Posts Tagged Television

I’ve been strangely eager to blog recently now that I’ve gotten back into the swing of things, but I’ve been having some trouble deciding what to write about. I actually have a number of ideas I’m dying to work on – the next Childhood Revisited review, an analysis on the misconception of “animation for adults,” a fun feature called “Did We Miss Out?”, where I review a short lived animated show and posit whether it was destined for greatness or mercifully killed – but that requires a bit of research and careful writing. So I thought I’d just update this with a general state of me-ness.

I’m currently living in New Jersey and working for an editorial company in New York. I’m working on a fan fiction comic (which is fairly irrelevant unless you’re into this kind of thing) and producing a cartoon. Of all the things that I’ve done in the past – directing, playwriting, acting… um, HTML coding – working on these projects are the most satisfying things I’ve done in a while. I don’t regret for a moment spending the money I have towards these goals, and despite the fact I’ve been organizing online meetings, discussing script changes and comic layout and model sheets, settling disputes and so on, I have to be honest that I love every single minute of it.

I am a member of the Creative Screenwriting mailing list, which is technically monthly but is more of a “whenever we can” release, and the recent newsletter was pretty much the final revelation that I’m getting (or trying to get) on the right track. With writing trickier and trickier to get read, published, sold, and even a sideway glance, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) methods are pretty much the best way to get noticed nowadays. In effect, people can “see” your writing without having to “read” it. It’s eye-catching, it allows you to generate numbers, it gets you reviews, even amateur ones, allowing you to tweak, or not-tweak, your work, your scripts, and your style.

I don’t want to seem like I’m “that guy,” some ranting fiend totally against the established industry of Hollywood, publishing companies, or agencies. I do think, however, that with so many means and opportunities for aspiring artists to showcase their work outside the typical means that the established means are… well, while I wouldn’t use the word outdated, I would say that the complexities and headaches behind it all seem superfluous nowadays.

Not to say that doing the said work independently is all lilacs and waterlilies. The toughest part is finances. I’m lucky that I’m fairly good with my own, which allows me to finance both projects as well as keep paying the bills. A good chuck of that is timing. The various delays that are going on with the projects are actually helping me instead of hurting me, allowing to plan further and further ahead. Patience is key. If I start rushing things, it’ll all fall apart.

I had advertised a while back about Rocko’s Modern Life creator Joe Murray’s attempt to create a online network for cartoons, and I am happy to say that he succeeded. Success in life is about opportunities, and taking advantage of them when they come, so, yes: I will be pitching the cartoon to said network (dubbed KaboingTV). I want have a ton of pitch materials and animatics ready to go. I want to come in strong, ready, knowledgeable, and confident, with a good sense of what people think of the show, what’s going to happen, and so on.

My next post will be either the Childhood Revisited feature, the “Did We Miss Out?” one, or, even more excitingly, the finished model sheets of the main characters of the webtoon. The in-production name is Internal Instincts, although some of the feedback suggests it may be too negative, so I was thinking of changing it. The logline is too vague, so that needs work. The original pitch was fine, but there’s a better pitch I’ve been developing that probably works better for the show’s vision. The show’s bible needs editing. The full, actual pilot needs a rewrite. So much to do.

But it’s so rewarding. I’m at a good place right now.

I wrote about Rocko’s Modern Life and Joe Murray a few weeks ago, and, by coincidence, I managed to find his blog! He’s working on a cartoon, and has a fairly intriguing idea: an online, all-cartoon network called KaboingTV (The real CN actually shows live-action stuff now; no matter how they justify it, it’s still a load of crap). He even read my blog – or at least my entry about free-range animation.

He needs some donations, though, and he’s working on it through Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a platform (I actually suggested it to him) where you pledge a certain amount of money to donate, and you have two results: if he makes his financial goal, you get a reward (based on how much you donate) and the money is withdrawn. If he doesn’t make his goal, you lose nothing. It’s a safe win-win, and I would love to see this come to fruition. Imagine: cartoons made by talented people with little to no restrictions about content or language. Could be great!

Check out his video about his idea and his newest ‘toon, Frog in a Suit, and see if you can throw at least five bucks his way!