THE SIMPSONS NEWS – How to Sell an Animated Sitcom and Become Rich.

Simpsons quote:

Mr. Burns: What good is money if it can’t inspire terror in your fellow man?

So how do you sell an animated sitcom to a studio and make a lot of money?

Well today I’m going to answer this question.

You can either watch the video below to get the answer to the question or you can read it. It’s the same information:

The Pitch Fests

I’ve seen plenty of people pitch, and pitch, and pitch their animated cartoons to different studios all over the place for years.

I’ve heard all the stories. I know this not first-hand, because I haven’t done it myself, but I’ve heard about it from friend and colleagues. I’ve seen it, I’ve seen the process. It’s a job unto itself. It’s a lot of work and it rarely results in anything.

Yet, I’ve also seen people who never pitch anything have studios come over to them and offer to make an animated cartoon off of their ideas.

So based off all the stories I’ve heard, all the things I know about sitcoms, trying to sell them, trying to pitch them, all the conversations I’ve had with my friends that pitch, observations about how the entertainment industry seems to work and some understanding about marketing and business, I’ve come to the answer to this question.

Disclaimer

Now here’s a disclaimer: even if you do what I suggest, which I would say is just a suggestion and could even be considered theory, there are a lot of factors involved.  Including an executive having a bad day or having a good day, or liking your face or not liking your face, or just not being in the mood to hear your pitch…that could be a factor.

So there’s an element of human chaos in the process as well. They IS an element of chance, so there’s still room for you to get lucky.

The Answer

So the answer to the question is very simple. It’s very simple, but it’s difficult to do.

The answer is this: if you have a proven track record of consistently selling your entertainment to an audience and making a lot of money off of it, then you can sell a sitcom to a studio.

Let me repeat that: if you have a consistent track record of selling your entertainment, the stuff that you’ve come up with, to an audience and actually make a profit off of it, good money, not just a penny or two, then you can actually sell a sitcom.

Why?

Because you have a proven track record, because you can say to them,

“This is the sitcom I’ve done…this is the cartoon I’ve made, or here’s the comic I’ve created and it’s selling and it’s actually making me more than enough money to make a living.  And I can do that with not only this, but with other projects I’ve got. I’ve got this project over here, and it’s also making money. I’ve done this play over here, and it’s also making money. I’ve written this novel, and it’s making money.”

They’re not going to take a chance on you if you haven’t shown that your stuff can sell. Why would they trust you? Would you trust a random stranger that just showed up and said,

“Hey, give me a million bucks, I can make you money”? When they haven’t actually shown that they can? No, you wouldn’t do that, so what makes you think that they’re going to take a chance on you if you haven’t done it either.

What the Studios Want

All the studios want is to make money. They want to make entertainment that turns a profit–that’s their business. So you have to show them that you can do it. That’s it. That’s what you’ve got to do. And it’s a really easy answer, but a difficult thing to do.

But you’ve got to do it, because then you’ll have the experience to know and be able to tell them and show them,

“Hey, I can make you money.”

The Irony

And here’s the irony: that if you’re doing it, if you’re consistently making money off of entertaining an audience, and you’re making a good living, then you probably don’t need a studio.

When they finally show up, it’s like,

“Why do I need you? I’m making a good living,” or, “I’m actually getting rich off of my own ideas.”

The Major Factors

Because it’s not about the idea–it’s about the proper execution of the idea.

Where the successful are separated from the unsuccessful is not in the idea, but the execution. If you have a really skillful execution of an idea, then you’re increasing the chances that it will actually sell and make a profit.

It’ s not the idea itself because ideas are a dime a dozen. But the skillful execution of the idea is one major factor in making a profit.

Another major factor is marketing that idea.  Finding the audience.

And the other major factor is how much value you’re putting onto the packaging of the idea so that it actually turns a profit.

So that’s the answer to the question. So I’ll repeat it again: have a proven track record of consistently making a good profit from an audience, from your ideas or your entertainment, and that’s it, that’s what you’ve got to do.

If you can’t do that, then no one’s going to trust you, because you’re not good at it. So you have to be good at it. No one’ s going to go and pay you for something you’re not good at.

Comment

So that’s my answer to the question, and let me know what you think. Do you think I’m full of it? Let me know, put a comment below.

E-mail

In this week’s e-mail, I sent out even more behind the scenes drawings, just like I did last week.

This time, there’s some crazy Bart drawings, among other chaos.

If you would like to see what was sent out to everyone, sign up to receive the madness.  If you sign up before next Thursday, I resend you this week’s e-mail.

BOOKS – Dark Rift

I finished reading the manuscript for my wife’s book DARK RIFT. It’s the sequel to the THE TOWER’S ALCHEMIST and it’s really good.

I wrote some notes on it and she revised it. I have to go back and reread the whole thing  in order to proofread it and to make sure everything is as clear as it can be.

We’re hoping to start the pre-launch of the book by the end of the month.

If you want to be in on the pre-launch, go to THIS PAGE on my wife’s site and opt in. You’ll be informed about when the book will be available. You will also receive an exclusive sneak peek of the first chapter via a FREE pdf download.

I finished working on the cover.

Here it is, along with the description of the book:

Savior.

Monster.

A Time Wizard who will be the damnation of many…

 The world already suffers a bitter taste of hell on earth, in a World War II where Nazi warlock vampires battle with Gray Tower wizards in the streets of Europe.

The Gray Tower, in its quest to stabilize a world that hangs on a delicate balance, has issued an order: Kill the Drifter.

Isabella George, an alchemist trained by the Tower, knows the identity of the Drifter and refuses to go through with it, because it hits too close to home. Instead of executing the Drifter, she protects the Time Wizard at all costs and ensures that the power to control Time never falls into the wrong hands. She sets out to lift the severe decree of the Gray Tower, and prove to the Master Wizards that the Drifter is the only way to win the war.

As Isabella unmasks traitors and embraces unlikely allies, her greatest danger may lie in her own heart–from the brutal desire for revenge, to the crushing guilt she carries…and the dangerous passion she tries to deny when she’s with one man in particular.

As she attempts to sort things out both in her heart and head–and not mix up the two, a figure from her past comes along and makes an enticing offer to solve all her problems. The only payment required is her soul.

If you’ve read the first book, you’ll LOVE the second.  Opt in to get the first chapter for FREE.

If you HAVEN’T read the first book, there’s a MAJOR SPOILER in the first chapter. You have been warned.

For more comics and stories written by me: COMICS AND STORIES

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