“The guy who delivers lunch makes more money on a movie than we do,” said writer and artist Jimmy Palmiotti, summarizing the plight of comic book creators who sign Hollywood deals that pay them little while corporations make billions.
The topic of creator-owned capital was a hot topic on Friday at Comic-Con during a panel titled “The Importance of Owning Comic Book Creators’ Intellectual Property.”
The topic is very relevant since the beginning of this week. the hollywood reporter He revealed the very one-sided contracts writers and artists face when they see the characters they’ve created perform on screen.
“Comics drive some of the biggest franchises, and we don’t see creators participating at the level they should,” said Chris Giliberti, CEO and co-founder of digital comics startup Zestworld, which hosted the panel.
The panel was led by Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, known for their work at DC as Harley Quinn Also Phil Jimenez, known for his work Wonder Woman, Belief Screenwriter Aaron Covington and Selena: the series Showrunner Moses Zamora.
Zestworld operates in three main streams of comics creators: publishing, art and commissions, and Hollywood IPs and adaptations. The 1-year-old company launched its webcomics in the spring, featuring new work from veteran creators like Palmiotti, Connor, and Jimenez. Commissions were launched a few weeks ago, while the IP tool is brand new.
The company, which allows creators to keep the rights to their comics, hopes to help writers and artists get better deals in Hollywood and even keep the business flowing.
“I want to go back 20 years and kick myself for an hour because I made some stupid deals,” said Palmiotti, co-creator. painkiller jane Made in a Syfy series.
Connor and Palmiotti, who have worked at DC for a long time, admitted that they eventually started to stop creating characters due to unfair pay.
“A lot of times we caught up and said, ‘I wish we hadn’t left this,’” Connor said. “Now we are more careful.”
The creators’ backsliding is why readers see heroes facing the same villains. Nobody wants to create new people, Palmiotti said.
“Current contracts do not provide us with compensation. “There’s nothing worse than watching a movie that makes a billion dollars and you get a check for $10,000,” he said.
Jiménez, who will debut his series other worlds For the platform, he said that no one stops working on the characters on their part: “The good thing about this is that we are very excited”.
Of course, with webcomics using the scroll reading method popularized by one of the form’s biggest providers, Webtoon, a generation of writers and artists who learned their craft from traditional print comics must make adjustments.
“I have to learn to do the story and the rhythm,” Connor said. “It’s still an art school to me.”
Jiménez agreed that the new uniform got his creative juices flowing. The idea of learning a new format after so long in the business is exciting.”
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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