Interview with Carlos Bleycher – Scriptwriter, Content Consultant, and Story Editor for Children's Oriented Animated Programming on Netflix, Discovery Kids, Disney xD, and Cartoon Network LA

Carlos Bleycher profile photo. Source: http://carlosbleycher.com/index.html

“The most important thing for any genre are the characters,” Carlos Bleycher—veteran scriptwriter, content consultant, and story editor, with numerous credits spanning animated and children-oriented content in his native Spanish as well as English for the likes of Disney xD, Cartoon Network LA, and Discovery Kids—tells Stop Motion Geek. “That’s why it’s so important to have strong characters that feel real, and then use your premise as an ‘excuse’ to flesh out their personalities, dreams, fears, everything.”

After getting his start in the industry writing for sitcoms, Bleycher—inspired by the “countless hours of watching cartoons” he consumed as a child along with a healthy dose of ambition—made a conscious shift towards writing for animated programming aimed at children—an oft-snubbed dimension of scripted programming. To Bleycher, however, respecting such an audience is his highest priority in creating his work.



“I think an audience of children is the most critical and sophisticated one you could ask for,” says Bleycher, “they’re evolving every minute, they’re unpredictable, but at the same time they know exactly what they want. They’re tremendously creative, so it’s going to be very hard for a 7-year-old boy or girl to stick to a show that uses step-by-step, classical three-act structure. You need to play with that structure, deconstruct it, to create something new.”

Aside from his work as Head of Story & Script on stop motion series such as Netflix’s Horacio y los Plasticines (Horatio & The Plasticines), Discovery Kids’ Los Papelnautas (The Papernauts), Puerto Papel (Paper Port), Tienda de Mascotas (Cagemates)—which won the MIFA Creative Focus Pitch in the International Animation Festival of Annecy 2013—with also having worked as the Head of Content at the animation studio Zumbastico Studios, Bleycher sustains a side-career teaching screenwriting masterclasses. He gave his most recent talk— “Character Development & Storytelling”—at this year’s ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum—a prestigious, week-long animation conference, through whom Stop Motion Geek had the wonderful opportunity to coordinate this interview, the second in a series of interviews with several of ANIMARKT’s featured speakers.

Carlos Bleycher at ANIMARKT. Photo courtesy of Iwona Buchcic.

(To read the first article in this series—an interview with Barry Purves, one of the leading voices in the stop motion industry, most well known for his groundbreaking short films Next, Operavox, Achilles, Gilbert & Sullivan: The Very Models, Hamilton Mattress, Rupert and the Flying Dragon, Rupert Bear, Plume, and Tchaikovsky – An Elegy—you can go here).

Bleycher’s genial mein makes his already easily applicable advice even more accessible, proving a vast wealth of knowledge for those interested in forging careers for themselves in screenwriting.

Regardless of how complex and diverse Bleycher’s career becomes, his mantra remains the same—as does his core advice to all writers, whether aspiring are industry professionals: “Write. Rewrite. Coffee.”

Carlos Bleycher profile photo. Source: http://carlosbleycher.com/home-eng.html

In our interview, Carlos discusses nearly every facet of the industry—from the simple-yet-effective philosophies he recommends aspiring screenwriters follow to improve their writing, to gloriously indulgent advice about the “nuts-and-bolts” of the craft itself, in everything from creating and developing characters to structuring a story to writing animated and children’s oriented programming. He also gives us a rundown of the lessons he’s learned from working remotely, teaching writing workshops, and rising in the hierarchical system of television scriptwriting—from starting out getting his first job writing for sitcoms to ultimately running a television show and becoming the Head of Content at Zumbastico Studios.

You can read our interview below in full.

A.H. Uriah: Hello, Carlos! Thank you so very much for doing this interview! I’m extremely excited to feature you and your work on Stop Motion Geek!
To start, can you tell us how you came to write for television—specifically for animated programs—and how you came to be in the place you are today—a professional screenwriter, content consultant, and story editor who’s worked on many animated series for several networks (namely Disney xD, Cartoon Network LA, and Discovery Kids), a former Head of Content of an animation studio, a teacher of a numerous screenwriting workshops and programs...not to mention the creator of your own animated children’s series?

Carlos Bleycher: Hola! The pleasure is mine.

How I started writing for animation and television? Well, I must thank my bad choices in college for that. I decided to study advertising. I was sure that after graduation I would be making T.V. commercials, and for me that sounded like fun! But no, you need quite a lot of years to actually get into that in advertising.

So with my Creative Writing in Advertising degree I realized that I don’t like advertising at all. Back in 2004, after a year working as a Copywriter in an ad agency, I came across the opportunity to write a puppet T.V. show for kids. That was the whole first calling, and I saw that as an opportunity—the same opportunity that the producers saw in someone writing the show for free. Of course, I had zero experience on scriptwriting, I just had countless hours of watching cartoons as a kid. So, I wrote the show focusing on the kind of show that I would love to have watched as a 6-to-9-year-old. The show aired in a local Chilean broadcaster... And I just loved the result. So I decided to quit advertisement and become a writer.

Los Papelnautas (The Papernauts) title card. Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7488982/mediaviewer/rm154543360

My first jobs as a writer were in local telenovelas and sitcom adaptations. I started telling people that I love cartoons and children’s oriented content and that’s how my first jobs in animation started to pop up. Back then, I was one of the few writers that had worked in animation, and I decided to keep that track. In 2010 I met Alvaro Ceppi, the creative director of Zumbastico Studios. I collaborated with them a couple of years, until finally I ended up being Head of Content of the studio for 6 years.

Now I’m living in Barcelona where I still write for television, give creative and content consultancies, and impart workshops in storytelling and character development.

A.H.: While working on the story and script-writing side of many television shows, shorts, and feature films—and in many different capacities—you also sustain a side-career of speaking about the craft of writing, and you teach screenwriting workshops—most recently “Character Development & Storytelling” at ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum.
The ANIMARKT website says about your workshop, “[Students] are going to see with theoretical and practical examples how they can develop characters that fit organically into their stories and give the key points to structure their episodes, from the springboard to the actual script.”
As the first part of this question—the second part being my next question—what, if you had to boil it down, were some of your key discussion points, thoughts, and takeaways specifically concerning creating characters?

CB: Any creator loves their characters. And that’s fine, you need to love them! But the problem is that they love them so much that they don’t think of the bad stuff of their characters. They focus on the amazing side and how cool they are. So, you end up having perfect characters: Smart, athletic, with a golden heart, always ready to lend a hand to whomever needs it, good looking and save-the-whales/stop-global-warming/carrots-have-feelings-too kind of guy/gal. So I ask creators: Where is the conflict in that? It’s no fun to see a perfect character going through a challenge, because, if he’s perfect, it’s not a challenge at all! Besides that, a super-good character is emotionally far from the audience. We want no heroes. We want normal people struggling with their limits to become a hero.

Martian Soap 2111 – a television show Carlos Bleycher developed for Disney xD – title card. Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7289722/mediaviewer/rm3187220480

I try to teach the importance of the flaws in the workshops. Having a character with flaws, a bad temper, childish behaviors or some ghost from the past that comes to visit them once in a while creates an emotional link with the audience. This makes the characters believable and sympathetic to the public. Especially in comedy, people tend to think that it’s just about the joke, the slapstick, but it’s not: The most important thing for any genre are the characters, that’s why it’s so important to have strong characters that feel real, and then use your premise as an “excuse” to flesh out their personalities, dreams, fears, everything.

A.H.: To piggyback off my last question: the summary of your ANIMARKT workshop also mentions you teaching about the structure of teleplays.
Can you give us a few examples from your own work of story structures you’ve followed? How necessary do you think it is for screenwriters hoping to write for children’s television to follow certain story structures?

CB: I’m a big defender of the narrative structure. But at the same time I say: “Don’t take it too seriously”. Because trying to write something—something that comes out of your creativity and imagination—and make it fit in a mold (structure) following the rules can be tremendously discouraging.

There’s some key elements of any structure that you need to have in your script. And any book that you read will tell you that in the first 3 pages you need for something specific to happen in your story. I say, “Yes, it needs to happen, but don’t be so harsh on yourself. Don’t break your head trying to fit – for example – the b-plot set-up in the second page of your script. Just play with it, have fun in the process.”

Telonio y sus demonios title card. Source: https://vimeo.com/51792468

Make sure your story has a clear beginning, middle part and resolution, and move the pieces in the middle to tell that story in a unique way: Your way. I think an audience of children is the most critical and sophisticated one you could ask for—they’re evolving every minute, they’re unpredictable, but at the same time they know exactly what they want. They’re tremendously creative, so it’s going to be very hard for a 7-year-old boy or girl to stick to a show that uses step-by-step, classical three-act structure. You need to play with that structure, deconstruct it, to create something new.

So again, the answer is a big ‘yes’: Structure is super important, but, at the same time, you need to be the boss of it and if something needs to be re-structured, please be my guest. You don’t need to ask for permission.

A.H.: Your website mentions that you “currently live in Barcelona delivering global services in generation and content and script consultancy.”
Can you tell us about your personal experiences of working remotely? What advice or thoughts do you have to give to writers considering working remotely?

CB: Get used to Skype, xD. Learn to love those pixelated producers and directors. I think for a writer it’s very easy to work remotely. Nobody wants the writer in the office, haha. Anyone can send you the bible, have a Skype call to discuss it, and then all of the rest is just via email. This also produces something very cool: When you actually meet the person that you been working remotely in some animation market or festival, it’s great! It creates an instant bond; you get used to talking, laughing and fighting with that person through the screen, and that also have something of impersonality, so when you meet them in flesh and bone it creates a great moment (but maybe is just for me and all the people that I met in reality after hours of Skype actually hate me).

Puerto Papel (Paper Port) title card. Source: https://vimeo.com/149335084

A.H.: Amidst your body of work, you have held the senior position of “Head of Story and Script” on the animated series Puerto Papel (Paper Port) (stop motion and 2D, 52x11’, broadcasted in over 9 countries), Zumbastico Fantastico (2D, 30x7’, broadcasted on Cartoon Network LA and Netflix), Hostal Morrison (Morrison Hostel) (2D, 26x11’, broadcasted on PakaPaka and Cartoon Network LA), and Horacio y los Plasticines (Horatio & The Plasticines) (puppets and stop motion, 52x7’ broadcasted on Netflix).
Can you talk about the responsibilities you’ve held as a Head of Story and Script? What is the workflow like concerning the writing process and the turnaround deadlines you and your associates have faced?

CB: It’s so much stress, haha. But it’s great to be in that position.

It’s like being the president of your characters and, of course, of your stories. You can fight (professionally speaking of course) with some producer’s decisions, defending what you know is best for the story, but it’s very demanding. You never actually stop working, because during all your free-time or weekends you’re watching everything with your character/show filter. Oh, this will be great for an episode! You take your own life and mold it to create new stories. It’s not an easy job coming up with 52 ideas for a show!

Hostal Morrison title card. Source: https://vimeo.com/72978758

When pre-production starts, it’s like heaven—you just focus on creating hundreds of springboards for the episodes, and then writing the outlines and the actual script. But when the show enters production, you, as a writer, are still writing the rest of the episodes, so now you not only need to write new scripts, but also need to apply the producer’s and co-producers’ comments on the scripts that you already delivered. So from one blink to another you are facing loads of work. You need to be very good at multitasking in order to accomplish the final deadlines meanwhile keep writing new material. You need to switch very quickly to the moods of the characters and story structure of the script that you received the comments about—let’s say—episode 06, but right now you’re writing episode 26, and your characters have gone through a lot in the time in-between.

And sometimes the feedback from a new version doesn’t stop flooding your inbox. It can be very scary when you need to write the sixth draft, so you open your fifth draft with the producers feedback… You need to scroll very slowly, hoping that there’s no comment on the next page. There’s a classic answer that I hate/love—when I’m completely overwhelmed with the rewriting and new changes or commentaries arrives, I ask them when they need it for, and the answer is always the same: “For yesterday”.

A.H.: Can you tell us about your experiences developing shows—such as Martian Soap 2111 for Disney xD and The Papernauts—versus merely writing on a show already that’s already developed? What have you learned about working with different networks to develop shows?

CB: It’s like preparing a homemade chili con carne versus a canned one. When you develop a show you need to construct everything; not only the characters and premise, but also what tone the show will have, how the characters will relate to each other, what kind of narrative elements will the show consist of comedy or dramatic. Will it be a dialogue-driven series or a more visual-slapstick one? You need to create a whole universe. Which is extremely fun and I love to do, but, it takes time. A LOT of time.

A still from Los Papelnautas. Source: https://youtu.be/ra9UvAiSK5U

On the other hand, working as a writer for an existing show is much more straightforward; you don’t need to create the characters and everything else. They give you all the ingredients and you just need to play with them to create a new recipe. I don’t know why I’m using so many food references... Still, this also takes time, because you need to enter this unique universe already created by someone else, get to know the characters in order to make them do things and speak in a reliable way.

Developing a show could take several months, even years depending on the kind of show. Writing for an existing show can take just a couple of weeks.

A.H.: Can you tell us about pitching your original animated series, Tienda de Mascotas (Cagemates), which won the Disney Channel Prize of MIFA at the International Animation Film Festival of Annecy 2013, France? What goes into a good pitch, and what are the best routes for a writer go about pitching their project?

CB: It was an amazing experience for sure. Being able to pitch my show at the most important animation festival in the world was like a dream come true. But to be honest, I was super scared. There I met Shamik Majumdar, Creative Director, Animation & Live Action Content of Disney EMEA—he was the tutor for the pitch and gave us a lot of advice to improve it, so thanks again Shamik if you’re reading this.

Basically what I learned is that your pitch needs to communicate the tone of your show. Cagemates was a comedy show, so the pitch needed to be extremely funny, but at the same time, extremely clear on its content. The show focused on the relationship of two best friends – a hamster and a rabbit. It was a 100% character driven show, and Shamick said to me and Alvaro Ceppi (I went with him as a producer of the show to pitch it in Annecy) that the best way to demonstrate that was to quickly show an episode which fleshed out the relationship between these characters. So, along with Alvaro, we pitched a storyboard of an episode, with both of us making the character voices and special effects. When the people started to laugh before the first joke I knew the pitch was working.

Mini Beat Power Rockers poster. Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7478542/mediaviewer/rm861742336

Of course, you can’t do something like this if you’re pitching a drama set during the First World War. So you need to be consistent with the genre and type of production. I’ve seen a lot of pitches, and always the best ones are the ones that you can feel the emotional connection of the author with the project. My advice is to put insights and emotional milestones that connect with the audience. Don’t bore the audience—everything that comes out of your mouth during those 7 minutes of pitching should be extremely necessary to understand not only your project, but also how it will feel once is it on the screen. Rehearsal in front of your friends is a great way to test the pitch.

A.H.: You’ve written for a variety of different mediums (2D computer animation, stop motion, puppetry, live action).
How much does a given medium—especially stop motion and 2D animation—restrict your writing? What lessons have you learned to use a given medium to your advantage when writing and outlining plots?

CB: Well, actually there aren’t many more restrictions than money. The budget. That will define how many characters, sets and props you’ll be able to use. And in stop motion this uses up a huge part of the budget, because everything that you put in the script the art department needs to design and build. Ca-shing! Every little prop or detail that you write must be built. So you need your limits. You know that you have, let’s say, 8 characters and 6 sets. And that’s it. Now you play with that and explore them, and something magical starts to happen: You go very deep into your characters and come out with amazing backstories or sidestories to play with. And the same with the sets: The audience doesn’t need to know that they always go, for example, to the park to play because there’s no more budget to build an arcade place. So you ask yourself: Why do the character always go there? And you start to justify that and create a story around that set.

Telonio y sus demonios title card. Source: https://vimeo.com/51792468

These “limitations” are also a great way to construct the universe of the series, because you will stretch and explore them until the last dark corner. And the same with the characters. It’s great actually.

A.H.: Do you have any advice for aspiring screenwriters for how to “break in” to the animation industry—specifically children’s television?

CB: Write. Rewrite. Coffee.

Watch everything new that is coming out in the animation world and create your own stuff.

Also, attending animation markets and festivals such as Annecy, 3D Wire, or Animarkt—just to name a few—is super necessary. Even if there is a small festival close to you, go! In those places you get to meet all the people involved in the animation industry around the world, and if you are charming enough nobody will stop you from actually giving a quick pitch of your project to creative directors, producers or other fellow writers from the major studios and broadcasters around the globe.

Carlos Bleycher at ANIMARKT. Photo courtesy of Iwona Buchcic.

You can explore more of Carlos’s work by visiting his website, LinkedIn, and IMDb.

You can watch Carlos’s enlightening talk about character development and storytelling at the 2018 edition of the annual ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum—where he discusses many of the subjects he references in our interview in greater depth—by going here.

This is the second in an ongoing series of articles Stop Motion Geek organized with several of this year’s prestigious keynote speakers from ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum, about which you can learn more by visiting their website, Facebook, and Instagram. Special thanks goes out to ANIMARKT’s PR and Marketing Manager, Iwona Buchcic, for all the time she poured into arranging these interviews, making sure everything went along smoothly.

You can read the first article in this series—an interview with the renowned director-animator and veritable legend in the stop motion industry, Barry Purves—by going here. In our interview, Purves discusses his outlook now as a more seasoned veteran of the industry on his critically acclaimed work, his philosophy when it comes to creating art, his outlook on stop motion versus CGI, and what’s next for him.

Stay tuned for upcoming interview articles in this series and others by subscribing to the Stop Motion Geek email newsletter via the “subscribe” button at the top right corner of our homepage, by following us on Facebook @StopMotionGeek, or by following us on Instagram @stop.motion.geek.blog.