Hmmm, SNAKEBITE you have a tendency of reading what I write and finding the worst way to see it.
Oh course, it's not like I left my comments all that clear and I'll explain myself in a later post.
I never got the business side of the forum cuz everything we talk about relates to the business.
There's a few different ways to read the term
business here:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/business:1.an occupation, profession, or trade:
His business is poultry farming.2.the purchase and sale of goods in an attempt to make a profit.
3.a person, partnership, or corporation engaged in commerce, manufacturing, or a service; profit-seeking enterprise or concern.
If by
business you mean the number 1, then yes, these forums are about business. But I meant the other two definitions, and it would be nice to have topics like that in that section of the forums.
Besides, this thread is suppose to be about the podcast topic right?
I would never say to any creator to not do something just because you like it. I mean. That IS the basis of all successful businesses. I look at successful creative people and they mostly did what they wanted...I mean, I can't recall any of them saying, "I weighed what the market would take"...Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point.
Neither would I. And in fact, I didn't say that.
What I wrote was:
DO NOT create an i.p. just because you THINK it's a good idea and you THINK people will like it because YOU do. Then put it out there and HOPE they will.
Just because you have an idea, doesn't mean it's a good one. It MIGHT be. It's best to test it and see. If you test in a quick small way and it proves to be good THEN move forward. Otherwise adjustments need to be made. Best to fail fast and move on than invest TONS of time and effort on something that was a bad idea to begin with. It's good business.
Building confidence comes with so much. If you're just going for the fans then why bother with talking about being confident in your art?
You are right, this is why I'm not sure our first topic should have been addressed to artists. If we're trying to attract animation fans, confidence in your art is not going to attract them. The podcast attracts artists who MIGHT be animation fans too. But there isn't even anything about the title of the podcast indicating it's about animation.
And if you are gonna focus on telling artists to be confident I would suggest addressing other aspects of confidence. You need to be aware of so SO much more about the big picture in order to find that confidence.
I have always enjoyed addressing the BIG issues because that directly has to do with confidence, vision and direction!
VOLUMES of books have literally been written about confidence. There's NO WAY we could cover it all in the fifteen minutes we gave ourselves.
Did you listen to our second podcast? THAT was for animation fans. And we know, because they were sitting next to us and we spoke with them. One was even afraid that she didn't belong because she wasn't an artist. We told her, not to worry, was exactly who our podcast was for. It wasn't just for artists. And yes, there were SOME artists there. And some people who had read a lot of animation history.
And there were fans of Pinky and the Brain. A show I hate. And fans of Space Jam, a movie I don't like. But I wasn't going to tell them they suck for liking Space Jam because of whatever money grubbing reason executives decided to make the movie. They LIKE the final product. LET them like it. Why take that away from them?
AND if it is just about the fans, crowdfunding campaigns have shown me that people want to hear about your plight and why you do what you do and how much you have to do IN ORDER to do what you do. Fans like the critical and they like being apart of problem solving. The fans want new content and they want to connect with the struggle.
It's not exactly about "crowdfunding," as it is about building a community, a tribe, a herd, relationships. Whatever you want to call it.
And yes, fans like the critical and the struggle, because people like good stories and good stories are full of conflict and stories are entertaining and life changing.
There's a place for that, but not if it's going to make them feel like a loser for liking Space Jam.
I have a friend who LOVES the He-Man cartoons. He knows they were commercials but he still LOVES them. I'm not going to make it my life purpose to take that away from him because toy companies were being jerks to artists.
Although, now that I think about it, if we were to make a satire out of the situation, THAT I can get behind.
So if you define anything maybe it should be how you define a "fan"...ya know? cuz I'm a fan and I want to hear about the real. Even if it about physics, Im a fan, but I don't know the math so I'm not a physicist..but I want to hear about what physics has to go through in order to be shared to us. Cuz I'm a fan, I want the REAL deal...and that means, real physics, not filter physics...not uncritical physics...I want hyper critical physics.
I write about "the real" further down. You're not saying that unless it's negative, it isn't real right?
I don't think your saying that we should ignore the good in the animation industry right? Because, that's "real" too.
Whether you like it or not, that He-Man cartoon taught kids good morals. And those teachings really stuck with some kids. In spite of the circumstances by which they were created. That's real too.
Charles:
What I've learned can't be taught in school. You gotta get out there and do it yerself.
Talk is cheap and there's always plenty of it flying around. The key is in doing it.
Artists are trained to be employees. With today's environment and the landscape that's forming up it's a good idea to position oneself independently as a business in some way so you can maneuver in the new era. Jobs are good of course but there's other ways to go now more than ever before. Lots of ways to think about things besides a job or work for hire employment alone.
DUDE! Your whole post was awesome! You're my hero. I agree 100%!!
You ROCK!
I want to create five business too. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing.
Also guys in regards to the Corner Booth or anything you may do with podcasts or video, my feeling is that you will get a bigger and more appreciative audience if you say it like it is. Safe, cautious and non-challenging subjects will not get you as big a following in comparison to pushing the envelope.
There is indeed chronic dysfunction in many aspects of our community and things won't improve for the greater good if you ignore these issues or try and package the message in a way that doesn't genuinely address what's going on and how things can be made better.
Case in point, Stephen Silver's latest video about working for free which I featured in another topic. This is a strong commentary that's gone viral and the views he's getting are substantial.
It wasn't until this point that I realized why we're talking past each other.
I saw Stephen Silver's post earlier. He wasn't the first to say it publicly. He is the first one with a large enough tribe to get it passed around (I include myself in his tribe).
But surprisingly, that's beside the point.
Here's the actual issue:
You're like a superstar rapper who, came from the ghetto. Fought against racism, and class mentality. Who's parents told him he was loser. Who's friend where gunned down by police officers. He fought against the system and the large Labels. Fought and fought to get where he is and raps about it. He tells the world that the system is broken through his rapping because of what he went through.
He's hyper aware of the flaws. He's experienced them first hand. He KNOWS it inside and out and he raps about it. That's his THING. It's where he LIVES. He can't rap about anything else because he HAS to rap about what is real. What is REAL is what he lived through. What is REAL is the FIGHT.
I'm like a rapper, who grew up in the middle class. Worked hard to get where he is, but no one really bothered him about race, and people where cool to him. His family supported him. He struggled and fought with the middle class mentality. But mostly, fought with himself and his skill level. His producers were actually cool. The label who he signed up with, treated him right.
He raps about girls and friends. He raps about family and God. He raps about struggling for what you want out of life. To fight for it. In other words, he raps about the REAL. What is REAL is the PERSEVERANCE
If those two rappers meet, the superstar rapper turn to the other rapper,
"You don't rap about the REAL. You try to hide it. Why don't you rap about the FIGHT? Rap about the REAL. Don't walk away from that. The jerks, the backstabbing, the people putting you down because of your race. That stuff is there, that stuff exists. You only want to talk about how nice everything is and ignore the bad stuff. Say what's REAL. "
The other is shocked,
"I AM rapping about the real. Everything I rap about is about the real. PERSEVERANCE is REAL. All you talk about is how everything sucks. Why don't you talk about what's real? Family and friends, loved ones and children. All of those things are REAL. Why do you ONLY focus on the worst?
The superstar frowns,
"I can't rap about that crap! That's never happened to me. That's not what the world is like. That's not REAL. You ignore what's real. Why don't you talk about all the crap you need to put with in this life? In this industry?"
The other rapper shakes his head,
"I can't rap about that! I don't have to put up with ANY crap. I'm doing fine. I understand that there's bad stuff, but I can't rap about anything I don't have first hand knowledge about. It's insincere. Life is good. That's REAL.
Charles, for the last 19 years, I've worked in one of the best studios in the animation industry. The only one that rivals it is Rough Draft. The producers, Tom Klein FIGHTS for us. And Andrea Romero does too. WE LOVE her at this studio. They're incredible people. My co-workers are my family.
The writers I've met are great guys. We talk on Twitter. I even know the music editor. I'm friends with some of the editors. The politics around here are minimal.
People from other studio come with all kinds of horror stories. They sit around waiting to get beaten and whipped only to discover we don't do that here. I can't talk about the abuse, because there is no abuse here. I can't talk about the evil producers because the ones here are awesome.
I can only talk about the real. And the TRUTH is that the animation industry has been GREAT to me. It's been a joy and a privilege to be working in this studio, on this show, and in this industry.
I can't talk about what you want me to talk about because I don't know it. I haven't lived it. It would not be sincere.
So please stop asking me to talk about what YOU know and what YOU'VE experienced because I don't know it.
And just because I DON'T know it, doesn't mean that what I DO talk about, and what I do know, isn't REAL.
The worst thing this studio has done for me, is treat me right and make comfortable, because it's stopped me from going out there and creating my own business.
So I guess I should go rant about what a bunch of jerks the people in this studio are for being good to me.
Sorry man, it's not my thing.
BUT, believe me, when I DO rant, you'll hear about it.
