Thread: New animated comedy series based on my blog

That would be great. More than we could ask for. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Okay, I mentioned before how I began speaking with the production company about the process of adapting the blog into a series. The next step was I was offered a purchase option agreement, which is a contract in which GreyTV purchased all rights for the material I had written to that point. I had a lawyer, who is also a producer, look over the contract. He advised me that it was fairly standard, but I declined it initially, because I wanted to retain the rights to the characters, in case I might want to use them in other projects. After that very little happened over the next six months, until I was offered another contract wherein I retained the rights I wanted. So I signed the contract, which covered one year with an option for a second. Now it was time to start work on a script, and to find an animation company. More to come...

Fantastic. You and your project have really had a charmed life.

That's true, lin. The project has appeared dead in the water many times, but somehow regains life.

The next step in the process was a mistake I made. I removed myself from a creative standpoint and asked that the production company hire their own writer for the pilot script. Not long afterward I received a copy of a rough first draft along with a request to rewrite the dialogue in the main character's voice. But the script was horrible. I couldn't even follow it. The new writer had worked previously on a series called Cow and Chicken, which I had heard wasn't bad, but the script he submitted relied too heavily on cartoonish violence and ridiculous setpieces. I did a quick revision and sent it back, along with a note that I wasn't exactly keen on the script, and hoped for the best. Around the same time I had been informed by the producers that they were also searching for the right animation studio to work with. After revising the script, I sat back and waited a week. Then two. Then the weeks turned into months and I had not heard anything until one day my inbox was full with various pages of concept art and an email stating that they had cut ties with the original script writer and would like for me to write a pilot and review the concept art and return any notes and suggestions. The hope was to have a pilot completed by the end of 2010. It seemed like we were finally making some progress...

The new writer had worked previously on a series called Cow andChicken...the script he submittedrelied too heavily on cartoonish violence and ridiculous set pieces.

Go figure.
What a masterpiece of "miscasting" writers. Instead of getting somebody from "Entourage" type shows. Insane.

I'm looking at that with a jaundiced eye because that's my goal for my series... get in, get it on the air, set it up, and turn it over to other writers and get out.
But you don't paint a pretty picture of that.

I'm not suggesting my experience is typical, but it seems to be similar to most of the experiences I've heard others describe.

The next step was writing the pilot. Using Final Draft, screenwriting can go pretty quick, when you're adapting existing material. I had a rough first draft in about two days. It was basically a collection of situations taken directly from the original blog posts, just loosely tied together with a storyline. I knew the overall plot would have to be strengthened, but felt sure that with the original posts, the pilot would be a pretty good reflection of the kind of humor we had intended and would allow for us a framework in which to work. Mike, the producer I had been working with from the beginning, liked the pilot, but wanted a more cohesive plot. I agreed, and set out to work. Meanwhile, the animation studio Mike had formed a partnership with to produce the project got their own producer involved. His background was more Japanese Anime/Manga-based, and he didn't really understand the concept, but they felt that he could help with the storytelling aspect. For a period of about three months this fellow and I "worked" on the pilot. By that I mean we talked, I tried to make him understand the concept, and he tried to explain why my concept wouldn't work. I made several changes to the pilot, always trying to maintain the original tone, until finally we all agreed to scrap the entire script and start over. By now the teaser trailer that I linked to earlier in this thread had been released as a rough cut. The dialogue in the trailer is taken directly from the opening of my original pilot script. What I wasn't told was that new writers were being brought in. I had made the mistake of mentioning to Mike that I really liked the new animated series Archer, and after he saw it, he apparently wanted something closer in tone to that series. For the time being I was the odd man out...

Fascinating.

It's so cool to get a peek inside the process on something like this and I'm sure the others here appreciate it as much as I do. (And are just as envious)

Thanks, lin.

So with my last post we have come to the present, as the final cut of the teaser trailer has been released, and work continues on a pilot script. After several weeks of brainstorming ideas, the producers have decided once again that I should rewrite the pilot on my own. Apparently the other writers have been unable to come up with suitable concepts. I am currently in the process of putting together a working outline and in the next week will begin adapting the concept into script form. Meanwhile, I will be workshopping different ideas and publishing them on the original blog site, some of which will also be posted on the official site. That is all for now, but if you, or any other members of the forum, would like to ask any more specific questions, I will be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

It's been a while since I've been on the forum, so I thought I would update our progress, or lack thereof. For the past few months I've worked on various ideas for a pilot, none containing much value to the producers. There has been much discussion on the overall theme, and the producers cannot seem to make up their minds on what direction to take. I made a huge mistake when, during one conversation, I suggested they check out the f/x show Archer. That set a whole new chain of events in motion that culminated with them deciding to shelve my latest pilot and come up with a new direction for the show, adding characters such as a domineering mother and changing the main protagonist's character to the point that he barely resembles my original creation. Once again I find myself in a situation where I have very little input in the pilot, other than providing notes. That said, I am currently in the process of writing new entries for the original blog based on the last pilot script I submitted, which was rejected. The first two posts are up now, with more to come in the days and weeks ahead. It does seem that the project remains in development, but when it will appear, I cannot say.