I was lucky enough to have an amazingly colourful conversation with animator turned director/producer Jessica Borutski (Nickelodeon). She’s also my friend! I first became a fan of her work when she released her animated short “I Like Pandas” about 20 years ago. Her excitement and enthusiasm has always been a motivator for me, and she’s told me a few times I should turn my books into a series. Ok, Jess, I hear you.

We talked about her career, making a show, meeting the creator of Paw Patrol, building an empire, funding, and of course her dog Griff. You can watch the video here.

Some key takeaways from our conversation:

• The concept will change a lot during development

• It’s my job to keep the core themes of the show on track

• I’ll need the idea, a script, and a character rundown for a studio meeting

• A studio meeting can be helpful regardless of the outcome

• I’m gonna need funding!

For any of my creative projects to succeed, I have to be excited. In my little career, the tool I’ve found to best create that excitement is imagining an end product and moving toward it. That doesn’t mean that the finish line will look anything like what I’d imagined. In fact, it almost always doesn’t. But moving toward something tangible is often my greatest motivator.

To create this goalpost, I can use my background in design. With my first book, Find Momo, I had made a dozen copies of a little book on blurb.com and had sent a couple to my soon-to-be-publisher. Promotional materials like websites, pins, stickers, and mockups of tangible objects like books or layouts can bring life to a project.

This animated series is a new realm for me. I can’t create an animation test to see what works without hiring an animator. I have to take smaller steps. First, a script, then a storyboard. I can draw what I want the dogs to look like, and I’ll find an animator to perfect the drawings. Usually, in the development of a series, these aren’t steps that are outright shared—and probably for good reasons. Does it ruin the magic? Is it just not that interesting? I’ll let you know when I find out. Until then, you’re gonna see it all. How the sausage gets made, so to speak.

After scripting and storyboarding, things can get expensive. Which means I’m going to have to either get a grant, buddy up with a studio, start a fundraiser, or get really lucky with a couple sponsors. But for now, let’s get that script and storyboard out of the way. But before we even do this, we need a concept to bring into development.

The Concept:

We follow the adventures of Yaya & Boo as they explore the world in their newly acquired big yellow van, meet new friends, and have new adventures. Each episode leads to a final scene where the viewer is invited to play hide-and-seek with the dogs in a new place they’ve found.

Some questions:

• We’re gonna need a female character (maybe Scout the teddy bear?)

• Do they, um, have parents?

• Is this a dog world? Will there be humans?

What’s important is that I stay true to the core themes. These guiding principles that I keep returning to are:

• Celebrating the spirit of adventure

• A focus on getting outside and into nature

• Empathy for living creatures

• Small moments

Ok, great. We have a concept. We have some core themes. What’s important is that we’ve identified the pillars of the show and this will help us continue to identify what will set it apart. It’s also important that this concept works well with the books I’m creating and the ones I’ve already made. But first and foremost: I’m having fun.

Thank you for being here with me, and please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Next week, the pilot script!

Best,

Andrew, Yaya, & Boo