Realigning the priorities of Eric Miller Animation

When I was younger, and decided I wanted to start my own animation company I wanted it to rival Walt Disney Animation.  You have to love the naive imagination of a young boy.  I might not have given up on those dreams, but the reality of the difficulty of the goal I set is more apparent.

Around this time a year ago I knew I was planning on leaving my job at DreamWorks Animation, and my last day was quickly approaching.  I had been trying to figure out the best way to start my company, and I finally had a plan.  It might have been a shot in the dark, but it at least had a chance for success.

Since the day I officially starting Eric Miller Animation Studios my strategies have changed many times.  I have also learned a great deal along the way.  As I was trying to find my way I changed who I thought my target clients should be, and what services I should offer.  I was making decision based on bringing money in instead of what I wanted my company to be. I was looking into doing cheap explainer videos, and white board animation videos.  I thought they would be easily marketed, and quick to produce. I never stopped to think if it was something I enjoyed doing, or if it was the best move for my business.

I was also wasting a lot of time talking with “clients” that wanted to make animated videos, but did not understand what went into making them.  They wanted Pixar quality animation, but wanted to get it done for pennies.  Creating bids, and trying to find artists that would be willing to do the work for less in order to hit these unrealistic budgets was taking an incredible amount of my time.  More often then not these projects never even happened.

I was working really hard with no real payoffs, and I knew something needed to change.  I looked at my company, and at what my own goals were.  I asked myself, what kind of work do I want to do?  What will I be proud of, and inspired by?  What do I want my company to be known for?

After thinking hard on each of these questions the solution was very clear to me.  I want to create high-end computer-generated animation, graphics, and stories with heart.  I did no want to worry about being the cheapest, or fastest, but instead I want to offer the highest quality animation.  In addition to offering extremely high quality work I also want to be known for being the most organized with the best client experience possible.

My ideal clients are the larger studios that are looking for smaller animation houses to assist with their feature and episodic projects, as well as marketing, and other needs.  Also ad agencies requiring high-end animation and graphics for commercials, and game companies looking for game cinematics.

I also plan on using the money generated from the service end of the business to fund our own internal animation projects.  This is where my true passion lives, and it is important for me to constantly be creating and telling stories.

As Steve Jobs would always say “There is one more thing…”.  I want to explore the future of entertainment, and I feel the next big thing is in virtual reality, and augmented reality.  I want to create content, and quality entertainment in these areas.  I feel like the future of entertainment is heading in this direction, and computer-generated animation is the perfect medium for it.

I hope refocusing my efforts will lead to more ideal clients, and allow me to do work that I’m proud of.  I might have less clients, but the ones I will get will hopefully be the right ones.  My strategy for the company will continue to evolve, and I’m excited to have this opportunity to follow my dreams.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

 

Starting Our First Animated Vignette!

I’m very excited to announce that we have started pre-production on the company’s very first animated vignette.  We have brought on a very talented artist to do the character design work for the main character, and hope to move through pre-production quickly.  For now I’m going to keep the details quiet, but I will share more as we move through production.  The general idea is that we will be creating several 10-15 second cg animated vignettes that will focus on our main character’s situation.  The hope is that they will be comical, beautiful, and a lot of fun.

Not only will these vignettes be extremely entertaining they will also serve very important purpose for the company.  They will test our pipeline to see what is working and what is not. This will allow us to improve our process, and make sure everything is running smoothly.

Another purpose is to showcase what we can do as a company, and add to our body of work we can show potential clients.  Currently the only work we have to show is the VFX work we did for the Toys”R”Us commercials.  I would like to open up more cg animation opportunities for the company, and I can’t do that without showing our potential clients what we can do.

In addition to our animated vignettes I might also be joining a talented creator and director of an animated short as a co-producer.  Once again I can’t share many details at this time, but I will be able to share more soon.

I’m limited on my time to write this week, so I’m going to keep this post short.  Please keep following along to keep up with what I have going on.  If you are interested in helping out with any of our current or future projects please sign up to our career news list.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.

Gaining Momentum

I sometimes look at starting a company like trying to push a boulder from its resting position in hopes of gaining momentum.

If you have no experience in “boulder moving” then you may find it difficult to even budge it.  You’ll start off trying to push it this way and that, adjusting your stance, or maybe even recruiting some friends to help.

At first it may seem impossible, and an average person would most likely give up.  You might get “lucky” and have something slingshot the boulder without you having to do anything.  This may seem like a great thing, but the first time you run into trouble you will find yourself back at the beginning.  Without learn how to get a boulder moving then you will have to learn it the next time you loose your momentum and come to a stop.  It is best to go through the struggle of learning how to move the boulder on your own.  That does not mean you can’t get advice or help from people who have already moved a boulder, but you need to make sure you understand how it is done.

It will be a slower process, but it will give you an understanding of your boulder that is priceless. You will eventually learn how to get your boulder rocking, and by using its own momentum to rock it more and more.  Finally it begins to roll, and as you continue to push you gain more momentum.  It beings to roll faster, and faster.

Once you have that momentum it is easier to keep it moving.  Now that you don’t have to work so hard at getting it to move you can focus on what direction you want to take it.  Early on the boulder is smaller, and easier to steer in the direction you want it to go.

Congratulations! You got your boulder moving, and now the fun begins.

When I started my company I was prepared for the struggle to figure out how to get the company moving.  Before I had a chance I got our first project with Toys”R”Us, and it slingshotted the company moving full speed.  This was amazing until the project ended, and I found I was quickly loosing momentum, and did not have a clue on how to keep things moving.  I never had the chance to learn how to get the company moving, so I found myself frantically trying different approaches to keep things going.  Nothing was working, and we eventually lost all our momentum.

I took this opportunity to really learn my business, and figure out the direction I wanted to push it.  I must have changed my mind several hundred times while I tried things out.  I now have a path laid out, and I have been working to get the company moving in that direction.  I feel that these last couple weeks I have finally got things rocking.

I’m excited to help the company gain momentum as it continues to grow.  Please keep following this blog to see where we go.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to my blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to leave me any comments below. Otherwise, be sure to stay connected with me on Twitter (@MillerAnimation). Only Time Will Tell.