READERSVOICE.COM: What’s involved when an anime creator approaches studios or distributors with the demo reel and production book?

TY HANSON: Well, I was lucky enough to have spoken to an amazingly talented and well accomplished director from the United States who mentored me quite extensively on the pitching process.
He explained to me that unless you have a name behind you, with credits on previous works, you cannot expect more than 5-10 minutes of someone’s time when pitching at a studio.
So you have to captivate and interest that person within that time-frame….to get them to open up and become available for more time.
The pitching part is still VERY foreign to me; I’ve not yet had any first-hand experience with pitching to a studio so it could unfold itself in many different ways.
Emailing a studio can be done with something of a PDF pitch, however most places will not open these emails or accept ideas without legal representation. That way it covers a studio’s liability should a similar concept come to fruition.
It covers everyone’s bum (legally speaking) and also provides a much more professional approach.
So, with that, I would assume that in-person would be pretty much a necessity, which I am fine with.
Most people who meet and speak to me regarding MillEx, comment that my passion for the story is very infectious….so it’s probably a good thing if I meet with a studio face-to-face.
That being said, nothing would prevent a studio from reaching out and approaching me (should they be interested), having heard about MillEx themselves, and request that I attend their offices to discuss matters further.

RV: What has to go in a demo reel and book that you show around studios?

TH: The demo reel is exactly that. It will be a short teaser-esque trailer that will summarise and pitch the story within a six minute window, complete with artwork and professional voice acting.
This requires story-boarding, script-writing, planning, and management of all artists involved for the works that are being drawn.
The Artbook is something of a visual reference bible. A more in depth look into the characters, their biographies, power details, the world, plot and lore of all things related to Millennium Exile….A MillEx encyclopedia if you will.
This will be something I can show ‘after’ the demo reel has been seen, should they be interested to know more. It will explain most of the other elements that they might have questions about and would further show that I have so much more mapped out other than just a general ‘idea’ for a story.

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– copyright Simon Sandall.