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Networking

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Networking

I went to a networking event last night that is put on by the Producers Guild of America called Thirsty Thursday. Once a month they pick a bar in the Los Angeles area for members of the guild to gather, share stories, make connections, and build friendships. I have gone to a few now and it is always interesting to talk with other producers in different areas. I have met producers in film, TV, New media, and video games to name a few. The majority of the people I meet at these events are reality TV producers.  I’m not sure if there is more work in that field, or if the reality TV producers just like to drink more then the others.  The interesting thing is of all the different producers at these events, I’m always the only animation producer there. At first this might seem like it would not be very beneficial for me to go to these events, but I feel it is an amazing opportunity for me. I have no competition there, so if any of these producers ever need animation, VFX, or graphics for any of the projects they are working on, they will hopefully remember me. I even write “Animation” under my name on my name tag to help people remember what I do. I’m perfectly fine being known as the animation guy in the Producers Guild community.

“Personal relationships are always the key to good business. You can buy networking; you can’t buy friendships.” ~ Lindsay Fox

I have always been a big believer in the importance of networking, especially in this industry.  You never know what connection you make will lead to your next project.  In my first blog post I mentioned there was an interesting story on how I transferred from DreamWorks Studios(DWS) over to DreamWorks Animation(DWA). When I wrote my original blog I was not mentioning where I was working, and could not give the story without giving that detail away.   I feel this story is fitting since it shows the importance of what a strong network can do for you, and your career.  In 2007 I was a PA in facilities at DWS, and they were about to start filming on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In-between films Spielberg has one PA that works in his office doing grunt work.  Once they start up shooting on set the PA goes with him, and they hire a new PA to support the office.  After the shoot he helps the on-set PA get a job they are interested in, and the new office PA will then go on set for the next movie, and the cycle starts all over again.  Normally they promote the Head PA in facilities to become the next Spielberg office PA, but they like to interview all the PA’s just to meet them.  His assistants are the ones that did all the interviews, and when I interviewed for the position they told me about this position being on this short term cycle, and wanted to know where I wanted to go after the position ended.  I mentioned that my goal was to get into animation, and they smiled and said, “well, we know a few people in animation”.  A week after the interview I got a call from one of Spielberg’s assistance to let me know that they would be giving the position to the current head PA, but if I ever needed a recommendation to let them know.  I was also told that I would be promoted to the head PA position in facilities to fill the vacancy of the last one being moved to Spielberg’s office.  This got me motivated to try and get over to animation, and I met with a recruiter at DWA.  Even though they share the same name they are no longer the same company.  At that time DWS was owned by Paramount, and DWA was its own publicly traded company.  You still had the big 3 that started the companies; Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen (forming the SKG present on the bottom of both studio’s logos), and were still involved with both studios.  I digress… The recruiter at DWA told me about several positions that were available, and one of them stood out to me.  It was for the central coordinator on their first stereoscopic animated film call Monsters vs Aliens.  I told her that I was interested in that position, and she said she would send my resume over to the producers.  It was a few days later that I got an email from the recruiter telling me that unfortunately the producers were looking for someone with more experience.  It was very discouraging to get this news, but luckily it did not last long.  15 minutes after I received the first email I received a second one from the recruiter.  This time it simply said, “Spielberg’s office called the producers on Monsters vs Aliens, and they now want to meet with you.”  So thanks to my connections I was able to get the interview, and eventually the job that started my almost 7 year career at the studio.

In closing, I wanted to touch on the great loss the world had this week with the death of Robin Williams.  It is very shocking, and sad to hear about it on Monday that someone with such great talent had to leave us so early.  My first exposure to his genius was his role as Genie in Aladdin, and I instantly became a fan.  He entertained us with his comedy, and the characters that he created.  He was an inspiration to many, and he will be missed.

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.

So much to do, so little time

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The exciting news for this week is that the first 3 Toys”R”Us: C’mon Let’s Play commercials that I’ve been post supervising are now airing on TV, and online. You may have already seen them on TV, or if you are following me on Facebook or Twitter you might have seen them there.  If you have not seen them in either of those two ways I included the videos here(click play all to see all 3 spots).

It was exciting to see the first one on TV, since I was not expecting to see it so soon. They posted them on their Toys”R”Us YouTube channel on Saturday, so I wonder if they will be posting 3 more this weekend. We have been delivering 3 commercials a week to them, so that seems to make sense in my head. It is also really cool that these all came from the fun videos my friend Daniel Hashimoto did of his son, and posted on his YouTube Channel Action Movie Kid. Toys”R”Us loved these videos(like many), so they asked Hashi to direct these 15 commercials for them.  I owe Hashi a big thank you for bringing me on to help out.  It has been a fun experience, and I look forward to seeing how the rest of them turn out.

Eric Miller Animation WebsiteIn addition to working on these commercials I have also been updating my website, since I have not done so in awhile.  I tend to update it, and then a week later decide I hate it, and start all over again.  It is a vicious cycle that never seems to end.  That pattern got interrupted.  I was using DreamWeaver to make my site, but it stopped working when I upgraded my computer awhile back.  I had no way to update my website until recently when I decided I would just use Apple’s iWeb.  I don’t have all the flexibility that I had with DreamWeaver, but at least I can update my site now.  It is still a work-in-progress, but you can check it out here. I always have the most difficulty with the wording I put on each page.  If you have any suggestions to improve what I wrote, and would like to volunteer your words please let me know.

I have also started the search for an attorney to make sure I’m not doing anything illegal, and also help me get some contracts written up for working with clients, and freelancers.  This stuff is so foreign to me, and it is very draining trying to make sense of it.  I guess that is why lawyers cost so much.  I found a guy that has years of experience in animation, and really knows his stuff, but not sure I can afford him.  I guess the big question is can I afford hime, or afford not to have him?  He brought up a lot of interesting points that sent me back to the drawing board on how I’m structuring my company.  It is the little things that you don’t think about that can ruin you if you are not careful.

This week I had several friends reach out to me, and it was great hearing from them.  They also wanted to talk business to see how we could maybe work together, or help each other out (forgive my vagueness, but I’m excluding their names for their privacy).  One of them was an animator that I worked with at DreamWorks Animation on Kung Fu Panda 2, and since then he has left DWA and has been working as a freelance animator.  He is also interested in starting his own animation company, so he wanted to meet up and talk about that.  A good friend of mine that is now back at DWA has a friend that might have a project for me to help him with.  He plans on calling this weekend to discuss the project, and it will also give us a chance to catch up on life.  It will be interesting to hear what his friend is looking for, but it will also be great to catch-up since we have not talked in awhile.  Another friend of mine that I have not had a chance to talk to in awhile called, and wanted to see if I could meet up with her and her business partner to talk about how our two companies could work together.  They run a film/television production company, so there seems to be a lot of potential for us to be able to help each other out.  On top of all that I might also be meeting with an intern that is interested in getting into animation that I agreed to meet with to talk about my experiences.  As you can tell next week appears to be the week of meetings for me.  It should be nice though since besides my wife the only adult interactions I get is over conference calls.

 

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.

Memories

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Hollywood- Hollywood sign - First Cali PictureThis last Tuesday marked my “Ninth California Anniversary”.  On July 29th nine years ago I drove into the state of California starting a new life in The Golden State.  Every year on my “California Anniversary” I reflect on where I was at in my life then compared to where I’m currently at.  When I moved out here I did not have a job, and only had a temporary place to stay on the bedroom floor of a friend from high school.  I had no experience in animation, and none of the studios I applied at would even give me an interview.  It was very scary back then, but also invigorating.  I left everything that was familiar and safe to start something new, and it was an adventure. Those feelings I had 9 years ago, are very similar to the feelings I’m having now.  This last year has been a huge change for me, and nothing is familiar or safe.  We bought a house, had a baby, I got a new car, left my job, and started my own company to name the big ones.  I hope that this year will be another step forward, but I know that sometimes you have to take a step back to get a running start.

Now that I’m a father I have also been thinking a lot about my childhood, and all the great memories I had growing up.  One of things I remember is watching Saturday morning cartoons. I believe, like many kids, that this is where my love for animation came from.  One of my favorites was the Adventures of the Gummi Bears, but there was a lot of great cartoons then.  Recently while hanging out with my nephews I started to notice the shows that they were watching, and what was even available for kids to watch these days.  It seemed to me that many of the cartoons that are on now are cheaply made, and somewhat annoying to watch. At first I thought maybe my memory of the shows I watched were better then what the shows actual are.  So I pulled up an old episode of the Gummi Bears up on YouTube, and watched it with my son.  I felt it was just as good as I remember it being, and only made it more obvious that many of the shows today are pretty bad.  I have not done a lot of research looking for good cartoons that are on, so please let me know if you have any favorites in the comments.  But from what I have seen of today’s cartoons and kid shows, I’m not impressed, and not excited for what is available for my son to watch.  I would love to eventually be able to make some quality cartoons that I would be proud to have my son watch.

This week has been once again pretty busy for me.  There is always more I want to get done then there is time to do it.  The commercials I’m working on have been keeping me busier then I thought they would, but they are turning out really well.  I can’t wait until we can show them to everyone.  We will be working on them through the end of August, but some of them might be released earlier. I was approached with an idea for an original animated short that I was asked to help produce the animation for.  The script is now in a place they are happy with, and we will be starting that sometime next week.  I’m excited to get to work on that project, and I hope it turns out well.  On Tuesday I got to visit a friend of a friend who has been running a post production company that specializes in motion graphics and visual effects.  He converted his 2 bedroom apartment in Studio City into a boutique visual effects house.  In the living room he had at least 4 workstations, 2 in the 2nd bedroom, and 2 more in his bedroom next to his bed.  It was very inspiring, and reminded me of the stereotypical companies that were started in a garage.  I met with him and 3 of his partners that he brought on to help him.  He has put a great team together, and they are doing some pretty amazing work.  It was nice talking with them, and hearing about what they are working on.  They also gave me a lot of great advice, and pitfalls to watch out for.  Maybe in the future we will be able to find a way to work together, and help each other out.

Every year I plan to go to Comic-Con, but every year something comes up that prevents me from going.  This year with everything else going on I simply forgot to register for it.  Although I was not able to go I read a nice update from the animation panel on the animation industry. Information from the animation guild blog.

  • The animation industry is booming, and Los Angeles animation work is at record highs.

  • In the 1970’s there were normally two or less animated features released each year: whatever Disney did and one other independent feature.  Last year there were 22 animated features released.

  • Cartoon Network has doubled the number of shows in work that it had four years ago. The studio is constantly looking for new, young talent.  They are focused on hand-drawn animation.

  • The gaming industry is doing amazing business.  It is possible for a small crew of game makers to create a game, own, and market it themselves, since there are many digital platforms from which to sell it.

  • A lot of young animators are breaking into the business through personal shorts displayed on YouTube or Vimeo.  Vimeo, in particular is pretty egalitarian in giving newcomers a viable platform to showcase their work.

  • The visual effects business has taken a hit in Southern California. Sony Imageworks has moved its business to Vancouver, where the Canadians are given away free money. Montreal and Toronto also have large subsidy programs and now do work previously done in L.A. There are a number of boutique visual effects studios operating in Los Angeles, where work is being done on various television shows and some limited feature work. But big players like Digital Domain and Rhythm and Hues are kaput.

I thought this was very interesting with a lot of great information.  It would have been better to have heard it first hand, but maybe next year I will be able to make it to Comic-Con.

 

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.

Phoenix

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Being someone that has always wanted to start their own animation company I have always had a respect for those entrepreneurs that have already done it.  There is of course Walt Disney, but there is also the less known people such as Will Vinton.  I learned about Will and his studio a few months ago, and was surprised I never heard of him before.  Starting your own company there are so many decisions that you have to make on a daily basis, and any of those decisions could be the one that causes your company to fail.  Will made a wrong decisions that cost him his studio.  Will Vinton is credited with coming up with the term “Claymation”, and was even trademarked by him.  He won an Oscar, and several Emmy Awards for the work that his studio did.  Even if you don’t know him you might know his work.  His company Will Vinton Studios made many classic claymation feature films, TV series, TV specials, and short films. His commercial work is what I remember the most, and it includes the California Raisins, the Domino’s Pizza Noid, and the M&M’s Red, Yellow, and Green characters.  Will’s company was doing really well, and taking on many more projects.  Many felt his studio was growing to fast, and that is how he lost control of it.  By the end of the 1990’s the studio was seeking funds for more feature films.  One of the key investors was Phil Knight, the owner of the shoe company Nike, Inc..  Part of the deal for Knight to invest more was that he would require a larger stake in the company.  He also got his son Travis a job at the company as an animator.  Travis previously had a failed career as a rapper under the name Chilly Tee.  You might be thinking I’m getting off subject, but this is where things went wrong.  In 2002, Will Vinton ended up losing control of Vinton Studios when Phil Knight became the majority shareholder in the company.  Eventually they decided that Will was no longer needed, and he was fired from the company he started.  Phil Knight ended up putting his son Travis in charge of the company, and the company was later renamed to Laika. You may know Laika for their feature films Coraline, & ParaNorman.  This story sounds very similar to the story of Steve Jobs with Apple computers, but the difference is Steve was able to come back and retake over his company. When I read about this a couple of months ago there was no happy return for Mr. Vinton, but I read an article this morning about how he is trying to make a comeback.  His new company Vinton Entertainment announced a co-production deal with Gnosis Moving Pictures for a series of animated features directed by Vinton.  You can learn more about these projects check out this article, but this is not the focus of my post.

Maybe this will prove to be successful for Will Vinton, and maybe not.  The important thing is that even though he had fallen down, he was able to rise from his failure to try again.  This and many other stories are things that I try and learn about, so that I can hopefully not make the same mistakes.  One of my biggest fears is to pour my heart and soul into this company of mine only to have it fail.  I know there is a lot I still don’t know, and these last 2 weeks I have learned a great deal.  I will continue to learn from my own mistakes as well as mistakes made by others.  This can be very scary realizing I’m flying blindly, and if I knew yesterday what I know today, maybe I would not have made the same decision that I made yesterday. This reminds me of one of the things Steve Jobs said during his Stanford commencement speech.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path; and that will make all the difference.”

So even though I might make some wrong decisions I have to believe it will all work out in the end. In high school I was a pole vaulter on the track and field team.  Holding the end of a 12 foot pole, running as fast as you can, planting the pole in a box that made the pole to bend, and shooting you high into the air taught me a valuable lesson that I feel applies to this adventure of mine.  Pole-vaulting can be very dangerous, but you have to run into it with full confidence, because any hesitation or doubt will slow you down and not give you the speed you need to get you up and into the mat.  The times I second guessed what I was doing I would get shot up and backwards into the air away from the soft pole-vault mat, and onto the hard track.  Whenever that happened we had a rule that without a moment to think about it you had to try again.  If you let yourself think about that fall it would shake your confidence, and once you lose your confidence it was much harder to get it back.  After every fall you had to get up and try it again.

Phoenix

By sandara.deviantart.com

The Phoenix is a mystical bird that every 500 years(depending on the version) would consume itself in its own flames only to be reborn from the ashes.  I have always loved the story of the phoenix and its rebirth, and have always used it as a source of inspiration and motivation.  In a way I have always thought of the Phoenix as my Spirit Guide.  No matter how many times I might fail I will always pick myself up, dust off the ashes, and try again with a renewed energy, and a greater knowledge from my previous mistakes. As the saying says “What does not kill me makes me stronger”. Believing in this gives me the confidence to go after my dreams regardless of how “dangerous” it might seem.  As Steve Jobs and now Will Vinton have done, they had risen from the ashes of their failures, and were symbolically reborn to try again. There are countless of stories in the business world of people being reborn to come back from failure.  I know I don’t want to fail, but I can’t let the fear of failure shake my confidence.  If I do fail I will look to the Phoenix and rise out of the ashes to start again.  I hope that any of you that has or will have setbacks will have the courage and strength to rise again to make your dreams come true.

Please share in the comments any other stories of rebirth that you personally have had, or that you have heard about.

 

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.

The First Week

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toysrus-todayWhen I thought about how my first week after leaving my job at DreamWorks would go I envisioned a much less active week. I figured it would mostly be me trying to get some of the basics in place so that I could eventually start finding clients. In reality it has been a pretty active week, and that gives me a lot of hope for the future. I was hired on as the Post Supervisor for a series of Toys R Us commercials my good friend Hashi is co-producing/Directing and doing his After Effects magic on. They are in the fashion of his Action Movie Kid videos that he has been doing with his son. If you have not seen them yet you should check them out. It will be exciting to get to work with Hashi, and see him take his craft to the next level. There are 3 shooting days at the end of next week, and then I will mostly be working from home making sure we get all After Effects work done on time and delivered to the client.

On this last Sunday I posted on Facebook about me leaving my job at DreamWorks, and my plans to start my own animation company. I was hoping for a big response, but did not expect the response I got. My friends and family have been so supportive, and gave me a lot of words of encouragement. As of the writing of this post my company Facebook page has 423 Likes, and in the first 24 hours my blog received over 900 views from all over the world. Which includes 756 from the US, 46 from France, 16 from Canada, 11 from Italy, 10 from Malaysia, 8 from Brazil, and it goes on and on. A total of 24 different countries that have visited my blog. This chart below shows you the numbers for the whole week, and I’m shocked how it spread to so many different countries.
By country

I had a good number of artists that reached out to me to let me know they would love to work with me, so I have a rapidly growing list of freelancers that I can call when I have projects. This also generated a few clients asking for my help on projects. Most of them were asking for help to make their animation projects for much less then what is possible. Although one project I was able to find an artists that agreed to the budget being offered. They are working on the final draft of the script, and then after that we should be able to get started on it. I will keep the details of the project private out of respect for the clients privacy, but once finished I will be glad to share it with all of you.

On Wednesday I went to a Producers Guild event, and was able to meet a lot of really great people. I love that when I go to these events I’m almost always the only person in animation. This works in my favor since if I can be known as the animation guy anytime they need animation they will hopefully think of me. I can offer them help on their projects with animation, but also graphics, titles, special effects, and many other CG visuals that they may want.

This morning I have a conference call with Hashi and the team working on the Toys R Us commercials. It will be exciting to see how this process works, and meet some of the other people that are onboard the project. Next week on the shooting days will be a new experience for me, since I have never been on location for a live action shoot (besides my own college films). It has been a great first week on my own, and I hope the momentum of this week can continue on into the future.

 

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.

Independence

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Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July

I’m now officially independent from DreamWorks Animation. So not only will I be celebrating the United States’ Independence today, but also my own.  This week has been great because for the first time I have been able to be open to tell people what my plans are, and I have been getting some interesting reactions.  Some people look at me like I’m crazy, and you can see the eye roll and thought bubble saying “never going to happen!”.  On the other extreme are the people that get really excited, and start talking about exchanging contact information so that they can come work with me.  Most people seem to fall somewhere in-between these two extremes.  I guess these reactions are to be expected, since most people do not try and start their own animation company.  I also ran into some people that opened up to me about their own entrepreneurial efforts that they are secretly working on.

I have been working on saying “I’m planning on starting my own animation company” more confidently.  For so long now I have been keeping it a secret, and it is now surprisingly difficult to say it out loud.  It does feel good to say it, and it makes my dream seem more tangible.  This has also put me on an emotional roller-coaster.   One minute I’m very confident in my dream thinking this will be easier then I thought, and then the next minute asking myself if I’m making a huge mistake.  I know the shaking of my confidence is only temporary caused by the reactions of my peers, and the more people I talk to the more confident I become no matter what their reaction is.  I have to remind myself that majority of people are going to tell me that it can’t be done, but I have to follow my own heart.  I will take what people say as advice, and recommendations, but in the end I have to make my own decisions.

The question I keep getting from people when I tell them about me starting an animation company is how am I going to actually start it?  My response is simply, “one step at a time”.  I plan to relax this holiday weekend, but starting early Monday morning I will hit the ground running.  Since my wife does not go into work until 10am she will be able to watch our son in the morning until then.  I will be waking up at 6am each morning and have a dedicated 4 hours each morning to work exclusively on the business.  At 10am I will take over watching my son so my wife can go to work.  This might not be a permanent solution, but it will help get me started.  I’m excited about this because in addition to having time to work on my company I will also get to be there for my son, and watch him grow.  I will also be able to work when my son is taking his naps, but any parent knows you can’t rely on having that free time consistently.  If I need to leave the house for meetings with clients, or networking events we will get a babysitter for those times.

It will be really tight living on just one income, and we will have to stick to our very strict budget to make this work.  I really appreciate my wife for supporting me, and giving me the opportunity to take such a huge risk to follow this dream.  She knows we will have to make a lot of sacrifices, and she has been nothing but positive and supportive.  She is the best partner I could have asked for.

Eric IndependenceYesterday was my last day at DreamWorks Animation, and I felt very inspired and energized with my decision to leave, and go off on this adventure.  Packing up my office and saying my farewells to friends and co-workers was bittersweet, since I walked those halls, and been with those people for so long.  In a way it became my second home.  It felt like the end of an era for me, and the start of one grand adventure.  I hope I’m able to keep in touch with many of my co-workers, but I realize that yesterday was the last time I would see some of them.  Before picking up the cliche final box of my belongings with the plant sticking out the top,  I paused for a moment, and looked around my office to reflect on my time at DreamWorks. I have some really amazing memories from the last 6+ years, and that made me happy and sad at the same time.  I picked up my box, and closed the door to my office metaphorically closing that chapter of my life.

 

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.

DreamWorks Animation Farewell

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Farwell DreamWorks AnimationI started this blog by saying that I have a job at a dream company, and that I planned to leave that company.  Well, that time is upon us, and next week will be my last week working at DreamWorks Animation.  I have been keeping the name of the company I was working at a secret until I made them aware of my intentions.  Now that they are aware, and my end date is official there is no longer a reason to keep it a secret.  I have worked at DreamWorks Animation for over 6 years now, and in that time I have worked on the movies Monsters vs Aliens, Kung Fu Panda 2, Madagascar 3, Home!, and several shorts.  It has been an amazing experience that gave me the opportunity to work for a great company with some of the most talented people in the industry.  It is these amazing people that I will miss the most… closely followed by the free lunch.   I’m currently working on the feature film Home! as the modeling and surfacing production supervisor.  Home! was scheduled to be released this November, but was pushed out to March of 2015.  I knew when I started on Home! back in March of 2012 that it would be my last film I would work on at DreamWorks, and have been planning around that these last few years.  It always seemed so far away, and it’s hard to believe that I only have 1 week left.

As I was getting closer to my end date I was thinking they would most likely not have a position for me to go onto after Home!.  This would have worked out nicely for me, since I would not have any hard feelings about turning down a position.  In the past when the movie I was working on was getting close to being finished I would start talking to other shows that were staffing up to see what positions were available.  This time I did not talk to anyone about my approaching end date.  I thought that by flying under the radar that they would forget about me, and fill all the open positions with other people.  Also with some of DreamWorks Animation’s projects getting pushed, and my contract expiring I was sure this meant I would be asked to leave.  I played in my head many times how the meeting with HR would go.  They very professionally telling me that unfortunately there was no positions and I would have to leave the studio at the end of my current project.  Me trying to resist the grin forming on my face would say “I understood”, and that “it was a pleasure working here for as long as I have, and thank you for the opportunity”.  Yup, that was not at all how it happened.  They actually offered me a position on one of the upcoming films, so I ended up having to turn it down. I would be lying if I said I was not a little happy that they wanted to keep me even though I was planning on leaving anyways.  My last day at the studio will be July 3rd which means on July 4th I will also be gaining my own independence. I will leave the security that DreamWorks has provided me for so many years, and risk it all for a chance to make my dreams come true.  It’s exciting, invigorating, and scary all at the same time.

” While it’s tempting to play it safe, the more we’re willing to risk, the more alive we are. In the end, what we regret most are the chances we never took. And I hope that explains a little about this journey on which I’m about to embark.”
~ Frasier

I do want to say thank you to DreamWorks and all the people I have had the privilege of working with over these years.  Everyone one of you inspired me in more ways then you know.  I have never worked at a place that had so many people that are such an inspiration.  You made going to work each day so enjoyable, and I hope to work with all of you in the future.

 

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.

What’s In A Name

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EMA signatureWhen I was younger and first started to dream about doing what Walt Disney did I always thought I would name my company as he did.  I built my dreams around the idea of Eric Miller Animation, so now that I’m actually starting my studio there was never much thought about what it would be called.  Although, through my experience in the industry I have heard of downsides to naming it after the founder.  At this point it is hard for me to think of the studio as anything else, and there are a few reasons why I still plan to name my studio Eric Miller Animation.

Marketing Me:
At the beginning I will have to market myself to prospective clients.  There won’t be a company to talk about, and it will simply be me, Eric Miller.  I will spend a lot of time and money building a reputation for what I can do for clients.  I feel it would be a waste if I changed from a name they have come to know and trust to something they don’t know.  Sure it can be done, but if it is not necessary why add the extra work.  I will already have enough mountains to climb, so why make things harder then they need to be.

Personal Touch:
The one thing I liked about the Walt Disney company is that the name gave it a personal touch(at least in the beginning).  I want people to want to work with me and the studio because I have been a friend, and they know they can count on me.  I feel that by using a name that is not linked to a person makes it seem less inviting.  I also feel there is a level of accountability when your name is attached to something.  You don’t want to put out cheap or sloppy work that will ruin your personal reputation.  By attaching your name it makes you feel more accountable to deliver your best every time.

More difficult to sell:
Business advice says that it is a bad idea to name a company after the founder, because if you ever want  to sell the company it will be less appealing to buyers.  This makes sense, but starting an animation studio was never a business venture to me to simply make money.  I don’t plan to get the company up and running, and then sell it off to the highest bidder.  This company is everything to me, and I want others to know that I stand behind this studio.

Taking all the Credit:
Some people say that by naming the company after one person it takes credit away from the artists.  I can understand this if credit is not given to artists in other ways.  The company name to me is more marketing and branding.  It is that name you come to trust, and thought of as the industry expert.  The company name of Pixar does not give any more credit to the artists then Eric Miller Animation.  Credit needs to be given in other ways, and I’m a very strong believer in giving credit where credit is due.  It is important to celebrate the hard work of all the people on any project, and shine a spotlight on anyone that went above and beyond.  After all, what makes a company great is the people that work there.

Not everyone might agree with the points I make, but this is what I feel is the right thing to do.  After all I’m the one that will be risking the most, and putting myself, and my family’s lives on the line.  There has to be some benefits for taking a chance to follow your heart. Some people might say that is just ego, and maybe it is, but I feel it is more then just that.  I want to make a difference in the world and leave my mark. Maybe that is selfish of me, but everyone has that right.  After all, one could argue that the names of things do not matter, only what things “are”.  What we do as a company is the only thing that matters in the end.

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
– William Shakespeare

Here are some interesting facts about company names you may or may not know.  A few entertainment companies that are named after people; 20th Century – Fox William Fox, Don Bluth Entertainment – Don Bluth, MGM or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer – Samuel Goldfish, Edgar and Archibald Selwyn, and Louis B. Mayer, Hanna-Barbera Productions – William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Hasbro – the HASsenfeld BROthers,The Jim Henson Company – Jim Henson, Lucasfilm – George Lucas, Miramax Films – Max and Miriam Weinstein (parents of founders), Turner Broadcasting System – Ted Turner, and of course The Walt Disney Company – Walt Disney.  The Walt Disney Company has gone through several names over the years including; Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, The Walt Disney Studio, and Walt Disney Productions.  Eventually the live action and animation divisions were renamed to Walt Disney Pictures, and Walt Disney Feature Animation under The Walt Disney Company umbrella.

 

If you have not already, I hope you will join me on my journey by subscribing to this blog.  If you have any thoughts or advice I would love to hear them, 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.

Produced by Conference

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photo 1This Sunday I attended day 2 of the Produced by Conference that was held at the Warner Bros. Studio lot.  It was a great experience, and I’m very glad I was able to attend.  The Produced by Conference is a conference for producers by producers, and is put on each year by the Producers guild of America.  This is the 6th year of the conference, but only my first year going.  It is made up of different guest speakers and panels of industry experts, and I signed up for 4 panel discussions that I would like to share with you.

Conversation with Norman Lear:
Norman Lear & Steven LevitanI’m embarrassed to say that I did not know who Norman Lear was before signing up for this session.  I still did not know the impact he had on the industry even after looking him up online in advance and finding out about the shows that he wrote and produced.  I have heard of the shows he made, but never actually seen any of them.  All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, and Sanford and Son to name some of the big ones.  So having this chance to hear his stories was very fascinating. He was so influential that the Producers Guild’s comedy series award is actually named after him.  The person that won the Norman Lear Award the most times was Steven Levitan, and he was the one moderating for this conversation. Steven Levitan created such TV series as Just Shoot Me!, Stark Raving Mad, Stacked, Back to You, and Modern Family. This paring of the two made this conversation even more rewarding. Norman talked about how he felt like he never did anything that was that earth shattering, but was just telling stories.  He said when he was first getting into the industry the biggest issues in TV shows was that the boss was coming over for dinner and they burned the roast.  He wanted to tackle the most controversial issues of the time.  His shows touched on racism, abortion, and sexism.  He had to fight to get the networks to be OK with many of the shows’ subject matter.  His hard work paid off, and paved the way for many shows that have controversial subject matter in them.  Including Steven Levitan’s show Modern Family which has a homosexual couple in it. He also talked about how he is still working on projects, and he is not having any luck on getting his most recent project made.  It is a comedy that’s set in a retirement village, and is called Guess Who’s Dead.  He said “They don’t want to touch the demographic”.  It sounded like it would be pretty funny, and I would be interested to see it made.  When asked what advice he had for producers today, he said the greatest lesson he could pass on came from Jean Stapleton, the late co-star of All in the Family. He said,

“She’s always where she is, always be where you are.”

The Emerging Majors: New Possibilities for Scripted Storytelling:
photo 2This was a panel of four executives moderated by Chris Thomes, VP Digital Media Studio at Disney/ABC Television Group.  The four panelist were; Laura Allen, Head of Production for Yahoo!, Michael Klein, EVP Programming and Content Strategy for Conde Nast Entertainment, Erick Opeka EVP Digital Networks for Cinedigm, and John P. Roberts, SVP Digital Media and Commercial Affairs for Endemol USA.  None of these people were lacking in overly long titles.  It was interesting to hear that 3 of the 4 panelists have cut the cable cord.  They felt cable TV did not provide them with anything they could not get from online.  This was really interesting to me since it was further evidence on the changing landscape of the cable industry. They also talked a lot about packaging scripts and stories from a business point of view.  They want that ideal Youtube star that “writes”, directs, creates, and produces their own content for practically nothing.  They also wanted to find talent that helped with their brand.  “Brand integration” is the key, said John P. Roberts.  It was good to hear what they were looking for, and what was of interest to their companies.  This panel was helpful in the fact it gave me an insight on what was important to them.  If I was ever to pitch an idea to them I would have a better understanding on how to approach each one.

Financing Independent Film: New Business Models:
photo 3This was one of those panels that highlights all that you don’t know about raising financing for movie.  You go into it thinking you know a little about the subject, and walk thinking you know nothing.  Instead of listing out all the panelists I included a picture of the title card with all their names and positions.  It was made up of producers, agents, attorney, and other experts in film financing.  There was a lot of very intelligent, and experienced people on this panel, and they are the kind of people you want on your team when you are trying to raise money.  They talked a lot about crowd funding which is something I have already thought about doing to make my first project, but know I need to get a little more credibility first.  Sky Moore(attorney) talked about other ways that I had not thought of before.  These were; Advertise private offerings, Money from advertisers, and retailers.  Honestly I’m not real sure what he meant about the first one, but it had something to do with talent going out and raising money on their own.  If someone knows more about this please comment below.  The second one, money from advertisers, he used the example of the Lego Movie.  Working with advertisers to fund the project if you put their product in the film.  You have to be careful with this method, since you don’t want your movie to turn into a hour long commercial.  The last one, Retailers, could be money for showcasing products, or products to use in the film for free.  It could be clothing, cars, food, or other products.  He mentioned Netflix, and Walmart being good examples. Stephan Paternot, Co-Founder and CEO of Slated talked about his company, and how it can also help you raise money.  He explained it by talking about a tail, and at one end you have the studios, and the other you have crowd funding.  His company is in the middle of the two.  It is a network that helps connect creators with investors.  While sites like Kickstarter can be for anyone including people with no experience, Slated is for more experianced film makers.  It helps investors filter down all the people wanting to make a project to people with more of a proven track record.  Slated provides tools for investors to see who is involved in the project, and give an idea of the market value of each project.  For example the director could be inexperienced which would lower the value, but it might have other experienced key people and talent that would increase the value.  They also talk about domestic and international options, but many of this was over my head.

Indie City: Finding Your Niche in the Digital Eco-System:
photo 4I attended this panel instead of the conversation with Francis Ford Coppola.  Although it would have been amazing to see him I felt this panel would be more beneficial to my goals.  This ended up being the most interesting session of the day, and I felt justified with my decision.  I have been very intrigued with the power of YouTube lately.  I have seen first hand how quickly a video or channel can go viral, and quickly bring the creator into the spotlight.  This panel talked a lot about YouTube, and YouTube success strategies.  Panelist Tim Street kept making the point that you just need to get started, and that is the best way to learn.  Most people already have everything they need to make a video for YouTube, and you add that with a great idea, and you might have something.  I think the reason I liked this session the most was that it was inspiring.  As mentioned before I plan to get my animation studio started by doing commercial work, but this inspired me to think I could start making movies.  It got me thinking about ways to make fun short animated videos to start building my YouTube audience.  The fact that animation is expensive is still there, but it got me exploring other ways to make inexpensive animated videos.  I always wanted to have highly polished animation, but maybe there is value in making rougher animations to start.  On the other side it kind of depressed me on what kids made popular these days.  YouTube channels like Fred and Annoying Orange in my opinion are horrible, and can’t understand why they are so popular.  If this is what kids are watching then I really don’t understand my target audience.  I have to hold onto the belief that quality animation is still of value.

I had a great day in these sessions, and met a lot of very interesting people.  I look forward to next year’s conference.

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