Freelance is Still Freelance: So the comic book community, and the entertainment industry, and the general public have been caught up in the turmoil at DC and Skydance for the entire week, which means I don’t have to tell you what happened. You know what happened. I also don’t need to discuss this story from the perspective of a fan, an Instagram financial analyst, or a fake Hollywood insider. You’ve seen all those opinions already and you probably have opinions of your own, which is great. But there are a few lessons about this situation that professional comic creators need to think about, because while James Gunn and Peter Safran are operating at the highest levels of the comic book industry, there are some universal ideas that still apply to you.
The first idea is that freelance is still freelance. No matter what your title is, or how many zeros are in your bank account when you get paid, or what you might be promised at an expensive dinner on Rodeo Drive, you can still be removed at any time. No matter how much passion, vision, or work you put into those stories, you will not own Man of Tomorrow, or Suicide Squad, or any of the other toys you get to play with. The brilliant writer and editor Joseph Illidge said it best on his TikTok, but I’m going to paraphrase it here: the independent creator can always own and control their stories, without worrying about being fired. Freelance talent can make money, they can make a lot of money, but they will always be playing with someone else’s toys.
The other thing that professional comic creators can learn from the continuing struggles of DC Studios is the dangers of trying to mimic your competition. There are benefits in identifying your competition, learning from what they do, and taking advantage of gaps in the market that they don’t serve. But there are limits to that strategy. It is difficult to recreate your competitors' exact results if you are working in a different business environment, in a different time frame, with different expectations.
For example, let’s say your competitor released three or four moderately successful movies between 2008 and 2011 with unknown talent that culminated in a billion-dollar movie in 2012. Why would you assume you could just throw a couple of celebrities in tights in 2016, give their moms the same name, and then expect the next movie to make a billion dollars? Why would you do that? Maybe you think your IP is more popular. Maybe your investors are not willing to wait a decade to see results. Maybe the problem is your business model. Maybe your competitor was just lucky. There are too many variables to know what the real answers are, and there’s no way to completely recreate the success of your competition. So you’re much better off trying to develop a solid business plan, produce the best stories that you can, and adjust to inevitable changes in the market.
The third thing that independent comic creators need to consider when thinking about the DC situation is the connected universe trap. At least half a dozen times a year, a new client will come to me with plans to proliferate a vast interconnected comic book universe, and they are very excited about it. They’ve grown up on some version of DC and Marvel, and they want to offer something that the Big Two aren’t. The first book often has multiple characters that they plan to spin off into multiple titles, team-ups, and crossover events.
There are problems with this plan from a business perspective. It’s hard enough to tell a decent individual story, without navigating the plot threads of a connected narrative. It’s hard enough to get a comic book out the door and get someone to read it without forcing them to buy multiple books just to understand the overall story. It’s hard to get a comic book fan who already has their favorite connected universe to leave that one to join yours, or to buy both at the same time, especially in this economy. It’s hard to get a person who doesn’t read comics to skip characters they’ve already heard of to read your story. It’s hard to maintain a consistent connected universe for the years that it takes to gain traction with an audience. This is why I often suggest creating one strong story first, and see if you can maintain it as an ongoing series. If you can do that, explore the idea of a new title using one of your popular supporting characters and repeat the process.
New ongoing connected universes are possible. You only have to look at Spawn, Invincible, or The Walking Dead to see the potential. But there is a difference between building an IP universe and launching it with issue one.
McFarlane’s Exit Strategy: Gladstone Investment Corp has acquired the majority stake in McFarlane Toys, which originated from the Spawn comic book IP. While McFarlane will remain involved in the company as an executive, this appears to be part of the exit strategy for a creator who has been established in the industry since the 1990s. An exit strategy is a plan a business owner uses to reduce or eliminate their stake in a company, often to increase profit, to reduce losses, or to pass the business onto someone else.
McFarlane is 65 years old now, so it makes sense for him to start contemplating the finish line of his career from a business perspective, even if he plans to stay active on the creative side. So, what is your exit strategy? Are you going to retire to the beach, or have you decided to collapse behind your table at Comic-Con trying to sell your latest trade paperback?
Tiny Onion’s First Look: Tiny Onion, the production company of comic writer James Tynion IV has signed a first look deal with horror studio Blumhouse. A first look deal gives a producer the right of first refusal for any project the publisher wants to bring to film or television. A right of first refusal means the publisher can’t work with any other studio until and unless the producer decides to pass on the project. In exchange for the right of first refusal, first look deals often include an annual development fee, a retainer, and other production support.
So how do you get a first look deal? When my clients get this kind of contract, it often comes after they have established a catalog that has multiple successful projects in it. Since the film producer doesn’t know which one will be a hit, they decide it’s easier to just put themselves first in line for a publisher’s entire output. These deals can get you into the room to pitch your comics as media properties, and they can be a decent source of revenue, but keep in mind that they don’t guarantee that any movie will ever be made from your comics, and they could restrict your creative freedom, if the producer decides to push you to produce stories they think they can sell, rather than the stories you're inspired to make.
Have fun.
Gamal
PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A CONTENT, LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.
