Animation Magazine's 35 Year Anniversary Issue

Page 150

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Opportunities

Animated Musing By Mary Bredin

How Many Hats Does a Development Professional Wear?

I

am often asked what it means to develop a TV show. We all know what the goal is to be able to pitch an amazing story about characters that are real. To bring your listeners on that journey so everyone who hears the pitch understands it, sees it, feels it, loves it and says, “Yes, please make it!” But, how do you get there? Perhaps the best way to describe it is to say that developing shows for children is about wearing lots of different hats, and knowing which hat to wear when! Once you have a good concept, then you’ll need to put on these hats on: A Writer’s Hat (A Panama hat, perhaps?) I spend lots of time reading people’s ideas and then writing suggestions and other ideas.

Show creators may be writers, but not always. There are lots of discussions, tweaking and noodling — always trying to find the words to best describe the idiosyncrasies of characters and the heart in each idea while always being conscious of the ownership of the work. Director (I reach for a baseball cap). Often there is no director at an early stage of either a book or a creator’s concept idea, so you need to make sure there is some clarity in what is going on and how the show is working. (Is it too static? Does it have too much action?) I loved directing theater years ago and some of these skills come back. The more you can make the pitch feel like the show has already been made, as if you’re just describing your favorite show, then you actually have a better

chance that it will get made. A great pitch can also help find a great director. Inner Child a.k.a. the Audience (a folded paper hat). This is a challenging hat to keep on and to make sure it fits well: What does that four- or eight-year old really think and how do you find the words to express what they feel? It is one of my favorite hats to wear because fifth grade really was a great time for me. Comedian (a clown hat may be too much, but you need something colorful). Perhaps more than anything, every show really needs a sense of humor. If you are not conveying a sense of play, then maybe it’s not working. Finding fun and light moments through characters is a great element for any age group. Humor does connect … But, does it connect

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Articles inside

Animated Musings

4min
pages 150-151

Autonomous Animator

3min
pages 148-149

Creative Connections

4min
pages 152-153

Tech Reviews

10min
pages 144-147

Conjuring New Demons

6min
pages 142-143

Experiencing the World of Tomorrow Today

49min
pages 118-139

Unleashing the Dinosaurs Again

7min
pages 140-141

A Few Words from Monsieur le Délégué

6min
pages 102-103

First Look: Netflix Animation Spotlights

3min
pages 116-117

Flight of Fancy

6min
pages 106-107

20 Movies to Catch at Annecy

6min
pages 104-105

Brief and Beautiful Visions

15min
pages 108-115

An Animation Legend Looks Back

6min
pages 96-99

35 Animated Shorts to Explore, Ponder Ignore or Enjoy*

8min
pages 84-87

The Strike That Shifted the Landscape

7min
pages 100-101

The Essentials:35 U.S. Studio Movies of the Past 35 Years

1min
page 82

On Representation and Diversity: How Far Have We Come?

7min
pages 80-81

Riding the Japanese New Wave

5min
pages 78-79

A Lot Can Happen in 35 Years

9min
pages 76-77

Reflections on 1987 and the 35th

4min
pages 74-75

A Crowd-Sourcing Pioneer

4min
pages 72-73

35 Years of Great Quotes

11min
pages 68-71

Blue Skies Ahead for Red Animation

6min
pages 66-67

Drawn to Excellence

6min
pages 62-63

Cyber Group Expands Its Giant Footprint

6min
pages 64-65

Daughter of Invention

6min
pages 60-61

On Being a True Warrior

7min
pages 58-59

Crouching Teen, Hidden Powers

6min
pages 56-57

A Hero Who Keeps on Giving

6min
pages 54-55

And Never Feed Them After Dark

6min
pages 50-51

From Stage to Animated Screen

6min
pages 52-53

A Toon Town Trailblazer

6min
pages 44-45

Sophisticated Sci-Fi Is Back

8min
pages 46-49

The Red Ribbon Army Returns

3min
pages 42-43

Mavka, the Spirit of Ukrainian Culture

5min
pages 40-41

The Tiniest Movie Star

7min
pages 36-37

The Way of the Feline Samurai

6min
pages 38-39

Teddy Bears vs. Unicorns

6min
pages 34-35

Whatever Happened to Those Chipmunks?

6min
pages 32-33

A Real Disney Heroine

7min
pages 20-23

A Toy’s Origin Story

10min
pages 16-19

Here Be Monsters

9min
pages 24-27

Make It Extra — with a Side of Optimism

8min
pages 28-31
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