Ahoy True Believers,
I am producing a pilot for a children's program in sunny Orlando "Theme Park" Florida. It's a mix of live action puppet segments that transition into cartoon segments. Here's the kicker, I need cartoons. Original cartoons.
I'm looking for freelancers with at least 13, yup, 13 completed episodes of no more than 10, yup, 10 minutes per each. Sorry to all the "shorts" animators.
You write it, animate it, slap some audio on it, and good gravy people, make sure you copyright it! If you have not officially copyrighten your work, do so.
Anyone interested can drop me a line at: clubhousehq@hotmail.com
Keep looking to the stars, or, something like that.
You will not find anyone that's done 130 minutes of broadcast quality animation for just spits and wiggles, just waiting for you to cal--and certainly not a air-quality series of 13 complete episodes.
No-body makes a series of that much work without a purchase order.
You might need to educate yourself some more on the way the animation business works.
Let me guess, no $$ is being offered, right?
"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)
Yeeeouch Mr. Davis!
No doubt I need to educate myself a little more on the medium, but that's why I'm in here.
So educate me, but be kind, I'm young and sensitive.
Actually I have as was put, "$$" to offer. I just didn't think I should discuss it in a forum.
Now then, what exactly can I get from a talented artist? What would they like in return? Cash being the least important as I literally have a viewing audience of thousands to see their work, which can lead to greater things than a children's program. But as I said, I have it to offer.
I suppose I could be more specific but I dislike typing because I'm no good at it.
So just tell me what I should know. I'll take any and all replies. Thanks!
You could pay up to $100,000.00 for a single 30 second animated commercial or half of that depending on how complicated it is, how many characters,etc. A full animated 10 minute story could be economized and done (even"on the cheap") for many times that number. So, unless you have several million dollars waiting or financed to get your request, I don't see it happening. Your telling me that you have an audience of only several "thousand" people to watch it is also not an attraction . To me if we are not talking many millions of viewers, this is just too much work. Last, I think you need to know that ,not to insult any "super-animators" out there but, to do even 1 10 minute story could take a large team of many many animators, layout people, background artists, effects people, compositors, and on, and, on. 1 animator does not usually make an animated show. If one animator were to make an animated show(I don't know how but..) , it might take him YEARS to make a 10 minute show. He is not going to spend years of his life to give the effort away to just a few thousnd people. He has to eat. Hope this helps but if what you were asking was simple, everyone would be doing it.
There's the start of the education.
To do this properly, you'd be looking at forking over about $10,000 to $15,000 PER MINUTE ( at least) of animation. Multiply that by the time you want to fill. $1-$2 MILLION is about the norm for something like this.
Pizzanut is spot-on about a 30 second commerical costing upwards of $100,000. That's serious coin.
Lemme guess...........those are numbers you were not anticipating?
See, I come across as harsh because pipe dreams like this are a dime a dozen. It never seems to sink in that some research need be done BEFORE making the "glamourous" offer.
Cash would be THE MOST important offering in this because all the "other things"--- like better projects and assorted nebulous enticements-- are just so much sales BS. .
A plumber doesn't give a rat's patootie about making a beautiful house--he just wants to make sure he get's paid for making sure the water runs. The rest is up to someone else. An animator is no different.
The layman thinks that, because its "art", its therefore "personal" and the ground rules must be different. This is business, not art
I'm a cartoonist, but I'm also mercenary. Platitudes and "credits" don't keep the rain off my head, or put food on my table. Money does that.
Any sane sensible cartoonist/animator thinks that way, because at the end of the day that is what is keeping them there, following their "art".
Freelancers are simply not going to be sitting around with a whole animated series , wating for someone to call them. Studios will be the source of that kind of material and they come costly with all kinds of overhead and assorted other needs.
My advice to you,The Gorilla, is that when you've done your homework, realize what the animation industry can offer you and your production (and HOW it offers it), and then realize what YOU can realistically offer the animators out there, then that would be the time to put out your call.
"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)
Thank you for your replies.
The prices being quoted to me come as no shock. I'm not that uneducated. I was aware of the prices involved in producing an animation.
That being said, I think you fellas seem to be a bit too by the book. Too professional. Let me respectfully explain.
I'm no big wig animator, but I have been able to animate six episodes of a cartoon that I created in two months. No it wasn't groundbreaking or revolutionary but it got the job done, it was broadcast quality and they made it to air. I had a head start, owning all editing and audio equiptment and software, and I was also already working at a television station. I was curious if anyone had taken a similar path and had 13 completed pieces. Sure it's long shot, but no one, no one can tell me there isn't another out there in a similar boat.
I'm not in a position to animate myself anymore because I'll be writing, producing and performing in the show. I've done this before and I know I will not have time to do it.
I know I was not clear in my previous posts, but I was actually seeking 2D digital animation ala the Adult Swim line up on Cartoon Network. The characters rarely move. Those shows are based on their content not their "quality." That was the style I used when animating my series. I was in no way thinking of traditional cel animation.
Another example would be the animated segements on Sesame Street.
Now then, thanks again for your replies, but I have no more time to explain myself to nice folks. This is my last entry, my offer still stands to anyone interested.
The Gorilla is out! That always cracks me up.
well you say 13 episodes but what does that mean?
are they 10 min episodes?
20?
60?
also you will need to be specific what kind of qualit you want. 2d realish, or 2d zip, zam zoomish or flash tweened. there is a bunch of categories that decide how much those things will cost. i doubt there is anyone out there with 130 mins of animation sitting around.
you can def do it cheaper if you went with Flash. but it dosent seem you are going to be creating content just broadcasting it. try some studios who have stuff on air maybe in foreign countries.