Sarah Muller Discusses CBBC Animation Pilot Scheme – ANIM8
Whether you were present at last month’s Manimation event, or have been browsing social media, animation professionals can’t have escaped the exciting news about CBBC and BBC Worldwide launching ‘ANIM8‘ – the pilot scheme to “develop the next generation of UK animation giants” and to find “new content which is original, character driven, fast-paced, funny and has great kid appeal”.
The scheme is broken down into a number of stages, with the first deadline being with 22nd January 2016. Each stage involves more development work until the successful project is chosen and a fully funded pilot is produced in September next year.
We spoke to Sarah Muller, Creative Director, Scripted, Animation and Co-productions, for BBC Children’s – to shed some more light on how the scheme works and what CBBC are looking for from animators and studios…
The ANIM8 scheme is a fantastic opportunity for new and existing content creators to develop character driven, fast-paced, and funny ideas alongside the BBC. Could you tell us about the development process from the initial idea deadline (22nd January) to the winning pilot being produced (2nd September 2016)?
Following the January 22nd deadline, all eligible submissions will be assessed by members of the CBBC & BBC WW team. We will be looking for ideas that fulfill our criteria, some of which are :
- Is the concept funny?
- Is it original
- Is it character driven
- Is it fast paced
- Is it compelling, unpredictable, up beat
- Does it offer a unique take on contemporary life?
- Will it appeal to the CBBC viewers and a worldwide audience
We’re aiming to select around 12 projects to take forward to stage 2.
As the scheme places a focus on finding the “new Strange Hill High, Gumball or Adventure Time”, will this be CBBC’s main focus in the near-future? Will you still be looking for ideas with a drama or factual focus to be pitched outside this scheme?
CBBC offers many opportunities for Drama and Factual throughout the year – this scheme is specifically for comedy animation to delight and entertain our audience, whilst supporting the UK animation industry.
The ANIM8 webpage states that you are looking for ideas that can sustain 26 or 52 episodes of either 7, 11 or 12 minutes in length. Based on Adventure Time (11-mins), Gumball (11-mins), and Strange Hill High (22-mins), do you have a preference for longer episodes and number of episodes for the CBBC audience?
Absolutely not – we want people to pick what feels right for the piece. There’s no preference, although we are not looking for feature length material.
As this opportunity is open to any animator, writer, designer, storyboard artist, studio or company, there will most likely be a range in the kind of materials pitched to you. The more experienced studios will perhaps submit more ‘polished’ documents compared to an animator who is submitting their first ever pitch. Could you give any advice or tips on what you are looking for in terms of pitch materials, how polished they need to be, and how to get the tone across?
The UK is home to a wealth of talented individuals as well as companies, so we’ve deliberately kept this opportunity as open as possible in order to find the best ideas out there. For stage 1, we’re not looking for polished concepts, just great ideas that we feel fit the brief. Once a concept is taken forward to stage 2 and beyond, we’ll work with those companies to further develop their concept. There will be some development money available to help with this process. Our advice therefore is work to your strengths when submitting your concept to us and should you be fortunate enough to be selected for state 2, we’ll work with you to fill any gaps you may have
Would you have any words of encouragement or advice to smaller studios or animators who may be daunted about pitching against more established production studios?
Great ideas start small and grow, so please don’t be daunted. We’re keen to help grow the industry and your role within it, so don’t be shy, just go for it!
Will ANIM8 be a one-off scheme or will it be returning in 2017?
Watch this space!
For full details on the scheme, visit the ANIM8 webpage here – and don’t forget that the first deadline is on Friday 22nd January 2016 – to register your project by filling in the submission form and submit relevant material.
Good luck!