What's TZGZ you ask? It's quite simple really: TZGZ is a magical place where lettuce sings, where the undead text, and where wizards get high. Yup, you just read that right - we said where wizards get high. TZGZ is SYFY's late-night adult animation block: wild, playful, hilarious, and psychedelic genre content. Get excited, and then if you're an artist, animator, designer, or director, let's talk about how SYFY needs some weird, wild, mind-bending video idents for TZGZ's logo, because you're gonna make it happen.
These idents are short animated :20 spots. With 20 seconds, you can afford to weave a short, clever narrative, but the attraction is really going to be amazing visuals, and that means doing something fun with the TZGZ logo. Think about how you can creatively reveal it, transform it, transport it, obscure it, fill it in, smoke it out, anthropomorphize it, destroy it, electrify it, or subvert it. Think outside the box, and then think outside the box you put that box in, and give your thought a genre-fied spin.
DELIVERABLES:
- Up to THREE :20 videos. SYFY would love to select creators who can produce multiple videos, although no creator is guaranteed more than one video.
- Your video should be 16x9, but the action and TZGZ logo should be framed so that it can be cropped for a 1x1 aspect ratio. If you prefer not to have your video cropped, you may deliver a second version specifically designed for the 1x1 aspect ratio.
TIMELINE: For the full project timeline please see the Assets tab.
EXPOSURE: Videos will air on SYFY during TZGZ programming, and also be posted on SYFY.com, as well on SYFY’s digital and social platforms.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult fans of late-night genre content
TONE: Wild, provocative, psychedelic, mind-bending, absurdist, playful, hilarious, and/or a little off-kilter. It's SYFY after you puff puff pass. And on that note, SYFY content is already pretty smart, edgy, provocative, and self-aware, so you should have a lot of fun here.
EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES:
- Remember that there should be a genre element to this. "Genre" refers to science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and horror, as well as anything that falls under those umbrellas, or combines them. Think about specific sub-genres too - science-fiction and fantasy are HUGE categories that include a ton of different styles, so avoid generic and overly broad approaches and explore genres from any era.
- This is for artists, animators, designers, editors, and makers - NOT live-action filmmakers. Any medium can work, including traditional 2D animation, stop-motion animation, claymation, creative motion graphics, mixed media, etc. 3D animation is acceptable, but hyperrealistic VFX work is difficult given the timeline and budget, so you must show that you can execute within these parameters. You *may* use real-life photography or video to supplement your animation, but it must still feel stylistic and artful.
- Your video MUST end with the horizontal TZGZ logo, NOT the SYFY logo, and the logo should be on screen for a minimum of 5 seconds. You may use this SYFY sizing reference for the final position of the TZGZ logo. The logo must be readable and visually distinct from the background. i.e. the logo should not completely blend into the environment—it’s an essential part of the spot.
- The design of the TZGZ logo itself is open for interpretation though, and SYFY is specifically looking for your unique personal style and choice of medium to come through.
- The “walls” of the logo can be broken if you choose (i.e. a character stepping through the logo; a vine growing beyond the edges of the logo, etc.).
- All work MUST be original, and should NOT include or reference existing IP. Any persons, places or things rendered should be of the artist’s own creation and should not be referential of any existing properties.
- AVOID voiceover, unless it’s absolutely integral to the perspective of the storytelling in your video.
- AVOID text or type that isn’t related to the T-Z-G-Z of the TZGZ logo.
- AVOID graphically violent or sexual images, or overtly political subject matter.
NOTE: You should submit a separate pitch for each individual video that you'd like to produce. SYFY may select up to three pitches from a single creator. If you are selected to produce multiple videos, you will receive the same budget for each video. All videos must be produced on the same timeline.
In order to be considered for this project you must include the below materials in your pitch submission. For examples of effective pitches, check out this gallery.
- TEXT (REQUIRED): 500 characters or less synopsizing how you plan to approach and execute this video.
- TREATMENT (REQUIRED): A detailed narrative description of what's going to happen in the video. If it's helpful to you, we've provided a treatment template, which you can find here.
- LINKS (REQUIRED): To your previous video work. Please specify your role (producer, director, cinematography, etc.) and DO NOT INCLUDE LINKS TO YOUR SHOWREEL. Please link to individual videos.
- STORYBOARDS (Optional): Additional concept art, storyboards, shot list, anything that helps get your point across. You can download the Tongal storyboard template here.
- PITCH VIDEO (Optional): This is your opportunity to be face-to-face with the Sponsor and show them what you're capable of. Consider submitting a pitch video in which you tell the Sponsor what they can expect should they choose your pitch. Also, test videos, animatic, etc. are welcome.
NOTE: You should submit a separate pitch for each individual video that you'd like to produce. SYFY may select up to three pitches from a single creator. If you are selected to produce multiple videos, you will receive the same budget for each video. All videos must be produced on the same timeline.
