Another Robin Joseph illustration of The Dreaming.Here is a comment from DanO that I thought I would share with everyone.
"well...
I would invite you to move to Los Angeles and witness yourself the multitudes of disgusting opportunists who routinely prey upon more creative people for ideas they can steal.
if it happened to you once, you could shake it off, but the second time you'd set aside the one "thousand more ideas" credo. its easy to say we all have many ideas because we do, but when you spend your money, sweat, time, and blood devloping an idea, you'll undertsand the sting of having it appropriated to someone else's project."
My reply:
well...DanO
I've spent many years in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Ottawa and New York working at many of the feature and television studios that harbor the multitudes of disgusting opportunists you are talking about. For my entire career I've freely let anyone listen to any concept I had. I have also spent innumerable hours and tens of thousands of dollars developing properties so I can confidently say that I practice what I preach.
Evidently you have had poor experiences when it comes to intellectual properties but I stay true to my credo. No matter how many vultures there are out there it does not out weight the benefits of a disciplined development program and positive exposure.
8 comments:
you guys are great, i lovve the drawings for the dreaming, hopefully I'll have the chance to see a finished project some day, I love working on ideas that I create but tis true sadly that you cant survive on them alone, but maybe some day for a little while you will be able to, and maybe me too!
some clarification: i never said you didn't practice what you preach. i'm saying there is validity in the conviction that there are those who will steal intellectual property.
look no further than the movie "Little Man", which appropriates the premise and many of the gags of Bugs Bunny cartoon "Baby Buggy Bunny". i seriously doubt that Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones would shake off such a swindling of their work. not one idea mind you - but the whole concept and the signature gags. all the while with no credit given to the cartoon.
am i to assume, like you suggest, that this was a giant coincidence? its expected that in this world of six million people?
or we can look at the intellectual property dispute between Fiz Freeleng's "Rhapsody Rabbit" cartoon and Hanna Barbera's "Cat Concerto" cartoon. In Freelengs release Bugs Bunny plays a piano concerto of the classical Hungarian Rhapsody piece(you know the cartoon) and weeks later Hanna Barbera released a nearly indentical cartoon with Tom & Jerry featuring the same musical number.
now personally i think we are all better off because as an audience we get two stellar cartoons, but the fact of the matter is that Freeleng was very pissed off about the fact that his cartoon was copied- and rightly so.
you asserted in your initial posting about this kind of thing that
"This type of thinking says to me that you are not a creative person at all. You are just a person with a single good idea, and are so diluted by your perception of your own creativity that you cannot believe that anyone in this world of six billion people could have an idea similar to your own"
thats hardly an accurate description of someone who has a legitimate grievance about intellectual property.
its hardly an accurate description of Friz Freeleng.
regardless, i'll remember not to submit anymore comments at your blog. my disagreeing with you has ruffled your feathers to such an irrational extent that you've put our exchange front and center as if its a feather in your cap.
i guess that the kind of blog you run here.
the kid looks great the hair is very nice.
I think my biggest pet peve comes from the people who claim their ideas are being ripped off, yet they've never actual seen any of their projects to fruition.
Of course there are many cases where legitimate artists have their work poached, and no doubt, that sucks!
However, the people who have an idea about a "talking dog" or any number of other vauge references to a potential story, need to spend less time moaning about being creatively mugged and direct their efforts to crafting the concept.
Example:
"Really? What was your dog going to talk about?"
"I dunno, but Air Bud totally ripped me off."
Also, Dano... I think he put the article on the main page because it's the kind of dialog that makes reading the house of cool blog interesting. I generally don't read the comments and having an intersting debate brought to my attention is much appreciated! Don't stop posting, if you guys agreed on everything we wouldn't be making progress, only cheerleading each other.
P.s. Robin Joseph rules.
I'm going to risk sounding like a jerk here, but I have to say this: I don't know Ricardo and Kate personally very well, but I'm more than familiar with their reputation and HoC -- and they have been doing this stuff a LONG time. Quit your whining and start developing more properties. I think your post was exemplified because it contains some interesting discourse, if suffering somewhat from a touch of naivete.
My new company, Skycron, has also been screwed. All new companies have dealt with shifty people at one time or another -- it's just part of business. I don't lose any sleep over it. Like Ricardo said, thousands of good ideas. If one fails to persuade, then off to the next one we develop. For me, it's the love of the art form and ultimately we're all in this together.
I've been pitching solidly for a year now, one project Stephani and I have been working on has gotten some investor interest. On this project, I've lost count of the amount of rejection letters I've received, but one "yes" is all it takes to feel better. As Brent Butt says, "It's mostly rain, but sometimes there are sunny patches, and those sunny patches pay well."
Cal says it best...he's bang on! I totally agree with him...we've developed a ton of ideas...but truly the hardest part is getting it on air. I tell all my artists...don't develop ONE idea...develop 30 good ideas...then throw them against the wall...only 3 will stick, and, perhaps, one will get "green lit".
If you have an idea...get it drawn...get it wiritten and get it out there for everyone-WHO MATTERS-agents, broadcasters, exe.producers-to see it...build a site for it...and be prepared to mold and re-develop it over and over.
If you only have one idea, that you think is brilliant...your chances for frustration are going to be great!
House of Cool...I love the honesty in the writing on your blog. You tell it like it is, and you've got mega talent to boot!
cheers!
Lots of character in this little boy. I also like the witch doctor below
Ive been in LA studios for more than two decades and the prevailing trend i have come to notice is that none of the parasites who run things have a high enough opinion of the artists who toil for them to steal from them anymore. They invariably want to force their own rotten "ideas" on the medium and the people who can actually do it. My motto any more is : "Speak freely. Nobody's listening."
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