The only roadmap you need to pitch and sell your animation bible!

how to pitch and sell an animated series
5 1 vote
Article Rating

 

The world is an unreliable critic! You never know if your animation series pitch will ever impress the heck out of the producers, or they will turn you away and reject the idea to your face. Luckily there’s a way to find out. 

In Dream Farm Studios’ archive of the forgotten treasures, we came across a mysterious document! We dust it off, and VIOLA!

It reads:

roadmap to pitch and sell an animated series
Be careful! The map is only visible to you!

 

So without further ado, let’s browse through this forgotten treasure that nobody has laid eyes on and see how to pitch your idea for an animation bible. 

5 steps on how to pitch animation bible

The five steps that are required to create and pitch your animated series are as follows:

  1. Come up with a concept that sells itself!
  2. Evaluate the concept based on the mentioned criteria
  3. Create an eye-catching animation pitch bible 
  4. Find ways to fund your concept 
  5. Effectively participate in global events to pitch your idea.

Now, let’s briefly talk about the steps in more detail. 

     1. The concept of your animation

Whether for television, film, or the games industry, creating an animation must begin with a concept. Concepts come from an endless list of sources, but they all come down to two major categories:

  • Original concepts: an original idea that ultimately proves successful can seem quite challenging because not everybody knows about the potential, and therefore, you have to spend some time convincing people. However, it is entirely worth it to come up with your original concept since it opens the door for lucrative merchandising deals and possible spinoff opportunities for the future.

 

  • Concepts based on current IPs: Basing a concept around an existing property—such as a book, comic, song, or famous identity can be an easier sell when pitching the idea. The reason is that it poses less of a risk to potential investors if the property already has a popular following. 

 

difference between original IP vs based IP
Either way, your concept is a determiner of the success of your animation project

The concept of using an existing story in another form is called transmedia storytelling, and we have a complete guide about just that. 

Whether you start from scratch and devise a new concept or get inspiration from current IPs, having a well-structured and exciting idea is the most crucial building block of successful animation work. 

 

      2. Evaluating your concept for the animation bible

You have the perfect idea for your animation, and you think it will make the most significant impact on the market—it’s going to be a huge win. However, when you start pitching your bible to a studio, they reject it without hesitation. Why did that happen?

The problem is you didn’t evaluate your concept thoroughly for the animation pitch bible. To do that, you need to go through the following steps to make sure your idea is well worth the try:

Determining your target audience

The first and most important thing to do when embarking on an animation project is to determine the target audience. It is imperative to have a clear idea of the target audience, as this sets the parameters for every element of the project—from the scriptwriting to the overall design and style of the animation.

 

why target persona is important in the concept of animation
Your target audience is like the chunk of the tree; everything depends on that.

 

The major classifications based on age groups are as follows:

  • Pre-school ages 2 to 4 years
  • Young school-ages 5 to 8 years
  • School-ages 9 to 12 years
  • Teen-ages 13 to 16 years
  • Adult-ages 16 years and above

 

Animation format and length

Once a concept has been decided upon, the next step is to determine the format it should take. Here you should ask some questions that determine the format and length of your project. Questions like:

  • Does the idea have enough scope to be developed as a television series?
  • Would the idea be better adapted as a feature for the cinema or the straight-to-video market? 
  • Is it more appropriate to be used as an Internet property?

 A single concept may lend itself to various formats, and it is the producer’s job to identify which format has the potential to be successful.

 

     3. Creating and designing your animation pitch bible 

an animation idea has to be pitched to potential developers and buyers to have any chance of securing investment for a project. A potential buyer could be an established production studio that would then develop the project and, in turn, pitch it to investors and distributors. On the other hand, a producer may pitch directly to a distributor or network.

Two things are essential for successful delivery:

  • A written proposal is the first essential element in creating a pitch. It should outline the concept and the style of animation and contain information about the potential audience, format, and length of the proposed show and any funding attached. The proposal is sent to various potential buyers, with the producer being invited to give a live pitch of the project.

 

  • The second important element is a pitch bible. The bible is a brochure containing all relevant project information that presents the story concept, analyses the targeted audience, and sets forth the project’s relevance. It describes the format and length of the project and outlines the preliminary character design and settings. It should also include some sample story outlines. 
How to design a pitch animation bible
This example is the cover from one of our animation bibles

      4. Funding your animation idea

Once a property has been developed to the stage where the buyer is prepared to begin putting it into production, they will need to seek out investment for the project. 

 Because animation is much more costly and time-consuming to produce than live-action projects, it can be challenging to find investors who can commit to production on a long-term basis. Basically, the faster the return, the easier it is to find potential investors, so many avoid sinking their money into animation. With that said, there are investors out there who are eager to be involved with animated projects.

 

how to fun your animation pitch
Few investors decide to fund your animation idea; however, they often know what they’re seeking!

 

      5. Animation marketplace to pitch your bible

Every year, buyers’ markets for film and television are held in various places around the world. Executive producers and producers flock to these markets, armed with bibles and pilots of their show with the hope of selling their ideas to one of the many network or distribution representatives present. 

Content marketplace to sell and pitch animated series
Pitching your animation bible at the right time and the right place!

One can never underestimate the importance of such markets. It is where deals and contacts are made on an international level. It is also the most important indicator as to the current trends in all genres of entertainment production. It is common for production companies to send their executive staff to several of these markets each year, regardless of the country they are being held in. 

Check out our brand character service page to see how we are helping brands enter the metaverse using a brand character. 

2.3/5 - (3 votes)
arash naghdi
Arash Naghdi

Arash is the equivalent of Buzz in Toy Story when he goes to infinity and beyond, but never comes back! responsible for our blog and content marketing efforts, he always delights the audience with his tenacity and passion in creating the extraordinary.

Average
5 Based On 4
Subscribe
Notify of

guest

7 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Matt
Matt
2 years ago

The only roadmap? 🙂 I agree this is the best roadmap 😉 Thanks, Arash

Raides
Raides
2 years ago

This is by far one of the most helpful guides I’ve read about pitching an animated series. I have a concept for a project and I can’t seem to find someone who’s willing to put enough money into it.

Tara
Tara
1 year ago

I have been creating animations for quite some time and want to make money from it. Great article and everything seems very simple. You just take it step by step and it should work out successfully. I’m interested in the cost of animated video in 2D. Different sources have different prices per video. I do not understand how much you can really make on it. I think that using the tips from the article will be easier to sell my work.

Allen Rafiee
Allen Rafiee
1 year ago
Reply to  Tara

Hey Tara. Glad you liked our article! Yes, the prices vary but generally, you can make good money from animation, especially if what you’re offering is original and unique. Good luck! 😉

Janet
Janet
11 months ago

If you come up with an idea for an animation project and take it to an animation company what is the ownership of your idea should it come to fruition

7
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x