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At Tapas, supporting creators is our goal, and we’re excited to develop fresh stories and open new doors together. For creators who want to work side-by-side with Tapas to start something new, co-production provides the chance to take a great idea to professional publishing, new mediums, and beyond!

What is a co-production?

A co-production is a special series that Tapas and creators plan together from start to finish. These become our Tapas Originals! Our standards for these stories are higher, and our team invests more time and money to make sure the project succeeds. Success can mean something different to every creator—we work hard to understand what that is and build a robust plan to help them achieve just that!

We see co-productions as more than just comics: it’s a chance to foster new talent, polish raw ideas, and promote top stories, all while caring for the creators’ rights and keeping their best interests at heart. Then, with the creator’s permission, we can help expand these stories into new realms like games, TV, film, print publishing, and overseas distribution.

This is not the same as a one-time work-for-hire deal. In a co-production, we see creators as partners, not labor. We’re on the same team, and we’ll do everything in our power to see your story succeed!

What does co-production offer for creators?

Financial support: We send upfront monthly payments to creators so they can work full-time on their project without having to worry about paying the bills.

Editorial support: Professional editors will help you plan your story every step of the way, polish the results to industry-quality with a reader's perspective in mind, and be your #1 cheerleaders!

Creative Resources: We can provide resources for research, graphic design, assistants like colorists/inkers/letterers, and funding for displays at cons or events—anything that will support you and your story!

Marketing: On top of Tapas-centered marketing like front page banners, we will market these series outside of Tapas to find new audiences!

Connections: We can connect your story to our network of publishers, agents, and entertainment companies to bring new opportunities to life!

What does the co-production agreement look like?

When we start a co-production, we present a standard contract as a starting point, which the creator can negotiate before signing. Be sure to let us know what is important to you: we care and we’re listening!

There are no set terms for co-production projects, because every project is different depending on the creator’s wants and needs. But in every co-production, we promise to pay a fair and competitive rate and discuss any concerns you may have. Timelines for our production and release schedules are flexible even beyond the time of signing, because we know life happens, and we work with creators to choose a timeline that will work for everyone.

As for ownership of co-production projects, we typically split this 50/50 between Tapas and the creator, but there’s a lot of room for discussion together! This is called joint IP ownership.

What’s an IP?

IP stands for “intellectual property,” and it represents the legal rights to a story or creation. By default, you have complete IP ownership of any story you upload on Tapas.

Anyone can pitch their own IP to a company—and for many creators, it would be a dream come true to see their work as its own movie, game, or TV series. But realistically, it’s not always easy for creators to focus on writing or drawing their stories while also trying to form business relationships with media and entertainment companies.

Meanwhile, Tapas gets constant inquiries from our business partners about original stories from our platform’s fresh creative talents. Over the years, we’ve developed strong, friendly relationships with TV and film studios, game studios, talent agencies, traditional publishers, and more. This puts us in a great position to put your IP in front of the right people!

What Does IP Sharing Look Like?

When creators agree to share IP, that means they retain partial creative license over their work. We know stories come from real people, people who should be part of the conversation and hold meaningful ownership of what they create.

As a pro-creator platform, we want to develop stories in a partnership and treat creators with the respect they deserve. Tapas can make plans for how to publish and market the story, but we want to involve the creators in all the decisions that are made. It’s important for us to stay in close communication to make sure creators feel safe and empowered in the process. Especially for young creators or those who are otherwise new to the field, we want to help you learn about and fully understand your IP rights and opportunities.

Tapas also doesn’t hold onto IP rights indefinitely. We include a reversion of rights clause in our contracts: if anything happens to Tapas, or if we're not able to make a deal for a creator within an agreed amount of time, then all rights go back to the creator.

Sometimes we may get inquiries about a certain IP from our partners even though we didn’t co-produce the title or own the IP. (For example, if an entertainment company wants to try adapting a community series on Tapas.) In that case, we reach out to the original creator and make sure we have their explicit, written permission that we can hold discussions with interested businesses about the IP, representing the creator as an agent.

Again, if we don’t own the IP or have the rights to represent it, we never start business discussions about the IP without permission. Your creative work is valuable and your own—and we wholeheartedly appreciate your trust when you allow us to work with you.

What is the Tapas Creator Incubator?

The Creator Incubator Program is our search to find talented creators who are interested in partnering with us on a new co-produced comic! We recently concluded our entry period for our Spring 2018 program, and we’re grateful to everyone who participated.

As with any co-production, we want to make sure that the creators for the Creator Incubator feel supported in their work and fully involved with the project. For any creators signed with us, we can guarantee fair pay, legal protection, and significant say in the direction of the project.

If you have any more questions, check out our updated FAQ or feel free to post on our forums! We’re always listening to our community, and we want to hear what you have to say.

The Road Ahead

In all of Tapas’ projects—from co-productions to Premium series to community content—above all, we value our strong working relationships with our creators, built on trust and mutual support. The road ahead truly looks bright, and we’re thankful for all the creators who’ve played a part in sharing these stories with the world.

Some of our partnership success stories include working with Bre Indigo on a modern reinterpretation of an American classic. We paired Sarah Andersen with Andy Weir, author of the hit novel The Martian, to work on an exciting new project. Right now, we’re developing fun mobile games based on a few Tapas titles, with the original creators directly involved in the process. And we’ve already helped some indie creators generate a 6-figure income from their works on Tapas alone.

These are just a few examples of the ways we’re working for creators! We’re always learning and growing, and we want to do our best to improve Tapas and celebrate our community. Our days are filled with proud moments seeing creators succeed on our platform, and warm feelings when those creators give us support in return.

If you’ve been on Tapas for a while, thank you for being part of our community. And if you’re new here, welcome! We’re here for you, and we’re excited to see your ideas come to life.

That’s it for now—happy creating!