October 2012 Newsletter

IN PRODUCTION with MARK & JEANNE

Mark is still cranking away on storyboards for the new feature-length version of Little Rascals headed for DVD sometime next year. The storyboard process on a film like this is also where all the sight gags and physical comedy aspects of the movie are worked out. For every sequence you eventually see on the screen, be aware of the 1-10 other versions that didn’t make the cut, but still had to be storyboarded to see how they would play out.

Mark joined a panel of National Cartoonist Society artists to give a talk at the Orange County Regional History Center, which is featuring a touring exhibit on Peanuts, created by Charles Schulz. Peanuts , as it turns out for so many cartoonists, was Mark’s first inspiration to try his own hand at drawing a cartoon strip. Schulz died more than 12 years ago, but it’s a testament to the universality of his pumpkin-headed Charlie Brown character that the strip is still carried in thousands of periodicals to this day.

Jeanne has been fast and furiously putting together 1-sheets, finalizing treatments, and helping prepare other client materials for the upcoming trifecta of huge TV conferences coming early next year.

Wayne is busy scripting an animation short for client Alejandra Leibovich (Aleloop) based on her original story idea, a nd that she will be producing and directing. The tale of a little girl cat adapting to a new neighborhood incorporates Inception-like visuals, and dips into the esoteric territory of quantum physics and the secret laws of attraction, but in a style all ages can easily follow and enjoy.

Wayne was also interviewed for a book on screenwriting that was just released called “Writing YOUR Story for the Big Screen” by Shawn Fornari (a former screenwriting student of Wayne’s). Check it out.

MIND YOUR BUSINESS

Here’s an excerpt from Mark’s recent article on the Animation World Network website.
Cartoonist: A Breed Apart

Mark Simon as Austin Powers on the right with Greg Evans of Luann on the left and Hector Cantu of Baldo in the center, at the Reuben weekend 60’s costume party.

Cartoonist; I always wanted to be one. Okay, I was one once, but my syndicate went out of business the very week my strip was supposed to launch. I still do cartoons and produce animation, so perhaps that qualifies. But I still remain in awe of the greats who, day in, day out, deliver the funnies.

If you’re old enough to remember a newspaper (it’s black and white and read all over) you’re probably a fan of comic strips. Who doesn’t skip by the bad news to catch the funnies first? Many of us first learned to draw as kids by copying our favorite strips. You’re probably imagining your favorite with a smile on your face right now.

Brad Anderson (Marmaduke) and
Jim Davis (Garfield)

I’ve worked with huge TV and movie stars over the years, but I get more star-struck when I meet one of my cartooning heroes than I ever did meeting an actor.

Over the last few years, I’ve been lucky enough to join the National Cartoonists Society or NCS. Going to the yearly Reuben Awards weekend is nirvana for me.

You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one of the greats.
(Not that we want to swing a dead cat anywhere near Garfield creator and PAWS, Inc. mogul Jim Davis).

I recently went to my 30th high school drama reunion and felt like I was 18 again. But when I meet the comic strip greats, like Jim Davis, Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury) and others, I feel like I’m 10 again. I admit that I totally geek out during this event.

Luckily I’m not the only one. All the cartoonists view each other in high esteem (except for, I’m told, Bill Watterson). We all want each other’s autographs. This year I finally remembered to bring some of my old books to get signed. I got sketches and signatures from Jim Davis, Bill Amend (Fox Trot), ‘Little Jeffy’ Keane (Family Circus), Mike Peters (left, Mother Goose & Grimm) and eight of the great Mark with Mike Peters the creator of Grimmy.

The Reuben ceremony itself is very well p roduced with lots of comic videos and bits by some of the funniest people you’ll ever meet. It’s infinitely more entertaining than the Emmy or Oscar events. Where else do you get to see Cathy Guisewite, right (Cathy) screeching a duet with Elvis?

A large number of series and features have come from comic strips. Garfield has won four Emmy awards, and is entering the fourth season of his latest series and has spawned two feature films. Peanuts has produced innumerable specials that we all watch every year, as well as a number of animated features. Beetle Bailey has produced over 50 animated TV cartoons, Grimmy has had his own series, and so has Baldo (which I landed a distribution deal for recently). Even Marmaduke has had his own feature. There is a big connection between comics and animation.

If you want to join this family of cartoonists (and why wouldn’t you?!), check out the eligibility online at www.Reuben.org. It is the most fun you’ll have hanging out with creative people with your pants on and without getting paid.

The Reuben Award dinner. From the left, Chad Carpenter of Tundra, Mason Mastroianni of B.C., Patti Hart ofB.C. and Mark Simon of “Im with them.”

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For the full article go to:

http://www.awn.com/articles/mind-your-business-cartoonists/page/1%2C1

UPCOMING EVENTS

Best Opportunities EVER to Pitch TV Network Execs!
TV show creators can save big bucks on registration for two of the most important TV conferences this winter. If you have a TV series concept, script, treatment, or a pitch for a reality show, scripted drama or sitcom, kids’ show, animation, or even a game show, then you need to mark your calendars for either NATPE (all show types) in Miami, January, 28-30, or Realscreen Summit (reality shows only) in Washington, D.C., January 27-30.

*You don’t need to go on one of their tours to enjoy the conference registration discounts above.

Or call now at 407-352-2544 to get a guaranteed spot on one of the tours.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

New Fall show Round-Up edition.

The New Normal on NBC is show runner Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) stretching his empire into the half-hour sitcom world. A gay male couple uses a young surrogate mother who has a precocious 10 year-old daughter and a bigoted and overbearing grandmother to carry their baby so they can become parents. What’s in here that Modern Family already hasn’t done?

Revolution looks like Lost meets The Hunger Games, which is not a bad thing (and you can easily spot the J. J. Abrams pedigree). Fifteen years after all the electrical power left the planet (including batteries for your iPhone 5, flashlight, car or other devices) Earth is reduced to rural communities and nomadic tribes trying to survive while villainous despots attempt to seize control (of what?). The production values are top tier (and we hope they didn’t blow the whole budget on the pilot), and the main characters are a tough young girl with a crossbow and her salty uncle with a swift sword and some major ninja skills. We’re on board until a hatch and a smoke monster emerge, but by episode three Eli has already showed up!

Elementary turns out to be another standard CBS murder procedural with the only twist being it’s an update of Sherlock Holmes with Johnny Lee Miller as a recovering drug addict investigating with a female Watson sidekick (Lucy Liu) around to keep him sober. Miller’s twitching, offbeat performance is good (CBS could have paired this with one of their other signature shows and just called it The Mental), but the BBC series with Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock in the modern age is cleverer by far and m uch more rewarding viewing (if you catch it on PBS’ Masterpiece Theatre).

Vegas also turns out to be another rather routine investigation procedural that benefits only from the presence of Dennis Quaid as the sheriff and Michael Chiklis as the new local mob boss. The 60′s setting lends it some Mad Men style novelty, but they shoot on a reconstructed and very fake looking portion of Vegas outside L.A. and it shows (whereas the original 60′s strip in the real Vegas is there for the asking).

The Last Resort shows great promise if the riveting, action-filled pilot can be matched (it looks and plays like a big budget movie). A rogue submarine disobeying a suspicious order to nuke Pakistan goes AWOL and sets up its own version of a nuclear missle-holding nationality on a remote Pacific Island. Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman are the leads and submarine officers. Check it out.

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Premise Pilot vs. Episode 6 Pilot

There’s a big debate constantly raging in Hollywood among pilot creators and buyers whether it’s better to do a Premise Pilot or an Episode 6 Pilot.

A “Premise Pilot” is an episode that introduces all the major characters and sets up the circumstances or ‘premise’ of the series. From the list of the shows above, The New Normal pilot, which introduces the married male partners, their desire to have a baby, and the surrogate they will use would be considered a ‘premise pilot.’ The Last Resort is a premise pilot setting up the sub on the run. Revolution is also a premise pilot, setting up the loss of power worldwide, and the quest of the main characters.

An “Episode 6 Pilot&rdqu o; argues that it’s better to present a regular example of what the show would be like on a normal weekly episode basis than a premise pilot, which may have a much larger budget and not be representative of what to expect in a regular show. Elementary and Vegas above are actually more like ‘Episode 6 Pilots,’ because their premises are dispensed with quickly, and they are soon solving a ‘crime of the week’ in a standard procedural format.

There’s no pat answer on how you should best present your pilot. Each idea has its own set of challenges and circumstances that determine the best presentation to serve it. If you feel a premise pilot is the only way to go, by all means stick with that approach. If you just want to showcase a typical episode of your series and forego all the establishing material and introductions of the characters, use that approach. You can always back it up with a treatment that details the original premise, character relationships and season arcs.

The one irrefutable piece of advice that supersedes all arguments over whether a premise pilot or episode pilot is better is simply to deliver the best script possible. No one can argue with that.