Zootube

[simpsonaaron]

Cuppa Coffee, the brilliant animation studio in Canada, is looking for short submissions. It's Zootube.

[www.stephenstudios.com]

thanks for the link aaron! Im gonna send mine in to this one too!

[ZekeySpaceyLizard]

Cartoon Brew just took a big ole dump all over this contest.

I gotta admit, it seems a bit.....snarky.

[simpsonaaron]

i've got mixed feelings on Amid's post at Cartoon Brew. if it wasn't an exclusive license they were taking i don't think it would be half bad. and, to their credit, it's completely transparent - they offer a download of the contract, the deal is short, and they're not hiding anything. besides, you don't have to submit - and people that do might be a little hungrier than others and just want their short shown on TV.

in the end, they should have explained what the 'development deal' actually entails, and only subjected the shorts that 'win' to an exclusive deal. the rest would be non-exclusive, and those artists would still get to be on TV. everybody wins.

i don't think it's quite as bad as Amid played it out, because they're not going out of their way to screw anyone. the rules were in plain english, albeit a bit misguided.

[simpsonaaron]

I received this email last night from Adam Shaheen, the President of Cuppa Coffee Studios.

Dear Aaron and your Cold Hard Flash readers,

First off, thanks for the constructive comments and for taking the time to contact me for a response - unlike Amid Amidi's launch into a half-cocked reactionary tirade that lacked the courtesy of confronting both the subject and people behind it, head on.

I don't begrudge anyone their opinion, but to go so far as to say "Cuppa Coffee wants to ream animators" is both a slap in the face and offensive, to myself and the many people who make up the Cuppa Coffee Studios family. It would be laughable if it wasn't so insulting. Cuppa Coffee isn't a faceless corporate beast - it's a group of real people who love making animation and are passionate about developing new talent. If anyone has a problem with this new endeavour, that's fine - but let's try and keep it above the waist.

Although we haven't been specific about what the Development Deal entails, I certainly wouldn't be putting myself out if I didn't think we had something of great value to offer. Amin Amidi is correct on one point only - we are not a broadcaster, but we have established relationships with broadcasters worldwide and considerable resources to bring the selected entries to the next level. That I believe is a highly attractive asset and one that is important to those aspiring to bring their creative ideas to the next level.

Development is an expensive endeavour - and we're willing to commit real resources. How much, really depends on the nature of the project - there are many ways to spend money. We intentionally chose to stay away from guaranteed cash prizes because we think what we can bring to the table far exceeds what we would have put up as a cash prize. Further, this is all above the table. As you pointed out - the details and contract are clearly laid out. No surprises. If we don't get any entries, the show doesn't get made. Nobody is trying to fool anyone and we don't want anyone getting into this without knowing precisely what is required and is entailed. I think that was made very clear.

For me, it comes down to this: At the end of the day, would you rather own 100% of something that sits on Youtube, or would you prefer to relinquish your rights and use this piece as a launching pad for your career? If your answer is the former, good luck, and I genuinely mean that. I have seen internet success stories and I encourage more animators to take the initiative and use the tools available to promote their work. However, if you want to gain the genuine experience of working with an award-winning team backed by Cuppa Coffee's considerable resources, than please submit your film.

It is fact that in any show of this kind all broadcasters would and will require evidence that Cuppa Coffee does indeed control the rights.

Any short film that earns a development deal with Cuppa Coffee, would then naturally involve the author being integrated into an upfront deal that would be negotiated fairly between the two parties - again, a true negotiation that doesn’t present as being anything but that.

I would also respectfully bring to task Mr. Amidi's "opinion" that Cuppa Coffee isn't a major studio and the relevance of his comment. Cuppa Coffee in the last two years has produced 8 series and has its own development team working on 6 more series and a feature film.It is considered with in the animation industry as now the largest Stop motion studio in the world. A detail that Mr. Amidi overlooked but an important consideration to anyone submitting work I would hope is that we are both well established and highly respected to our piers contemporaries and industry colleagues. Further recognising the significance of our role in helping film makers achieve perhaps otherwise less attainable goals.

So I do take exception at Mr. Amidi's accusations about Cuppa Coffee because as a company celebrating its 15th year, we have prided ourselves on good business practice and conducting ourselves with the best intentions and highest of business morals. We do what we do because we love it and we want to establish mutually beneficial relationships with young fresh talent. And if you're looking to strike it rich, then you're better off buying a lottery ticket, or if you are Amid Amidi, waiting for your inheritance to come in from your Aunt Agnes.

Sincerely,
Adam Shaheen
President
Cuppa Coffee Studios

[timbfrost]

Yes, Cuppa Coffee is being open and transparent regarding the deal they're offering.

But it remains that the deal is one-sided and unfair to the animator. Crucially, the inexperienced out there may see this kind of competition as the only way for them to get their work seen/produced. As Cuppa Coffee admit, they're not a broadcaster - they are in the same boat as all independent animation producers/studios, they want to get shows on to TV. They just have more resources than most, and don't want to use them up on actually hiring talent to develop ideas.

Cuppa Coffee's deal is completely understandable - they're a business, but they should not be too hurt or offended if some like those at Cartoon Brew point out the holes in their so-called opportunity.

[ColinCohen]

I took a quick look at the contract, and would like to make the following observations:

When they state "I hereby waive any moral rights I may
have in the Short" I believe what they are saying is that you are waiving your copyright -- meaning that they could remove any mention of your name and pass it off as their creation, which I think it would essentially become. This may also assign rights to the underlying material; that is, the characters. But you would need to ask an attorney about that.

They also could acquire all rights without even showing your work.

Now, I'm not saying they would do all this -- but legally I think they could. You would have to trust them.

I recently received an offer for one of my films that had similiar conditions (it was worse, actually), so I wouldn't think the stipulations are unusual. You just need to understand what you are signing.

[dhaynes89]

That was a good response.

[shad]

I'm not a lawyer but I sleep with one. None of this is legal advice:

Moral rights aren't the same as copyright. What Cuppa Coffee wants would probably never hold up in court. It'd probably be called and unfair business practice in a number of areas. There are a lot of protections against "hey kid, I've got connnneeectionss." I don't imagine that it'd be very hard to make their contract null if they tried to "pass off' your work. The US law likes to see compensation. It sides with the original author when bad business deals are made. Even when good business deals are made..copyright can revert.

Unless the animator made anyone helping them sign a "work made for hire" contract or other transferable rights/license contract. If anyone helped them work on the pieces (voice actors, illustrators..) then the helpers own the copyright to what they did. So the animator might not have the right to sign over the rights.

They could and should make the upfront bits looser and work out specific deals when they find work they like. It should be a limited license deal. Internet broadcasting IS broadcasting.

I personally really hope this all works out for them. They're casting a rope...and that rope doesn't need to be noose shaped if they don't want it to be.

He makes a point that broadcasters are going to want to see rights..but even if you agree to their terms there are rights that need to be addressed. Managers and agents rep work all the time without having to have the rights signed over to them and broadcasters still talk to them. It seems to me that they want to be agents (with online demo)/developers. Two deals..neither of them what they have now.

These sorts of sites have and are going to be popping up all over the place. They should be welcome BUT creative people need to protect themselves against the devaluation and rights in the work they do.

[ColinCohen]

shad, it's important to note that it states that the contract is governed by Canadian law.

It seems you are right about moral rights, they are a little different than a copyright. I found this blurb about Canadian Moral Rights:

"Moral" rights are also protected under Canadian copyright law. Moral rights include the author's right to be associated with the work by name, or pseudonym and the right to remain anonymous, and include the author's right to the integrity of the work (that is, the author's right to stop the work from being distorted, mutilated or modified, to the prejudice of the author's honour or reputation, or from being used in association with a product, service, cause or institution).

So, what I said about this waiver would seem to apply.

[shad]

CANADA! Now it gets really confusin'

At the end of the day..MORE CARTOONS please.

[Gabriel Valles]

I would have to side with Amid on this one. An artist should never "relinquish" the rights to any piece of work without compensation. I work in both the illustration field and animation. This kind of "contest" would be considered unethical by illustration standards.

If you are thinking of submitting, ask yourself; Would I go to work for Cuppa Coffee, for the several months it would take to complete a short, for no pay. Then, if they didn't like my work I would be sent packing with no rights to any drawing, character, names or trademarks.

Doesn't sound like a good deal to me.

The truth is, if your work is good you don't need Cuppa Coffee's "connections", and I think the guy from CC underestimates the power of online exposure on sites like YouTube.

You are better off submitting to places where you retain your rights like Frederator, and Cold Hard Flash. You get your industry exposure and you are actually making your own connections.

When you give away your rights you de-value the worth of animation for all artist.

So instead, go make your awesome short, set up your website, submit it to all the free sites that let you keep your rights, and sell your own merchandise.

If it is good, people will find it and send it to their friends and millions of people will see it and know your name. This is more likely to lead to a deal because it is already proven in the marketplace.

In my experience with companies that submit original ideas (IP) to Networks, there is more chance that your ideas will "sit" in the big stack of unsold pitches than if you post it on YouTube .

At least on Youtube you can revisit the ideas and characters that you really care about and keep making them better if they did not fare well the first times around. If you no longer own the rights you are not going to put anymore effort in to it. Even if you really liked your creation.

I think if Cuppa Coffee wants to continue to be"highly respected to (their) piers, contemporaries and industry colleagues." They should revisit their terms of submission.

Gabriel Valles
http://www.gabrielvalles.com

[www.stephenstudios.com]

I agree Gabriel! You would NOT believe the connections I have made from and with Frederator!

Steve

[Gabriel Valles]

On a related note Phil Visher has written an excellent description of the future of entertainment distribution.

http://www.philvischer.com/?p=75

I think this will make having network connections less and less important.

I believe this will enable smart creators to have more control of their creations. The flipside is that non-creators are going come out of the wood work in an attempt to control as much "content" as possible and they will be trying to get it as cheaply as possible if not free.

This may be the motivation of a lot of these "contest" sites that are popping up.

It is very similar to what happened with royalty free Stock illustration. Where large corporations buy art from lower tier illustrators and sell it cheaper than commissioning a custom piece of art. This caused prices to stagnate and lower for all artist.

http://www.gabrielvalles.com

[shad]

I work in both the illustration field and animation. This kind of "contest" would be considered unethical by illustration standards.

Well said.

Design industry too:

http://www.no-spec.com/

A guy said "the people who run these contests are very smart, the people who enter them...very dumb"

Most contests are not about giving people their "big break" or anything, they're about marketing. Doritos doesn't ask people to create Super-bowl ads because they want fresh ideas. Doritos already has access to the best advertising minds on the planet and the cost of creating the contest far exceeds the cost of an ad. Doritos asks people to create super-bowl ads because: 1. "Contests of skill" are less regulated by law than lotteries or other contests. 2. It taps into people's creative desires and then associates them with their brand. 3. It gets people to talk about doritos in a viral way. (note that none of these contests have a team of judges..they want you to tell your friends to vote for you)

Contests are clutter.. advertising buzz...noise over signal.