CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I'm writing a novel that I think would better served as a manga or graphic novel. So I have a question to any seasoned anime aritist (amateur or pro): What would it take for you to want to work on this type of project with someone else's script?

I'll warn you, it can be difficult to find reliable people who want to collaborate. Almost everyone has plenty of ideas of their own. But take heart, because it isn't impossible. Somehow I've ended up collaborating with various artists.

I think that, in order to successfully collaborate, you have to allow for the other artist[s]' personal interpretation of the story/characters/whathaveyou. Either they must be willing to follow your vision exclusively, or you must be willing to let them do their thing [to an extent].

.rai//

Lots and lots of communication. It doesn't help for one side to be left in the dark. Then all sorts of unhappy things happen. Also, the two actually have to like each other, lol.

lots of money XP

Nahh but on a more serious note... I think when you work collaboratively you need to both be part of the creative prcess... both have some feedback on the stories and characters. It helps someone want to draw soemthing if they feel a personal connection to the chracters!

Ironically, I agree with Vernhals first comment, as I'm short on both time and money and another project would take time out of my own (admittedly ambitious) project. Either that or find a well intended but uncreative artist. Otherwise you'll have to compete with thier own projects and personal concepts.

Actually, the money aspect is the foremost on my mind, but I greatly appeciate all of the comments. Maybe I can write the novel and get an illustrator to draw a bunch of pictures depicting certain parts of the story. That might be more realistic.

I've had difficulty finding someone with time for my scripts, frankly. Probably because the only Manga-oriented artists I know are college students! Still, I do have my neice working on a "Rising Stars of Manga" entry that I scripted for her, hopefully to be submitted for the upcoming round.

I've considered coming up with a Christian themed script and looking for an artist here (my normal work is sci-fi/fantasy without any particular religious message), but haven't had any inspirations yet.

The fact is, most motivated Manga artists actually ready to work seem to have stories of their own to tell. My current project is for an American comic book company that accepts scripts and finds artists themselves. (Fingers crossed).

See, that's the kind of company I've been trying to find - one where I can give the script and they do the art. But in all honesty most companies I've found online state that they "may" do that - it's just that the script must be one of the best they've ever seen.

Kamille wrote:See, that's the kind of company I've been trying to find - one where I can give the script and they do the art. But in all honesty most companies I've found online state that they "may" do that - it's just that the script must be one of the best they've ever seen.

I don't mean to burst the bubble but I would not expect comic book publishers to provide the artist support (you have to). If you want to increase your chances of getting attention from companies, you have to minimize the efforts they have to contribute (i.e. do make the comic production easier for them - provide the artists for them). I'm sorry to say this but even the most excellent scripts will not fly or sell if they are not presented and marketed properly. For attractive presentation, I would imagine that you need images to go along with it. Unless you're aiming for a written novel, single written scripts for a manga/comic project is not going to work (IMO).

As for engaging artist support, you have two options: 1) Use hard cold money to buy their skills 2) form a long-term relationship with an artist who share the same goals and interests enough to work with you for free

Option 1: You need not worry as much about sharing the creative board. It's pretty much a business thing - You tell them what to draw. You pay them. The artist does it and in this case, you have the biggest say in the final cut in the creative process. If you have the $$$, you can obtain this more quickly and easily.

Option 2: You have to be flexible, easy-going and allow the artist some creativity freedom as it is now a "collaboration" [Keyword: Relationship] Yes, you have to like each other and it helps to share the same interests/mindset/goals etc.etc. This requires a lot more time and effort on your part (but less $$$, most of the time) especially if you want reliable and relatively good quality artists. XD

I speak on behalf of UC and I where I suppose falls onto Option 2: He first approached me for a long term project around year 2003 but I rejected it due to my heavy personal schedule at that time. As time went by, we experimented with other short-term projects, found that we actually get along very well in the creative process and now cheerfully consider long-term projects.

I believe what helped was:

1) a lot of communication (PMs, emails, chats, forums)
2) mutual respect of each other's opinions/feedback (i.e. if UC doesn't like something I designed, he tells me straightforwardly but he's very polite about it XD. On my part, I need to be open to feedback and be willing to consider his suggestions as he considers my proposals)
3) flexibility with the creative process (Sometimes you just have to let go of the nitty-gritty details. There is a lot of negotiation that goes on subsconsciously and you need to establish boundaries of what you can negotiate on or can't. Once you've established that, you can just about create anything you want as a team.)
4) shared long term goals (what do we intend to achieve in the long run? Printed stuff? Good quality stories online? How many pages are we talking about?)
5) understanding of each individual's personal needs/life schedule (I think UC is pretty well-informed of what's going on in my personal life and kindly doesn't force deadlines on me. I have a full time job, which doesn't allow me to create comic pages as quickly as I would like to. Fortunately, I'm self-motivated enough to get the project moving without too much prodding from UC. Vice-versa, if he has this heavy academic workload to deal with, I wouldn't expect his response so quickly. It's common sense, really.)
6) a lot of PATIENCE and PERSEVERANCE. UC and I (add Ann to this mix) have taken ~ 4 years to establish our collaborations. It isn't an overnight thing, folks.

The same also applies to another writer [former CAA member] whom I've found, am able to work with quite well. UC seems to be able to work with other artists relatively well too.

I think UC, Ann and I have accomplished quite a bit from our collaborations (hopefully they think so too). It's a shame that we can't share most of the material to the public yet but I hope this may give you some ideas of how to get someone to work on your script.

For clarification purposes, I am not available to manage any new projects.

Thanks Mave for your professional advice. It's a ginormous help (yosh, I finally get a chance to use that word). However, with each piece of advice I'm leaning more and more toward what I said on 7/20. Because of my work, transportation, and financial situation, I just think it would be more do-able to pay an artist for a few pictures rather than have a full blown comic or graphic novel.

FYI to Mave,

The company to which I referred is Dark Horse Comics. They are not a Manga type company (although they do a couple Manga imports, such as Oh, My Goddess and Blade of the Immortal.) They are a more traditional American style comic book publisher. They do indeed accept scripts and artwork for consideration. On their web site you can find guidelines for submission of both scripts (for writers) and art samples (for inkers, artists, etc.)

In the American industry, it is common for the publisher to arrange the team themselves, rather than expect the group to self-organize a la the Japanese industry. I haven't seen too many cases where they post guidelines for submission, though. (I suspect one normally has to go visit their offices with portfolio in hand and seek an interview in order to become part of their 'stable'.)

I see. If there are comic companies that solely accept scripts, so be it. Good luck, everyone!