#animation show pitches

[38sr]

Industry Q: Not sure if this is an animation thing or a business thing, so sorry in advance and also do not feel obligated to answer if this isn’t part of your expertise, but do you have any experience with pitching shows and do you know what a pitching bible is? And if so, could you explain what they are/how you do them? 😅

No worries! Pitching is very much a thing in the animation industry and creatives do pitch shows and films on a regular basis to network/streaming studios. I actually have pitched my own show before and want to continue since it's a whole entire skill different from animating or storyboarding. So as far what a pitch bible is and what it contains, everything I say below is from my experience and what I've learned from industry friends who have pitched way more than I have in my 4 years working in animation. These are not absolutes but a guide to how I would craft a pitch bible for studio executives. Every pitch is different since every story is different. So whatever you feel is the most important information to include to capture the essence of your show/whole story please use that.

And with that, let's get into it! What is a pitch bible?

A pitch bible is a short document (yes short) that pretty much encapsulates your entire show in 10-15 pages or less. 10-15 may sound like a lot but once you start crafting your pitch you'll think, "Oh shit I can't include everything. I have to cut things out!" This is not to be confused with a show bible, which is a far more extensive and deeply explored document that covers a whole show's trajectory (in terms of plot, characters, world-building, etc. ) A show bible is made during development which happens after you pitch your show to a studio and you sign a contract with them to go into development in hopes of getting a greenlight production. So for those who want to pitch shows or films, make sure you are making a pitch bible and not a show bible. Execs see dozens upon dozens of pitches a day so they don't always have the time (and attention span) to read a 30-50 page document that explains every little detail about your story. You have to choose the essentials that perfectly represent your story while also brewing curiosity into the execs. I always find it difficult to cut out details of my stories that I'm super excited about but trust me it helps you out in the long run when execs start asking questions and you can answer them easily 'cause you know the story inside and out. So what actually goes into a pitch bible?

Again, these aren't hard absolutes but generally speaking the following are components most pitch bibles contain: • Logline

• Synopsis/Story

• Characters

• Setting/World

• Tone

• Samples (for TV pitches)

It doesn't have to be in this exact order but yeah this is pretty much the standard pitch bible format. So let's go into each one and explain what they are. Logline: Probably the hardest thing to write. A logline is 1-2 sentences that captures a whole story's plot/trajectory very quickly. For example, if you wrote a logline for FMA Brotherhood it would probably go like this: A pair of brothers join a militaristic government organization to obtain a magical item to restore their humanity but discover a dark political conspiracy that tests their morals. It's not perfect but you kind of get the idea that 1) the main characters are siblings who 2) are searching for a magical item that can restore something they have lost but 3) the journey of getting said them leads them to unveiling the underbelly of a corrupt government that 4) puts their morals and humanity to the test to see if they choose to do the right thing. All of that in one sentence haha. Again, loglines aren't easy but it's a skill that is super helpful when it comes to writing a pitch bible.

Synopsis/Story: Pretty self-explanatory but section is a cliff notes version of your whole story (maybe a season 1 overview or series overview). Here, you can talk about character arcs, plot arcs and generally how things will play out in the story. Be careful and don't add every single detail about the story. Omitting information can be a powerful tool to lead execs into asking questions about the story. Or my favorite, lead them into suggesting an idea for the story that was already planned from the beginning but confirming their idea makes them feel like they are a part of the process too. Trim the fat but not all of it haha.

Characters: My favorite part of the process! This section is where you introduce your characters. Their wants and needs, flaws, desires and dreams, personality, etc. This section is also a great place to explain relationship dynamics between characters and how they contrast each other(especially if your story has more than one main character).

Setting/World: This section is where you can explain a bit of the world the characters live in (but don't go too ham 'cause remember you wanna lead the execs wanting more and asking questions). This is also great section to explain any magic systems if you're making a fantasy or any historical mythos that you've created for the world.

Tone: Contrary to what many people might think, it's okay to draw comparisons from other shows to your own. In fact, it's incredibly helpful. Again, execs see dozens of pitches daily and some execs don't watch every obscure thing in media (yes sadly this includes anime but it's slowly changing). So if you can give very clear comparisons, the easier it will be for execs to understand the tone of your show. So for example, when pitched Hollowville to a couple studios I said it was a mix of Nightmare Before Christmas, Gravity Falls and Over the Garden Wall. And the execs were like, "Ooooooh okay. So spooky and supernatural vibe." It also helps to use examples of media that are very successful (short term and long term). If you draw that comparison they'll think, "Oh, that shows was super successful and this could be the next big thing. Let's do it." In a weird way, you have to hand hold the execs a bit 'cause not all of them come from a creative background and are purely business. So sometimes you gotta give them a launch pad to really understand what you're going for. Samples: This only pertains to TV pitch bibles and not feature film pitches. But samples are basically potential episodes that can happen within your story to help execs see what kind of adventures can be told with your characters and world. Here is where you'll have to use your logline writing skills again to tell quick, but interesting episode ideas haha. And that pretty much sums up what a pitch bible is! Again, all of this information is from personal experience and information passed down to me during my 4 years working in animation. I hope this was helpful to any artists out there who want to create their own show or films in hopes of pitching to studios one day.

[i3utterflyeffect]

did you know: chosen was created before minecraft existed?

reblogs > likes

[kirby-the-gorb]

[milkyvast]

dead plate ending 3 be like youtube version here

[jesncin]

Do you think DC should do more with animation? (Personally I think theatrical animated movies would be amazing, plus animation is less restrictive than live action so more freedom, but y'know that's kind of a pipe dream ashkshsk)

Yes absolutely! I think animation is perfect for superheroes over live-action any day.

My feelings about the current wave of animation for DC specifically is that they feel overly self referential and are in serious need of fresh new perspectives. We have MAWS, which only pulls from anime as shallow aesthetic and tries to "modernize" Superman lore by superficially adding "more diversity", while hyper-focusing on surface level Superman discourse. We're about to have Caped Crusader which from the early look of it we can see is pulling from a classic era of comics but with no personal touches or interpretation that feels fresh or inspired. Harley is Asian now, but why? I doubt there's going to be a narrative reason for it, and she's just going to be superficially "more diverse". The art style feels like xeroxed Bruce Timm. It's been feeling empty. And the Harley Quinn show is just there. Adult jokes, gross, provocative, flat art style.

Which is a shame because animation has evolved in such fascinating ways and right now I'm just not seeing that reflected in DC animated properties. I hate to say "back in my day" but shows like BTAS, The Batman, Teen Titans, GLTAS- all had unique art styles, takes, and voices. Teen Titans didn't just pull from anime artistically, but narratively as well. The Batman has such a bold art style! BTAS and the DCAU were groundbreaking. GLTAS expanded on that. But now all DC animation does is reference their material- a glorified citation. I think the only show that felt fresh and had a genuine desire to create new fans was DCSHG. MLP dynamic x DC girlies is such a wild pitch but I love it! I'm glad out of the DC Nation Shorts, it got expanded. I honestly wish a lot of the DC Nation Shorts got that treatment!

[onewolfaday]

Idk if this is too obscure or not, but could you do any one of the wolf's rain wolves?

051. tsume from wolf's rain!

[pinkiemachine]

So because I’ve already shown a picture of this before, I’ve basically forfeited any hope of turning it into something copyrightable (plus there’s my previous concerns about it being too derivative of other shows) but that doesn’t mean I can’t ramble about my ideas on the INTERNET!!! So I’m thinking it could be set in England, and it would definitely have a lot of anime influences. One minute, it’ll be all cute, wholesome little cat girls making friendship bracelets, the next, TOTAL ANIME MECHA FIGHT SCENE!!! And their mechs (kinda like transformers) can turn into planes, motorbikes, cars—It would be so cool!!! Oh I wish I had my own studio right about now… got a lot of other ideas for tv show pitches but I’m keeping those a secret in case I can actually make something out of them. We’ll see…

Also still wondering about the name… only Pixie is a Ragdoll, so it doesn’t quite make sense… any ideas?

[strangeasexuallegume]

I think it is mind boggling that the none-network made Hello Neighbor animated series is not only a genuinely great show and better than the entire franchise, but also is better than the Megamind sequel and continued tv show.

The fact that the sentence, “Hello Neighbor as an animated series was genuinely good and better than Megamind 2 + a Megamind tv show,” is true is haunting to me.

[alicenpai]

I'm curious, what animes are you watching/what animes have you seen?

hi anon! currently I'm watching one piece with my sibling (halfway through fishman island arc?), and keeping up with dungeon meshi anime! (as i've completed the manga). - a while back i was also watching outlaw star, hell girl, and REwatching princess tutu in between drawing sessions/watching in the background (aka. not paying attention LMAO). but I haven't finished them yet.

also gosh actually I don't think I watch as much anime as people think I do, but I am very familiar with the fandom from being in it so long. I don't look at currently airing anime as I'm not huge into the anime space as I was before (and I can't personally stand some of the more trope-y/mainstream stuff), I prefer to just go through my own list slowly. for me personally I've always been pretty confident knowing what kind of media I'll enjoy and what media I won't, so most of the time I pick and choose my media carefully, bc my watching time is pretty limited. (yes I'm picky)... my attention span is also poor so it's common for me to not finish things!!!!!!!!!!!!!! though I do think it's healthy/fun to engage in media outside of your comfort zone/your usual genre, given you have spare time! (it's fun to hate on stuff together, ok). here's a little sample! i updated this anime checklist... in some of them I read both the manga + anime, and some are movies/I only watched the movie(s). this list is also very subjective but I'm not gonna sit here and list every anime I ever completed 😭 i also didn't bother marking childhood stuff/stuff from 10+ years I don't remember, such as yugioh or lucky star.

[green-star17]

Was watching this video about the Superman Animated Series history and this picture showed up???

HOLY SHIT WE COULD HAVE HAD ANIMATED IMPULSE IN THE 90’S????

[paladinofmoonlight]

Why does gabe have the weirdest 'slide' animation I've ever seen in the miraculous endless runner game

[chiropteracupola]

What If I went back to the ceramic bowl mines...

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

i am now trying to think of potential voices for red

[victimized-martyr]

oh to be hired as mattrey’s brain trust for a run and help the story be completed on time and support trey where he needed it …

[chatretr0]

Barnyard Test Pitch Pilot

Fue un usuario quien lo subió a YouTube.

[incorrectrotgquotes]

You’re the worst type of person.

Jack Frost to Pitch