In a MySpace entry on writing comics, Randy Stradley of Dark Horse reveals that he’s scripted an episode of the animated Clone Wars series.
By way of contrast, last year I had the opportunity to write an episode of Lucas Animation’s upcoming Clone Wars TV series. It was an interesting experience, and it came with a substantially better pay day than a comparable amount of work in comics. I wrote an outline (based on a synopsis provided to me), then rewrote the outline based on notes received from the producer, director, and head writer. Once that was approved, I wrote a script. Again, after a round of notes, I rewrote the script. At that point, my involvement with the script ended, but based on various production concerns (the expense in animating certain sequences, or changes in direction of the series as a whole made after my participation), my script was rewritten by other writers a number of times. I’m told that there is still one scene in the episode that is more or less as I wrote it.
Now, based on what I’ve seen of the show, I doubt very much that I will be disappointed with the quality of “my” episode (heck, I’m sure it will make me look better than I deserve), but I can’t deny that there’s a part of me that wishes I had more control. In comics, I would.
Stradley’s blog as a whole has a lot of interesting insight on comics and writings. Check it out!