Nouns! An Animated Pilot

Proposal: Nouns! An Animated Pilot

TL;DR

PPT Studios is asking for $500K (~Ξ333 at the time of 07/23/22) to make one 11-minute episode of Nouns! An Animated Series. This show would be CC0.

DESCRIPTION

We propose to create a pilot for Nouns! An Animated Series.
Nouns! An Animated Pilot is a 2D tradigital animated 11-minute episode as seen in the Prop 70 (CC0 Pitchbook). The show is an animated comedy following the surreal adventures of best friends balancing the desire for mature adulthood and their reluctance to grow up.

We propose doing a pilot in 3 phases.

  1. Script and Casting (weeks 1-6) $150K
  2. Animatic (weeks 4-11) $200K
  3. Final Animation (weeks 10-16) $150K

We are targeting the schedule for ~16 weeks. However, we may need some flexiblity and increase the time it takes to deliver the pilot to ensure we can put out the best product possible.
If we start at the beginning of August, we can deliver before the year end.

Phase 1: Scripting and Casting

This phase would last for four-six weeks.
During this phase we would work on the outline, script, script revisions and cast the episode.
Start Date: 08/01/22

Phase 2: Preproduction

Starting week 4, we would begin Phase 2.
This phase would last seven weeks.
During this phase, we will thumbnail, and storyboard, refine character designs, and backgrounds, create digital puppets and record scratch tracks and audio.
Start Date: 08/22/22

Phase 3: Production/ Post

Starting week 10, we would begin Phase 3.
This phase is where the actual animation begins, with compositing, editing, and putting the final touches on everything.
Start Date: 10/03/22

TOTAL ASK:

~Ξ385 or ($500K USD) to fund the creation of Nouns! An Animated Pilot.
The ETH will be immediately converted to USDC to ensure we have funding to cover production costs.

MULTISIG

The proposed budget + Ξ1 to cover gas fees will be released in ETH to a 2 of 3 multisig with signers x, x, and x. The ETH will be immediately converted to USDC, and everything in excess of the original budget, minus 1 ETH to cover gas for the life of the multisig, will be returned to the DAO. If, due to high volatility, insufficient ETH is available to cover the proposed budget, a second proposal will top up the multisig at a later date.

*Phases to be funded at the commencement of each phase. Note that these are guidelines only and that a final determination will be made in collaboration with the person-place-thing-escrow multisig.

The funds will go to pay for the following:

STAFF

  • Writers
  • Casting Agents
  • Voice Actors
  • Audio Engineers
  • Storyboard Artists
  • Animatic Artists
  • Editors
  • Producers
  • Directors
  • Technical Director
  • Character Designers
  • Color Artists
  • Background Designers
  • Build Artists
  • Lead Animators
  • Production Animators
  • Compositors
  • Effects Artists
  • Retake Animators
  • Editors
  • Audio Engineers
  • Funding for music
  • Production Coordinators
  • Production Assistants to support artists, track assets and manage schedules

Software Licenses
Software to be used includes, but is not limited to:

  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Cinesync
  • Toonboom Harmony
  • Adobe After Effects

Q&A:

Sam and Jason will make themselves available for Q&A in the Nouns Discord, and on a Nouners call if needed.

Q: Why is this single episode $500K when the six episodes before came out to ~$333K each?

A: When amortizing costs across multiple episodes of a season, the overall cost per episode decreases. Artists’ short-term freelance rates are higher than longer-term employment rates. There are also discounts on software subscriptions for longer-term commitments.

WHY IS THIS UNIQUE?

In developing Nouns! An Animated Series, the mission of Person Place Thing Studios is to share, inspire, and empower people around the globe through CC0 storytelling.

As paid professionals in the animation space, we aim to modernize the animation studio and pipeline by no longer requiring industry talent to be tethered to an antiquated studio system, a specific geographic location, or a traditional network distribution model.

We plan to hire best-in-class artists and designers, make broadcast-quality Nounish content at an accelerated pace, and proliferate Nouns to a worldwide audience via the internet.

WHAT IS THE TONE OF THE SHOW?

Nouns! An Animated Series draws from similar humor and animation quality as The Regular Show and Adventure Time. We want to create shows that make us laugh! Our cast of characters are goofballs! They escalate simple situations into ridiculous adventures that are filled with unpredictable twists and turns. They rarely solve their problems but always end with a laugh!

WHY SHOULD WE BACK THIS?

  • Bringing Nouns to life through animation is the next leap in introducing these characters to the mainstream culture of all ages.
  • Distributing on Youtube, Twitter, Tiktok, etc, allows Nouns to reach an enormous audience.
  • Casting top talent as the voices of our characters will bring known celebrities to the world of Nouns and generate larger social media awareness and traditional media buzz.
  • Developing episodes in the 11-minute format also opens the door to legacy media distribution.

BENEFITS TO THE DAO

  • We love the Nouns characters and are dying to see them come to life!
  • Pilot episode will be CC0!
  • Cartoons are a great source of memeonic content; our show will create many shareable clips that can help with the mission of proliferation.
  • Cartoons are also a great invitation to a much wider and younger audience.
  • There will be new nounish content made and shared every day!
  • Having an animated show will add value to other extensions in the Nouns ecosystem.
  • Through Discord, the DAO will be an active participant in the creative process.
  • Any profits obtained will be reinvested in the studio to make additional Nouns animated content.
  • Person Place Thing Studios can be utilized in the creation of content for future DAO Proposals (episodic cartoons, commercial endeavors, music videos, shorts, etc)(i.e. The Greidiens pitch gets sold to a network, rather than having to shop around looking for a studio to work with we would already be set up to handle their needs.)
  • As educators, we will be inviting and sending the CC0 assets to schools for their students to use as they learn animation while creating nounish content.

WHO ARE THE CREATIVES?

Sam Ellis:
Sam Ellis (Person) makes comics, cartoons, and games (Things) although he has also helped create a few people as well. He has worked for a myriad of comic publishers, animation, and game studios in a variety of positions from LA to Atlanta (Places). Some of his past projects have been: Archer, Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors, The Awesomes, Frisky Dingo, Catbug, and more.

Jason Shwartz:
Jason Shwartz is an Emmy-nominated Director with extensive experience in broadcast television production and direction. He has directed broadcast shows for Netflix, [adultswim], Comedy Central, Hulu, 20th Century Fox, SyFy, AppleTV, IFC, FX, and Disney. He has produced original animated content for social games with companies including Disney Interactive, Marvel, ESPN, and Garfield.

Jason has worked on popular television shows including Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Wolfboy and the Everything Factory, Squidbillies, The Masked Singer, Paradise Police Department, Lazor Wulf, The Awesomes, and more!

Previous accomplishments in the proliferation of Nouns:

PITCHBOOK:

Below are attached parts of the pitchbook from Prop 70, we thought rather than attaching all the pages we would just attach a few.
*The outlines, character bios, and their designs will be further developed if funded.























----OLD PROP LEFT FOR VISIBILITY----

Proposal: Nouns! An Animated Series

TL;DR

Person Place Thing Studios is asking for $2M (~Ξ1666) to make six 11-minute episodes of Nouns! An Animated Series and create a CC0 library of assets from the show for anyone to use.

As this is the biggest ask of the DAO to date we ask you to please read this whole proposal. We are proven professionals in the animation industry and are aware that many of you may not be familiar with the costs of animation. We also ask you to inquire about our requests from Nounsih Emissaries in our fields such as David Horvath and the team from Stoopid Buddy.

One of the greatest ROIs is inspiring tomorrow’s proliferators.

DESCRIPTION

We propose to form a non-traditional, creator-driven collective of artists to produce episodic animated shorts that bring the Nouns to life. Person Place Thing Studios also hopes to become a production house for additional animated content inspired by Nouns.

Our first animated show, Nouns! An Animated Series is a 2D tradigital animated series consisting of six 11-minute episodes as seen in the Prop 70 (CC0 Pitchbook). The show is an animated comedy following the surreal adventures of best friends balancing the desire for mature adulthood and their reluctance to grow up.

Additionally, while in production of the series, we will create CC0 videos, tutorials, and animation assets that will assist creators in the development of their own Nounish content.

*An additional layer of fun. Each episode will have a built-in scavenger hunt to find a secret word to mint a POAP for that episode for the first 100 to find it.

WHY IS THIS UNIQUE?

In developing Nouns! An Animated Series, the mission of Person Place Thing Studios is to share, inspire, and empower people around the globe through CC0 storytelling.

As paid professionals in the animation space, we aim to modernize the animation studio and pipeline by no longer requiring industry talent to be tethered to an antiquated studio system, a specific geographic location, or a traditional network distribution model.

We plan to hire best-in-class artists and designers, make broadcast-quality Nounish content at an accelerated pace, and proliferate Nouns to a worldwide audience via the internet.

WHAT IS THE TONE OF THE SHOW?

Nouns! An Animated Series draws from similar humor and animation quality as The Regular Show and Adventure Time. We want to create shows that make us laugh! Our cast of characters are goofballs! They escalate simple situations into ridiculous adventures that are filled with unpredictable twists and turns. They rarely solve their problems but always end with a laugh!

WHY SHOULD WE BACK THIS?

  • Bringing Nouns to life through animation is the next leap in introducing these characters to the mainstream culture of all ages.
  • Distributing on Youtube, Twitter, Tiktok, etc, allows Nouns to reach an enormous audience.
  • Casting top talent as the voices of our characters will bring known celebrities to the world of Nouns and generate larger social media awareness and traditional media buzz.
  • Developing episodes in the 11-minute format also opens the door to legacy media distribution.

BENEFITS TO THE DAO

  • We love the Nouns characters and are dying to see them come to life!
  • All episodes will be CC0!
  • Animation assets and instructional videos will be made CC0 so that anyone can create their own animated Nouns content.
  • As educators, we will be inviting and sending the CC0 assets to schools for their students to use as they learn animation while creating nounish content.
  • Cartoons are a great source of memeonic content; our show will create many shareable clips that can help with the mission of proliferation.
  • Cartoons are also a great invitation to a much wider and younger audience.
  • There will be new nounish content made and shared every day!
  • Having an animated series will add value to other extensions in the Nouns ecosystem.
  • Through our Youtube hub, the Nouns community will be able to follow along on the behind-the-scenes journey and see how an animated show comes to life. This additional content becomes another layer of proliferation while being instructional/educational. We will also be curating and sharing other nounish shorts, animations, and fan content on our hub.
  • Through Discord, the DAO will be an active participant in the creative process.
  • Any profits obtained will be reinvested in the studio to make additional Nouns animated content.
  • Person Place Thing Studios can be utilized in the creation of content for future DAO Proposals (episodic cartoons, commercial endeavors, music videos, shorts, etc)(i.e. The Greidiens pitch gets sold to a network, rather than having to shop around looking for a studio to work with we would already be set up to handle their needs.)

WHO ARE THE CREATIVES?

Sam Ellis:
Sam Ellis (Person) makes comics, cartoons, and games (Things) although he has also helped create a few people as well. He has worked for a myriad of comic publishers, animation, and game studios in a variety of positions from LA to Atlanta (Places). Some of his past projects have been: Archer, Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors, The Awesomes, Frisky Dingo, Catbug, and more.

Jason Shwartz:
Jason Shwartz is an Emmy-nominated Director with extensive experience in broadcast television production and direction. He has directed broadcast shows for Netflix, [adultswim], Comedy Central, Hulu, 20th Century Fox, SyFy, AppleTV, IFC, FX, and Disney. He has produced original animated content for social games with companies including Disney Interactive, Marvel, ESPN, and Garfield.

Jason has worked on popular television shows including Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Wolfboy and the Everything Factory, Squidbillies, The Masked Singer, Paradise Police Department, Lazor Wulf, The Awesomes, and more!

Previous accomplishments in the proliferation of Nouns:

PHASES OF PRODUCTION:

Phases of production overlap. The total production pipeline is 52 weeks.

Pre Production (19 weeks):

  • Develop Writers Room
  • Write Scripts
  • Draw Thumbnails and Storyboards
  • Create Timed Animatics
  • Cast and Record Voice Talent
  • Design Featured Characters
  • Design Featured Backgrounds
  • Create Key Color Scripts to Develop Lighting and Mood
  • Create Animation Tests to Develop Show Style

Production (26 Weeks):

  • Design All Characters and Turnarounds
  • Design All Props
  • Create Rigged Puppet Character Assets
  • Design All Production Backgrounds
  • Animate Characters
  • Animate Effects
  • Composite Animation, Effects, and Backgrounds

Post Production (10 Weeks):

  • Editorial Cut
  • Add Sound Effects and Score
  • Build Credits

Distribution:

  • Submit to Festivals
  • Launch on Youtube
  • Advertise
  • Creating memeonic content to share across social platforms

BUDGET

Preproduction: $201,000 USD

  • Writers
  • Casting Agents
  • Voice Actors
  • Audio Engineers
  • Storyboard Artists
  • Animatic Artists
  • Editors

Production: $1,530,000 USD

  • Producers
  • Directors
  • Technical Director
  • Character Designers
  • Color Artists
  • Background Designers
  • Build Artists
  • Lead Animators
  • Production Animators
  • Compositors
  • Effects Artists
  • Retake Animators

Post Production: $45,000 USD

  • Editors
  • Audio Engineers
  • Funding for music

Production Support: $84,000 USD

  • Production Coordinators
  • Production Assistants to support artists, track assets and manage schedules

Software Licenses: $120,000 USD
Software to be used includes, but is not limited to:

  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Cinesync
  • Toonboom Harmony
  • Adobe After Effects

CC0 Asset Development & Distribution: $20,000 USD
This covers:

  • file organization for online distribution
  • live-action video production
  • live-action video editorial
  • cloud storage needs
  • Social media upkeep

TOTAL ASK:

~Ξ1666 or ($2M USD) to fund the creation of Nouns! The Animated Series.
Approximately $333K per episode.
The ETH will be immediately converted to USDC to ensure we have funding to cover production costs.

WHY MAKE A FULL SEASON:

  • Promising artists and designers a longer-term commitment ensures that we staff top talent on the production. Artists in the field look for jobs that span more than a few months or just a single episode. We need to be a comparable, competitive option for employment.

  • Additionally, when amortizing costs across multiple episodes of a full season, the overall cost per episode decreases. Artist short-term freelance rates are higher than longer-term employment rates. There are also discounts on software subscriptions for longer-term commitments.

MILESTONES & MULTISIG:

PHASES OF EXECUTION

  • 2nd Half of JUL 2022 - $60,000
    Casting
    Software
    Build Writer’s Room
    Vis Dev/ CH Designs / BG Designs /
  • AUG 2022 - $222,500
    Casting
    Software
    EP1 - Outline/ TK01 Draft/ TKO2 Draft/ Thumbs/ Char Des01/ BGs 01
    EP2 - Outline/ TK01 Draft/ TKO2 Draft/ Thumbs
    EP3 - Outline
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    CC0 Library
  • SEP 2022 - $221,500
    Casting
    Software
    EP1 - Storyboard TK01/ SB TK01 REV/ Scratch Rec/ Dialoge Rec/ Radio/ Char Des01/ BGs 01/ CH Setup
    EP2 - Storyboard TK01/ SB TK01 REV/ Scratch Rec/ Dialoge Rec/ Char Des01/ BGs 01
    EP3 - TK01 Draft/ TKO2 Draft/ Thumbs/ Storyboard TK01/ Dialoge Rec
    EP4 - Outline/ TK01 Draft/ TKO2 Draft/ Thumbs
    EP5 - Outline/ TK01 Draft/ Thumbs
    EP6 - Outline
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    CC0 Library
  • OCT 2022 - $338,500
    Software
    EP1 - SB TK02 REV/ Animatic/ Char Des01/ BGs 01/ PR Setup/ ANI TK01
    EP2 - SB TK02 REV/ Radio/ Animatic/ Char Des1/ BGs 01/ CH Setup/ PR Setup
    EP3 - SB TK01 REV/ Radio/ Char Des01/ BGs 01/ CH Setup
    EP4 - Storyboard TK01/ SB TK01 REV/ Scratch Rec/ Dialoge Rec
    EP5 - TKO2 Draft/ Storyboard TK01/ SB TK01 REV/ Dialoge Rec
    EP6 - TK01 Draft/ TKO2 Draft/ Thumbs/ Storyboard TK01/ Dialoge Rec
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    CC0 Library
  • NOV 20222 - $300,500
    Software
    EP1 - ANI TK01 REV/ ANI TK02 REV/ COMP TK01/ COMP TK02
    EP2 - ANI TK01/ COMP TK01
    EP3 - SB TK02 REV/ Animatic/ Char Des01/ BGs 01/ PR Setup/ ANI TK01
    EP4 - SB TK02 REV/ Radio/ Animatic/ Char Des01/ BGs 01/ CH Setup
    EP5 - Radio/ Char Des1/ BGs 01/ CH Setup
    EP6 - SB TK01 REV
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    CC0 Library
  • DEC 2022 - $285,000
    Software
    EP2 - ANI TK01 DONE/ ANI TK02 REV/ COMP TK02
    EP3 - ANI TK01 DONE/ ANI TK02 REV/ COMP TK01/ COMP TK02
    EP4 - Char Des01/ BGs 01/ PR Setup/ ANI TK01
    EP5 - SB TK02 REV/ Animatic/ Char Des01/ BGs 01/ CH Setup/ PR Setup/ ANI TK01
    EP6 - SB TK02 REV/ Radio/ Animatic/ Char Des01/ BGs 01/ CH Setup
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    CC0 Library
  • JAN 2023 - $292,000
    Software
    EP1 - Post TK01/ Sweetening/Conform
    EP2 - Post TK01
    EP3 - Post TK01
    EP4 - ANI TK01 DONE/ ANI TK02 REV/ COMP TK01/ COMP TK02
    EP5 - ANI TK01/ ANI TK01 DONE/ COMP TK01
    EP6 - Char Des 01/ BGs 01/ CH Setup/ ANI TK01
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    CC0 Library
  • FEB 2023 - $115,000
    Software
    EP2 - Sweetening/Conform
    EP3 - Sweetening/Conform
    EP4 - Post TK01/ Sweetening/Conform
    EP5 - ANI TK02 REV/ COMP TK02/ Post TK01/ Sweetening/Conform
    EP6 - ANI TK01/ ANI TK01 DONE/ ANI TK02 REV/ COMP TK01/ COMP TK02
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    CC0 Library
  • MAR 2023 - $55,000
    Software
    EP6 - Post TK01/ Sweetening/Conform
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    Marketing
    CC0 Library
  • APR 2023 - $45,000
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    Marketing
    CC0 Library
  • MAY 2023 - $35,000
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    Marketing
    CC0 Library
  • JUN 2023 - $30,000
    Documentary (Behind the Scenes)
    CC0 Library

MAJOR MILESTONES TO BE SHARED with the DAO During Production:

  • Final Scripts
  • Casting Announcements
  • Storyboards
  • Take 1 Animation
  • Final Episode (Before Public Release)

MULTISIG

The proposed budget + 1 ETH will be released in ETH to a 2 of 3 multisig with signers x, x, and x. The ETH will be immediately converted to USDC, and everything in excess of the original budget, minus 1 ETH to cover gas for the life of the multisig, will be returned to the DAO. If, due to high volatility, insufficient ETH is available to cover the proposed budget, a second proposal will top up the multisig at a later date.

*Monthly Milestones to be funded at the commencement of each phase. Note that these are guidelines only and that a final determination will be made in collaboration with the person-place-thing-escrow multisig.

Q&A:

Sam and Jason will make themselves available for Q&A in the Nouns Discord, and on a Nouners call if needed.

PITCHBOOK:

Below are attached parts of the pitchbook from Prop 70, we thought rather than attaching all the pages we would just attach a few.
*The outlines, character bios, and their designs will be further developed if funded.























5 Likes

brilliant! Great team, very excited.
Take your time with the pre production and writing. That’s everything. IMO.
Voice performance is also everything. Among other everythings. Great!

5 Likes

Thanks David,
We really want to nail this, so we are going to make sure we have a great foundation on which the rest of the show can hang too.

Yes. 100% this. You have my support.

(Edit: I echo Davids sentiments)

2 Likes

Obviously a lot of passionate work has gone into this already and as someone who works with video and animation the budget is definitely not excessive. Seems like a great project!

If you guys need help as you move into the creation of supporting content and open sourcing of assets my team has extensive experience making tutorials and creator focused content, feel free to hit me up!

1 Like

Thanks Krel,

We believe this is one of the ways we can bring more attention to the Nouns helping grow them and all of their extensions.

We will keep that in mind–Thanks mmmatto!

Super appreciate your support and feedback.

I’ve shared my feedback in discord, but thought I’d share here after even more thought.

I LOVE THIS.

The power of an animated series of this calibre is immense. As NounsDAO will continue forever, so will the videos created here and I imagine watching them well into the future.

I hope to see it become a timeless series, that is enjoyable for many generations.

Simply can’t wait to watch it.

For just over 2 weeks of auction revenue at current prices, I think this series will have a big enough impact on people to see the investment recouped and will surely introduce many new people to the DAO.

Amazing work team!

1 Like

Thanks Ben–that’s our hopes and it will be a lot of work, but it’s work we love.

1 Like

This is the biggest ask I’ve ever seen on a prop and it’s also the most well done prop I’ve ever seen. Well done to this team! I’ve tried to do my research the best I can on how this matches up with the industry and it checks out for me. Your art, characters, stories, vibe, all of it looks Nounish to the max. I’d love to see some of your other work as well and I can’t wait to see the process of how this all comes together.

2 Likes

Thanks for the feedback, Andrew.
Feel free to check out some of our work–we didn’t want to clutter this discourse with too many links and clips but here are a few. (viewer discretion advised)

Jason has worked on popular television shows including Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Wolfboy and the Everything Factory, Squidbillies, The Masked Singer, Paradise Police Department, Lazor Wulf, The Awesomes, and more!
Some of Sam’s past projects have been: Archer, Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors, The Awesomes, Frisky Dingo, Catbug, and more.

1 Like

Sheesh. What a resume. Very cool to have you around @Sam!

3 Likes

Amazingly unique, I imagine if this is a family friendly series and watched by people like I used to when I was young watching some animated cartoons on tv’s. Could scratch such a good memories and also encourage nouns to look more wider.

1 Like

Love this proposal. Would love to see Nouns on TV in the future! Hopefully this project can start in phases soon.

2 Likes

Just wanna say… wtf are you two still doing in Nouns DAO. You should be creating for Disney/Hollywood or something haha :star_struck:

Great team, detailed prop, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the end product.

Not sure if it’s in the DAOs capacity to fund such a large scale prop atm, but the compensation seems to check out. Gotta admit I didn’t think this much work went behind a minutes-long animation :laughing:

Good luck, and if I can be of any help on the content side - I’d be ecstatic to work with you guys.

2 Likes

We have been there… we prefer what’s going on here at Nouns DAO and would like to help it get to a larger audience.

Only the DAO will know how they want to spend their treasury, but I think 2 weeks of good auctions could fund this if the DAO thinks it is worth it, right now the Treasury sits at Ξ27,729 which would leave them with over Ξ26,000. The majority of the budget would be going to a staff of ~44 peeps and competing with the other productions out in the world.

Thanks, we will keep that in mind–if funded hop onto our channel in discord for opportunities and updates.

2 Likes

Thanks, didn’t know 44 ppl will be in on this, makes more sense budget wise this way.

Looking forward to the production! And would be good if there were regular updates along the way.

1 Like

For sure there will be updates along the way.

> Additionally, while in production of the series, we will create CC0 videos, tutorials, and animation assets that will assist creators in the development of their own Nounish content.

One of the greatest proposals I’ve seen tbh, the sheer size of this and the ramifications this could take is absolutely beautiful, and the team behind this is rock solid, amazing guys! :star_struck: :saluting_face:

1 Like