Forum - View topicAnswerman - Can Webcomic Artists Get Anime Made?
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palenoue
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Then let's ask a new question: What would it take to start an animation studio here in the USA? Preferably one that focuses on short series or single episodes rather than huge titles, TV quality rather than cinema, mix of hand-drawn and CGI, a place that's open to web comics and the like. Before the nay-sayers jump in and condemn this question to eternal never-hood, let me point out that before Kickstarter the companies that manufactured board/card games had little to no interest in small projects, now half their business is from crowdfunded games and there are new companies focused entirely on small run productions. So this new type of animation studio is entirely feasible. The main question is what would it require? My research into how to make a web comic into anime has hit a dead end. Those who aren't in the business say it's impossible, those who know the business don't see the potential and thus deem it impossible, and those in the business are impossible to find and contact. So it's time to move on to a different tactic. |
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Polycell
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Ultimately, even if these little shows can be profitable on the margin, you still have to do something to account for your overhead; your example of small-run production isn't the same since most of the overhead's in the form of capital and depreciation(and therefore can be paid for across multiple productions), whereas animation's is mostly in the form of personnel(which is continuous and must be paid for with each production). |
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palenoue
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This is true, but I used that example because the many similarities. Ten years ago people in the game industry said crowdfunded games would never show a profit, now small game production is a thriving business. This is a good example of how something that was viewed as impossible can become mainstream.
I think the best bet is a studio that integrates all styles, from flash to hand drawn to CGI. Freefall would work well with Flash similar to My Little Ponies. Skin Horse could go with the modern anime style of combining hand drawn with computers. Girl Genius would probably be best with computers doing the heavy work while hand drawn for the nuanced details.
Yes, it would be important to have some permanent employees, but these days it's just as easy to contract out various aspects. Have you seen Shirobako? A lot of that work can be done outside the offices, thus it can be done anywhere in the world. Many creative businesses work this way with artists across the country, musicians in different countries, writers working from home, etc. Of course there will always be flakes who goof off too much, but you get those types in a traditional office setting already. I've taken part in several creative projects where the talent was spread out all over the country, even the world, and they came together just as good as if they were all in the same building. Better, in fact, because they weren't limited to local talent. It won't be easy setting up the first animation studio with a distributed workforce, but it can be done. I'm just looking into how. |
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Polycell
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This means that your small-run factory really needs less consistent business than your animation studio, since if need be they can delay the replacement of machines until they start to fall apart and also have colateral to ease cash flow difficulties. A for-hire studio has no significant assets and needs continuous business to cover its overhead costs. If it's doable, you'd have to have some number of clients lined up right off the bat and a fair amount of money readily available at all times. |
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palenoue
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While it would be a problem to line up several clients before setting up the studio, I'm sure there's a cable network or two who would sign up for a collection of short videos (like Miniscule). Once there's actual work out there for people to see it will be a lot easier to get new clients or do in-house production for syndication or direct sales. As for money, since most of the talent is contract work there isn't a need for huge piles of cash hidden away in a vault. A client contacts the studio for a job (let's say ten 1-2 minute animations of a web comic, like they did with Dilbert and New Yorker cartoons) details are discussed, the permanent staff figure out what's needed and give the client a price quote which they agree to pay either right away or later after crowdfunding. Once the studio has the money they either contract known talent or post work for hire in numerous job boards, review applicants and hire the best for the job. The rest is standard animation procedure but instead of everybody in a single building they're spread out. This reduces costs for the studio as they don't have to have lots of offices, computers, etc. for the talent to work on. It also gives them a much wider pool of talent to hire from, be it a key framer in Japan or a background artist in Spain. The studio produces the animated shorts which the client distributes as they want (maybe the studio could act as an agent for syndication, first-run rights, etc.) So my question is, what is needed for the core staff? How much do you think it would cost to get started considering the talent contract work will be paid by the client? Initially you'd probably need an in-house director, screenwriter/storyboard artist, talent wranglers, and a few others, but after it takes off I'm sure you'd be able to contract out those positions as well for most projects. |
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nemuyoake
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Money is the key.
'Nough said. |
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palenoue
Posts: 5 |
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Just a quick note: have you seen the trailer for "The Secret Lives of Pets"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-80SGWfEjM
Forget that it's a movie and look at the trailer as a collection of very short animations. That's what I'm talking about for a distributed studio specializing in short animations. Right now most short videos come about as a way for large studios to keep their artists busy in-between big projects, but what if a studio focused on things like this instead of huge projects that require an immense permanent staff? |
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