FA7036 - Visit from Katie Steed from Slurpy Studios

On 9th May 2016, Katie Steed, one of the co-founders of Slurpy Studios, came to my university to give a presentation on pitch bibles. During the presentation I learnt the following:

Katie founded Slurpy Studios with Aaron Wood.

Earning a living in animation is visually rewarding and a financial benefit.

There is a cycle of an animation business.

Money is made per second on animation rather than per episode of an animated series.

Pros

Potential residual income

Artistic freedom

Creating something that lasts

Cons

Large outlay of time and money

Financial reward not guaranteed - risky business

The example Katie used for a pitch bible was that for an animated series called Bunny Brigade, which was previously shown in another session.

A two-sheet pitch has the title of the show, the slogan in one sentence and a short synopsis. It also includes character descriptions and images.

Other two-sheets shown were for Wolfie and Tree Fu Tom.

There are lots of channels to pitch to.

A pitch bible is longer than a two-sheet pitch.

Standard series of animated programmes include 26 or 52 episodes.

Think of broadcast hours and age range of audience.

A CD of music was included in the pitch bible.

An animatic for the pilot episode is ideal but not essential.

Budgets for animations vary depending on techniques used and number of frames.

Pitching shows at Cartoon Forum is a good idea.

After the presentation Katie let us look at pitch bibles and two-sheets for animated series other than those she mentioned during the presentation and she also gave certain students advice on how to pitch for their own animated television series. Since I am currently working on an animated documentary, I felt that Katie's advice was not relevant to me.

#FA7036