How to Write for Animation

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Here is the first animation writer's bible—a foolproof and indispensable guide through every step of the animation writing process, from a top, Emmy Award-winning animation writer.

In recent years, the world of animation has expanded far beyond the children's fare generations of Americans have grown up watching early on Saturday mornings. Hit television series like South Park, The Simpsons, and King of the Hill have blurred the boundary between sitcom and cartoon, and have aimed straight for adult audiences with a powerful admixture of social commentary and outright hilarity. In movie theaters, with films like Toy Story and Shrek, digital technology has enabled animators to produce films both of stunningly realistic quality and the imagination and fantasy that the genre has always supplied. In the meantime, with recent hits like Tarzan and the forthcoming Atlantis: The Lost Empire, classic animation has never been more popular. It all adds up to an expanding market for writers who have an eye toward the future and an eagerness to work in a medium where the only limit is the depth of their imaginations.

With step-by-step instructions, veteran animation writer Jeffrey Scott details the process of developing even the vaguest of ideas into a fully realized animation script. With helpful ideas for unleashing creative potential and drawing on his own critically acclaimed work for examples, he details every stop on the road from inspiration to production, with sections on premises, outlines, storyboards, treatments, description, and dialogue, and much more:The job market and salaries for animation writingHow to write funny materialWriting animation for theinternetCreating an animated TV seriesHow to rewrite and polish scriptsHow to get hired to write for your favorite animated TV show

With the insights of a seasoned veteran he also gives foolproof advice on how to sell the finished product-breaking in, getting an agent, negotiating the treacherous Hollywood pitch meeting. How to Write for Animation is the ultimate guide for anyone with ambitions of writing for the most rapidly developing medium in all of entertainment.
About the Author: Jeffrey Scott is one of animation's most acclaimed writers. He has written over six hundred animated television scripts for such series as: Superfriends, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, among others. The grandson of the Three Stooges' Moe Howard, Jeffrey Scott's work has been recognized with three Emmy Awards and a Humanitas Prize.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Jeffrey Scott combines that rarest and most extraordinary of talents-he is a master storyteller, a prolific writer and turns out scripts 'faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive.' He leaves a legacy to the world of animation writing that is unmatched and unparalleled and, fortunately for so many, now memorialized in this excellent book.  — President, Warner Brothers Television

Stan Lee

Writers! Add Jeffrey Scott's How To Write For Animation to your required reading list. As one of the top names in the animation field, a man who's done it all and done it with style, Jeffrey has not only given us the result of years of invaluable experience, but a damn good read as well.  — Chairman Emeritus, Marvel Comics

Katzenberg

Writing for Animation is both an art and a discipline, and Jeffrey Scott is terrific at teaching others what he's mastered himself.  — DreamWorks SKG

Andy Heyward

Jeffrey Scott is without a doubt the most prolific and accomplished writer of television animation of all time. Action, comedy-he does it all, and very, very well. — Chairman, DIC Entertainment

Nancy Kanter

Jeffrey Scott has written the definitive sourcebook for anyone interested in the world of animation and script writing. Infused with humor and a love of the craft, this book is filled with the practical information one needs to get started, and is a great resource for producers, directors and executives already in the business.  — Vice President Programming, Disney Channel

Haim Saban