Comments on: Are animated specs worth the time?

By: Brendan O'Neill

Brendan O'Neill — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:20:22 +0000

Does anyone have any advice on what agents are open to reading animated feature scripts. I have a Frankenstein-with-dogs childrens animated feature idea called Scampenstein that I am trying to find a home for.

By: Paula Puryear

Paula Puryear — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:15:57 +0000

Jud, Yes! Such a great story. Congratulations!

By: Jud

Jud — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:13:03 +0000

When I was still an assistant at an agency I had a feature animation idea that I knew would sell. I didn’t think I could write it myself, so I attached some mid-level writers I had access to and pitched it around town. Everyone told me it was impossible to sell a project this way – I had no credits! Well I sold it to Fox and Disney tried to counter-bid. Now those writers are gone and I’m attached to write it (though I think it’s probably not going to get made). BUT the point is – don’t let anyone in this town tell you something is impossible. One of the great things about Hollywood is that there are no rules. Just play nice. Write the spec – good writing always leads to work. Good luck!

By: Madrugada Jones

Madrugada Jones — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:30:15 +0000

@ coeur42,

Thanks for the helpful information. I'll look into it.

By: coeur42

coeur42 — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:01:44 +0000

@Madrugada Jones: Triggerstreet.com (which was co-founded by Kevin Spacey if I remember correctly) is a site where writers post their screenplays for free to a community (that needs registration). I don’t know if anyone ever got signed via that page (there are a few mentions of being optioned) but the feedback it provides can be quite helpful. The community is quite large and also covers novels, short stories, plays and short movies (which range between “Least funny home videos” and “high end short films” in terms of quality).

By: Madrugada Jones

Madrugada Jones — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:14:16 +0000

Tim W.,

I agree, any writing one does is good and helpful. If it gets you outside of your own life and into the mindset of a character, it can only sharpen your writing skills.

I have a side question -- I know there are a lot of fiction writers who post their stuff for free on the web hoping to catch the eye of publishers (this is a pretty passive way to go about it, but some have garnered a following by publishing like this). Is there any impetous for doing this sort of thing in the screenwriting community? Does anyone know of any websites where this has been done? Just curious.

By: Tennyson E. Stead

Tennyson E. Stead — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:36:29 +0000

You know, there's one other difference I've never considered before now, between working in live action and working in animation...

I've worked in theater for years, and I write for actors. At heart I'm a director, and something Peter Jackson said on his Weta Hobbot Q&A resonated with me - writing is the only way to really know the intent of your characters, and it gives you so much more when you finally do get wo work with actors. Between the two of you, you and your actor, you have all the pieces of a character. That's how I've always seen it, and I can't imagine directing something I didn't write or adapt. It'd be like flying blind.

That said, a character in animation has other partners, and in that sense, it's liberating. When writing for actors, I tend to liberate them by challenging them. I know my strengths as a director, and I know my patience and love allows an actor to go to some really hard places to get to.

In animation, one liberates through color and motion, as much as through the actions of the character. It's great, because all of a sudden a character's actions aren't confined to this one person's inspiration, or even their physical limitations. Increasing we're seeing this freedom misused in live action cinema at the expense of the actor, but in animation, that's the point. Each character is driven by the inspiration, emotional range, and whimsy of a collective. Certainly, the actor is one of the elements in that collective, but actors are always surprised to see where the animation goes from the voiceover booth... for a reason!

By: Madrugada Jones

Madrugada Jones — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:21:31 +0000

This is a very useful post, thanks John. I’m wondering if there’s much use in writing a spec film script for an animated/live action hybrid film in the vein of “Sin City”? Would it make more sense to just write it as one or the other, either entirely animated or entirely live action? I guess the market for animated/live action hybrids is pretty small, so I’m guessing it’s better to choose one or the other style when it comes to writing a spec.

By: Jack Mulligan

Jack Mulligan — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:47:05 +0000

Thanks for the tips everyone. It definitely gives me confidence moving forward. It is definitely different from the stuff I usually work on, so it will be great to have something more diverse in the hip pocket.

Time to put the pen to the page...

By: a.

a. — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:05:33 +0000

Long time listener; first time caller. I was wondering about this myself. Thanks for everything, Mr. August.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:41:24 +0000

This is very informative. I think just the act of writing a spec to write a spec is good experience and gives you the ability to do something it sounds like is not common.