In a previous post, I mentioned a Substack article written by Owen Dennis, the creator of Infinity Train. In it, he ranted about how his show, and the work of many others, was suddenly pulled from HBO Max without warning. But another newsletter he wrote caught my eye very recently- a post where he walks readers through the process of pitching an animated series.
Now, I’ve mentioned how I’ve wanted to make an animated series before, but had shifted my focus to webcomics. But at the same time, my inner 12-year-old has never truly let go of that idea, so you can imagine my excitement. How exactly shows make it onto the air was always something I was curious about. So, let’s take a look together, shall we?
Summary
The process Dennis describes is one he had been through himself as a showrunner. He describes the first meeting with a studio exec, the materials you should have on hand for the pitch, and advice on what to do before and after, all the way until your show is greenlit. He keeps each section brief, highlighting what to expect at each step and offering his own personal experiences as examples. One such example is when he’s trying to get across that you should keep your vision intact as much as possible by stating:
“When I was working on Infinity Train, I was explicitly told over and over ‘you need to make this Y7, the studio is only producing Y7 stuff right now…’ and I said no, because I knew that by the time the whole process was over it would be like a year from then and they’d probably be trying to make older kids stuff again because all they were picking up right now was young stuff. That’s exactly what happened.”
As you can see, he keeps his tone very casual, almost making it feel like you’re having a conversation with an old friend. He also uses images a lot, which helps visualize what he’s talking about and helps you better grasp it. For example, he used this chart to explain why showrunners will constantly get notes on what to change:
The tail end of the newsletter is dedicated to answering questions, music, other projects and events going on, things like that. But we’re gonna keep our focus on the main topic of the newsletter, not an Infinity Train event that’s no longer going on and that nobody told me about.
(I’m not bitter, I swear)
Evaluation
Now obviously, Dennis’ experiences aren’t gonna apply to every situation and every studio and every artist who wants to get something made. Even so, a lot of the advice he gives is fairly universal: have a pitch packet at the ready, focus on displaying the feel you want for your show, and for the love of god don’t sign the very first contract a studio gives you.
That last bit was actually something I never really thought of, and something I doubt others do either. There’s so much legal nonsense to navigate, and you need people who know more than you do (aka lawyers) on your side to help you out. I imagine that without one, me- innocent, trusting, gullible me- would very easily sell my soul because I didn’t even understand what I was signing.
Plus, like I said before, Dennis is good at injecting his own voice and personality into things. Even when he’s talking about things as boring as contracts or as nerve-wracking as standing in front of a group of people and talking about your work while worrying that they’re internally judging you even though they’ve heard a lot of pitches already, it’s fine, they’re just doing their jobs, there’s nothing to worry about…
…ahem.
Even when he’s talking about something boring, nerve-wracking, or frustrating, he manages to keep things lighthearted and informal. It’s a great way to help keep readers engaged- they come for his advice, and stay for his viewpoint.
Reflection
Overall, this newsletter is a great look into the pitching process. It gives a perspective that only someone who’s been through that torture can give. I feel like a lot of aspiring showrunners could benefit quite a lot from reading through this.
And I know that an animated series is something I told myself was out of my wheelhouse, but something Dennis said did stand out to me;
“All of that stemmed from making stuff. Make stuff first, other things will follow.”
Despite all the hoops you have to jump through, despite all the people you have to get approval from, and despite all the legal stuff you have to deal with, the whole reason you’re putting yourself through it is so that you can make stuff. And honestly? You don’t need a big studio to make stuff. Anyone can do that. No matter what happens, you have to have your creative work at the center of everything. Dennis is quick to point out that many folks who start working in animation have already been working on their own projects independently. And the whole HBO Max fiasco shows what may happen when we forget to keep our focus on our art.
So as much as I’d love to jump into the industry myself one day, right now, I’m happy to just keep on keeping on. Maybe one day, I’ll find myself in Dennis’ shoes, or maybe I won’t.
I won’t know until I get my work out there, now won’t I?
-Eliza