Would you say that your day job is as cool as making animated games, working with Adult Swim and Disney, and even pitching a concept to Disney? Well, David Pietrandrea’s is. This entrepreneur who considers luck to have played a big role in some of his successes is having an unbelievable time producing video games and animations. David is definitely a go getter and always has been. His business began while he was at his full time job and today it is growing immensely.
If you want to read about an ambitious entrepreneur, you don’t want to miss out on this interview. Find out how David got his first client, his strategies working on a project and getting through struggles, how to get an elite client like Disney, and all about the concept of Lunch Time. Watch the teaser and tell me that does not make you want to see more. Makes me think of Marty McFly going to the future and past with Doc Brown.
Doc, fuel the Delorean and take us back to 2010 for the interview with David…
Tell us about Robox Studios.
Robox Studios is a small video games and animation studio located in Hoboken, New Jersey. I started doing business in 2006 with a focus on Flash games and animations, and am slowly making the transition into mobile and independent gaming. My goal is to become an independent studio within the next year… and to finally take a vacation.
How did you get your first client?
It was a covert op. For about two weeks, whenever I’d take a break at my previous job, I’d go to the stairwell of my office building and call potential clients. After a lot of fumbling around and embarrassing conversations, I was able to get through to a games producer at Adult Swim. From that point on it was actually a convergence of extremely good luck and perseverance. Adult Swim was about to start a new initiative working with independent game developers. In the past they’d focused solely on development for existing properties to promote their programming lineup (Robot Chicken, Samurai Champloo, etc). I was lucky enough to be one of the first to pitch an original concept. That’s how our Orphan Feast game came about. It was a very positive experience, from the development process to the incredible response after its release.
Do you have a strategy when you’re working on a project? How do you get to your end product?
My business is split right now, between client work and independent work.
For client work, they often provide a rough schedule for you to follow. Then it’s just a matter of organizing your team, clearly stating your expectations to your staff, and getting an honest assessment of the time it will take to complete something. I’ve started resisting the urge to shortchange myself, to promise deliveries with the aim of impressing the client, either by being early or over-delivering. In most cases the client is working with you because they see the quality your work represents, and you should see that about yourself as well; respect the time, effort, and budget needed to complete the work. Accept that you’ll miss deadlines and be challenged on your creative decisions, and use that as an opportunity to improve your product. At the end of the day the client remembers the product more than the process. So while I try to make the process go smoothly and professionally, my eye is always on the prize of the final product; assuring that it’s the best thing we can produce at the time.
For my independent work it’s been more challenging as I’ve had to set my own goals and timelines. For example, I’m currently finishing up my first independent iPhone game. This included story and concept creation, illustration, animation, and game design. It was an overwhelming project to take on with such a small team (3 people), but belief in the project has helped me to complete it. Our goal is to release it in July 2010.
Getting to the end product is difficult. Some clients are incredibly demanding and essentially expect more than what was agreed upon and promised. And for my own work it can be hard to let go of a project and let it live out in the world. In both cases I assess that the quality is up to my standard and that the initial vision for it hasn’t been watered down or lost in translation. It’s all about the end result and hopefully connecting with an audience.
When you get stuck on something, how do you get past it?
With creative decisions sometimes all that’s needed is time. I’ve spent weeks NOT thinking about something, letting my mind just wander, and eventually the solution will present itself. Obviously client work doesn’t always offer this luxury, but with my own work it’s helpful to let something sit while your mind works it out. For me the big concept comes very quickly, but it’s the smaller details that take some time. Those small details ultimately are what make the project special and require a lot of time.
If I’m stuck with the business I usually find that I already know the right course of action and am either resisting it out of uncertainty or fear of making a mistake. You have to accept that you’ll make mistakes. At this point I’ve made so many I’m no longer afraid of them…or at least I’m less afraid of them.
How much do you love what you do?
Very much. More than the specific medium, I love to tell stories, be it through games or animations. I’m at my happiest when I’m building little worlds for characters to play in. I try to inject story into everything I do creatively as I think that’s what hooks a viewer. People like being transported, even in a simple way, and they like seeing something new and personal…or a genuine point of view. If you can add a sense of depth and backstory I think it helps to expand the experience for the audience.
If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?
You know, I have no idea! I’d problem live in Europe or on a beach somewhere. Whenever I hit a rough patch I usually have some escapist daydream of fleeing the country, then I refocus and reinvest. I’d certainly like to be writing more and would probably take a stab at that. That great novel is still waiting to be written.
How do you pull a client like Disney and Adult Swim?
This was another bit of luck. I used to spend every morning sending emails out, hundreds of emails to anyone I thought could use our services. I found a list of design and advertising agencies and went straight down the list in alphabetical order. The very first company on the list emailed me back the same day and said they were working with a third party to find a flash game developer for Disney. The next day I met them in their office and a few months later I was out in California pitching my services to Disney. We didn’t have a huge portfolio at the time, but what we did have was, I feel, very high quality. It was a bit surreal showcasing the Orphan Feast game to Disney producers who were a bit more accustomed to seeing G-rated content. The game has children being kicked around the screen and thrown into sacks, with the intent of baking them into pies… not completely family-friendly, but it showed our skill level, not to mention our creativity. And no restraining orders were enforced.
You have created Lunch Time, an animated movie. Tell us about that.
Lunch Time was a project I pitched to Disney Animation. I wish I could say it was a full movie, but it’s just a concept and trailer now. I was fortunate through my contacts and partnerships to parlay our flash game work into a meeting with the animation department. I had a very small window of opportunity and I remember it as one of the more exciting and stressful times of my professional career. Working with my lead animator, we produced the trailer in about four days, while I simultaneously worked on the “Show Bible,” illustrating all the main characters and locations, and writing episode summaries and script samples. I tried to capture something that would hopefully excite a young audience and be a broad enough concept that we would have plenty of room to explore it. Unfortunately Disney passed on the initial pitch, but it was a thrilling experience and helped us establish a relationship with them for future pitches. It also gave me a great portfolio piece, allowing me to showcase my own work.
What are your plans for the movie?
As for the concept, I’d love to continue to pitch it and develop it. I still have a lot of faith in Lunch Time, and hope to take it farther, maybe producing a pilot, short, or some webisodes. I’m always coming up with new episode ideas for it which I try to jot down as they come, storing it all away for the right time.
What do you recommend to someone interested in becoming an animation artist?
I think there are a few things to consider. There’s the very technical work of animation, whether it be 2D or 3D, versus the story and concepting side of development. You have to decide what you’d like your focus to be. For me, I have more of an aptitude for story concept and illustration, which is what I focus on; fleshing out a world for a game or animation and producing the designs and illustrations. I then work with an animator to bring my characters to life.
Both require collaboration skills, but it’s the difference between macro and micro, directing the overarching concept or working with others on the very detailed work of realizing their vision. Of course there’s the middle ground, but those are the two distinctions I usually find, especially in the structure of a larger studio or design firm. Robox Studios is very small so those lines are often blurred.
As for your portfolio, the proof is in the work. I’d say pick a program and master it. Find the one that works the best for you, one that suits your style and preferred way of working. For example, I have a background in traditional illustration so I tend to use Flash and After Effects. It seems to compliment my background as an illustrator. That said, don’t wait for “mastery” of a program to start producing work. Start doing it and you’ll learn along the way.
What advice can you offer to aspiring entrepreneurs?
I would say never miss an opportunity to learn from your peers, colleagues, or competitors. Everyone can provide a teachable moment, whether it’s illustrating what NOT to do, or inspiring you to move in a new direction.
Echoing my previous answer, you must love what you’re doing, or love the future potential of what you’re doing. It’s the only thing that sustains me through the rough patches, realizing that I’m building something that’s bigger than the sum of its parts, and that developing my own work is far more satisfying than working for others. I think you have to trust your ideas, and have tremendous faith in yourself…or pretend that you do. Not to elicit any eye-rolling, but it’s a “fake it until you make it” approach; building the sense of confidence that you can do what others have done, as well as find your own way.
There’s a great quote: “Inspiration is for amateurs.” Inspiration, when it comes, is vital and important, but you can’t wait for it. You have to work hard, and nurture yourself and your business. You have to create your own inspiration, in a way. And the best way to do that is by diving into the work. I wouldn’t have had half of my ideas if I hadn’t been pursuing something else. One thing leads to the next.
Anything else you would like to add?
Just to thank you for your thoughtful questions. It was nice to be able to stop and reflect on things a bit.
And I have to ask, what do you think of a GetYourBizSavvy animation?
The storyline: a young entrepreneur just pursuing his dreams. I think that would be an awesome show/movie.
Let’s it do it! I think between the two of us we’d have a lot of inspirational material. One question, can we give the main character some super powers?
Check out Robox Studios
Play Orphan Feast on Adult Swim
Follow David on Twitter
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