I got a comment about this blog from someone outside the industry. Just a casual reader who was directed here by a mutual friend. He said that the blog was interesting - but that I sound very angry. His take was that I feel that life (and the industry) hasn't been fair to me.
Odd.
I don't think I'm angry. I'm honest. I'm blunt. It's a very tough business - make no mistake about it. Having said that, if I really didn't LOVE what I do - I'd be doing something else.
I get to be creative. I get to dream things up, see my vision become a reality - AND get paid for it. Sometimes, even in real money.
I get fan mail - at least 2 or 3 letters a week, saying how much people like my work. Do taxi drivers and barbers get fan mail? I think not.
People often tell me how my work warped and twisted their childhoods, making them the fine upstanding citizens they are today. I mean, what could be better than that?
But it is a tough biz. There are challenges all around. 90% of my projects fail - but the glorious 10% that succeeds makes it all worth while. The only problem is, I don't know which is the glorious 10%, so I have to wade through all the other stuff. But even that is worth it.
This morning as I walked through my house, I peeked into my dining room. It looks like Hannibal Lector's nursery: Little doll parts everywhere. Limbs dangle from the chandelier. Eyeless heads smile at me from the dinnerplates...
I have more fun than you do. Off to work!
Hey Mr Schnier,
ReplyDeleteYour current post prompted me to drop you a line and let you know how much I enjoy your blog. It's always entertaining and informative.
As someone who works in the animation biz, I know how tricky it can be to actually get a show into development, let alone on the air, so I know where you're coming from when you describe your experiences. Having said that, I've never got the feeling you were angry in any post. Honest and enthusiastic, but never angry!
I've taken alot of you advice to heart and plan on putting it to use in my next pitch. PLease keep the goods coming!
Thanks Ted,
ReplyDeleteI never thought of the blog as angry. I guess its just the perspective of whoever is reading it. For someone who thinks that the animation biz is all "Disneyland", it must come as a rude awakening.
Nope. If I didn't love what I do - I wouldn't have spent 30+ years doing it.
Who cares what this guy thinks? What's he doing? Sitting around watching t.v? He's at a job that he hates while you're going after your dreams? I say if he has nothing positive to contribute who cares.
ReplyDeleteI think that my concern is that maybe I'm bitter and jaded. We all know the type - that crusty old animator that hates everything.
ReplyDeleteNope. I'm not that type. I don't hate executives, producers, business types. There are good and there are bad in every group of people.
What I do hate (to work on) is dumb stuff. Kid shit, churned out by sausage factories because they simply don't care about the audience or the product.