Impossible Television

If we're looking for animators, it'll be on our NEWSBLOG page, so please check there first. Some general information follows. The type of animators we employ are 3DS MAX / Character Studio based. 95% of our work is character animation, so those skills are vitally important to us. Our animators are expected to produce top-notch animation to a weekly schedule, working with pre-designed sets and characters around audio.

We're based in central London and Brighton, primarily the London Bridge area of the city for animation.

Our animators enjoy a level of creative freedom which is unusual in TV, so you'd need to be self-motivated, a team player, willing to turn your hand to anything. We tend not to have set designers, lighting experts, animators, editors - we're a multi-tasking bunch and like it better that way.

Any contact to be an email with a CV and weblink to any relevant work attached, alongside an idea of the money you're looking for. Please don't email in massive files - it'll melt both our temper and bandwidth. Email us on development@impossibletv.com.

One final very important point – we’re only interested in UK-based people for any positions that may arise. If you aren’t living in the UK, please be aware that to work here you’d need to attend an interview, have full UK work visa and be able and willing to relocate to London.

Firstly, thanks! We appreciate your interest in our company, be it to submit an idea, script, proposal or design. A point to make up front is that we rarely take on ideas. It's not a specific policy, it's more that our development team has over thirty person-years' experience of coming up with programme formats and ideas for broadcasters. We also know what the broadcasters are looking for, through our previous submissions, personal contacts and industry briefings, so lots of ideas simply fall into the "not wanted" category automatically.

Primarily animation is our game so it is those ideas we develop, from preschool to mainstream kids to adult sitcoms and sketch shows; that's what we make. Due to the nature of cartoons, preschool shows and mainstream kids' series are what we make the most of. But we'll look at other ideas from factual through sitcoms to gameshows, as we've also got experience in those areas.

We don't do drama unless targeted at a children's audience, and reality or documentary shows aren’t our thing.

If it's a children's show it needs to be work for multiple episodes, series of 26 or 52 episodes. One-offs and specials are incredibly hard to sell. Please don't send in ideas rejected by broadcasters as there's nothing we can do with them. If it's been everywhere and they've all said no then we can't magic up someone new to sell it to.

It's important to do some research on your idea. We won't be interested in a show about birds or mechanics for example! Equally, check TV listings to see if something similar exists elsewhere. The websites of Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, CBBC/CBeebies and Disney are a good place to see if someone else has had the same brilliant idea as you. It happens all the time, even to us!

An emailed one-paragraph description is normally enough in the first place. If you've got drawings of characters or locations, an attached .jpg or a one-page Word or .PDF document is also fine. If you feel you can only get the idea across by posting a longer document, you're welcome to do so, but it will only be returned if you enclose an SAE. Email us on development@impossibletv.com.

We know many contributors fear intellectual property theft but in fifteen years' experience in TV, I've never seen it happen. Be aware that you may send in an idea similar to one we're already developing. We're working on new ideas all the time, and have over a hundred concepts on file and in development.

Remember, if we turn you down, it's just our opinion. It's the same if we love your idea - the broadcaster is the ultimate decision maker, not us. If you do submit something we like; an original concept, a fantastic script or a stunning character design - or preferably all three - we follow industry-standard practices to get your idea from page to TV screen.

Peter Scott,
MDr, Impossible TV