The animation industry is in flux. New technologies, art styles, platforms, and players have created a turbulent yet exciting world of opportunity and creativity. My name is Bob Harper, and I'm here to do an AMA about the animation industry from Wednesday, 1/24, to Thursday, 1/25.
Originally from Dallas, Texas, I moved to Los Angeles in the late 90s and eventually worked for companies like Cartoon Network, Disney TV, and Nickelodeon. For the Annoying Orange YouTube channel, I co-executive produced two seasons of the Misfortunes of Being Ned. I've also written and sold projects to Cartoon Network, Disney, and DreamWorks TV. You name a job in the TV animation industry, and I have probably done it, including storyboarding, animating, designing, writing, directing, and producing. Presently, I serve as a consulting producer for Brainstorm Productions, a neurodiverse animation studio. I also produce various independent animated content while continuing to develop family-friendly content with my partner, Dave Coulier from Full House fame, for our company, Grilled Cheese Media.
If you have any questions about the animation biz, whether how to get work, sell content, or independently produce, ask me here. I'll be sure to answer every question to the best of my ability and experience.
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Anna Marton Henry The truism in regard to children audiences wanting to see a step older than they are still is the prevailing narrative, but we are finding that children are accessing even older skew...
Expand commentAnna Marton Henry The truism in regard to children audiences wanting to see a step older than they are still is the prevailing narrative, but we are finding that children are accessing even older skewing content, yet rarely go in reverse. As far as where shows come from, they happen with waves. For a while, kid show pitches were primarily artist-driven, but writers initiated some. Now I feel it is more open, and especially now that companies are looking for established IP, writers have an advantage in pitching a treatment of an existing IP relying on the inherited visuals that usually go with it. Even shows pitched by an artist will often have another artist assigned to the show once optioned, which has happened to me on a few occasions. I do suggest writers spend a little dough on some visual development for a pitch that will help buyers get a vision for the show.
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Bob Harper Many thanks for sharing insight, There is a producer in LA called Mikeyoung he has been doing this for the last 20 years, before covid the 90min 3d CGI he would spend 10mn and get it done f...
Expand commentBob Harper Many thanks for sharing insight, There is a producer in LA called Mikeyoung he has been doing this for the last 20 years, before covid the 90min 3d CGI he would spend 10mn and get it done from an Indian studio , After covid and scenario changed and our industry adapted work from home seamlessly costing further dropped, and blender and unreal emerged, netflix bought few movies based on this pipeline. So I decided to pass on this heavy-duty discount to producers who want to produce simple 3D Animation content. We recently delivered Dragonero to one of our client on belnder, its Airing now, https://youtu.be/xjCyTwa98UY?si=928qyj8f77znaXRy
So i wanted to tap into that specific niche or group of producers who really want to get their content out , recently in kids screen i met Carl Reed, founder Lionforge, he makes a movie in $800k and sells it via markets . Carl reed has found his team, but I wonder there may be more like him who are looking for this kinda teams. I want to learn how find those producers.
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Kumar Sambhav I'm familiar with Mike and Carl, and as you have noted they have brought the budgets way down. $800k gives you a better chance of finding the right property. I would suggest checking the...
Expand commentKumar Sambhav I'm familiar with Mike and Carl, and as you have noted they have brought the budgets way down. $800k gives you a better chance of finding the right property. I would suggest checking the list of attendees for all of the major shows like Kidscreen, MIP, and AFM and seeing which ones distribute or produce animated and/or family films. Be direct by asking them what budgets work for them and see if you can engineer it to their needs and yours. What I heard from some of the buyers was that their concern wasn't so much about production costs but marketing costs. The Asylum has a model of doing animated mockbusters, but their budgets are even lower.
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Thanks so much for your input, Bob. Are you available for further conversations? Through Stage 32?
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Prema Rose I'm glad to be of help. We still have a few more hours on this AMA, so please feel free to ask further questions.