Where did you learn to write for tv animation? Were you always interested in writing? Do you ever wish you could make something with deeper themes than what you write now?
I don’t think that working in Kid’s TV Animation prevents me from dealing with deep themes. We weren’t really allowed to deal directly with death as a theme in Billy & Mandy, but it was in there. Along with fear, (ultimate) power, responsibility, and growing-up-as-horror. On Jellystone we’ve got episodes in Season 2 that deal with the pandemic, politics, and justice… if you’re willing and capable of digging through the satire to find it.
When you’re pitching shows, networks always want something “from the heart”. Meaning that they get a lot of pitches from hacks looking to earn some cash who may or may not have a vested interest in making a good show. I don’t have that problem because my one mission is to get what I want. That’s my Mandy side. Put me on a show that I think is a destined-to-fail crapsack, and I’ll still find a way to please myself and squeeze in every theme, character type, and gag that I wanted to… one way or another. Because that’s what I care about.
Would it be nice not to have to fight for every little thing I want to say while also jumping through hoops to meet unreasonable schedules, to protect my crew, and to process external feedback from people who are more worried about looking good within the company than making good TV? Sure would. That’s where my renewed desire to do something indie comes in.
Looping back around to the first question, I’ve always loved writing (and drawing). For me, it really did all start with silly comics and storyboards for amateur movies. I guess (like most things) I just learned along the way because it’s what interested me. I read a bunch of books on writing and took creative writing, literature, and screenwriting classes in high school and college, but a good bit of it probably came from learning on the job and trying to improve.
I am in my artistic journey, but i have doubt that I could make to better and find my style. Is it a good idea to study firstly realism art and after you decided to styles your drawing? Because I made this plan to facilitate the question about anatomy.
I think you should draw what you want to first. Indulge as much as you can as often as you can, and when you start to feel the limits of what you can pull off, then study.
I don’t think it matters whether you learn the rules first or aim to stylize first. All artists start one way or the other, and you just pick up the slack where you need to if you do it long enough. Just do what interests you most right now.
