Pitch Party ’08 Results Are In!

Monday, June 30, 2008
By: Ryan Ball

After several days of deliberation, our animation industry judges have finally weighed in, and we have the winners of the Seventh Annual Animation Magazine Pitch Party. In addition, we received thousands of online votes to determine the latest crop of standouts. Our grand prize winners will be given the chance to pitch to the judge of their choice and perhaps become the next big thing in animation. We’d like to thank everyone who voted for their part in making Pitch Party ’08 one of the magazine’s biggest events of the past 20 years.

First Place [Tie]: RIP Alice (Mike Jones)

Mike Jones, a 26-year-old first-year student at north Vancouver’s Capilano College came up with a nice twist on the fish-out-of-water concept: a toon abut a big city Goth girl who has to learn how to cope with the simple pleasures of a small-town lifestyle. Don Perro, who heads up the animation program at Capilano, presented the competition to their animation/design students and their top six ideas made it to our Pitch Party pages.

“RIP Alice was an idea that had formulated in my head over the last few months, having just moved to a big city for the first time,” says Mike. “Traveling on the bus each day I'd see all kinds of young people who seemed like their only job was to look cool and hip ... I found it very funny how they would complain about the most superficial things.”

Mike says he grew up on the Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry shorts and would love to explore the world of animation as best as he can. “I'd like to take a stab at 3D animation, although I don't think I'll ever be able to put away my sketch book,” he adds. “Character design and development is where I'm strongest. Ultimately though, I'd like to work my way towards being a director. Excellent storytelling is becoming rare, and so it's something I'm really looking to learn more about.” We’re hoping that Alice the Goth girl will open a whole lot of doors for this talented artist in the years ahead.

First Place [Tie]: Lerning Is Fub (Brian Smith, Eggplant)

When you’re hot, you’re hot! Brian Smith, who works at Toronto’s sound and design outfit, Eggplant Collective, won top prize last year with his King of the Universe pitch, placed second place in 2006 with Monster in a Box and, this year, he had everyone giggling about his “educational show made by morons and starring Stitches the Lobotomized Cat.”

"It's good to know that there are others out there just as eager to warp the minds of our children," he jokes. "Having three daughters, I was subjected to years of so-called children's 'edu-tainment,' so this was my way of getting back at Barney for all the pain he inflicted upon my wife and I." Brian is developing more animated concepts at Eggplant, and he's also working on an animation/live-action script about a cartoon boy who is trying to adapt to life in the real world--a new take on Pinocchio. "Any agents out there looking to rep a good writer, do call!" he says.

Brian points out that winning the Pitch Party opened new doors for his company and has landed him several fruitful industry meetings in the past. His advice for future contestants? “It’s really important to come up with an idea that is simple to convey: the best idea you have many not be the best Pitch Party idea. If it can’t be conveyed in the space of a business card, it doesn’t matter if it’s the next Simpsons!” Frankly, we would love to see Lerning Is Fub become as big as the Simpsons!

Second Place: The House of Woooo (Colleen Thomas)

First-year Capilano College (in North Vancouver) student Colleen Thomas put a fun spin on the old werewolf mystery tales which appealed to our judges. “It started with the idea of these two odd kids being the caretaker for their grandpa, but something had to be horribly wrong,” says the talented 24-year-old artist. “I've always liked action adventure cartoons best, and I draw a lot of monsters and scrappy kids, so it seemed like a natural combination. It's the kind of story that I would like to work on, or to watch—That's what I tried to think of.” Many of our judges also wanted to see Colleen’s vision come to animated life.

Third Place: Tag (Mike Chapman)

Mike, a senior at Savannah’s College of Art and Design, says he wanted to create a short that was simple, yet, very cinematic. “I liked the idea of thinking of the robot as the kid's best friend combined with the devotion and playfulness of a dog,” he explains. Tag is basically about love, and what you would do to save what you love.” Mike learned about the Pitch Party through SCAD chair of animation Jeremy Moorshead, who generously sponsored six of the school’s students. He says his senior project will be a short based on his pitch. He adds, “I think most people enter this field because they have a story to tell, something that they think about day and night. It's a wonderful thing when we are given a chance to bring some of these ideas to light.” We have a feeling Mike’s work will get a lot of more recognition once he finishes his senior project.

Animation Magazine Staff Picks

First Place: Lerning Is Fub (Brian Smith, Eggplant)
Second Place: The Princess & The Mermaid (Jo Reid, Capilano College)
Third Place: Cow Kitty (E. Mullock, Capilano College) )
Honorable Mention: Evil Genius Academy (Lee Sheppard)

Animation Magazine Online Readers’ Picks

First Place: That Intellectual Wacky Show (Ariel Quezada)
Second Place: Rocket (Daniel Contois)
Third Place: The Boogie Woogies, Superhero Band (Grande Musical Promotions, Selina Box)

The Pitch Party is an extremely targeted advertising campaign designed to help indie producers and up-and-coming talents present their ideas to influential people who currently hold key positions in the development and production of animated television. Contestants who purchased a 1/6th–page ad at a discount rate in this issue were able to get their ideas off of their computers and draft tables, and in front of these execs and the animation industry at large.

We wish our grand prize winners Mike Jones of Capilano College and Brian Smith of Eggplant the best of luck with RIP Alice and Lerning Is Fub and hope good things come from the exposure all of this year’s contestants received by participating. Next year’s Pitch Party will be here before you know it (deadline is June 16, 2009), so start getting those pitches together now!

Be sure to check out all of this year's Pitch Party ads in the August (Comic-Con) issue of Animation Magazine!

Reader Comments

• Kevin : Artist :

  Monday, June 30, 2008

  Congratulations to Mike Jones for RIP Alice. Best of luck with your pitch.

• Tom Ramirez : Story Artist : Freelance

  Monday, June 30, 2008

  Yes, Congrats to Mike...
  
  ...And I suppose Brian Smith makes a good point as well. The idea was easy enough to get across and I DO hate edu-taining purple reptiles.
  
  Is there any way we can get an exact tally of the votes?

• Kevin M : Artist :

  Monday, June 30, 2008

  Does everyone who entered the pitch party get a chance to see the feedback from the judges. That would be most helpful for future pitches.

• Tom Ramirez : Story Artist : Freelance

  Monday, June 30, 2008

  Being in 3 of the last 4 pitch parties, the answer is no.
  
  Though that is a good idea to consider next year.

• Toan : Artist :

  Tuesday, July 01, 2008

  Mike Jones, much luck with \\\"RIP Alice\\\". It looks like a solid open ended concept with much substance and will not rot the minds of today\\\'s youths. We have enough media today to do that. \\\"RIP Alice\\\" does NOT look disposable at all!
  
  And to the rest of the other contestants, this is never the end all be all. Keep working at it!

• Frank : Artist :

  Tuesday, July 01, 2008

  Congratulations to the winners, and all who had the courage to enter.
  Does anybody know if any Pitch winners or others have ever been picked up by a company over the last seven years?

• jack Bianci : Lead Animation Artist : Synergetics

  Tuesday, July 01, 2008

  I don\'t know about any of the projects being picked up, but the story on Animag said that all of them got good meetings with the executives at the studios and pitched other things as well, so I guess they managed to get their stuff looked at. Couple of them have things in development.

• Sheri Shelton : Animation Magazine

  Tuesday, July 01, 2008

  As always, I am more than happy to give Pitch Party participants any feedback or comments we received from the judges. All you have to do is ask, give me a call 818-991-2884 ext. 104. I can also let you know how you scored compared to the other pitches (towards the top or bottom). I just ask that you give me a week or so as our main priority is getting this issue to the printer so ALL the pitch party ads can be seen by our readers in over 100 countries....and during the upcoming San Diego Comic Con. It is great to read the support and nice comments this year. Thank you and I wish you ALL the best of luck, happiness and success.

• shakeem winn : artist and writer : winn ltd.

  Wednesday, July 02, 2008

  R.I.P. Alice is indeed a solid concept. I wish it as well as the other winner\'s much success in the coming future.

• Bill : Publisher : ECH

  Wednesday, July 02, 2008

  Wow, that Daniel Contois is good. The staff of Animation Magazine voted last year for his \"Ghengis Conroy\" best submission of \'07. He\'s really got some talent. I hope those of you who work in this industry will take a closer look at him. Good job to all!

• MMMM :

  Wednesday, July 02, 2008

  Congratulations to Ariel Quezada I really liked your pich, please keep working

• NA : NA : NA

  Wednesday, July 02, 2008

  Dear Mr. Ciminelli,
  It\'s people like you who rob our children of their innocents, and rape women of their dignity. Your mother must be proud. May you one day become a man of honor and dignity, and show your six year old son to be a real man and know how to treat women and children.
  Sincerely,
  Proud wife and mother of 3 respectful children

• kim sarkies :

  Friday, July 04, 2008

  I\\\'m really comfused how they pick the winners. It\\\'s seems some of the illustrations are geared towards video games... Some towards television... Some towards comic strips in a news paper.
  There seems to be a huge gap between what the layman television viewer likes and what a classically trained animator likes.
  I really hope that RIP Alice becomes a cartoon we can watch on television. It\\\'s kind of discouraging seeing the winners each year of the pitch party contest go on to nothing. It\\\'s like they win the competition and that\\\'s it. I think instead of winning the chance to pitch your cartoon to a network... You should have one of the networks (adult swim or whatever) show the cartoon for a week and let the viewers decide if its viable.
  Anyway, I\\\'m going to be watching over the next year to see if anything becomes of Alice RIP. I really hope something does....

• guess who :

  Saturday, July 05, 2008

  These are pitches ...not fully produced cartoons.
  Having a network \"show one of these for a week\" means the cartoon would have to go into production which cost money and takes a lot longer than you think from script to screen.
  While i agree that it would be nice to see something come of these winners, there is way more involved to get them into production.
  It seems this venue for pitching is geared towards amateurs who are willing to pay $375 to basicly learn by trial and error how to pitch.
  I would recommend using that money to take some courses and skip this rip off of a contest. Even if you did have a great idea, I wouldnt dare throw it at these people. The judges are not very creditable within the industry which is why you havent seen much of these pitches go anywhere
  Brutal but honest. Sorry animation magazine, but this contest doesnt offer much of anything but some expensive feedback that really doesnt guarantee anything of value in opinions anyway. Yes its a fairly cheap way to advertise your pitch....bottom line. Thats all it offers.

• Michael Manooj : Director : Cartoons Corp.

  Saturday, July 05, 2008

  The previous poster claims that the judges are not very \"Creditable within the industry.\" Hello? These are the top executives at Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks, Fox Animation, adult swim, comedy central, ALL of whom can greenlight a project. SOme people just thrive on posting negative comments here. Reads like sour grapes, buddy.

• Frank :

  Saturday, July 05, 2008

  Those of us that enter all have a dream and hope for an opportunity. We all know that are chances of winning are slim, however the DREAM stays alive, and that is what really counts. This Pitch Section provides an outlet for us who can never get to top executives regardless of the outcome, but it\'s really nice to see your creation published in a well respected magazine, and you never know what can happen. It\'s the opportunity and Dream that needs to stay alive, there is alot of talent out there. Not every actor wins an oscar, but it all strated with a dream and an opportunity. So you never know what can happen.
  You also have to respect the judges wether you agree or not, they are the professionals in this field.
  So keep dreaming and follow that dream because you never know!!!! My 2 cents, I love this opportunity.

• dr Know :

  Tuesday, July 08, 2008

  Heres the breakdown in simplest terms regarding this pitch contest for those questioning how it works.
  
  80% advertisement
  20% pitch

• JF Couture : CEO / Creative Director : www.fair-and-square.com

  Wednesday, July 09, 2008

  Congrad to everyone involved !
  
  ANIMATION RULES !

• Ed Webb : Creator, \"Fly Guy\" :

  Monday, July 28, 2008

  I\'m sorry I totally forgot about this. We entered two years ago, and honestly I have no idea what happened LAST year. I would like to have been in it again this year but the last two months have been plagued with distractions. I will have to look around and see if I can find the magazine somewhere. In 2006, I couldn\'t find one on a shelf in any bookstore. Not knowing ANYTHING about \"Evil Genius Adacemy\" except the name, it sounds like \"Malfaryus\" that we pitched two years ago. It was mentioned as a favorite by a couple of judges so we mailed them pitch books, but both companies passed. The general consensus was that it\'s virtually impossible to get kids to root for villains. Invader Zim and Pinky and the Brain disagree, but whatcha gonna do?

• Ed Webb : Creator, \"Fly Guy\" :

  Monday, July 28, 2008

  Oh, I should also mention that my partner and I are working on a game pitch that may offer an animated tie-in. Game pitches are tough because most companies have more ideas than they have resources to pull off, but we have a unique opportunity to present a concept to a company with a spot to fill.