he'd like to pursue, I put us both in Animation Magazine.

They liked his better.

So I ask myself, "Why?" Is it the simplicity of the concept? It is the over-saturation of superheroes while wizards have really been limited to Harry Potter and LOTR? Is it because people like likeable bad guys like Invader Zim? Or is it just because my story is too complex to sell to "kids?"

It has been frustrating to have what I think is this cool idea, and watch from the sidelines as I see bits and pieces of it show up in everything from "Sky High" to "Superman Returns" to "My Super Ex-Girlfriend." I must be onto something, if I'm coming up with ideas separately that other people are also coming up with and paying to put it on film.

Right now, it looks like Christoph and I are an unofficial team. We've got two properties between us, and one of them has been well received.

Where do we go from here?

Do we: work the "Malfaryus" project, with Christoph now focusing on creating materials while I stay here in California and "pimp" it? And if we ever do find success, make "Fly Guy" the project we drag out when they ask us, "What else ya got?"

What do we need to DO to Malfaryus? Make :30 of rough animation? Complete a script for a 12-minute episode? Build a pitch book?

To help you understand where we're coming from, here's a little about both stories:

Malfaryus is a school for villains. What's the point of being a goody-goody wizard if you don't have a bad guy to take out? Well in someone's infinite "wiz"dom, they came up with the idea of a school for training villains for the heroes to fight. The problem with that is, most of the heroes are, in reality, inept. The villains spend most of their time fixing (most of the time, unintentionally) the screw-ups of the heroes. Malfaryus is run by the goody-goodiest wizard ever, who is the perfect foil for the villainous kids.

One story Christoph came up with featured the three kids from Malfaryus being caught doing a bad deed, and getting punished by being sentenced to community service - in an old-villains home. A number of famous villains would be pariodied, including my favorite, Emperor Palpatine. I saw this gag of the kids cleaning up after lunch. Palpy's got a corn dog on his tray. He bends his head down and says, "You... want... this..."

Sounds fun, huh?

Fly Guy is about a boy convinced it's his destiny to be a super hero like the heroes he's read about since he was a child. But when the moment comes, he messes up and the girl next to him in his science class gets the powers that were meant for him. He freaks out because he didn't get the powers and she freaks out because she DID. He's not quite ready to give up on his destiny, so he dresses up as a superhero and hopes he can convince the girl to provide him a little "muscle."

In the grand scheme of things, the boy is really the mentor and the girl is the hero, they don't particularly like each other, and the only thing they have in common is the powers. But when bad things happen, they're forced to put it all aside and work together to save the day.

Not to derail this, but I've always hated Scooby Doo. The mysteries were lame, the animation was lame, the jokes were lame. At seven years old, I'd rather watch Rocky and Bullwinkle. The thing I really didn't like was the music. I liked the IDEA of having music. Other cartoons didn't. They'd put a song in each episode while the bad guys were chasing Shag and Scoob, and it was always the most horrible song I'd ever heard... until the next week's. Disney had all this great music in their movies, and even music from stuff like "The Bugaloos" wasn't as bad as that Scooby Doo stuff.

I decided I wanted my cartoon to play like a movie or a weekly anime, but I wanted it to have music - GOOD music. I wanted "Grease" with super heroes. Or "The Incredibles" with "Kiss The Girl." My twist with the kids working as a team to be ONE superhero, and a QUALITY song in every episode, makes mine different.

Now can you understand why I struggled so hard with what to write for the Animation Magazine Pitch Party entry? I read that "Sturgeon Surgeon" was one of the most popular because they thought it would succeed as an adult-minded cartoon..... how did they get THAT from that ad? I didn't. Did that creator have an opportunity to provide more details about his project than I did?

----

Anyway.... Malfaryus was a hit in the contest. Fly Guy got no comment, but looked like nothing more than any other super hero thing.

Where do we go from here?

Do we: work the "Malfaryus" project, with Christoph now focusing on creating materials while I stay here in California and "pimp" it? And if we ever do find success, make "Fly Guy" the project we drag out when they ask us, "What else ya got?"

Yes..... ;)

Yes..... ;)

So how exactly would I get ahold of Betsy McGowen of Kids WB! or Nate Hopper of Sony Pictures Animation?

(Jab is doing his best Darth Vader "Nooooooo!" right now, because it means he's gotta work.)

I wrote a thousand words and I get a three letter response. Hell, I got five PERIODS and three letters. Oh, by the way, you missed a period.

What you talkin' about, Willis? They gave me all of next week off from (regular) work and I don't intend to stay in bed until noon every day. (Noonish, maybe, but NOT noon. That also means I'll be up until 4 am.)

Feeling like he was working a lot harder on my project than even I was, and knowing he has his own projects he'd like to pursue, I put us both in Animation Magazine.

You've got a solid concept and a lot more written down than I have. The whole element around which FlyGuy is built, the Tom/Melanie team, isn't something I've seen in any superhero story or spoof before.

So I ask myself, "Why?" Is it the simplicity of the concept? It is the over-saturation of superheroes while wizards have really been limited to Harry Potter and LOTR? Is it because people like likeable bad guys like Invader Zim? Or is it just because my story is too complex to sell to "kids?"

Don't underestimate children. They can "get" stuff a lot more multi-layered than many TV execs will give them credit for. With an eye on profit, execs have to take the line of the least resistance. Better have them "get" something simple right away than having to explain something forever before it gets a hit.

It has been frustrating to have what I think is this cool idea, and watch from the sidelines as I see bits and pieces of it show up in everything from "Sky High" to "Superman Returns" to "My Super Ex-Girlfriend." I must be onto something, if I'm coming up with ideas separately that other people are also coming up with and paying to put it on film.

Superhero cartoons are a dime a dozen, that's true, but so are fantasy cartoons. It all boils down to the twists that you add, and how much flavour your personal style contributes.

What do we need to DO to Malfaryus? Make :30 of rough animation? Complete a script for a 12-minute episode? Build a pitch book?

I was thinking a pitch book, a detailed overview.

Malfaryus is a school for villains. What's the point of being a goody-goody wizard if you don't have a bad guy to take out? Well in someone's infinite "wiz"dom, they came up with the idea of a school for training villains for the heroes to fight. The problem with that is, most of the heroes are, in reality, inept.

True, but not "inept" as in "totally incompetent". Let's say they mean well but fail to grasp the finer concepts of how things work due to their narrow world view.

The villains spend most of their time fixing (most of the time, unintentionally) the screw-ups of the heroes. Malfaryus is run by the goody-goodiest wizard ever, who is the perfect foil for the villainous kids.

They do fix things but not "just" because they're goodie-two-shoes deep down. They still have a sinister agenda. What always bothered me about the Artemis Fowl books was that the main character gets introduced as a villain and is at length described as a haughty, super-intelligent bastidge, but most of the time puts his brains to use to fight villains even more unscrupulous. That's why I like Invader Zim: Zim wants to enslave humanity and on the few occasions he does "good" it's because something worse threatens to interfere with his plans. You can't really root for Dib, either, because underneath all his idealism he's a bitter fanatic who seeks to serve his own desire for recognition and fame first and foremost.
In short, the students and teachers of Malfaryus aren't wearing "evil" masks and are all OK underneath, they come with the personality flaws you'd expect in villains. Their view on things is broader because they take a walk on the Dark Side.

One story Christoph came up with featured the three kids from Malfaryus being caught doing a bad deed, and getting punished by being sentenced to community service - in an old-villains home. A number of famous villains would be pariodied, including my favorite, Emperor Palpatine. I saw this gag of the kids cleaning up after lunch. Palpy's got a corn dog on his tray. He bends his head down and says, "You... want... this..."

Heh. Or he could mumble and moan endlessly about how his old apprentices never call him anymore and bore everyone to death with fab stories of his "glory days".

Fly Guy is about a boy convinced it's his destiny to be a super hero like the heroes he's read about since he was a child. But when the moment comes, he messes up and the girl next to him in his science class gets the powers that were meant for him. He freaks out because he didn't get the powers and she freaks out because she DID. He's not quite ready to give up on his destiny, so he dresses up as a superhero and hopes he can convince the girl to provide him a little "muscle."

That's what's unique about FlyGuy. The guys at Frederator recognised it. As I see it, you started dressing up the concept in an interesting manner by adding ideas like having FG wear a tux. You wouldn't expect that from a superhero with insect powers, would you? That's the kind of stylistic stuff I find appealing.

In the grand scheme of things, the boy is really the mentor and the girl is the hero, they don't particularly like each other, and the only thing they have in common is the powers. But when bad things happen, they're forced to put it all aside and work together to save the day.

They both learn from each other, though, so apart from one mentoring the other they're also parts of one and the same hero personality - a central theme and another interesting concept here.

Anyway.... Malfaryus was a hit in the contest. Fly Guy got no comment, but looked like nothing more than any other super hero thing.

That's saying a bit much, methinks. Two people out of ten appear to like it out of a limited selection. They're execs so they likely get stuff like that by the truckload every day. Now, I'm not saying the fact that they said it's OK is nothing but it isn't everything, either. A spark to light the fuse, maybe.

Oh, by the way, you missed a period.

Man, I hate it when that happens... :D

I was trying to indicate that since you have a property that someone appears interested in, it's a better use of your time to follow that lead rather than continuing to push (for now) another property that hasn't garnered the same interest. That's not to say your Fly Guy concept isn't every bit as good as the other - it may well be. But right not the folks who can greenlight a show appear interested in the other property. Why would you not pursue that lead to its completion, however it ends up?

We all have to be willing to "kill our babies", creatively speaking. Don't get so wrapped up in the concept you love that you lose sight of the opportunity in front of you.

Yah, and if you win the lottery just 1 of every 100 times, I wouldn't look at the percentages in the misses so much as the benefit from the hit =P

For what it's worth while I think it's intelligent to use a good guy to train bad guys ("I know what they'll throw at you, be ready"), I can't wrap my head around mass training for them. Any bad people in groups usually have a leader, and any good villain is usually intimidating for their autonomy and interest for the personal, individual, deep and layered back story.

I like the dynamic of FlyGuy. It seems like you could do a lot with broken-fourth-wall self-referential stuff, and just has one of those premises you could tailor episodes around.

Bottom line, as an audience member (and not an exec), the latter gets watched and the first gets the channel changed. It's a shame because it boils down to perspective and (seems like) misunderstanding on my part, but first impressions are very often also the last in those kinds of situations (as everyone who's ever watched TV knows =).

Thanks for the input, all y'all. Look! I'm learning Germish!

Whassamatter, Jab? You don't WANT to do a full :30 of animation?

:rolleyes:

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Spaceghost & Jab.

i like the sound of Fly Guy more than Malyfaryus. but the thing is the latter is a hotter subject nowadays and a lot more sexier than superheros which have been done to the point of saturation.

It might be harder for you to attract attention simply because its a theme that is pretty much expected " I have a superhero concept with a twist " i am sure has been said way too many times to the powers that be.

So you should maybe divvy up your time and work on the Malfaryus project and spend some time polishing up Fly Guy to treat it as an alternative.

Stan Lee probably said of Spider-Man "I have a new superhero with a twist." Doesn't exactly haunt him. :)

nope it dosent. but he did it about 45 years ago.

dosent mean its a good subject just that its probably a harder sell so why not do what you can get done first.

All concerns noted, thanks guys!
Although like DSB said, some of them are possibly due to misunderstandings. Don't trust Ed's recaps, he doesn't know very much about what I have in mind yet. ;)

All concerns noted, thanks guys!
Although like DSB said, some of them are possibly due to misunderstandings. Don't trust Ed's recaps, he doesn't know very much about what I have in mind yet. ;)

Isn't it about three people who live together and one of them has to pretend to be gay so the landlord won't kick him out for living with two hot girls?

No, it isn't autobiographical.

Not to sound harsh but why is it these cartoon characters always seem to hate each other and have to 'unite' at the end of every episode in order to survive. It's very old and be done before, i'm not saying it would be a good idea but it would be slightly more original if they were great friends and ended up arguing at the end of every episode.

Not to sound harsh but why is it these cartoon characters always seem to hate each other and have to 'unite' at the end of every episode in order to survive. It's very old and be done before, i'm not saying it would be a good idea but it would be slightly more original if they were great friends and ended up arguing at the end of every episode.

I think they call it "The Formula". Da...Da...Daaaa :D

Not to sound harsh but why is it these cartoon characters always seem to hate each other and have to 'unite' at the end of every episode in order to survive. It's very old and be done before, i'm not saying it would be a good idea but it would be slightly more original if they were great friends and ended up arguing at the end of every episode.

Mine don't. She kills him.

Enemies become friends, friends fall in love, and lovers go through trials. It's drama. Why do they keep making buddy movies? Or "The Odd Couple?" I know there's cartoons where people are friends and their friendship is tested. X-men, Teen Titans, Kim Possible, ad nauseum. Here's the problem: They're either friends... or they're not. You only have two choices and they've both been done a lot.

My story is more about being forced into a relationship that you don't want to be in, but deep down you know it's for the best. Tom is a lot more accepting of the situation because he wants something from Melanie. Melanie wants nothing to do with Tom, but he's her only hope at getting her powers removed and being normal again, so she has to tolerate him. But Tom sure doesn't try very hard to solve her problem, because her problem is beneficial to him.

They do have to "unite" to survive, but they're not friends. They don't hang out. Tom's like a puppy dog that won't leave Melanie alone. He was supposed to have a bone, and she's the one carrying it around.

I think you should continue to work on both projects. That way, you're not putting all of your eggs into one basket. I also think it would be best to develop the pitch book first over the animation. Nothing too complicated, though. Just a synopsis, character designs and descriptions, an explanation of the world with possible background designs, and a few episode ideas sprinkled in.

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I agree, Sharvonique, and it's what I'm doing right now. We have a lot more Fly Guy material on paper than Malfaryus material which is why I'm now sacrificing some time to the latter.