Okay, I was just kidding about it being a patent pending, Fifteen (15) Steps. But, this is what I have discovered over my years as a creative. Even an investor myself, to others who were looking for enlightenment.

On a side note, before delving deeper into what I have to say, check out what BUZZFEED posted about animators. (15 of them to be exact)  I’m getting better at being patient. So, I’ll wait until you return. Even Essence Cartoon has their animation workflow that they follow. While I finish the next two paragraphs, feel free to go (Here) and read about them.

Cue On Hold and Waiting Music…

Music is still playing…

Are you ready to proceed? I know I am. So, here we go. Ways to get funding. You’ll need a few additional items. First. A small bucket or large rubber boot. A small bucket or large rubber boot. Visual aids (possibly, your storyboards). Small sandwiches and a drink. This will help keep up your strength. Food will fuel you, assisting to keep you on the creative path. Stand outside a theater, mall or even a busy street corner, a catchy chant could assist in getting attention and then, start watching the money roll in.

Now, if you actually get your funding that way. I’ll give you determination credit. Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, Patreon and even networking with friends or business contacts, was what I was referring to. These aforementioned are crowdfunding options. What is crowdfunding? Well, let me put it simply.

Crowdfunding is pitching a project to the public via the internet. People view your project. If they find it intriguing, they can choose different funding levels, you can set up then they donate to the project. Be prepared, in this world, not everyone like to give away their money. Crowdfunding projects usually give back to backers, perks or trinkets that will entice people to donate even more to the budget.

As you do move forward, great rewards. Remember that. One important factor, allow as many patrons, a way at the lowest possible cost to you, to get a digital download of the project. Animation must be seen in motion. Remember that, please.

Kickstarter and IndieGoGo are straight crowdfunding. You create a project. Get people interested. When successful, funding is given to create it. If not (but that is not why you are here, to fail, right?) no-one loses any money. Providing updates will keep them wanting more. Please don’t wait on the updates. People like to see progress, especially, in the case of milestone  give a reasonable date for completion.

One never knows from one day to the next, what it will bring. Life can be hard but never give up. Keep developing those creative ideas. BUT, don’t create such a great idea that you get the funding and take time even a couple of years to deliver that project. The average person will not stand for it. Be the better person and deliver a great project on time. Consider software for animation production by Toon Boom Animation Software, the makers of (Harmony and Storyboard Pro), just to name a couple.

One person I was able to get a few questions in to was Chance Raspberry. His project, Little Billy, the world’s first and only animated series about neurodiversity, special needs, and the power of being different (created by a Simpsons animator with Tourette Syndrome!)

Q: How did you approach crowdfunding to your project(s)?

A: Due to all the interference, delays, rules, and limitations of traditional pitching to networks or executives (the “old-fashioned” way), I knew crowdfunding was the best way to go for a project like mine the demands a certain level of creative control, freedom, honesty, sincerity, and quality. I wanted my vision to maintain its form, message, and purpose, so I knew I would have to create its beginnings myself with funds from fans.

Once I decided to launch the first Kickstarter for Little Billy, I took some great advice from a great friend and made up my mind to put everything else on hold – you have to make your campaign the entire project and give it 100% focus if you want to ensure its success; just like a full-time job.

Q: What avenues did you consider first, second, third?

A: I was originally planning to pitch first and try anything else second. I spent years trying to get my Little Billy project to a “finished enough” state to pitch it because in the animation/entertainment industry, the common “rule” is that the more locked down a project is, the less likely it is to be changed from its original state.

If the network/studio/company you pitch to likes it for what it is, they’ll likely want to work with you to maintain what they like about it. What I eventually learned is that it’s also MUCH harder to sell a show or get a deal if your project is too locked down because the people paying to have it made (the people you pitch to) want to be involved and in control of every phase/aspect of the project’s growth, process, and progress.

It’s part enthusiasm, part ego, part self-preservation, and part fear. No one wants something they supported to fail (especially if their name is tied to it). So, the need to control or decide most/all things kicks in and if you’re not very careful. You can wind up having your idea become someone else’s or selling a show.

This is where lose all your copyrights and ownership of it. And to even most likely to have it shelved and never made. All these pitfalls are what finally drove me to make crowdfunding my first choice. Rather than it being my backup or last resort. With crowdfunding, you can literally avoid ALL these problems and make the project you and your fans actually want – your way!

Q: Was it a good experience or were there obstacles in your way to funding, if so, what were some examples of them?

A: Crowdfunding is an amazingly POSITIVE experience! It does come with challenges just like anything else, but none of them outweigh the benefits of calling your own shots with crowdfunding – at least for me. Most good examples of these challenges are unforeseen delays with product/reward fulfillment, confused or impatient backers (which is no one’s fault and can happen to anyone), etc.

Despite these obstacles, I highly recommend crowdfunding for anyone who loves to create.  It has high standards for personal creative freedom and quality. Nothing ismore fulfilling than for an independent artist and the creation of their own independent economy to sustain themselves!

Chance’s Campaign, which is headed down the final stretch can be found, here. LittleBilly.com

Patreon is crowdfunding. But in a different way. Think way back to The Renaissance, say Florence, Italy, to be specific. Persons like Leonardo DA Vinci, Donatello and Michelangelo, to name a few. Wealthy families would contract or give patronage to these artists. It would help fund and sustain them while they produced works of art or projects for the public or even just the patrons themselves. They would look in and see how their money is being spent and enjoy what was being produced.

Well, in the digital age, it’s basically the same with Patreon. Patrons don’t need to leave their homes, if they don’t want. It’s delivered to their own homes via email or “LIVE BROADCASTS” from an artist’s studio. With Patreon, levels of patronage, will grant or unlock what the patrons will see or receive in return for their generosity.

And if and when, enough people flock to your project, you just might get that mighty project completed.

Don’t wait. Go out and create. I’ll even wait to hear from any of you on what was accomplished.

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I cannot remember exactly what year it was but I could not have been older than ten. I was in the local convenience store. And I saw all those colors. The TV Guide. The FALL PREVIEW TV Guide. People under than a certain age, let me quickly explain this guide. Before the internet, before cable tv and DVDs. This magazine about the size of a paperback book how what was going to be on the following week. Even articles about other shows in advance. Yes, TV Guide is still sold, but I look at it like a failed experiment of Dr. Frankenstein. I shun it. To really appreciate TV Guide and what it stood for being that FALL Preview Issue. I paid 25¢ for that map of my childhood viewing for the next year. It could have been a warm sunny day, but I went home and began reading every single page. But the week that usually grabbed me the most, second to this glorious day of reading was when the Friday Night Preview of new Saturday morning cartoons would be broadcast. Remember again, before DVDs, VCR and VOD. So, if you did not see this show, you missed which show to see first and which show you wanted to avoid. Or in a worst case scenario, which show you would have to flip back and forth. Sometimes so loudly my mom would yell down from the kitchen to stop doing that to the TV or it will break the knob. Oh, let me add, we never owned a remote for the TV, I had to get up and physically change the channel. So, one of the rules of my home was picked a show and watch it completely. At one point, I did switch channels enough on our kitchen portable B/W (Black and White) TV that the knob broke and we had to use a pliers to change the channel. I think I might have been punished for an evening for breaking it. And even Superglue couldn’t fix the knob.

So, back to the TV GUIDE FALL PREVIEW Issue. My memory is hazy, but I am pretty sure the Friday Night Preview was listed in that Fall Preview Issue. I never subscribed at that age, but this was one time during the year that I did buy the magazine. And for 15 years I even kept the issues like a comic book collector. That faze faded. But the memories of the selection process did not. So, there I was flopped down on my bed, TV Guide open, scanning for the Friday night listings.

I went exactly to the 7 O’clock Hour. There they were. The three most important shows in my life at that moment. The Friday Night Saturday Morning Cartoon Preview Shows Listing. At one point, the shows started to air after 8PM, by then I had my mind on other subjects and never watched it them ever again. But, that is a whole other story about the downfall of Saturday Morning cartoon shows.

This show was a half hour, 30 minutes with two, maybe even three, four minute commercial breaks to give me all the information about that year’s Saturday Morning cartoon viewing habits to my interests. This show would usually have a live host and guests of that year’s top rated show who kids could relate to. There would be comments made. And then after a build up of anticipation, a mere 30 second preview would be flashed up on the TV screen. But, in my mind that would be enough to cement my viewing habits for the next year. And I would repeat this ritual all the way through high school just I just went away to college.

I did not have a preference over which network I would watch. But subconsciously, even though I never wrote it down, which show had more show previews that I wanted to learn about was the show I watched. Unless my parents were out for the evening and I had free reign to switch back and forth and hope the shows had different commercial breaks. That way I could watch one while the other was trying to sell me Old Spice After-Shave Cologne or Calgon Bath Salts. But when I watched, I watched intensely at that 30 seconds. It was like hypnosis even though I have never been hypnotized in my lifetime. I was spellbound.

Shows like Super Friends. Flash Gordon. Godzilla. Thundarr the Barbarian. Lone Ranger and Tarzan Hour. Josie and The Pussycats in Outer Space (It had sci-fi in it). The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan. Sealab 2020 (The original Saturday morning adventure show, not the Adult Swim version). Speed Buggy. Yogi’s Gang. The New Adventures of Gilligan. Wheelie and The Chopper Bunch. Partridge Family 2200AD. Hong Kong Phooey. Return To The Planet of the Apes. The Great Grape Ape Show. The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty. Dynomutt – Dog Wonder. The Robotic Stooges. Captain Caveman. I Am The Greatest (with Muhammad Ali). Space Sentinels. The New Adventures of Batman. The New Fantastic Four (Human Torch was replaced by H.E.R.B.I.E. The Robot). Fang Face. Spider-Woman. And The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Hour. There might have been others, but these were the ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

In conclusion, kids these days who can get when they want it, where they want it are missing out on truly the lost art of anticipation. Waiting one week, maybe even two or more just to see that a animated show or shows that may or may not be rebroadcast. It concretes the memories of it even deeper than the one you can re-watch by turning on your tablet device or computer. Just for fun since you have read this far, try it. Try watching something only once. Try to look forward to something without ever looking at spoilers (those dreaded bits of information that gives away the whole plot of a story). Anticipate. Appreciate. You’ll thank me in the end.

The post The Lost Art of Animation Anticipation: The Friday Night Saturday Morning Cartoon Previews appeared first on essencecartoon.