John
Aug 24, 2022 23 tweets 10 min read Read on X
#animation #cartoons #storyboarding #storyboard #art #directing #Filmmaking #entertainment #tutorial #MASTERCLASS #student #writing #screenwriting
PITCHING A CARTOON SHOW

By John Fountain

CHAPTER 7 - “We’d like to see MORE!”

Let’s talk about pitching a cartoon show, shall we? Image
NOTE: All illustrations are from pitch documents I've created over the years. All materials copyright/trademark John Fountain 2022 all rights reserved - none of the following material may be copied or reproduced except for purposes of review without permission of the author. Image
I’ve spent a lot of time preparing you for disappointment.

And rightfully so. The odds are undeniably stacked against you.

But - let’s say you pitched your show, everything went great, and a couple of weeks later, you get the call everyone hopes for:

“We’re interested.” Image
Now, before I go on to give my advice on what you SHOULD do next, please listen closely to what you SHOULDN’T do next! Image
Don’t go calling all of your friends proclaiming, “I’ve got my own SHOW!!!”

NO You don’t!

Don’t start thinking to yourself, “I’m gonna be RICH!”

NO You’re not!

Don’t quit your day job because you think, “I’m gonna be FAMOUS!”
How many ‘famous’ cartoonists are there? By ‘famous’ I mean, if you stopped the average person on the street, how many cartoon creators do you think they could name?

Maybe three at best.

The cartoon is famous… the creator is not. Image
For now, enjoy the fact that you’ve cleared the first major hurdle - they’re INTERESTED!

You may celebrate… just celebrate realistically. MOST people never make it this far, so be proud!

What happens next varies significantly from instance to instance... Image
...but here’s how it will likely go down:

You will be asked to come in again and give a “repeat performance” of your pitch, this time with a couple more people slightly higher up on the development ladder.

This time, they will have more questions. Image
As previously mentioned, you need to be prepared for anything.

Most of all, however, you need to be prepared for them to ask you to make changes.

My next bit of advice is controversial, but I stand by it: Image
SAY “YES” TO EVERYTHING!!!

This is not the time for debate. This is the time to keep them interested in you and your show.

If they say “We want the characters to be older” say “Yes!” If they say they want you to add a sidekick who’s a rapping chimpanzee, say “Yes!” Image
Once this meeting is over, you can go home and contemplate just how much you’re willing to compromise.

But what’s important is that they’ve seen that you’re someone they can WORK WITH! Image
If they’re lukewarm on your project, but you come in with your “I’M AN ARTIST!!!” guns-a-blazing, they may just say “Screw it… this person is gonna be a pain to deal with” and move on to the 50 others in line behind you.
You have LOTS of time to debate and change their minds. “NOW” IS NOT THAT TIME!

BE NICE!

BE AGREEABLE!

BE ENTHUSIASTIC!

Even if you don't mean it. Image
They’ve already decided that they’re interested in your cartoon … the “second pitch” has less to do with your cartoon and much more to do with them getting a feel for what you’ll be like to work with. Image
If all goes well, they will send you back out into limbo (yes… again) and you need to break out the knitting needles while you wait.

You’ll either get a call saying “We thought about it carefully, but it’s a pass” ... Image
...in which case you gracefully thank them for their careful consideration and ask if you can come back if you have anything new and they will almost certainly say “yes” if you’ve made it this far.
Which is why you shouldn’t look at this as a “loss”… you have successfully established a “relationship.”
You can, theoretically, keep pitching them until you hit pay dirt.

OR… Image
...You’ll get a call saying that they’d like to talk more, give notes, and have you expand on your existing bible with more in-depth character descriptions and possibly even episode synopses.

Congratulations! You’re now working for free! Image
But, you’re working on YOUR cartoon on the gamble that you may get a deal. You’re working for free, but it’s an investment you’re making on yourself.

They will drag this process out as long as they can.
They don’t do it just to get free work out of you (although that’s a bonus on their end)…

They do it because in order to get your show past the next wall of executives, they need powerful ammo, and you’re the only one who can provide it. Image
My point is, under the best of circumstances, there is still a long and difficult road ahead of you, and it’s got a fun little nickname:

“DEVELOPMENT HELL!”

But that’s another tutorial entirely!

Tomorrow - FINAL INSTALLMENT - Post Mortem

Zig-a-Zig AH, party people! Image
This tutorial was sponsored by ME and MY PRECIOUS TIME!
If you’d like to see more of this and similar “content” (ugh) from me, please like, share, subscribe, comment, and visit my #YouTube channel:

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More from @FountainCartoon

Jan 5
This actually highlights yet another aspect of John K’s whole “schtick” was his assertion that if you liked anime, The Simpsons or anything other than Ralph Bakshi or Tex Avery you were a giant dunce.

I’ve never understood “animation partisanship.”

Cont.
Animation is such a unique storytelling medium I can’t imagine why you would ever limit yourself that way.

It’s like saying “I will eat nothing but hamburgers forever.”

Cont.
I can understand a certain style not “speaking” to you… I feel that way about jazz (insert “BEE MOVIE” gif here)… I don’t “like” jazz but I can appreciate it as art.

Cont.
Read 4 tweets
Oct 29, 2023
#animation #cartoons
Television animation is an industry that openly hates itself.

What do I mean?

It's an industry that - very often - is run by people with absolutely no interest in what it makes.

cont. Image
Most of these pencil pushers are just former "executive assistants" who kissed the asses of their bosses who did the same before them.

They didn't go to film school or study storytelling in any capacity.

cont.
They justify this madness by saying, "But I'm the average viewer - so if I don't get it, neither will they!"

Except that they're NOT the average viewer.

They stopped watching cartoons when they were 6 and stopped thinking about them ever since.

cont.
Read 13 tweets
Oct 14, 2023
#Animation
I haven’t immersed myself in #HazbinHotel or #HelluvaBoss the way I probably should’ve by now… I’ve seen a few episodes and I definitely get the massive appeal, but beyond its obvious charms, it gets something really “right” that I wish more productions did…

Cont. Image
The character designs for both shows look very intentionally “fun to draw”.

I feel like a lot of shows do the opposite… drawing ‘The Wild Thornberrys’ was like a punishment.

A lot of animated shows try so hard to be “unique” that they bog down the production…

Cont. Image
…and, consequently, 99.999% of everyone’s time is spent trying to appease the goddammed “model sheets.”

You get told all kinds of dipshit rules like “Oh - by the way, never EVER show the character from behind” …

Cont.
Read 12 tweets
Mar 6, 2023
#drawjennysunday #mlaatr #mylifeasateenagerobot #Nickelodeon
DISCLAIMER!!! READ THIS!!! SERIOUSLY!!! AND DON'T JUST READ IT - INJEST IT!!!

The following story outline is both FICTION and FAN FICTION!

None of these events happened... these are FICTIONAL CHARACTERS...
cont.
Not only is it fictional, it is PURELY speculative on my part!
Someone asked me once, "How would the whole Jenny/Brad/Sheldon thing work out if @RobRenzetti let you run with it?" and what follows are the results.

So... let me be clear:

cont.
Rob hasn't read it, he hasn't approved of it, for all I know he knows nothing about it, he may read it and hate it, he may be mad at me for even doing it (please don't be mad, Rob... it was just for fun)!

Point being:

cont.
Read 41 tweets
Mar 6, 2023
I’m really excited about sharing this with you all…

But here’s the thing:

I’m getting a lot of comments like “You should do this” or “You should do that”…

One of the great things about working on a show like #mlaatr
Cont…
…is that it took on a life of its own.
It was a functional “reality.”

Those types of shows are the easiest to write for BECAUSE they pretty much write themselves.

Here’s what I mean…
…when I would put Jenny in any given situation, I had do have Jenny behave “AS SHE WOULD”… and not “as I want her to”!

So, when I wrote the outline, I wrote it as I thought it “must” happen… not necessarily how I “wanted” it to happen.

Cont.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 16, 2023
#animation #film #storyboard #directing #ScreenwritingTwitter #art #drawing #cartoon #cartoons #CartoonArt #storytelling #storyteller #Animations #animation2d #animation3d #tutorial #Students #filmstudent #animationstudent
STORYBOARDING 101

with

John "F" Fountain

cont. Image
First...
This tutorial is being sponsored by MY PRECIOUS TIME.
I want to keep creating free stuff, so I'm not using paywalls, but if you'd like to support me - LIKE, SHARE, SPREAD THE WORD & SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

on to the tutorial...

youtube.com/channel/UCFkuF…
INTRODUCTION

Storyboarding is hard.

Really, really, REALLY hard.

Twenty-Five years ago I went in for a job interview at Klasky Csupo for a character design gig and met with Mitch Watson - a producer for their new show, “The Wild Thornberrys”.

cont. Image
Read 237 tweets

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