Loss Leaders

Do you know how much money clothing designer make on Paris, Milan and New York "Fashion Week" shows?

It's hard to quantify, but the simple answer is "negative a lot".

The high end designs that walk celebrity runway shows cost more to produce than they recoup.  I don't fully understand the details of the fashion industry, basically the top lines and the haute couture (which is a very specific subset of Parisian houses) are the avant garde for the low end labels which stock department store shelves nationwide.  Barneys might buy a few dozen $5000 dresses which march through Bryant Park.  The profits are made from the mass produced cheaper models which sell for $49.99.  That and fragrances, apparently.

So why spend so much promoting clothes which will never make back the production costs?

The fashion industry sees these as "loss leaders".  The money invested on the high end of the line is necessary for greater profit on the mass market lines.  In this particular case aspirational buying in the consumer plays a major role.  Isn't there an aspirational angle to all purchases?

In animation and other forms of film production the loss leader can be an important part of the business.

These can take the form of cut rate work, like music videos.

They can also take the form of short films -Pixar's shorts are a great example.  The studio loses plenty of money producing them but the technology and talent they develop repay the company's investments many fold.

When someone offers a low to no budget project, the question to ask is -"If I can't make money on this particular on this job, will it help me profit in the long term?"  It's a tricky question because the answer is conjecture.

Keeping Busy

David Levy suggested I write an entry on how we (appear, at least) to have a lot of work.

It's funny, because I always feel like we're not busy enough.  That has less to do with volume of work than size of paycheck probably.  Not until you look back do you see a sizable library of moving pictures in your wake.

Juggler by R. O. Blechman

There are several things that can ensure something is always on the table.

1) Do a new "sales" activity everyday.  I don't always do this, though I try.  That means sending out a reel, making a phone call, an email.  This should be a personal as possible, one on one contact with a potential (or repeat) client.

2) Following point 1, getting new work is a job in itself.  Approach "sales" like you would approach any contract.  If you're an animator, use animation as a sales tool.  This is also an exercise in branding.  We generally have one of these jobs going on at any time.   Maybe it's a new website, maybe bumpers for sample reels, maybe just experimenting with techniques.  Nonetheless, it's more than busy work.

3) Keep in mind what your business is.  We're in the business of animation, so when someone wants animation figure out how to do it.  If you're in the business of saying "no", then you can turn everything down.  On the other hand, it's possible to figure out ways to make animation in all sorts of circumstances.  That's not to say take on every single project, sometimes a potential client's demands are just insulting.  Those are definite "no's".

4) Be versatile.  This one is most important.  We'll do illustration.  We'll do type design.  We'll do motion graphics.  We'll do live action editorial.  We'll do documentaries. 

5) If you're good at animation, people will know for that, but they may not know that you like, say, embroidery.  Use your known skills to apply for work in other areas of interest.  This isn't easy (none of this is).  Start by contacting people with whom you already have a relationship.  Say, for instance, you do a little bit of animation for a local business.  That can just be the beginning of the relationship.  Offer to make them a comic book to distribute to their customers (if you're into comics).

6) We like to have long term projects -that generally means several months for us -mixed with shorter ones.  A long term project means there's always something going on, short ones mean you're always doing something new.

7) Make your own work.  Tomorrow, we'll be posting a bit we did for PBS.  This came about after we finished a series of shorts for them and suggested a new/different idea they might like.  Reaching all the back a few years that initial contract with PBS was the offspring of a series we did for The New Yorker.  That series was booked after we quickly made an episode and sold it to them. 

Every project has the seeds of future work in it.  Getting new contracts requires daily dedication.   If you want an easy life with a lot money, become a banker.

2010 In Review (for us)

Not much for calendar turning, as things still progress regardless of the last digit of the date.  The end of the year means one thing to me -time to prepare taxes and send out all the 1040s and W2s and spend hours doing what should've been done months ago.

So it gives opportunity to reflect on business.

We're still here, that's a start.  We did about half the business we wanted to in 2010 but I've always had great expectations.

We only logged 15 jobs in the calender year (we'd like to engage a new contract every two weeks).  That's a bit misleading, since one contract was for 6 films and another for 4.  The shortest was for :02 (commercial -good budget!), the longest single film was a 6 minute motion graphics piece.   All told, about an hour's worth of material was contracted with Asterisk this year.  Screentime-wise, about 10 minutes was actual animation, 30 minutes live action/editorial and about 20 minute worth of motion graphics.

Most people would call "animation" what we consider to be motion graphics.

Our work for David Grubin's "The Buddha" broadcast in March.  This was completed in 2009.

We also finished 5 productions which contracted in 2009 (two are still lingering -we'll finish I promise!  Actually 3 are still out there, I forgot about the series of ads for Infor which still have some spots left on the initial deal).

Three contracts will finish the first week of January.
 
We've had one full time employee.  Four temporary employees.  One independent contractor and two school aged interns (one unpaid High School student).

And one big cat.

66% (10) of our contracts have been for non-fiction films.  Of these, two are theatrical, one web, one international broadcast, one US cable, the rest US Public Television.

No particularly weird projects this year, the rest have been fairly typical commercial or industrial contracts.

33% (5) contracts were repeat customers.  33% (5) were on recommendation from past clients.  1 was an old contact of Brian's and the remaining four were brand new calls.

I don't have a record of how many bids we've sent out.  I'll estimate about 10 that we didn't land the job.  Only one gets in my craw -I worked for several weeks figuring it out, was verbally guaranteed the project once the client approved, was in constant contact with the agency producer -then she never called back.  The others, most didn't happen.  The others I never heard back from.

We'd like to be doing a bid per week.  Counting awards plus bids, that puts at about 50% of where we'd like to be.

Something to aim for.

Cover Letters - 7 Tips

A few months ago Lisa Crafts suggested we do a write up on cover letters.

At the sample reel panel in Ottawa I actually learned a thing or two -mainly that I'm not the only person who reads cover letters.

Like the cover letter itself, I'll keep this basic.

1) Know who you're addressing. I actually like "Dear Mr. O'Connor..." but as other folks pointed out they're fine with a first name -as long as it's a professional name ("Dear Richard" not "Dear Rick" -Rick was my father). Conceding that decorum went out with Art Deco, I won't hold points against anyone for thinking we're on a first name basis.

Ms. is still an acceptable suffix. Miss is not. Really ever, but I'm not a Miss so it doesn't effect me. "Mrs." should only be used if you know the addressee is married.

If you're wonder how "Mrs." comes from "missus", it's because the word was originally "mistress."

You know how you find out whether someone is married: google. Producers will google you before an interview, it's only fair.

2) Once you know who you're address, make sure you're addressing the right person.  I admit it, I've copy and pasted sales letters and instinctively hit send before changing the addressee.   So I know that you're mass mailing your reel off an outdated weblist and have some sympathy.

Sympathy aside, it's completely amateur.  It means your work now has something to overcome.  Your first contact with a potential employer and you've made a mistake already.  That reel has to be damned good now.

3) Get to point. "I've been working as a XXXXX for XX years.  I would like XXXXX position with your company.   I've done XXXXXX and XXXXXXX and would be happy to work in that capacity with you..."

It's a business letter.  Business should be upfront and on the level.  Say what you want and what you're will to accept.

Don't say you'll do "anything".  "Anything do-er" isn't a position that's generally being looked to fill.   The "Anything Do-er" is usually the kid of a friend or colleague who needs a summer/part time job (just being honest).  Or they're the owner.

In any case, you're an animator (or compositor, or model builder).  That's the job you're after.  Anything different is a leap of faith and a negotiation.

4) Show familiarity with the work of the company you're applying to and make a connection.  My work on  "Project YYYYY" is  similar to what you've done on "Film WWWWW".  Not only does this show you actually have taken the 5 minutes to look at the website, you're making the recruiter's job easier by directing them to a specific piece of interest.

5) Use your 'ins'.  Remember that kid who's the "Anything Do-er".  Remember how nepotism got him his job.  Those are the breaks.

There is always a tribal mentality at play with humans.  Those already in the tribe have a much greater possibility of acceptance.

Let the studio know if you sat next to a staff animator at a screening of The Rugrats Movie when you were 14.  Hopefully, you've got a better connection (a classmate, a friend, you had a conversation with the director at a talk) it doesn't matter -use what you've got.

6) You're not funny.  Don't pretend to be.  Just don't.  You're not funny.

7) You're not Tolstoy, either.  Keep it brief.  The cover letter is to introduce yourself and give a context to your work.  The reel and portfolio should do the talking.

Things Happen

Someone should have told me not to leave the Final Cut Pro machine on for 9 months straight.

Apparently it isn't good on the inner bits.

We have another machine with Final Cut installed -I loaded it when the main machine was buggy and we were on deadline with an editorial job.

So I swapped the CPU and - voila! -functionation!
 

On the hard drive were color models from The Buddha.

Appropriate -I appreciate the time with computer knowing that it is already broken.

Another Failure

Often the outcome of a bid will be determined by factors completely outside of your control.

You can do everything perfectly -good creative, good budget, good rapport with the potential client -and still not land the job. It's common for animation/effects/design to get the short straw in the grand scheme of a production. Often that means it's one of the first things that's cut or scaled back so much an editor can handle it, or put off until there's no time.

Sometimes it's a combination.

For this project we pulled together several design ideas.

It was a fairly open assignment, and the concepts flowed pretty easily.

The client limitations were to keep it in the ballpark of what they already had (but to make it different).

Our concerns was that we make reference to the subject matter, but not mimic it.

The ideas were simple, and sometimes easiest expressed through storyboards.

These (and others) accompanied a written treatment which not only described the actions but justified the concepts.

Just about anything can done with motion graphics, but for them to be good there needs to be an inherent reason.

After this presentation, we were told they loved everything.  They were concerned we'd be able to do the work for the budget (we designed the concepts so that'd be possible).  Everything was a few months off.

Ultimately, other production issues came up. Time marched on and the client decided to keep their in house designer on the project.

We enjoyed the day or two spent on the concepts and were happy to pitch ideas and would gladly do it again for these folks.  Sometimes the stars just don't align.  In this case, we had no financial gain from the work we developed but we didn't spend all that much time on it.  Two or three days.  But it was an enjoyable exercise and sometimes you need a workout to keep in shape.

The Job Binder

This is something I rarely do, but should probably do all the time.

The job binder.  A three ring binder that contains all the information for a production.

print art in an agency paste up which inspired the spot in question

I rarely use job binders because 1) I'm lazy -no explanation needed and 2) I'm arrogant -I tend to think I can produce a half dozen projects simultaneously while never lettin' em see me sweat.

I'd like to hear incidents when I've spotted with a bead of perspiration.  Unlikely to be anyone to step up (there's that arrogance for you).

Bidding Guideline

The agency producer was amazingly awesome.  She put together the "bidding guideline" which I could then use throughout the production as a reference for what we were supposed to be doing.

In yesterday's post on the bidding process, I neglected to mention that all of those steps will ultimately make producing the film significantly easier.  Here's a perfect example.

For this project I was less than certain.  We were shooting live action (35 mm, high speed), creating original CG animation,  doing special effects and editing pre-shot footage of the vehicle provided by the client.  Plus 2 different legal versions (different supers/tags/etc) in two different lengths (:30 and a :27/:03), in 6 languages.   That's 24 versions of the spot.

And it was a pretty meager budget to boot.

 

So I reverted to the Job Binder.  I first used them on jobs I produced with Santiago Cohen and Maciek Albrecht for HBO.  Back when I was terrified of screwing up (before I learned that no one ever  died because they didn't have perfect animation).

So what should this binder contain?

1) CONTACT INFORMATION.  Who is doing what and how can they be reached.  Important to have at your quick disposal -especially when live action is involved.

2) STORYBOARDS.

The storyboard is the blueprint and lexicon for an animated film.  Most commercials, in general.

3) SHOT LIST.  The breakdown of each scene.  This is most important in animation.  You track where a shot is in production and can calculate how long it will take to finish.

4) BUDGET.

Every film is shaped by money.   If you need another compositing artist, check the numbers -maybe you've accounted for it (hopefully you have).

5) SCHEDULE (obviously)

 

6) SPECS.  Specifications of what the job delivery entails.  A list of all versions and formats required.

7) CORRESPONDENCE.  Important letters to and from clients and vendors.   You may need to refer to these in the future.

8) RESALE CERTIFICATES.  If you're buying/renting stuff you don't have to pay sales tax on those items if you're reselling them.  If you buy tape, you're reselling it as part of your delivery, no sales tax.  The state issues "resale certificates" for the vendor to keep on file.

Conversely, you are responsible to pay sales tax on your the sale of your film unless you have a resale from your client.  If they're an ad agency, that's no problem -they resell to their client.  So make sure you get one, otherwise the state is due a big percentage of your budget.

There are other things you can keep in here as well.

You'll notice that the only "creative" information I've kept is the storyboard.  This binder is for the business end of production, if things such as model approvals and character turnarounds are an integral part of the process, you might want to include them.  Generally, I prefer to keep that stuff separate.

Some Housekeeping

Here's where we ask for your money.

If not your money, your clicks.  Unfortunately, we don't actually get any of your money either way.

*****

First, please vote for our panel at SXSW.   I'd love the glamour of a free festival pass.

CLICK HERE to vote.

*****

Congratulations to John Pirozzi and Linda Saphan.  Their Kickstarter campaign for "Don't Think I've Forgotten" doubled their goal.




We've been working hard on a few minutes of animation for this remarkable film.

****

Also on the Kickstarter front, our friends at Arts Engine are in the last week of a funding drive.




A few dollars can help finish this interesting film (and let them contract us for some graphics!).

****

Netflix subscribers can stream The Buddha on demand.

CLICK HERE

****

Moment of Death is now available on DVD from National Geographic.

CLICK HERE

We're currently in production a similar film for National Geographic, hopefully it'll turn out just as well.

*****

Another film we contributed to The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is available on DVD

CLICK HERE

Friday 13!

Friday the 13th is the day the Oddfellows were swarmed by angry cats, thus causing them to flee the coast of England for the rocky shores of Newfoundland.

We celebrate this great moment in history with cats.

Or cat.  But he's big enough for two.

Liesje's cat, Begemot Kot (it's a literary reference) has been living with us at the studio for a few months.

Don't let his bashful act fool you, he's extremely friendly.  And extremely talkative.

I like to call him "Fluff Daddy".

Because he's fluffy.

Coincidentally, Christina just calls him "Biggie".

Maybe we should run his "moow"s through autotune.

But For Fortune

I'm re-posting this Fortune Magazine article we originally put up over two years ago.

Readership has increased dramatically over that time and it's something most folks will appreciate.

Click any image to enlarge.

Originally published in November 1934, this article focuses on the business end of the still fledgling Disney company.

Bottom is an Art Babbit scene from a Silly Symphony.

God of a Plastic Celluloid World

Some production photos.

Music comes first.

Photo of a downshooter and a discussion of story writing process.

Mickey Mouse and the Banker: a nod to Roy Disney and a frank discussion of funds.

Animators gather around Disney for notes.

Lots of Whisky ads next to the animation article...

See.

A breakdown of Silly Symphony's $50,000 budget.

Animation Budgeting - Part 4 "Prep"

As I've noted in past posts, our budget process comes from the AICP (Association of Independent Commercial Producers) guides.

Those are geared explicitly for live action.  Their budget only contains a single line item for "animation".

In expanding that line item, we took our cue from their budget form which has categories "A" through "K" (plus director as "L").  Animation is complicated process, but it's hard to break it into that many smaller pieces.  Drawing based animation, at least.  Mixed media projects, stop motion, under camera techniques all require varying amounts of alternate costs.

So here's our "Category B" PREP/RECORD

You'll note there are blank budget lines.

It's hard to predict what costs will come into play, there's often something completely unexpected.  These can fill with those.   Usually we'd rewrite this section for stop motion fabrication on those projects.

More often these lines will fill with multiple artists at the same position.  For instance, 222 and 223 might both be for "Layout Artist".

201 Casting:  A casting director typically gets a flat fee.  They'll read the script, give you a cost.

From there you discuss your casting thoughts.  They give you theirs.  Typically you'll cast by "types" -say, "For the lead I'm thinking someone like Bruce Campbell."   A casting director will usually call Bruce Campbell ('s agent) and see if he wants the part with all the caveats.

Very often "celebrity" talent will say yes.  Animation voice work is viewed as pretty easy by most actors.  It's seen as a cool part of childhood's magic by even more.

If your actor doesn't want the job, the casting director will bring in others with similar styles to audition.

You can always do the casting yourself.  Post an ad on various casting sites, call up talent agencies, scout local comedy clubs, or even have your friends do all the voice work.

Even if you do the casting yourself, it's still a cost.  It's your time -which is considerable if you conduct a thorough hunt.  The cost is less than professional, but sometimes the results can be less than professional.

With "name" talent you often can't ask them to read for the part (unless you're doing a big budget/high profile profile production).  You offer them the part and that's it.

Once you've got your talent cast, you've got to pay them.

202 Voice Talent.  This is one of those lines that typically expands into several.  Actors' rates are determined by their guilds: SAG and AFTRA and their respective agreements with producers.  Their rate tables can be found on their websites.  SAG is the screen actors guild, AFTRA is TV and radio.

Even when paying the lowest rate ("scale"), the cost is usually scale plus 10%.  That 10% goes to the actor's agent.  No, you don't HAVE to do that.  It's just customary and makes working for the minimum more palatable.

If you're Joe Schmoe animator making a film you won't actually be able to pay your actors.  You'll need a "signatory" to SAG/AFTRA agreement to be your paymaster.  There's a lot of paperwork involved with paying union workers and you need be able to pay into their fringes (P, P&W).  Also union actors need to demonstrate a certain amount over work over a period time to keep their benefits.

You can always bypass all the guild stuff and hire non-union talent or ask a professional actor to do the job as a scab.  Many voice actors will have stage names that don't appear on the union register for this purpose.

203 Voice Director.  It could be you.  It could be a professional.  Either way, somebody's got to be in there with the actors letting them know what to do.  It's not unheard of for someone besides the animation director to devote themselves to getting the right voice performance.

Actors are like animators.  They have their own language and methods of achieving their goals.  Sometimes a voice director is the best idea to help them get to the right performance.

205 Sound Editor.  The person who strings together the best takes.  Sometimes animatic editor will do this.

207 Animatic Editor.  This is the "creative" end of editing animation.  Timings are determining, shots deleted, recalled, rearranged.  After this is all file management and fixing mistakes.

210 Track Analysis.  Frame by frame reading of the track.  We used to pay by the foot -different rates for lip sync vs. soft sync.  It's been a long time and I'm not sure what the rates are.

It takes me about an hour to lip sync :60 (in English).  I'm fast.  So I base our costs on that.


211 Sheet Timing.  This is really for overseas animators.  We'll do it a bit, but it's usually just transposing things learned from the animatic onto the exposure sheets.  It's generally the director's job, but will often be handed to a specialist.


212 Storyboard Conform.  Somebody's got to make sure the video board in the animatic exists on paper.  I've heard rumor of software that does this, but I don't believe.  It's the worst job on earth.

214 through 216.  Fairly self-explanatory.  You can add prop designer too.

218 Designer. This is DESIGNER, designer.  Like the guy who nudges it a bit and changes all your default Arial to default Helvetica.  Yes, he may be a monster -but sometimes his talents are needed to capture Troy.  Like making logos and presentation books.   If anyone is overpaid in production, it's this line.

220 PreVisualization Artist.  When an animatic isn't enough.  These are mostly used in 3D projects.  In 2D it's an expensive intermediary step before actually animating.  In 3D its an inexpensive way of figuring out logistics.


222 Layout Artist.   Layout artist

224 Researcher.  This is the fun part of any project -digging up the material to base the film on.


225 Photography.  For reference.


226 Reference Models. If you need to hire figure models.

228 Roto Shoot.  Rotoscope preparation falls in pre-production.  Roto artists are in the next catagory.

On the right side we'll just pull a few specifics and discuss generalities.

This deals mostly with recording and music.  You can break these line out in the left hand column if you're doing the recording in house.  We typically subcontract recording and music.


251 Scratch Track.  Did you read the track into Final Cut so you could get timings?  Congratulations you recorded a scratch track!  How much time/equipment did it take?  That's your cost.

252 Record.  Ballpark $300/hour for a professional studio and go from there.  You can get something as low as $75 in New York or as high $500 -especially if you need fiber optic connection from another part of the world.  Book rates for audio facilities are usually negotiable especially if you're flexible with your time.


260 Style Guide.  If you're in the world of licensing, you'll need to make a style guide for how the characters are used.  Often design firms like Landor or Pentagram will do these.  It can be pretty well paying.

261 Character Bible.  The practical version of a style guide.  Animators will use it.  The expense of producing it is always far less than the expense of not having it.

270 Permits.  New York has recently announced permit fees for shooting.  Many other cities have these costs.  If your doing outdoor shooting -reference, roto, et c.  you'll need to keep this in mind.

272 - 278.  These are "pre-production" music costs.  Rough mixes, stock, sound effects.  Audio costs come up again post-production