HOW ANIMATION STUDIO MAKES MONEY

i i i i

BY iHAZWAN iHAZIQ iBIN iYAHYA iKAHLID i

A21MJ8013

iiNowadays imillions iof ipeople ienjoy iwatching ianimated imovies iand ishow ibut ivery ifew
iunderstand ithe icommon ioperations iof ithe ianimation iindustry. iIf iyou’ve iever ilooked iinto ithe

idetails iof ihow ianimation istudios ioperate iand iseen ijust ihow imuch iwork igoes iinto ievery isingle

ianimation iproject, iyou imay ihave iwondered ito iyourself, i“How ido ianimation istudios imake

imoney?” iSo itoday iwe iwill itake ia ilook ihow iour ilocal ianimation istudio imakes imoney iwhich iis

i‘Les iCopaque iProduction’ iwho iis iknown ifor imaking iUPIN i& iIPIN iand iother ishow.

iiSelling iproject ito idistributor iis iprobably ithe imost iobvious ione. iAnimation istudios ican imake
imoney iby iselling itheir iprojects ito idistributors, istreaming isites ilike iNETFLIX iand iDISNEY
iHOTSTAR. iA istudio imay ibegin iwork ion ian ianimated imovie ilong ibefore ithey’ve isold ithe

iproject ito ianyone. iMaybe ithey’re iconsidering ireleasing ithe imovie iindependently, ibut

iindependent ireleases ican ionly ireach ia ivery ilimited iaudience. i iIn icontrast, iselling ia imovie ito ia

ibig icompany icould imean ithat imany imore ipeople iare igoing ito iwatch ithe imovie, iand iit ican ialso

imean ithat ithe ibigger icompany iwill ipay ithe ianimation istudio ia ibunch iof imoney ifor ithat iproject,

ithough ithe ispecific iamount iwould ibe inegotiated ibased ion ithe istudio iin iquestion iand ithe

iprojected iviability iof ithe imovie. iSo ithis iis ione iof ithe icommon iway ithe istudio imakes imoney.

iiAnother iway ithey ican imake imoney iis iby iselling itheir imerchandise. iThis iis ibecause imaking
isomething iand iselling iit ito ipeople iisn’t ialways ia igreat iway ito imake isome ireal imoney ifrom ithe

iwork. iThat’s ibecause ianimation istudios ioften ineed ito iwork iwith imuch ilarger icompanies ithat

ihandle idistribution, istreaming iand imore, iand ithose ilarger icompanies iare ialmost ialways igoing

ito ihave ithe ibetter iend iof ithe ideal. iAs ia iresult, ieven iif ia iviewer iends iup ipaying iabout iRM20 ito

iwatch ia imovie ifrom ithe ianimation istudio, ithe istudio imay ionly iget iabout iRM5 iof ithat isale, ior

ieven iless. iRevenue isharing ivaries iheavily ifrom icompany ito icompany. iSo iby iselling ipopular

icharacter ifrom itheir ishow ito ifan iis ione iof ithe ibest isolution ito iincrease ithe istudio iincome.

iiNext iis iby ifunding, iunfortunately iour ilocal icompany ifund ithemselves. iSo ithey igot ia ilot iof
ichallenges ione iof ithem iis itechnicalities. iSo ithe ione iof ithe ifew isolution iis iMIMOS i(Malaysian

iInstitute iof iMicroelectronic iSystems) ilent ius iits irendering i(process iof iinserting icolour iand

itexture) ifarm. iThey iare ialso ithe ionly istudio iin ithe iworld ithat idoesn’t iuse istoryboard. iWhen

ithey istarted, ithey ifollowed iall ithe inorms, ibut ithey ifound iout ithat ia ilot iof itime iwas iwasted ion

istoryboarding. iWhatever iangle ithe iteam iwanted, ithey iwould ido ithe iacting iin ifront iof ithese

ianimators. iWhen ithe ianimators isee, ithey iwill iunderstand. iThey ialso idon’t iuse ihigh-powered

iPCs, ibut iour iteam ifinds iways ito icheat ithe ieyes iin ithe ianimation ithat ithey iproduce. iWith ithis

ithey ireduce itheir ibudget icost ifor imaking ithe iproduction.

iiIn iconclusion, iall ianimation istudio ihave iit ihard iin imaking imoney iat ifirst ibut ithere iis ialways
isome iway ito imake iit iwork. iThe iproof iis iwhat iwe ialready idiscuss iin ithe iabove ipassage ilike iin

iterms iof iselling iproject ito idistributor, iselling imerchandise iand ifunding. iWith ithis iwe iare iall

iclear iabout iour ithought ion ihow ianimation istudio imakes imoney.