Interest
Low-Income Animator Dorm Project Running 2016 Crowdfund Campaign
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The Animator Supporters non-profit organization is running its 2016 campaign to raise US$10,000 on IndieGoGo. The new campaign would expand the previously crowdfunded dorms so a total of eight fledgling animators can be housed for 30,000 yen (US$250) per month each, including utilities.
The expansion would start in March 2017. The organization currently supports six animators in its dorms and has housed a total of 12 since it launched in five years ago. Candidates are chosen via a contest. Shingo Tamagawa was the first winner, and three years later became an animation director for Gundam: Reconguista in G. He's currently helping with design work for Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.
Other winners include Tatsurō Kawano (Psycho-Pass 2, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress), Moeka Kuga (Wish Upon the Pleiades, Three Leaves, Three Colors), Namiko Ishidate, and Ryosuke Kanai.
Animators Naoyuki Asano (The Tatami Galaxy) and Shingo Yamashita (Gatchaman Crowds) and NPO Animator Supporters founder Jun Sugawara are collaborating on the project.
According to the campaign, the average Japanese animator in their 20s starts out making 90,000 yen (US$850) per month. The campaign notes that this is due to animators being paid per frame of animation completed and that becoming quick and skillful as animator takes considerable time. An animator is paid approximately 200 yen per frame (US$1.88). Most beginning animators have difficulty completing 300 frames a month or maintaining a second job to supplement income.
Animators are usually freelance, work long hours, and are saddled with high-cost of living expenses due the areas where most animation studios are located. The Japan Animation Creators Association held a survey in 2009 that found that most animators in their 20s make 1.1 million yen a year (about US$9,198). The turnaround rate within the animation industry in Japan is about 90 percent.
As of press time, the campaign has raised U$3,705 of it's US$10,000 goal. There is approximately a month left to donate.
