Been doing a lot of convention prep here at the studio.
Yeah, I know that it's convention season... but the 2 most important shows of the year are coming up fast. The Phoenix Comicon is here in just a couple of weeks, and after that we're at the San Diego Comicon in July.
The Phoenix show has hosted explosive growth in the 5 years that we've been doing it. There is no show that I've ever been to that is growing this fast, and this well. It's not junkfood growth, but rather sudden public awareness that this show rocks! This year they're going to feature 1000 hours of programming, national guests, and likely doubling in attendance... again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpMZ-AMf5H4
The San Diego show (SDCC) is important because it drives the most revenue, and we get to introduce our work to the largest potential audience of the year. That said, it's also our most expensive show, so it HAS to perform. We're always looking for ways to drum up more growth, attract new Patriots to the tribe, and to make the thing better overall.
Every year at SDCC we get handed cards from big animation companies who ask if we're interested in working with them. "Sure" I say... "on what?" And about every time they say something like "Send us your ideas!" "Pitch us a show or some characters." "We've got a show idea that needs a character designer."
Stuff like that, that sounds nice, but doesn't equal any pay.
Now, sure, I might sound crazy for just saying "no thanks" to them, but there's a reason. I've bitten the hook before. I've dove in and tried to make the most of the opportunity. Thing is... it's fairly hollow.
The promises are as empty as their smiles. Trust me when I say that I've been told "you'll hear from us next week" by some big impressive executive, and nothing ever happens. (Probably about 20 times now.)
It's not my big dream to work on somebody else's mega-cartoon hit. Yeah, it could be nice, but it isn't worth tossing out all this that we've been doing here.
Steam Crow IS the dream... not a sideline to bail on when some other opportunity arises. We want to build this into a very small, but very excellent little empire. One where we can art direct and create the stuff that we love, for you.
- Daniel
