- For a TV show or a feature you might consider obtaining the rights to something with
marquee value and develop your project around that. Concepts with marquee value
are those that are already well known: concepts from films, toys, books, comic books,
games, commercial products, sports or entertainment figures, or any other source (like
prime-time television programming). - Look for the void. What’s missing in the marketplace that today’s kids want? What
will interest tomorrow’s kids?
Developing a Marketable Idea
Before you develop an idea too far, stop to evaluate its marketability.
- Medium. Are you developing this idea mainly for TV, a film, a game, a book, the Inter-
net, a toy? Companies want ideas that will easily cross over from one medium to
another. What medium does your idea best suit? - Core concept. What’s the principal idea? Boil it down to a logline—the statement of
your entire idea in twenty-five words or fewer. Is this core idea going to be of utmost
interest to your target audience? What else will the target audience like about your
concept? - Theme. Does it have a message or educational concept?
- Characters. Will they appeal to your specific audience? Can the audience identify with
your characters? Is your children’s concept “kid-relatable”? Are your characters
archetypes? Set up relationships. Contrast characters. - Design. The visual style. What’s the look? Is it fresh?
- Setting and time period. Is this especially appealing? Why?
- Competition. What other ideas will be competing?
- Accessibility. Can your audience identify personally with your core concept? Can they
interact with it in any way? How does it involve them? Can kids sing along, collect
trading cards, play a game, or waddle like a dotty duck? - Temperature reading. Is this idea “cool” enough for today? Is this tomorrow’s sizzler?
Some ideas may be good, but this may not be the time to pitch them. - Legginess. Will this still be appealing down the road? Is this a classic?
- Freshness. Is this different enough from what’s already out there?
- Promise. Will this live up to what your audience will expect?
- Hypeability. Does it have a hook that makes it easy to sell?
- Demographics. Will it appeal to a large enough audience? How can you make it
appeal to an even wider demographic range? The six to eleven or six to twelve age
range is the target age for U.S. advertisers for children’s TV. Be sure you know who
your target audience is. In evaluating ideas for children, keep in mind that the ideas
78 Animation Writing and Development