I Started an Animation Studio...

This. Is. My. Dream!!! My call! I wanna do this so badly!!

I also ones failed at managing a team I'm supposed to follow up and in my case, for a quite some time, I felt really bad about my self until I realized if it wasn't for my failure, I wouldn't have known what it takes to be a leader. so, I've been working on the qualities I lacked back then and, I believe that I'm much better now
This video reminded me of that, so, thanks you

oye oye balle balle

The work is good, you need to go back the drawing board dont give up

I tried this animation studio business on my own for 15 years. It didn't work out for many of the same reasons you mentioned. I'm an animator/artist. I don't trust myself to run a business or even manage my own artist self let alone inspire others to stick with me on the long run. I'm better off working for some other company that is structured and stable and I don't have to worry about a million things beyond my expertise. Live and learn!

I may be biased in saying this, but it looks like your video could have benefited a lot from compositing. From the clips you showed there are a lot of rough edges (probably coming from unreal) which could be ironed out in comp.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with this. It was great to listen to!

I plan on making my animation studio salaried, working on series and featured animation rather than the gig work mindset of California.

Any advice?

Great video, I appreciate your story about the ups and downs of this process.

I had a similar experience while directing my first short film for school. We ended up with a decent film, but I was burnt out from making art for a few years. In hindsight, I was focusing so much on the story making sense that we ended up with a long script that could have been simplified and still had good quality. It's important to be realistic with the size of your team and how long the project will take (know when to keep or pitch something). You may not get to add everything you want, but the end product will be something you're proud of. I did learn a lot from it but I don't look back on that time fondly lol

Thank you for sharing this! I know it wasn't easy. Thank you!

WOW

I applaud you for starting a business.

so sad to hear doing everything but not the loved stuff

"It's really time consuming and extremely expensive" - I wish more people thought about this when calling every new animated film a "cash grab". Starting any business is tough, but starting an animation studio with the goal of paying people fairly, creating good work, and reaching profitability is EXTREMELY tough. Applaud you for trying.

Indie Animation studio runner here... thank you for the wise words.

It seems like most of these problems stem from a lack of leadership. It may sound harsh, but when you hire people, you have to be the boss. When you say that your project got delayed because everyone had a different vision, it sounds like your team didn't know that they were hired to develop your vision. The reality about small studios and short budgets is that resources have to be managed and optimized properly, and most of the time that means that there is little space for creative freedom throughout the project. People are hired to perform a task, they aren't hired to bring their own vision to life, and this can be seen even in large productions that are now flopping because people are carrying too much of their personal baggage into the project. Take Peter Jackson as an example, when he planned the LOTR movies, he talked to his team and they all agreed that they will leave their personal baggage outside of the movies and that they would focus on representing well the things that were important for Tolkien. This could have been such an easy point to address with your team from the beginning and everyone would have been focused on finishing the task at hand. Of course, you should actively listen to your team, but also learn when to just say "no". It isn't about getting it perfect, it is about getting it done.

thank you for sharing all this info. it is really important

Yeah I have a one track mind, but while I have a pretty good idea, narrowing it down would be hard. But I would just stick to one thing if I ever get it rolling. Personally just TRYING to learn right now.

congrats on experience. in my first job we used to say that " the only person that doesnt make mistakes is the one not working..." thanks for the mature sincere process story, good advice on turbulent mistake attractors..! would you care to talk also a little more about audience and how you intended to reach comercial public to watch animations ? otherwise the story remains on 'creative without marketing'. as I too have failed, you have my sympathies. cheers from Rio.
ps. keep the friend after the storm is also a grand achievement.

Wonderful insight✨🙏

There are a million how to books and videos and it's the learning experience gained from unsuccessful ventures which is often overlooked.
Videos like this are so valuable! I've definitely taken some notes from this. Thank you~♪

You kinda look like Jschlatt

Thanks for sharing! This was fantastic overview of why things can sometimes go wrong. If i could double like this video i would thank you for making such honest content!

eeuu is dont a good coutry to be happy

This is what I'm trying to do

You can hire artists online. My self working for online studio as chatacter animator and rigging artist. There are bunch of benifits hiring artists online.

Hey! Did you have a producer to help you manage ?

This was very useful, thank you!

Wish I would have found you earlier so I would have helped you through your problems as currently leading as a production manager of a small team in animation studio. Do let me know if you are looking for any work getting done for the fraction of price.

Excellent

Try try again, if you dont suceed you
Can always try harder with new knowledge.

I’m working on my own animation studio with my colleagues and this is phenomenal advice

Ranking animation studios:
Walt Disney Animation Studios: The absolute best! Good as Gold
Pixar: The second absolute best! Good as Gold too
DreamWorks Animation: The third best, silver and gold.
Illumination: The fourth best, Good as Gold despite sometimes milking some of their franchises like the Despicable Me, Sing and The Secret Life of Pets franchises just for money.
Sony Pictures Animation: An awesome but also all over the place animation studio with sometimes cliched movies.
The Warner Animation Group: awesome, depending on your point of view.
Blue Sky Studios: The downfalled inferior animation studio.

Rule number one of running a successful studio. The animation industry is an INDUSTRY. Artistic. Skills are a must but you need to leave artistic integrity out the door. You are running a factory and producing a product like any other. The artists are nothing more than assembly line workers and just like any other factory, it's about the bottom dollar. You wanna be an "artisr" and "fair" then better stock up on ramen noodles and enjoy the ride cause it will never last long. Keep it as a hobby if you have artistic integity. If you are gonna be part of the "industry" be prepared to be "industrial".

Thanks for sharing your experience! A lot of knowledge here

that's why I'd NEVER work in "indie collaborative workplace" that's just a nightmare scenario. Management is the MOST important part of any organization. I'd rather draw bricks for 8 hours a day with good management than do a passion project with friends.

I respect and heavily value this video. Thank you SO much for sharing it. This is SO helpful.

When ever you fail making an animation studio. The best thing you can do is learn from your mistakes and keep going now matter how many times you failed just learn and keep going. And make sure not to burn your self out. Make sure to take a break. I hope this advice helps😅😊

Your first business will most likely always be experience and practice. So get practice without the expense first.

This is really good stuff. I want to make my own animated shows and this video is extremely in insightful. Thank you

Can we see the finished project?

You need a project manager.

can you drop down the name of the student that got into pixar animation

The music video I made isn't out yet, but made sure you're subbed so you don't miss the breakdown / debrief of how it was created! Also, any other questions you have after hearing the story? :)