Back to the lab

When the wacky creators of SpongeBob SquarePants first pitched the idea to Nickelodeon's brass more than 10 years ago, it's unlikely their opening salvo was "So, what are you looking for?" But in the time that's passed, serving the commissioning net's commercial needs is increasingly top-of-mind for producers as they prepare to lob a new idea at a potential broadcaster.

In recent years, the artist's voice has arguably been supplanted by talk of monetization, the bottom line and global licensing opportunities. And perhaps that's why three major international broadcasters are stepping back from the money talk to get a better view of the talent scene and launch in-house, artist-led hubs to craft short-form programming. Cartoon Network, Disney and Fox have all hatched internal think tanks in the last six months with the aim of keeping the execs out of the creative process and putting the artists back in charge.

It's not a new idea; in fact, the tactic was employed quite successfully at the big studios by Frederator's Fred Seibert when he was heading up Hanna Barbera back in 1994. Seibert launched the What A Cartoon! showcase that yielded Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls, and even now he contends that artist-led initiatives are a way to give special talent more opportunity and respect. While a sitcom writer, for example, can concentrate on making a great half-hour of programming and get holding deals, Seibert laments that animation creators are often restricted by the need to create licensing opps and make a hit. "It's not only a shame because it treats writers in a second-class way, but it's a missed business opportunity," he says.

Current models notwithstanding, treating creators well has the potential to churn out animated hits, of which the industry is sorely in need. In short, there hasn't been another SpongeBob since...well, SpongeBob. And Seibert suspects the new animation hubs may help today's crop of top broadcast managers end the drought.

Cartoon draws on history

Graduates from Seibert's What A Cartoon! project include Craig McCracken, who developed The Powerpuff Girls from the experiment, and Rob Renzetti, Dexter's Laboratory's imagist. They are now acting as exec producer and supervising producer at Cartoon Network's in-house animation hub Cartoonstitute that launched last April.

Chief content creator Rob Sorcher joined Car-

toon last January, and he's the only real suit at a table occupied by artists deciding the future of the kid channel's shorts development process. He affirms that CN needed to invest in hip comedy and broaden its scope on cartoon creation, and this initiative plays by its own rules - far away from the net's more traditional development track. What makes Cartoonstitute particularly different is the environment in which projects are brainstormed.

McCracken and Renzetti are the program's anchors and act as mentors to new artists - some of whom may not even have an idea completely fleshed out. Each artist accepted into the program gets seven minutes to work with, and can use those minutes in whichever way makes sense for their project, be it seven one-minute eps or two 3.5-minute segments. "They're working it out in a medium and environment they're comfortable in, and the distribution talk comes at the end," says Sorcher.