#only tagging rwde cause i don't want to bring up the letter too often

[sytokun]

I wish more people analyzed the letter more because there are parts people don't talk about that, to me, are so interesting from a behind the scenes perspective. There's a part where Shane mentions that when production started and more people got involved that others started to call the shots in ways different than what Monty wanted so things like the look of the show, artstyle,and process of creating assets changed and its like well what were they supposed to be? Or there's another part when he says that people they didn't want were hired and people they wanted were passed over so its like who were these people they didn't want and did want? The process of trying to move a small team to california to work on RWBY seems interesting too since RT would end up expanding there anyways when they created the funhaus branch in 2015.

Also since Shane mentioned the specific workflow that he and Monty had that RT disapproved of and scrapped, I don't know if you know of this channel but there's an animator named Cake that makes videos analyzing Monty's ways of animating and recently made one where they talk about the workflow since they managed to talk to Shane about it. Here.

https://youtu.be/LI7fL3bIodE

Oh darn, I was meaning to watch that Cake video but forgot. Thanks for reminding me. Really interesting stuff.

And yes, disregarding the ethical discussions and emotional baggage surrounding it, the contents of the letter are just generally interesting to sift through and think about because it offers a rare look into production companies and what rank-and-file staff like animators go through.

Monty having a "dream team" to work on RWBY is a somewhat verifiable thing, as he has a lot of creative friends, many of whom worked with him on RWBY, and many also corroborated the letter. Monty was also known to handpick people he liked working with or he felt fit RWBY's aesthetic. I believe he chose Einlee and Kristina Nguyen this way back then, but my memory on it's fuzzy so don't quote me on it.

As for people he wouldn't want, I'd probably say it's those bureaucrat types who're just there to wrangle RWBY's production, and not in a "we need to have a direction" way and more like "we're not letting you do what you want with your show" kinda way, much like was done to Nomad of Nowhere and its creator Georden Whitman.

I don't doubt that the way Shane and Monty worked would very likely not mesh well with group animator settings, where syncing information and asset folders are key. They have a more renegade solo animator vibe to them, with their own workflows and special shortcuts and workarounds, so growing pains trying to work within a setting where structure is more strictly enforced, is to be expected.