TL;DR

PPT Studios is asking for $500K (~Ξ320 at the time of 07/28/22) 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
-1st milestone Deliver Script Tk01 Draft (End of Week 3)
2) Animatic (weeks 4-11) $200K
-2nd milestone Deliver Storyboards (End of Week 9)
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:

~Ξ320 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 3 of 4 multisig with signers JoelCares, ToadyHawk, Benbodhi and thepencil.eth. 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.

Multisig address:
0x3D2268fa80B76448A8b33d554A3E972f5d8d5534

*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:

• Co-developed NounsTown, an extension project of Nouns introducing PFD (profile deeds) A profile picture that proves ownership of land in the metaverse, and a Nouns Auction Tracker.
• Brought and showcased Nounish extensions into the metaverse via BLOCKS giving the ability to make user-generated content easy to share, such as 3D Nouns and other projects.
• Active Nouncil member that regularly participates in voting
• Active participant and on the organizing committee for The Noun Square (A group of nounish builders hosting daily celebrations around Noun O’Clock)
• Introduced Samsung to Nouns (through Joey at Buoy Studio) which lead to their video in Times Square and 837X DCL experience.
• Prop 70 (CC0 Pitchbook)

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.