I ask 'cause I know some of you have spawned (God help us).

I've got a couple of finished scripts that I want to show off/get actual reactions to. For the moment, these are both just "show" pieces, to show potential employers what my writing style looks like when left to my own devices (as opposed to "Spec" scripts, that show what I look like when I'm trying to match someone else's tone). Someday, however, who knows. These just might get pitched somewhere ("Starfighter Academy" in particular ties into a bigger Star Wars-like saga that I'll definitely be putting out in some form, someday).

These are both sci-fi shows (i.e., series' pilots) that ended up being aimed at children, only because I'm starting to believe that space-opera-style sci-fi is financially impossible these days unless it's animated, and in NorAm, animation can only possibly be "for kids" (this means that I have to tone down some stuff, but I tend not to go too Dark anyway). I'm thinking of the sci-fi cartoons I had in my youth (but which no one seems to make anymore): Galaxy Rangers, Wheeled Warriors, Silverhawks, Thundercats, Robotech, etc.

Ergo, I'm looking especially for anyone who might have kids around --are these the kind of shows you could see them watching? (And if not, why not? Too violent? Too complicated? Not complicated enough? No talking anthropomorphic sponges?) Alternatively, are these the kind of shows you'd watch?

Starfighter Academy: Escape Velocity is the longer script (set up like a "movie" that could be cut up into three half-hour episodes), and is the more traditionally "sci-fi" of the two; it involves, well, starfighter pilots. The Academy is where the best pilots in the galaxy go to become even better. There are no limitations on age, training, experience, or even allegiance --all you need is talent, and the drive to be The Best. Epic, star-spanning adventure and action, with aliens, robots, vast interstellar empires, and vaster interstellar conspiracies. Also, a bit of romance and comedy (and some inevitable Firefly references). This one comes with outlines for the first 13 eps (a standard part of a series pitch), hinting at where the ongoing story/character arcs could go.

The Weird Kid: Brave New World is shorter (a single half-hour ep), and tries to be more mainstream --except for the sci-fi elements, it'd be a slice-of-life series (like Lucky Star, Azumanga Daioh, or K-On!). A perfectly normal human girl ends up going to an alien high school. Much as I hate the labels, this one ends up more shoujo. My humour tends to be pretty dry, so this may come across as a little flat ('cause I'm trying to set up characters and an Aesop before hitting the silly stuff) --I expect anyone I pitch the concept to would want a collaboration with a much funnier writer. No outlines, 'cause I'm deliberately trying to be more self-contained and episodic (in the vein of the slice-of-life sub-genre).

If you're interested, let me know and I'll send PMs with the link (they're in PDF files).

sure i can email to my kid bro and see what he thinks he 11 so if it would help send em

heres a thought:

What kind of animation and pace will these be?
The second one, about the high school, could work fast paced very easily and- hold on...

I think I've seen this before...

The pacing for both of them will be pretty quick, just to squeeze more story into the half-hour. My self-imposed rule for Starfighter Academy is that every episode must include at least one action sequence --either a space battle or a character-based fight/stunt scene.

In animation terms, I tend toward anime styling whenever possible (one of my long-term career dreams is to see the Canadian animation industry form closer ties with Japan: the Canadian and Japanese industries have about the same budget on average, but Japan's making Macross Frontier and K-On!, while Canada's doing Total Drama Island and 6teen. There's no reason we can't do something that has the same levels of dramatic and artistic quality).

Starfighter Academy:
*Best-case scenario: Something like Oban Star Racers, Eureka Seven, or Macross Plus (no, not Frontier; Frontier's dogfights are too fast and chaotic to tell what's happening, while the differing skill levels of the Academy pilots is an important plot-point) --able to handle the techical detail as well as the character interactions, and with a high enough framerate to be able to do movement.
*Worst I'd settle for: Something like Di-Gata Defenders --flash-based, but detailed enough to sell the sci-fi look. Team Galaxy is the other extreme of No for being too cartoony.
*Realistic middle-ground: I could see it working with JLU or Kim Possible-style character designs. The show would be perfect for a studio that wanted to expand into CG animation; the characters could be cell-drawn while the flying sequences can be CG (as with Yukikaze or Last Exile).

The Weird Kid:
*Best-case scenario: I'd love it to look like a more SFnal cousin of Haruhi Suzumiya or K-On! (the idea being for the weirdness to be juxtaposed with the utterly mundane --cracked sidewalks, fast-food restaurants, tattered bookbags, grimy lockers, etc).
*Worst I'd settle for: Well. . . 6Teen's look could kinda work, or even Daria (90s-style hand-drawn still looks more life-like than flash).
*Realistic middle-ground: Probably more like The Weekenders or even W.I.T.C.H. (minus the superpowers).


Well, yeah. One of Da Rules in this business is that, in order to sell anything, you have to be able to compare it to a pre-existing property. That's why Hollywood keeps remaking everything rather than do something new; producers are scared of anything that isn't an established franchise. The only way to get something creative on the air is to trick them --sell them something easy to understand, like "an animated kung-fu movie," then turn it into Avatar: The Last Air Bender while their backs are turned.

Not so much Wayside in particular, but TWK is sorta-inspired by Galaxy High School and Lloyd in Space (only played a bit straighter because I believe children can handle a bit more sophistication than "putting a fishbowl on my head means I can breathe in space").

In fact, I'm deliberately labelling these as "edutainment" --I'm trying to get kids interested in science and technology. How many people got into robotics because of Transformers? Would NASA even exist today if not for Star Trek?