Starting your own animation company
Starting your own animation company
There are few media images or films seen today that are not touched by the powerful reality-altering influence of animation technology. Entire motion pictures are made with animation, and movies use animation for special effects. Video games are a powerhouse market that engage the best talents in the animation business too. There is perhaps no specific new technology in the imagery field today to rival the impact of animation on entertainment. It is only to be expected then that enterprising individuals and companies in the animation business find their services to be quite in demand today. With such intense demand in place, animation companies find that they exist in a sellers’ environment where their skills could command the price they wish, if they could only find a way to market them successfully. This requires that entrepreneurs who wish to establish their own startup company in the animation business, find out what niche of the market they can properly address themselves to. It is possible for the smaller animation company to produce great work for commercials, music videos, or parts of video games. They can also find a receptive market in the documentary or short film business. Picking a field to specialize in all comes down to the kind of capital that you have to invest in equipment, and the size of animation company you wish to build. The artistic talent in an animation company is what makes it special; the retaining of great talent can attract business to a startup animation company the way no great equipment or marketing department can. If you are your company’s sole artistic talent, then of course, you do know how important your contribution is. If you hire a few co-workers though, any amount of time you spend finding the right people will be a leg up on your chances of success. There are several big-name animation companies, like Pixar for example, that offer internship and training programs for fresh students and others. Graduates of such internships often are a great hire. The right choice of equipment is one of the most important assets that an animation company could have, right after great animating talent and a competent marketing department. Computer graphics can take up prodigious quantities of computer storage and processing power; investing in a complete computer system, investing in industry-standard cameras and optics, ample art supplies to the liking of the animation talent on board, other drawing equipment such as drafting tables, light boxes, great monitors, editing and sound equipment, all contribute to making a startup animation firm competitive. It might be tempting for a startup firm to cut corners in obtaining as many software licenses as needed; software is temptingly easy to make illegal copies of. Steeling oneself against such temptaion is an important step to take. After all this investment though, a few dollars for a commercial business license, insurance for the animation company, and funds to copyright your work with are an important considrations. Before you actually start to bring in business, you will have to have something to showcase your talents with: the demo reel is that showcase. It is important to make a credible drop-dead gorgeous demo reel that shows off your talents in storytelling, animation technique, and the special artistic expressions that you possess. There is no demo reel that could do as good a job of the talents of your animation company as a well-designed and creative website can. It is an excellent idea to hire an independent entertainment agent to promote your work and your animation company too. You should be in business promoting your animating talents not just because you love animation, but because you also love the thrill of success in business; an artistic business is no less hard-nosed commercial work than the business of a stockbroker or a retail store. You need to put in all the business legwork, networking time, and contact building effort that any other business would.