tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post116127832478182718..comments2023-12-31T01:23:39.943-05:00Comments on Mayerson on Animation: To Pitch or Not to PitchMark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-20809939706663958332007-11-26T20:42:00.000-05:002007-11-26T20:42:00.000-05:00In the case of Monster By Mistake, Kim Davidson, t...In the case of Monster By Mistake, Kim Davidson, the producer, took our trailer to NATPE, a TV market, and looked for interested partners. We hooked up with Cambium (now CCI Entertainment) who sold the TV special to YTV.<BR/><BR/>If we had approached a broadcaster directly and sold the show, I don't doubt that they would have forced us to team up with a company that had a track record with them. While they might like the idea for a show, they need the comfort of dealing with a company that's proven able to stick with a budget and schedule.<BR/><BR/>Even after the special aired, it took 2 years for YTV to okay the series. My feeling these days is that the hurdles are too high and anyone with an idea is better off figuring out a way to get it to an audience on the cheap and then keep building the property any way they can. If the property clicks with audiences, people with money will come sniffing around. If it doesn't click, you've got some real experience under your belt, rather than waiting years for broadcasters to make up their minds.Mark Mayersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-81136103583817331032007-11-26T20:32:00.000-05:002007-11-26T20:32:00.000-05:00do you have to pitch through a studio? OR did you ...do you have to pitch through a studio? OR did you guys just send your ideas to teletoon or YTV?Chickens and Beandiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07284288346852558728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161526746877345452006-10-22T10:19:00.000-04:002006-10-22T10:19:00.000-04:00Hi Mark, You may be right. Who's to say? All we ca...Hi Mark, <BR/>You may be right. Who's to say? All we can do is keep on trying. <BR/><BR/>I find it hard to believe that in the remaining 25 to 30 years of my career - I'll never get another show launched. That to me, is inconceivable.Steve Schnierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01766696319640794064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161524830128417282006-10-22T09:47:00.000-04:002006-10-22T09:47:00.000-04:00It's impossible to know how things would have turn...It's impossible to know how things would have turned out, Steve, but the fact that I can't think of any Canadian animation creator who's gotten a second show off the ground says to me that the fault is not yours. It's the way the business here is structured and the low status of creators.Mark Mayersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161522604733855442006-10-22T09:10:00.000-04:002006-10-22T09:10:00.000-04:00Actually, I wasn't just 'goofing off' while Freaky...Actually, I wasn't just 'goofing off' while Freaky was in production - I had developed and was trying to sell an animated feature film. Instead of moving to a new area and starting from square one, I should have solidified my position in the TV community.Steve Schnierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01766696319640794064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161467309729679262006-10-21T17:48:00.000-04:002006-10-21T17:48:00.000-04:00Hi Mark,You've made a very valid point. They SHOUL...Hi Mark,<BR/>You've made a very valid point. They SHOULD have done that. ON THE OTHER HAND, I should have been pro-active - courting them (or Teletoon) and trying to sell my next show. Speaking honestly, I missed a golden opportunity while Freaky was in production - I sat on my butt, figuring that they'd recognize my genius. <BR/><BR/>Actually, people did come to me on several occasions with 'feelers' and I let those precious opportunities slip by. It was a lesson that I learned too late - but it is a lesson learned.<BR/><BR/>It's not a one way street - the suits aren't 100% wrong and the creatives aren't 100% right. Mistakes happen. We have to analyze our errors and try to learn from them.Steve Schnierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01766696319640794064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161466125896044262006-10-21T17:28:00.000-04:002006-10-21T17:28:00.000-04:00In other words, Steve, YTV should have said, "We m...In other words, Steve, YTV should have said, "We made money on Freaky Stories, let's see what Steve wants to do next." Rather than wait for your next pitch, they should have picked up the phone and called you. I suspect that an American company would have done just that, but I'm not aware of any Canadian companies that have.Mark Mayersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161451982286344912006-10-21T13:33:00.000-04:002006-10-21T13:33:00.000-04:00Steve, in most forms of entertainment, if a creato...Steve, in most forms of entertainment, if a creator has done something that's financially successful, he or she is courted by the business people who hope to get a piece of the next success. Mike Judge goes from Beavis and Butthead to King of the Hill. Matt Groening goes from The Simpsons to Futurama. Gendy Tartakovsky goes from Dexter's Laboratory to Samurai Jack. I'm not aware of any animated show creator in Canada who has launched a second series, and that's why I say that creators are not taken seriously. Somehow, the powers-that-be don't associate profits with the people who bring them ideas.Mark Mayersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161433254039502542006-10-21T08:20:00.000-04:002006-10-21T08:20:00.000-04:00Hi Mark,I don't think that "creators not being tak...Hi Mark,<BR/>I don't think that "creators not being taken seriously" is the reason that there aren't many (if any) people who have created and sold 2 shows in Canada. It's a numbers game. YTV and Teletoon are deluged with hundreds of pitches a year. In the year that I pitched and sold Freaky to YTV, they received over 500 pitches - the number has surely increased today. My experiences with YTV and Teletoon have been very good. Shows have been optioned, but they didn't make it onto the air for 'other' reasons.<BR/><BR/>You have to remember that when you're pitching a show, the broadcaster has at least 100 other things going on that you don't know about: Do they have a similar show already in development? Does your idea fit within their branding? Is it too expensive to produce? Are you an experienced 'producer', or will they have to baby-sit you? Are you a prima-donna? Where will the show fit into the broadcast schedule? Have you given any thought to multi-platform material? Will it be a good lead-in to another show? etc. etc. etc...<BR/><BR/>It's not simply about the nice words on the page, the pretty picture and the little video you made. There is a lot going on.Steve Schnierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01766696319640794064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161389593036159672006-10-20T20:13:00.000-04:002006-10-20T20:13:00.000-04:00Jean, I feel your pain.Steve, I hoped to get a sec...Jean, I feel your pain.<BR/><BR/>Steve, I hoped to get a second show off the ground just to find out if my experience on the first was typical or not. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to find out.<BR/><BR/>Do you know if there's anyone in Canada who's successfully sold two animated series? I can think of lots of people who sold one, but I don't know of anybody who's sold more. That may be a sympton of how creators are not taken seriously in Canada.<BR/><BR/>I also fear that TV is changing in significant ways. NBC has decided to lay off 700 people and stop doing comedy or drama from 8 to 9 p.m. That's the equivalent of an army retreating. The question is whether or not they'll stop retreating or if they'll just get over run.<BR/><BR/>Anne-arky, I truly wish everybody luck. I just hope that if you manage to sell a show and draw your own characters for hours on end, they're still the characters as you conceived them and not fundamentally changed by the money people. If they do get changed, every drawing will be painful instead of joyful.Mark Mayersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161370893501903552006-10-20T15:01:00.000-04:002006-10-20T15:01:00.000-04:00"...getting a show on the air is the holy grail of..."...getting a show on the air is the holy grail of creativity."<BR/><BR/>lol...Awesome analogy.<BR/><BR/>Despite dealing with weird executive notes and level upon level of beauracracy, crisis after crisis and and endless slew of strange, unheard of problems...there is still no greater high than being able to sit at a desk, draw your own characters for hours on end, and know by that some strange twist of fate someone is paying you money for it. <BR/><BR/>I'm sorry your experience was so terrible. I can't explain it, but for some reason all the horror stories I read about only make me more determined to get my little pilot on the air. Maybe this means I'm insane. <BR/><BR/>Here's to the hunt for the grail! :)Anne-arkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07736482831477050502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161311509961287432006-10-19T22:31:00.000-04:002006-10-19T22:31:00.000-04:00Hi Mark,Like Jean, I had my series optioned on the...Hi Mark,<BR/>Like Jean, I had my series optioned on the first pitch. There were many years of frustration, but Freaky Stories made it into production and on the air, pretty much as I'd envisioned it. The production was a fantastic experience. Sure, there were difficulties and frustrations - but DAMN! It was a load of fun, rewarding in every way.<BR/><BR/>I've had a few properties optioned since then - and one or two have come within a hair's breath of making it onto the air. I'm sorry to disagree with you, but in my experience, getting a show on the air is the holy grail of creativity. I wish your experience had been a better one.Steve Schnierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01766696319640794064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-1161289724250052542006-10-19T16:28:00.000-04:002006-10-19T16:28:00.000-04:00Hi Mark,I have had a series optioned right on firs...Hi Mark,<BR/>I have had a series optioned right on first pitch, I thought WOW! first time at bat and I hit it out of the ballpark. I had only crossed the first hurdle. They found a co-producer and they were lining up for a Canadian broadcaster. Basically, after 3 years nothing happened except a lot of aggravation and nonsense I never could have imagined in my worst nightmares. And today, that show is rotting away back in my file cabinet.<BR/>That experience made me re-assess my carreer priorities and creating TV series is no longer one of them.<BR/>If you are not involved in every aspect of the process, your idea will get killed. It's that simple.<BR/><BR/>JeanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com