What M-A Is Up To

Why I think the Conservatives’ fiscal plan for Canada is bad for business

2011-04-17T14:52:00.007-03:00

This is a long article, so I've split it up.

-- The following 5 paragraphs are the least you need to know about my opinion: --

I was a small business owner (and will be again). I built a successful business from the ground up. My understanding of fiscal prudence comes not from a fancy degree, but from running a business and keeping it profitable. I’ve been given awards by a number of nationally recognized institutions for my business abilities.

I do not believe that the Conservative plan of tax cuts plus “cutting the fat in government” is sustainable over the long term. It is obvious to me that without additional tax revenue, deep cuts will be necessary.

I believe that such cuts will necessarily affect health transfers to the provinces, where it will do the least political damage to the Conservatives come the next election.

I believe that a weakened health care infrastructure is a greater threat to our economic competitiveness as a nation, because savings that can be gained from tax cuts to business and individuals will be more than offset by expenditures that would have to be outlaid by business in increased employer sponsored private healthcare plans.

Therefore, I do not agree that the Conservatives’ 2011 “Here For Canada” platform constitutes a well thought out long term strategy for Canada’s economic competitiveness.

-- That is the overview of this article. If you’d like the detail of my opinions, please read on. --

Hello. My name is Michael-Andreas Kuttner. Starting in 1995 with a partner and $400, I established an animation company in Atlantic Canada called Collideascope. Between 1995 and the company’s orderly close in 2008, we built the company into one that over the years employed hundreds of tax paying Canadians, with company revenues counted in the millions of dollars. We started small, we grew slowly, and we never had an unprofitable year.

I have decided to write this blog posting in order to offer my perspective on the choice we are being offered in the upcoming Canadian Federal Election. These thoughts are my own and I do not purport to speak for anyone else.

Before I begin, full disclosure; my views are firmly on the left of the Canadian political spectrum. I disagree with a great many social policies that the Conservatives are offering in this election. For certain, my views are coloured by this. However, my prime concern in writing this letter is that of an entrepreneur and someone who considers himself to be fiscally (small-c) conservative.

My understanding of fiscal conservatism (as opposed to fiscal big-C Conservatism) is adherence to a strict rule that you spend less than you earn, and if you want to spend more, you must first earn enough to increase your spending.

My concern is that the Conservative party’s tax plans do not address this uncomfortable fiscal reality. The Conservatives’ platform offers tax cuts both to businesses and to individuals. The problem here is that almost all government revenue comes from business taxes or personal income taxes. There are also consumption taxes (GST), but those have already been cut.

The problem, then, is that without more money coming in, you can’t spend money unless you borrow it from someone. That’s called a deficit. Now, when you do that, you owe that money back, and you owe interest payments on it . Not a big deal if you borrow 20 bucks from your neighbour and tell him you’ll pay him 23 next week, but it becomes a big deal when your nation owes over half a trillion dollars and has to pay over 33 billion a year just to make the interest payments!

When I ran my company, I did it prudently. We spent less than we earned, and we made sure to put some cash aside in case things went bad. More than once, things did go bad. Sadly, during those times, I had to lay a lot of people off and tell them that I didn’t know when we’d be in a position to re-hire them. Then, my partner and I took a pay cut and worked like hell to bring business in the door so we could get back to profitability. That’s what you do when things are bad; you cut costs and try to increase cash coming in.

The Conservatives’ plan says they’ll cut costs and also cut the tax cash coming in to them. They’re relying on a formula called ‘trickle down economics’ (also called ‘supply-side economics’) that says if you give businesses a break, they’ll spend more on hiring and re-tooling their plants and the economy will grow. Therefore, more people will be employed in Canada at higher wages and even though their income taxes are lower, it’s better to collect 3 dollars each from two people than 5 dollars from one person, right?

It sounds great! More people working, less taxes, and we all win! Unfortunately, trickle-down economics has never, ever worked in any country it’s been tried in. Sure, the US grew like crazy after Reaganomics, but look at the place now. As a result of a “cut taxes, cut spending” policy since the 80’s in our neighbour to the south, their country has not paid down a single dollar of their debt (except twice during the Clinton years. Not so coincidentally, he was not a trickle-down guy). They are now over 14 Trillion dollars in the hole, and all the cards are held by the rich.

“Held by the rich?! What do you mean?”

I mean just that. According to statistics compiled by the Institute of Policy Studies, the top 1% of Americans hold 33.8% of the wealth of that country. The next 9% of Americans own another 37.7% of the nation’s wealth. Together, the other 90% of Americans hold the remaining 28.5% of the country’s assets, and that gets worse if you’re unlucky enough to be in the bottom 50% of the population. They get to share only 2.5% of the nation’s money between themselves.

“So what does that have to do with Canada?”

Remember the Conservatives’ trickle down economics? There it is at work. To me, this income disparity is proof that when you give a tax cut to businesses, the people who benefit are the ones who own those businesses. To me, the massive US debt is proof that when you expect to balance the budget by cutting everyone’s taxes and waiting for things to start getting better, you’ve got a hell of a long wait on your hands. In fact so far, that wait looks pretty close to forever.

“So why won’t our tax cuts be different than the US tax cuts? We’re not the US.”

No, we aren’t the US. But we are human. And humans work according to human nature, no matter where you go. I would posit that the wealthy have an outsized propensity for saving compared to the general population. This is why they are wealthy. Others are, most likely for reasons of financial education and pre existing life conditions, less successful at saving. This leads roughly to the wealth disparities I’ve mentioned. Cut taxes and the poor will spend their share on things they likely need. Cut taxes and the rich will likely save their share, and will less likely hire more people just because they’ve got extra cash lying around. Remember; to run a good business is to run a tight ship. If you’re making good money with a staff of 50 and you get more from a tax break, your margins just went up! Have a celebratory beer and put it in the bank! Don’t pile on another expense in the form of a new employee. That’s what I would do when I was running my company.

“OK, so the rich get a boost. You said the poor get to spend their cash on things they need. Everyone wins! Why are you against that?”

I know, it’s a pretty good deal really. But here’s the problem: the party can only go on so long. Then the government either has to raise taxes or cut spending. If you raise taxes, there’s an excellent chance you won’t get voted in again, so really the only choice is to cut spending. And ‘cutting out the fat’, which is the Conservatives’ big platform solution to the deficit, ain’t going to get anywhere near what we’ll need. Remember that I mentioned earlier that we need over 33 Billion dollars this year to make our interest payments?

“Yeah, So what?”

Well, that number will grow to almost 38 Billion we’ll owe next year. And we’ll still be borrowing more money at the same time, so we’ll keep owing more and more. So, if government is getting less money from taxes and still needs to find big areas to cut, the biggest single pile of money the Feds distribute to the provinces is in the Canada Health Transfer. From their website, the government says: “The CHT cash transfer will reach $27 billion in 2011-12 and will reach over $30 billion in 2013-14.”

That’s not to say it will be that health care gets the axe and the CHT will fall in one fell swoop. That would also be political suicide. However, something’s got to give and federal transfers are based on a percentage of tax revenues coming to the government. They get less in, they are obligated to give less to the provinces. Less transfer cash means it then falls to the provinces to decide how to stretch those bucks. The feds, after all, don’t get to dictate how money is spent on healthcare. They conveniently get to say in the next election that you should blame your premier if your health care isn’t what it used to be.

“You’re just being partisan. What does this have to do with economics?”

I’m glad you brought that up, dear faceless reader. The end game of this is that lower taxes eventually mean less services. We saw that when the Liberals started cutting the debt back in the nineties. We’ll see it again. And one of the main things, perhaps THE main thing that makes Canadian companies competitive with American companies as we compete in the global market, is the fact that Canadian companies don’t have to pay for basic health insurance for their employees. Marginal tax rates between Canada and the US are pretty much the same, but when I’ve seen US companies complain about competing with Canadians, they always refer to what a sweet deal we have here in not having to provide health coverage to our workers. Of course, many businesses will provide dental, a drug plan, a private room, etc. But if a Canadian falls down and breaks their leg, gets cancer, etc, we go to the hospital and are treated and that’s taken care of by the state. Taken care of by our taxes. Taken care of by the massive size of the Canadian healthcare system, which can cut volume deals in a way no private American consortium of hospitals can touch. If that suffers, Canadian business, and in particular, Canadian small business, will suffer as well. This is a real competitive edge that we have relied on for decades, even if we haven’t realized it. If it starts to wane, we in the small business world won’t know what hit us.

So in the end, yes taxes suck. In the end, sure, it’s nice to have a few extra bob in your pocket to buy some groceries or an extra pack of cigarettes. But as a comedian once said about the system here in Canada, “Sure taxes here are high, but there are benefits. A pack of cigarettes? About 20 bucks. A new lung? About 20 bucks.”

A bit more about me:

I don’t endorse a specific party. Canada’s left is too fragmented for that. I currently endorse the concept of strategic voting to try and keep a balance in our Parliament.

I don’t have an economics degree or an MBA. I have a degree in graphic design. I got my business experience through the school of hard knocks, by trying, failing, learning from that failure, and then getting up and trying again. Do that over and over for 13 years, and you’ve got a better perspective on these things than any wet behind the ears business student from a fancy university, in my books.

Though I must stress that I do not speak for any of these organizations, the following have decided I was good enough at this business thing to bestow upon me (and my business partner) the following awards:

2005 - Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Canadian Film and Television Producers’ Association
2002 - Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (Globe & Mail / Caldwell Partners)
2001 - Finalist, Small Business of the Year - Metro Halifax Chamber of Commerce business awards.
2000 - Small Business of the Year - Metro Halifax Chamber of Commerce business awards.
1999 - Finalist, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award (Atlantic provinces), Young Entrepreneur category
1998 - Business Development Bank of Canada's Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Oh, and before I’m labeled as a “failed businessman”, I’d like to disclose that I wound down my business in 2008, after the whole industry had been clobbered by the recession. We ended the business after delivering fully to our client on our last contract, and gave all our permanent employees 2 months’ notice before closing. Unlike many companies in our industry, we closed in an orderly wind-down with all debts paid and all obligations met.

And yes, my company was involved in film & television production. While it’s true that the film industry in Canada is highly subsidized, subsidies to the film industry are still dwarfed by those to the oil and gas industry in this country. All countries subsidize their businesses. Let’s not get in a bun fight over which is more worthy.

Canadian Federal Debt stats: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2010-08-e.htm (Table 1 – Economic Growth Scenarios)

US National Debt payment stats: http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/faq.html

US Wealth Distribution: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-wealth-inequality-2010-7#half-of-america-owns-only-25-of-countrys-wealth-the-top-1-owns-a-third-of-it-2

Canada Health Transfer: http://www.fin.gc.ca/fedprov/cht-eng.asp

Mystery Hunters Training School

2010-09-10T14:36:00.003-03:00

After a too-long period of development, I'm very happy to announce that the final Collideascope project, Mystery Hunters Training School, has gone live online. It's got 13 episodic adventure games that you can play. If you want something shorter, you can try one of the 25 mini-games on the site as well. Enjoy.

Visit the Mystery Hunters Training School site!

Time-Lapse Twitter Visualization Shows America’s Moods

2010-07-22T12:02:00.001-03:00

Very interesting. The takeaway here is not to expect people to react well to you after lunch.

From Mashable:

A group of researchers from Northeastern and Harvard universities have gathered enough data from Twitter to give us all a snapshot of how U.S. residents feel throughout a typical day or week.

Not only did they analyze the sentiments we collectively expressed in 300 million tweets over three years against a scholarly word list, these researchers also mashed up that data with information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Google Maps API and more. What they ended up with was a fascinating visualization showing the pulse of our nation, our very moods as they fluctuate over time.

Here's the study:

http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/amislove/twittermood/

Created a quick Flash demo for Android phones

2010-07-08T10:54:00.004-03:00

Basically this is just a quick mod of some animation we did for another project that lets you make a little guy dance on the screen. We messed around with a few frame rates on it, and I've found that 8FPS seems to work best for vector animation at a full screen size. However, I'm experiencing some shearing on my Nexus One as it tries to blit all of the animation to the screen. If anyone happens upon this, I'd be interested in your feedback.

Here are the test files:

30 fps

http://www.neatoentertainment.com/A-R_dropbox/nexus/demoDanceBoy30fps/nexusDemo_boyDance.html

10 fps

http://www.neatoentertainment.com/A-R_dropbox/nexus/demoDanceBoy10fps/nexusDemo_boyDance.html

8 fps

http://www.neatoentertainment.com/A-R_dropbox/nexus/demoDanceBoy8fps/nexusDemo_boyDance.html

6 fps

http://www.neatoentertainment.com/A-R_dropbox/nexus/demoDanceBoy6fps/nexusDemo_boyDance.html

For SEO - Flash for Android, Nexus One Flash, Flash 10.1, Flash Android Demo

The Palm Pre is a piece of unmitigated garbage

2010-06-25T14:48:00.002-03:00

Ten months ago, around the end of August, I bought the shiny new Palm Pre that I had been waiting for since its announcement the previous February. For reasons of the onscreen keyboard and that I didn't like the calendar and email apps, I didn't want an iPhone, so this seemed the thing to get. Palm had put a lot of work into the user interface and I had always found their calendar, contacts, etc very usable. So, when I took the wraps off of it and started using it, I was elated. It just worked, and worked well. The OS was, and still is, a great piece of work.

Fast forward to January of this year: My Pre developed spiderweb like cracks emanating from the button in the front. It rendered my touchscreen useless. I sent it away, grumpily paid my $150 insurance deductible, and chalked it up to me having the bad luck to get a dud. My new one came a few days later and after transferring my info to it, I was back in business. For about 2 weeks.

My second Pre's screen had just stopped working. No clue as to why. Didn't drop it, no spider cracks, nothing. So, I called the warranty place and asked for another. Luckily, no deductible this time. It came, I switched, back up and running.

A week or so later, the power button at the top of the thing just broke. I couldn't turn it on or off. Again, I had to call the warranty guys. They sent me my FOURTH Pre in under 2 months. I transferred my data (I was getting really good at this step), and crossed my fingers...

Fast forward to early June. I started to notice that the Pre would just sporadically shut down for no reason. I would close and open it too fast and boom, the thing would just go off. The battery was full, no clue as to why. I started to get a sinking feeling. After a few weeks of hoping this would go away, it started to happen more frequently.

Defeated, I decided to start looking into other phone platforms. I ordered my Nexus One 3 days before the built-in speaker and mic on the phone stopped working for me. Now, I can only make calls when I have the earbuds plugged in. Luckily, my Nexus arrives Monday.

So long, Palm. You gave it a great try, and you largely got it right on the OS. But let's face it - your hardware build quality was complete and total crap. I did my best as a loyal believer and rooter for the underdog, but when the thing doesn't even work, it's time to head for greener pastures. Here's hoping HP has a better fate in store for you.

Stuart Brown says play is more than fun

2009-10-15T15:20:00.001-03:00

http://www.ted.com/talks/stuart_brown_says_play_is_more_than_fun_it_s_vital.html

A great talk about how play is necessary for our everyday lives and the lack of play starves us creatively.

Quick update

2009-06-03T17:04:00.002-03:00

It's been ten months since the announcement of the demise of Collideascope Digital Productions Inc. Technically, the company is still around as we wind it down and take care of final accounting, asset allocation, all that corporate jazz... Anyhow, in the wake of the quiet and dignified passing (not the spectacular failure that many had falsely predicted for so many years) of Collideascope, something had to happen, didn't it? After all, though CDP was successful and everything, it wasn't successful enough to let us saunter into the sunset for time immemorial.

So, it's with very little fanfare at this point that I will let slip the news of Neato Entertainment.

Neato is my little chunk of What M-A Is Up To, post-Collideascope. It will occupy the 4th floor, as Collideascope did. It will have the yellow walls, as Collideascope did. It will just focus on things that are smaller than what Collideascope did.

Anyhow, no new email. No new website. No new business cards as of yet. I'll post here when it becomes something more than just a name I'm doing new work under. Just thought that anyone who follows this thing might like to know.

M-A

M-A is up to new things

2009-04-16T19:41:00.002-03:00

There is a neato new project a-brewing in M-A land. Or rather, a project of projects. Stay tuned. Interesting things might be afoot...

Collideascope T4s

2009-03-02T14:03:00.003-04:00

Hi, all. Not sure if anyone is still checking this space out since things have been quiet lately. However, I've gotten several inquiries about Collideascope T4s. They were mailed out last week, so if you don't get yours by next week, email me and I'll check into them for you. Either way, worry not. Collideascope may have closed, but we didn't flame out, so we will meet all of our commitments to that end. I am always available to any of our former employees to contact about such matters.

All the best,
M-A

And now, what everyone's been waiting for...

2008-10-21T00:11:00.003-03:00

Yep, we finally figured out when the party is happening. So, come one, come all! Denizens, friends, and supporters of Collideascope, I cordially invite you to:

OUT WITH A BLAST!

Please join us in celebrating
Collideascope’s great accomplishments
& contributions to the animation
industry as we say our goodbyes
to a great company!!

Date: November 8, 2008
Time: 8pm – 1:30 am
Location:
LOCAS www.locasbar.com
5430 Doyle Street, Halifax
Corner of Spring Garden & Queen Street
Lots of food, drinks & great laughs

For more information
please email
grace@collideascope.com

So, the cat has been let out of the bag

2008-08-18T18:49:00.015-03:00

Just so we can keep those crazy ol' rumours at as low a roar as possible, I'm writing this posting to announce the winding down of Collideascope.

Yep, you heard it here first, folks. Well, not really first. We announced to the general community on Monday and things like this don't take long to disseminate. We're closing the company. Why? Well, there's never just one reason for things like this, is there?

Collideascope recently celebrated 13 years in operation. We started out as a little, 2 person shop cranking out web pages for people who wanted to put their businesses onto the "information superhighway", and thereby become multi-bazillionaires in the process. We also made commercials and broadcast graphics for the local TV business. It seems we came a long way since. At our peak last year, Collideascope was employing about 120 people on long term full time contracts. To me, that's a lotta people, eh?

13 years of running any one thing is a long time. Reason #1 is that I'm just ready to go off and find something else to do.

Reason #2 is more related to the timing of this announcement than the decision itself. I'd been working for a long time on a project that was slated for a Fall '08 start date. The project has experienced a delay that meant the start date was now delayed indefinitely. As this project was my main one slated for the fall, I decided that I really wasn't interested in putting Collideascope into hibernation, pending what might come through later on.

There are, of course, lots of things that go into making a decision like this. These 2 points are just some good ones to toss out to satisfy people's curiosity. Just know that the decision wasn't made quickly, though it looks like it was.

Of course, when bad news comes, there's inevitably the search for who the bad guy is, and the rumour mill has a surprisingly efficient way of magnifying conjecture in order to cast that role. In this case, there's the temptation to have Steve take that place on stage. However, even though both he and I have occupied our good cop and bad cop roles over the years, it would be wrong to lay the closure at Steve's feet. He's been a huge reason for Collideascope's success over the years, and his contacts brought the steady stream of work in that we enjoyed. However, as I said, 13 years is a long time to be running any company (plus almost 3 years for a company we ran immediately before Collideascope), and the truth is at this time, we're both pretty tired and neither of us has the energy anymore to want to deal with the latest moves made in the industry. Between the shift in broadcasters' more aggressive approach to CRTC regulations and a quite sudden and surprising shift back to Asian studios last year, these were changes that, while not insurmountable, require a retooling that we didn't want to go through.

Nonetheless, I think now is the time for Collideascope to be able to make a graceful exit, for Steve and me to finish it on an up note, and to be able to do right by the people who are finishing the projects on the slate. I've got to say, since the news came out, I've been gratified by people writing to say how they've enjoyed their experience at or working with Collideascope. It hasn't always been an easy ride, but we've always made it the priority to do business in an upfront and honest manner, so it's nice to see that acknowledged. After all, being the boss, I don't get performance reviews. It's nice to see that at the end, some people think I've done a good job.

And of course, this message wouldn't be complete without thanking everyone who's been a part of the Collideascope experience, whether that was working at the animation studios, being part of our small but mighty new media crew, helping keep the infrastructure of the place running, or everyone on the outside who helped and cheered us on. That's what made this a great 13 years for me. Of course, I must single out Ron, who may just be the best person who ever ran an animation studio. His dedication to the place has inspired everyone who ever worked with him, and was a huge factor in giving Collideascope the reputation we gained as a place people wanted to come to work at. Thank you, Ron.

One last thing - it's not Collideascope unless there's a party involved, so everyone is invited to our last blowout. I don't have the exact date yet, but I'm planning for early October, and I'm shouting out to recent employees, alumni from far back, and all of our friends in the extended community to join me for the send-off. I'll post more details here once it's firmed up.

All my best,
M-A

LA is an interesting place

2008-07-23T21:58:00.001-03:00

I participated in a trade mission of Nova Scotian producers to Los Angeles last week. Went everywhere from Burbank, where the major studios are, to Santa Monica Boulevard, where the more boutique operators live. I had 12 meetings over the course of 3 days. Great people down there, and some interesting opportunities presented themselves, both to pitch and to partner. Of course, as is standard in such things this was an exploratory mission, set up to shake hands and meet new people. No one was waiting at the airport with a contract and a bag of cash, ready to say “animate!” However, it’s a true cliché that relationships are what make this business (any business, really) work, so the more people we meet, the more opportunities we have at developing new properties and getting them picked up. As is my recent mantra, “development, development, development” will pay longer term and more sustainable dividends in terms of work. Did I mention that we’ve got a treatment together to pitch our first feature? I did not? Well, we do. Exciting times!

A quiet summer

2008-06-11T12:10:00.002-03:00

So yes, things are quite quiet overall in the Canadian animation industry, and Collideascope isn't much of an exception. We found out recently that our friends at Story City, who did some amazing board work on Johnny Test, have decided to pack it in. Very sad news. I'm getting reports of far less production activity in all sectors of the country than there was last year, when you couldn't find an animator in the country for love nor money. Amazing what difference a few months makes.

We're currently working on Speed Racer until the end of August. We're busily working on getting another production through the door after that, which I won't mention until we're further down that road. These things are months to years in the making, and are often down to the wire in terms of whether they are greenlit or not. As always, getting the job in the door requires a calm demeanour, a steady hand, and a few bottles of pepto-bismol. ;)

More when I get it. Have a good summer.

Wither Johnny?

2008-04-22T22:58:00.003-03:00

Poor ol' Johnny Test. He's off to another home, somewhere to the west of us. We got the call last week that we were unsuccessful in our bid for Johnny Test Season 4. Though we put in what was generally considered to be a very competitive bid, we were outbid. To whomever got it, I wish the best of luck. For our part, I'm very proud that we were integral in earning Johnny a Gemini award and a finalist place in the Shaw Rocket prize with the work we did on seasons 2 and 3. Now, on to other things for Collideascope. And yes, there are other irons in the fire.

Now, a short break from what I'm up to...

2008-04-17T16:09:00.001-03:00

...to go over what others are up to. Specifically with regard to a rather poisonous piece of federal legislation called Bill C-10. This bill seeks to impose a set of standards that any government can use to decide what they consider to be “moral” and to deny tax credits to Canadian productions based on such standards. To hear some people talk, you’d think Canadian producers are getting tax dollars to make porno films, when in fact, the financing of Canadian film and television is subject to probably one of the most rigorous systems of review in the world, in which anything that is financed must clear the provisions set forth in standards documents of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Criminal Code.

What burns my ass is people like “Doctor” Charles McVety, an evangelist who supports this bill and says that it doesn’t go far enough. He argues that films that even show homosexuality in a positive light should have their funding yanked as well. It is exactly this quality of human being meddling with what they think you should be allowed to watch and to think, why we should be extremely careful about subjecting our content to arbitrary rules based on the personal comfort levels of supporters of the Government of the Day.

Full article here: http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/415391

The Collideascope Award

2008-04-04T12:33:00.001-03:00

So, in the spirit of showing support for the animation industry in Canada, I’m pleased to say that Collideascope is sponsoring an award! The Collideascope Award for Best 2D Animation will be presented to a winning Sheridan student by representatives from the soulless corporate behemoth of Collideascope on April 24th. I can’t wait to see what ensues...

Boy oh boy, what a difference a month makes.

2008-03-21T11:39:00.002-03:00

So, as those of you who visit the far more popular and frequently updated Collideascope Studio Blog already know, we're back on Speed Racer, helping to finish the series' other 21 episodes. This should take the studio through to end-August, albiet at a reduced staffing level than we're used to.

But I'm not resting on my laurels, dear readers. No, far from it.

I'm currently negotiating 2 other projects I'm hoping will hit the studio between July and September of this year. And, as of this week, we got a request to bid on another season of your and my favourite ADD-riddled test subject for his genius pre-teen sisters. No start date as yet - we have to get the job first - but we'll keep you posted.

I also got a request from one more colleague about putting some numbers together for a possible series, which could possibly start later on this year.

Apart from that, on the New Media front, we're still working hard on Mystery Hunters Training School and a small game called Shift that should launch in a couple of weeks.

There are some other neat things afoot, mainly from the corporate perspective, but those will be detailed in future posts when they are closer to happening. Here's hoping that we go into the summer brimming with new work and cool stuff for everyone.

All the best,
M-A

Back from NY and boy, are my arms...

2008-02-19T00:09:00.002-04:00

I just got back from Kidscreen. Good conference. As always, opportunities abound, and apart from talking to some broadcasters about pitching them new series concepts, I also met with a few producers about projects. Preschool may hold a few opportunities, but the 8 to 10 market, especially in Canada, seems the place to be right now. If I realized anything this time down to Kidscreen, it's just how well known Collideascope is internationally. When I mentioned who I was with, even to people I never met before, I always got back a knowing "Ohhh", followed by the many good things people heard of us. Can't say that's a bad thing. Once again, thanks to all Collideascopers, past and present, for contributing to that reputation...

So, work wise: Still working on something that may start in March and go about 3 to 4 months, and another larger project (about a year's work) that would likely start early fall. Still no word on Johnny Test Season 4, although Season 2 has been nominated for a Shaw Rocket Prize! That's 2 nominations in less than 12 months. Plus, JT is running 5 days a week on Cartoon Network. I can't see why they wouldn't keep production going. But then, I ain't a broadcaster, am I?

On the (less interesting to most) new media front, that game for Microsoft that I mentioned last post - it's going ahead. It'll be launched in about a month. Mystery Hunters Training School has 9 scripts done now by yours truly and the lovely and talented Anne-Renee Dumont. We're going to boards and software framework now.

Follow-up to the Speed Racer job: When I was visiting Animation Collective in NY, everyone at the studio who I was introduced to was very impressed and appreciative of the assist we gave them. So, good job again, everyone!

As with all of my posts, I'm going to be obtuse and let you know that there are a few very cool potential animation service projects out there that I'm working on, but that, as usual, I can't give you any detail about. However, I can confirm to you that we will not be doing anything with a certain very nice gentleman whose initials are D.S. ;)

Till next time,
M-A

Speeding on Speed Racer

2008-01-20T20:50:00.001-04:00

So we're full bore into helping pinch hit on the Speed Racer project for Animation Collective. We're doing in-betweens, cleanup, ink and paint & a shadow pass, and trying to get 2 to 3 eps done inside a few weeks. Happily, AC has given us excellent direction and is doing all of the keys, so that let us hit the ground running with essentially zero prep time. We're hearing good feedback from the client and have been getting work done faster than they can supply us with new work, so big props to the crew working on it.

I got an RFP from Microsoft last week while I was on my Western tour to develop a game with them. As I'm under non-disclosure, I can't say much except that after I figured out the parameters of the RFP, I had essentially 24 hours to devise a game concept and write up a proposal / design overview document. By the time I finished that night, my eyeballs were hurting. I'm sure there's a Visine for that.

I had the meeting out in Saskatoon, and have an agreement in principle to start doing some interprovincial co-development between us and them I'm also getting alliances together with 2 other companies & 2 individuals to get into development of new series concepts. This year, my target is to have 5 concepts to take to broadcasters and re-establish our hat in the original intellectual property ring. This has a time horizon of about 2 years to get the next collideascope developed property to TV if all goes well, but this time working with other parties will (I'm hoping) help accelerate the cycle of getting some good work done.

Kidscreen is coming up, so I'm arranging my meetings and looking for opportunities for us to partner with new companies and producers on their projects. Any suggestions of companies you'd like to work with? Send me your top picks & I'll see if I can't get a meeting.

January already?? What in the hell happened to December?!?

2008-01-03T21:22:00.000-04:00

It was a busy, busy month, mostly taken up with proposals and estimates, as well as helping out on Busytown, which was perhaps busier than anyone had bargained for. Now, here we are in early January, and we're negotiating to pick up some work from Animation Collective for Speed Racer. It needs doing tout suite, and there's a call to get going on it tomorrow. Hopefully we will get going on it by Monday. The show needs a lot of work in a short period of time, so we're going to go with a footage rate rather than a salary, I think.

No word on Arthur as yet, but I saw the test and it was nothing short of impressive. Steve's going to poke around with CJ and see what's up there next week.

There's another thing we're talking about with AC - a full series, but again, I don't like to count chickens before they've hatched. If we were to get both that and Arthur, I think we'd be getting very big, very quickly. Keep us in mind, gentle folk. We're still in the running! ;)

Speaking about counting those chickens, the Christmas special got shuffled to Studio B at the last minute, so that one is unfortunately in the dustbin. However, I'm very excited to be going to Sask on the 10th to talk with the producer of that show to talk about co-development on other properties. Over this year, Collideascope will be slowly starting up the original development engine, but this time by partnering with other producers rather than going the very taxing and not necessarily better route of doing it all ourselves. I expect to see this start to pay dividends within about 2 to 3 years, but hey, ya gotta start somewhere.

There are other things in the hopper - the Mystery Hunters New Media project is a-go and in design phase. We'll be needing some good internet flash animation help on that one, along with people who are experienced at Photoshop photo collage for the backgrounds. It'll be a very different departure of style and content from things we've done before. I'm looking forward to it.

There's even more to come, strategic-planning-wise. Steve and I have plans for the place that I'm hoping will ensure more stability starts to gradually seep into place over the next 12 to 18 months. I'm still formulating the details of these plans, and when they're done, I'll post them here for your perusal and hopefully your feedback.

Your humble Commissar,
M-A

And now, for November

2007-11-02T01:03:00.001-03:00

So, things are wrapping on Johnny Test and Delilah & Julius this month. I want to thank everyone who did such an amazing job on both shows. They really came out top notch. I’ll be seeing you all at the wrap party on the 17th.

Which begs the question; what’s next? Well, a (hopefully short) hiatus is what’s immediately next. Things are still progressing positively on the Xmas special I’ve been talking about in the last few postings. But no, that’s not all we’ve been working on. Steve’s been talking with our friends at Cookie Jar about setting up more of a consistent pipeline with them, and those talks are going well. We are also quoting on a very large show for another company (with whom we’ve worked before) that would see the studio in a 2 year cycle on that job alone. As you may guess, the larger a job is, the more complex the deal becomes, so it’s still in the quoting and negotiation stage. We also got a call from a group in England who had us quote on some commercial work. Mmmm, English pounds sterling. Drool.... Steve’s also doing some traveling next week to Australia to drum up business there with both Aussies and with other Canadians who will be on the trip.

I also just this morning got a call from an ally of ours in Montreal who’s interested in having us quote on a 26 episode show. I also got a request from a large video game publisher who’s interested in 2D animation for games they’re developing for the Nintendo DS. On the new media side, we’re also doing 2 more jobs for MSN and Ford, still waiting on word back on the Bell Fund application (it’s for a show called Mystery Hunters), and I got an interesting call from another company with whom we’ve worked before, who are interested in looking at our developing a MMOG virtual world application. Oh, and some guys in New York emailed me out of the blue as well to talk establishing a relationship to develop casual games for them.

So as usual, I must be vague. I apologize for it, but my policy has always been not to announce any deals before the cheque is in the bank. I’ve been a victim of my own enthusiasm before, and as those of you who know me know, I’m a cautious guy. Rest assured that we’re working hard on the next chapter of Collideascope, and as soon as we know more, you’ll know more as well.

I know that not many of you read this. Please let your colleagues know that I think you all rock.

M-A

September down. October looms.

2007-10-03T22:19:00.001-03:00

Well, the Bell fund proposal got done, with several sleepless nights on my part, along with some very nice creative from Anne-Renee and a welcome assist from Mirco. Between the budgeting, the scheduling, the creative, and the not knowing what the result of the proposal will be, I’ve gotta say that these proposals aren’t topping the list of my favourite things. If it goes, it’ll start in December, with the main bulk of work starting in February ‘08.

In TV land, there are a few proposals for series we’re now working on, and I’m still doing follow-up from the OIAF. The new NS provincial tax credit has certainly spurred interest in NS as a production destination. Steve’s going to be pitching that at MIPCOM and will do a Toronto trip as a follow up to pound the pavement.

On the new media front, the MSN job is taking longer than I had thought, but we’ve finished our work on the Total Drama Island website, and I’ve gotten requests for 4 more MSN jobs. Seems they like me. I knew that if I used enough Axe body spray, it would eventually pay off...

Back from Ottawa

2007-09-21T00:03:00.001-03:00

Well, the Ottawa Animation Fest conference was a pile o’ fun. I met with about a dozen people from California to Brazil to right across our good Dominion. My big theme for this festival was “coproduction and codevelopment”, as I’m wanting to freshen our original IP slate. From that perspective, I came back with some good foundations of relationships that I’m thinking we can parlay into a strong set of new stuff to pitch. So now, to get it going!

Apart from that, I’m working on a Bell Fund proposal to get in by October 1, along with a Beauty & Fashion interactive for MSN. A busy week lies ahead.

What's up for the week of September 10th

2007-09-10T14:59:00.001-03:00

I got berated by Anne-Renee for not having updated the blog for a bit. My apologies to everyone who reads this. After a week’s delay, I finally did get down to New York on Thursday, and had meetings to talk about potential for us ramping up for a series for November. It turns out that the producers in question have had a delay to their start date as the broadcasters have requested more detail to their proposal. As a result, that one’s on ice for the foreseeable future. However, the Christmas special we’ve been quietly working on bringing in seems to be making some headway.

The other NY meeting I had was with Microsoft. We’ve been working with them for over a year now, and this is the first time I’ve gotten to meet them face-to-face. A good meeting was held, with all involved discussing a variety of projects centering on Collideascope providing enhanced media for MSN on their Messenger platform. Currently, we’re shooting video for a Beauty & Fashion agent for them, which will go live on the American Messenger in October.

We’re also working on a Bell fund application for our friends at Apartment 11 Productions to do an enhanced new media presence for their show Mystery Hunters. 20 days and counting to have that in. Eek!

And I’ll be attending The Animation Conference (TAC) at the Ottawa Animation Festival on September the 19th to the 20th. I’m currently booking meetings and if anyone knows any industry types they like and think I should meet and greet, please email me and let me know.

Toronto - New York - Toronto

2007-08-22T15:52:00.000-03:00

Steve did a trip last week and finally got a chance to meet with Cookie Jar up there. These things go slowly, but the meeting went well, with them expressing that our job on JT is looking really good. Thanks to everyone working on this.

I’m off to New York at the end of next week to talk things over with several players in the TV and new media industries. The it’s off to Toronto for me to hit up a few more producers in preparation for the TAC conference for the Ottawa Animation Festival at the end of October. At that point, Steve will also be doing Strategic Partners at the Atlantic Film Fest. September is festival season, which also includes the Toronto Film Festival. Much getting to know people over the next month and a bit.

There are also a few smaller potential things down the pipe, but of course, the mantra is don’t make any plans until the cheque is in the bank. ;)

Update

2007-08-10T22:28:00.001-03:00

Hmm, it’s been a little while... In the interim, the broadband animation thing has gone on hold while a few people in California do some vacationing. However the hour long special has made some progress and we’re in the process of working out budgets and schedules. The series is in a slight limbo whilst the producers work out some of the Canadian logistics of the deal. Pretty vague, eh? Unfortunately, if I named names, they’d all have to kill me....

One of the MSN jobs came through, though. Yours truly (and some experts) is going to be showing women all across America how to put their makeup on right. :) It’s a weird job, this...

Thursday - some good meetings!

2007-07-26T17:09:00.000-03:00

Well, it started out with a meeting with MSN Canada, wherein I talked with them about doing some activity window work with a new, and rather large, international client. Everyone left that one enthused. Then it was on to CBC to go over the pitch for the live action show Hasmi and I are working on, Second Coming. CBC’ll probably pass, but the useful thing is that I’m learning how to do a really good pitch, which is transferable to all genres including – you guessed it – animation. Then it was off to a meeting with Wowtv, who are looking at doing animated shows that would cross over into a network of dedicated screens placed in different locations in the world, that users could interact with to make more content. A very cool long term relationship is developing there, but nothing immediate. Then I had a quick call with Warner Canada, who are developing a network of premium partners to develop cel phone content for. I’m trying to position us to do specialised animation for that network. Finally, I have a call with some potential partners on that 52 x 11 TV project for an update and to figure out our next steps in trying to get that through the door. After that, it’s off to another meeting with Hasmi to talk about the next series we’re developing – live action drama.

Busy day. Good day!

Off to Toronto

2007-07-24T23:37:00.000-03:00

Off to meet people, pitch, and talk with Hasmi, my writing partner about the script for Second Coming, the comedy we’re writing, as well as another project that’ll be more of a biological sci-fi drama. Here’s the shortlist of who I’m meeting over the next 3 days:

Sympatico
Warner
CBC
Global
Redfish Entertainment
WowTV
Microsoft Canada

And I’m going to try and squeeze Portfolio entertainment in as well to talk animation. Gotta make the price of the ticket worth it...

Price was too high

2007-07-23T12:47:00.000-03:00

Sigh. This is always the thing with doing estimates. I got back today to find that the game price I quoted was too high, so I have to “de-deluxe” it a bit to make it fit what they want. It’s always a cat-and-mouse game trying to figure out what’s available and how polished you can make it. Of course, no one wants to hear first off, “I gave you the cheapest price with the caveat that this will all look like crap”.

Ugh

2007-07-20T02:03:00.001-03:00

Still working on the budget for the MSN game. I hope everyone has a great time on the boat cruise. I won’t be there, unfortunately.

Stevo in Toronto for CFTPA

2007-07-19T20:50:00.001-03:00

Steve’s off to Toronto to do some politicking for the CFTPA with ACTRA. It’s a long story, but the important thing is that Steve’s presence at, and value to, the CFTPA (Canadian Film & TV Producers’ Association) gives us great access into a very personal network of Canada’s cream of the crop as far as other TV producers and production companies go. Though all of this is pretty hidden and not often talked about, these relationships help us get work through the door that lets us “punch above our weight” for an animation studio way out on the East coast.

Tonight's agenda consists of...

2007-07-18T22:38:00.001-03:00

2 proposals for MSN US. One’s for a trivia game, the other is for a sort of online lifestyle show. They’re supposed to be in for tomorrow, but I may be able to push them a few days. I’ll probably need to push them. The creative is getting complex...

The backlog right now

2007-07-18T22:34:00.001-03:00

Here are some of the projects I’ve been working on recently. Sorry I can’t name some names, but I’m under non-disclosure:

Animation:

Working on getting in a 44 min Christmas special.
Working on getting in a hybrid New Media / TV project.
Working on getting in a 52 x 11 min TV project.

Other TV:

Building a development / production alliance with WowTV, a producer in Toronto.
Building a similar alliance with RedFish Entertainment, another producer in Toronto
Writing and pitching a live action comedy called Second Coming, about the son of God being a slacker ski bum who’s hiding out in Banff.

New Media:

Doing animation for the online version of Total Drama Island, with Xenophile in Toronto.
Did a Ford Escape promotion for MSN in the US for their Messenger platform.
Just finished doing the Live Earth promotion for MSN (and Al Gore!). If you have a PC, sign up sonnybot@hotmail.com. Say “hi”, and hit the “Accept” link. It’s pretty cool. (doesn’t work on Mac Messenger :( )
Doing 3 or 4 more proposals for MSN US – Games, video pieces, and interactive ads.
Doing a proposal for 2 interactive TV applications.
Doing a bit of work for the Construction Association of Nova Scotia. (Yeah, I know – WTF? Long story.)
Maintaining a small kids entertainment area for Aliant broadband, which I’m hoping will turn into something larger.

That doesn’t include all the stuff that Steve’s working on. There’s a fair amount of business development going on, but until now, I’ve kind of sucked at letting people know. Hopefully this here blog will change that.

Hi, all; I'm M-A.

2007-07-18T18:59:00.000-03:00

Hi, all. It's come to my recent* attention that a lot of people at Collideascope have no idea what I do, let alone who I am. Furthermore, it's also come to my recent* attention that a lot of people have no idea what goes on up on the 4th floor.

So, using the power of the information superhighway, I figured I could make one of these so-called "web logs" that I heard were all the rage on Live at 5.

Umm, that's it for now. Oh yeah. If anyone has any questions about Collideascope or whatnot that the normal lines of communication can't answer, feel free to send me an email. m-a [at] collideascope [dot] com.

*not recent