Animation : Thinking Ahead by Maurice Tyson

Crunchyroll.com!

I've never heard anyone say animation is low-hanging fruit.

Animation has never seemed to be low hanging fruit to me. I think advances in cgi are changing the industry for the better. Animation/vfx empower the realization on screen of ideas that would otherwise be cost prohibitive or impossible. Low hanging? I'd say no, it seems more like the "Golden Fruit" to me.

Completely agree with Robert. The Academy created a new Oscar category of Best Animated Feature as a form of respect, not as a form of disdain or exclusion.

I know where you are coming from Maurice in that as far as online platforms go, animation is low hanging fruit. The budgets and contracts for some of the top platforms are extremely low and are mostly the same pay for live action content with the same running time, if not less. The philosophy is, that since it's online it doesn't have to be that good - and unfortunately most new media cartoons aren't.

Nimblecollective.com is in beta, it is a cloud-based animation platform for creators and there will be a way to monetize your content. Another, similar platform is Artella.com, however it is more geared to finding talent, where Nimble will be both.

As for new media for animation, I'm putting out a 3D animation magazine at the end of the week for the independent community. As for some of the ideas in response to your post regarding "low hanging fruit"...well, sort of, mostly in the adult category. The vast majority of the animated films being produced are geared to children...that's really where the money is. The major studios rarely (most never) go into adult geared animation. Now, I'm talking about fully animated productions, just to be clear. People are now fairly used to seeing cgi in live-action film, but there is still a perception overall that animation is a kids medium, particularly in the western world. In some areas of the world, it seems to be more accepted than here. There are some here who are trying to change that and there are some good strides being made. In my opinion, it's the independent industry that is helping change the social perception around animation. But, that's just my two cents.

I'm looking forward to your magazine. Please keep us posted. My main interest is writing script for animation and my new feature screenplay "The Sock Opera" just received the winning nod from Moondance International Film Festival. I've been told repeatedly that unless you work for a studio there's little chance of ever seeing an animated feature produced. Is it because animation is so expensive to create? Any opinions out there?

Janice, it is because the studios, (Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, Universal, Blue Sky, Sony, Laika) all develop their projects in-house. But there is a growing independent animation space (in the States, Internationally, independent animation is prolific), you really have to be familiar with the industry, it is a small group relative to live action and everyone knows each other. There's hope for independent animation with new technologies and the need to break the studio system, but you really need to be vigilant in that realm. It is very expensive but the big studio expense is mostly due to development time, scripts are written alongside story boarding in these environments, so 2 of the 4 years of production are spent is story development. If you have a rock solid script that can go straight to story board, it can be produced less expensively but it is still a 2 year producition commitment.

Janice, the magazine is out. http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/1172425?__r=696814

Hello all - new guy here. What I find interesting is that Musicians (in the UK anyway) earn mega royalties every time an audio piece gets played on tv. I wouldn't want to sound like I am taking anything away from a musician - they are extremely talented but animation - either character or physics based even, takes creativeness and strong technical knowledge not to mention years of hard work - I do feel like we visual creatives for some reason do have a hard time.

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I appreciate the suggestions. May I add a slight correction? What I'm noticing is that animation in the PAST had BEEN considered low hanging fruit to Hollywood UNTIL the studios hype a major named star to do the voice over. LOL! I went indie with my own webseries #TheJennaBenderShow so I could take control of what I wanted to do! #diditall https://youtu.be/Up1ZZmPONA4?list=PLQtx3RSGJnpLuX0IG-mRyZdLdlpPhwUNO

I wouldn't say animation has ever been considered low hanging fruit. It is a very specialized space and tight knit community, once you immerse yourself in it, a whole new world (no pun intended) of opportunity is available. There are many independent animation venues and festivals. You should consider joining ASIFA if you are really serious about operating in this space. http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/

we are focus on animation, check us out http://www.eacgfest.org