Being in development doesn’t necessarily mean creating the shows. There still must be people at the studio or network evaluating the ideas and deciding if they are something that organization can successfully turn into a program. To get more of a feel of the administrative side of development, I asked a few questions of Kimber Norquest, Development Assistant at Sony Pictures Family Entertainment.
We started our conversation defining development in television animation. “From a studio/production company point of view there are two tracks, similar to features or non-animated tv,” Kimber explained. “Development is usually the option of a project that has a set of pitch pages or mini-bible and base concept artwork, tailoring it to the prospective buyers, firming up the bible/pitch pages and creating a pitch package. For a book based property, you would option the book, hire a writer to develop a pitch pages/concept for the series based on a children’s book (based on the exec’s creative focus). You might also have internal development, which may be a spin off of a series or project that you currently have that’s successful (think of all the Disney’s series based off of their animated movies/existing properties).” She got her first job as an animation development assistant based on contacts made while working in the Information Technology Department at Spelling. “I had been taking several courses through UCLA Extension program to learn film and tv development. One of the managers at Spelling knew that I was looking to make a transition into creative/development. His best friend was looking for an assistant. Tom made the referral and I was brought in to meet the hiring execs. I had great interviews and was offered the job. Note, the position was a UNION 174 position,” officially known as the Office and Professional Employees International Union, Kimber emphasized. “Many jobs with studios could be a Union position – you’d be locked into a 3% raise per year, and paying dues. But the benefits are pretty decent with Union 174.”
Typical assistant duties, according to Kimber, include “[a]nswering the phones, filing, managing the rolodex, maintaining the call sheet, reading scripts (both spec and submissions) and doing coverage,” with coverage defined as a process of writing systematic evaluations of scripts to evaluate the quality of the story and how marketable a script is for a given company. “If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to take pitch meetings, and meet and greet meetings as you put in your dues,” she noted. “If you want a career in animation and want to move up the ranks, definitely do notes on incoming projects, help find character designers and by all means, keep your eyes open for projects that your company would be interested in looking at.”
“1 in 20 or so,” was the number of projects, in Kimber’s experience at Sony Pictures Family Entertainment, that progress through development and make it all the way to being aired. Concepts seem to successfully make their way through development when the property has “the ability to meet the criteria of what the network is looking for in addition to having merchandising abilities (toys, action figures, cereal ties ins, etc).” but even stating that, you need to keep in mind that nothing can completely guarantee a concept will make it past development.
When I asked Kimber what she personally enjoys most about working in animation development, she said it was “[t]he creativity that animation gives us for projects – lots of action/adventure and fantasy. It’s a real kick to tell people that I make Saturday morning cartoons!” As to anything not terribly exciting, her only response was “filing,” with a smile. The most common route of advancement from a development assistant position, “depending on the company and what the person had done,” notes Kimber, “the next step could be Creative Associate, Manager of Development, then Creative Executive.”
As to her own long term goals, Kimber said that her “long term goal was to become a feature executive/producer. That may change,” and added that “[n]o matter what my goals become/where I end up, I’ve learned the creative process that is generally the same in animation, live tv or film. I’ve learned to build relationships and spot which projects have a better chance than most to be developed by us or bought by a network.”
If anyone who wants to get into animation development, Kimber recommends that someone “[k]now the cartoons on the air” and to “get a hold of spec or actual animation scripts and understand them/the structure.” Also, “[l]ook at tie-ins, both toys and food.” If you are specifically interested in pre-school programming, “learn about the development of children” and “what’s hot with the pre-school set. If possible, get a hold of a pre-school show’s educational goals/mission statement and read/understand them (all pre-school shows have educational consultants that help with the formation of the show and the underlying educational content).” No matter what your area of interest, be sure to “[g]et to know agents around town in animation,” or which there are a handful, and lastly, “learn how to develop relationships over the phone.”
Thank you, Kimber, for this behind-the-scenes inside of the administrative side of development.
(originally published at Digital Media FX)