Written by I’m looking for someone that wants to collaborate with OneRiver Media to create a “for fun” project; a creative writer that is interested in collaborating on a 3-5 minute short story. You do NOT need to be local. You write and develop the story you’ve wanted to “get out there,” and we produce everything. And by “everything,” I literally, mean everything: Storyboards, animatics, 2D animation, 3D animation, visual effects, compositing, motion tracking, live production, editorial, color grading, audio production, ADR, foley, custom musical score, 5.1 surround mix, E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
OneRiver Media's audio control room, which houses a 40-channel ProControl console with 5.1 surround support.
So what’s the catch? Your story has to be good. Reeeeally good. But don’t blindly send me your stories just yet. I run an honest operation and I’m not looking for stories to steal and call my own or use elsewhere. Tease me with something, be creative, but don’t give up the farm if you’re not comfortable doing so. I want to make this fair, ethical, honest, and most importantly, enjoyable for everyone on board with this.
Also, understand this is for the pure satisfaction of starting, and more importantly, completing the project. This is for fun; it’s meant to stir ideas, enjoyment, and an outlet of creativity that we don’t always get when working on client-related projects.
At this point, I’m mostly interested in working on a project that is 2D and/or 3D based, unless you have a story that is live-action based and doesn’t require actors (one actor might work), and doesn’t require crew. Otherwise, if we roll talent and crew into the mix, we’re delving into a project that requires synching of schedules, locations, and cash. If we can stick to 2D and/or 3D animation, it keeps logistics and money down to a bare minimum, as well as being able to pretty much collaborate on everything in a virtual manner. Note that we can still use voice-over talent for characters if we go the 2D/3D route. Best of all, we do everything in-house so we do not need funding for outside services.
One of many large 3D city scape scenes we've done in Lightwave 3D.
I’m open to any genre. Sci-fi is always a favorite of mine. Comedy is also fun, but it’s really tough to properly nail comedy without it being cheesy and lame in the end. I’d be open to something informative (i.e., documentary), but it would still need to be entertaining. Action/adventure is also fun, but if the story scenes are too complex, it means our production will also be overly complex, which I’d like to try and avoid (I don’t want to spend a month setting up an army battle scene that lasts 10 seconds). I’d really like to adhere to the keep it simple stupid motto. I want the story to be the focus, not the technology that got it there.
Okay, now some formalities. Your roll in this project is not one of a director and/or a producer. Your main objective is to write and develop a creative story with a hook. If you’re able to collaborate further in the project (character design, location scouting, etc.), then all the better, but directing, producing, and project management will be performed on our end.
Here are some key parameters I want to outline first, so there are no surprises from the start. First, you will be fully credited for any involvement you proved in the project. You will not be financially compensated by OneRiver Media for your involvement in this project (nobody is getting paid for this, as this is a for-fun project). This project will be a OneRiver Media Production. Although we will outline a timeline of events and goals, these will surely change since our clients with paid projects will always take a front row seat (expect delays in completion). OneRiver Media ultimately owns the rights to the finished video. You will always be able to use the finished video as an example of your story-writing talents.
Marco Solorio doing his thing in the master edit suite.
Bottom line, we want to have fun with this, show off everyone’s talents, and work on something that is our own. If you do not agree to these terms, or if you’re not an easy-going, fun person to work with, then this isn’t the right opportunity for you.
If you DO want to seize this opportunity and want to see your story transformed into a high quality work you can be proud of, then contact us to get the ball rolling. Bare in mind, there’s a chance we may get bombarded with emails from those that want to grab the bull by the horns, and because of this, I might not be able to reply to all emails. Any emails that are more to the point that include story ideas may get a quicker reply than emails that are just asking questions. But again, I will do my best to reply to as many emails as I can.
Please send all correspondence for this opportunity to stories [a t] onerivermedia [d o t] com. Do not send your ideas as a posted comment on this blog post!
Okay, let’s have fun with this and make something we can all be proud of!
About OneRiver Media
OneRiver Media is owned and operated by Marco Solorio. We are located in Walnut Creek, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our 3000-square-foot facility houses ten rooms which includes a super high-end edit suite (where we cut videos, color grade, composite, etc. using Avid Symphony, FCP 7, After Effects, etc.), an audio control room (fitted with ProTools HD3 version 10 with a 40-channel ProControl console and an enormous collection plugins, virtual synths, sounds, etc.), an audio booth (tracking vocals, instruments, effects, etc.), a shooting room, a machine room, a conference room (dedicated 7.1 surround and 55” LED monitor), and several other rooms for working and equipment storage. We have a host of production gear that includes cameras, lenses (many fast primes and zooms), lights, and an assortment of hardware (jibs, dollies, tripods, stands, filters, etc.). Marco Solorio has been working continuously in the industry since 1991, is a published writer for many print magazines, has published DVD tutorials, has won countless awards, and has been a longtime Creative Cow leader and contributing editor since 2002. Check out his most recent article, previewing the new Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera.
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