Well what can one say about animation in Nigeria…? Not a lot as it happens. The animation sector in this country is virtually non-existent, however that doesn’t mean some people aren’t giving it their best shot. If only this country’s so-called creative visionaries had any real vision at all. Sigh, ah well…it’s a little sad when you consider that many of the animators in this country often fall short of their aims to provide us with some decent (homemade) animated entertainment simply because most (if not all) are doing the said animation with meager resources and very little manpower. Money simply seems to be the measure of one’s creativity most times, though I guess this isn’t only peculiar to the Naija creative scene. However, breaking ground in this area is made even more difficult by the lack of an actual animation industry. Where do these poor animators go and even more to the point, would anyone be willing to listen to them? I have nothing but praise for those who try though and urge them to keep moving forward in their attempts to bring these types of creative media to the forefront. There was a time in Nigeria where the Music industry was also virtually non-existence. With most music artists-even the more prominent one’s- of those times, struggling and grossly unappreciated. Perhaps that’s what this country needs, someone or some big corporation (like MTV base did with the music industry) to swoop in and give the weak and ailing body of this particular sector of creative media, a much needed shot in the arm. Perhaps, if someone could just make the break, then these money grubbing entrepreneurs would see that there was a vast wealth of untapped talent sitting under their noses all along. I believe the market is out there….waiting. All someone has to do is come and pluck the apple from the proverbial tree.
Meanwhile…here’s a little peek at the kind of apples some of these apple trees have been able to produce with so very little nourishment.
COCONUT ISLAND!
click here for more info
THE ADVENTURES OF ALAYO!
click here for more info
Update: 2nd of October/2009
It’s been recently brought to my attention that I may not have been exactly clear as to my beef with the problems facing animators in Nigeria. The crux of my argument was not to suggest that their weren’t enough animators or people doing animation in the country. Quite the contrary, Nigeria has an ample (if sometimes under-used) amount of talented people in several areas involving creative media. However, while the country boasts the largest t.v network in Africa- and some say the world- and the presence of a number of satellite cable companies, it has yet to provide home based animators with the platform from which to launch themselves. It’s more than a little sad (and there’s a slight, but hardly notable chance that I may be wrong) to accept that none of these networks carry any Nigerian made animations on their broadcast schedule. Having said that, a recent visitor to the site alerted me to this trailer of another Naija based animated feature in the works, which is set to be released in 2010 and I was more than reasonably impressed with the prospects of what I saw to be compelled to post it here. (I hope the animators don’t mind?)
So a big thanks for this:
THE O TWINS!
To visit the online site click here
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October 1st, 2009 at 10:00 PM
I’ve actually seen quite a few animated products from Nigerians.Some, of course, better than others. These 2 you featured are new to me, so thanks for adding to my knowledge base.
Here are the ‘O Twins’ just in case you are yet to see it – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxoJlqQEDFA
There are more but I will search for them only if you want them.
Take care!
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Hello Solomon, thanks for the comments and the link. It was certainly nice to know about this. I would also be interested in seeing what else u were able to find. Yes, I certainly do “want them”. I also hope my update made the problems I was attempting to address a little clearer. Thanks again for the link!
October 9th, 2009 at 8:25 AM
I agree with most of what you are saying. There is talent in the country but we need a lot of investment both from the public and private sector. I worked in London for a while and I saw the amount of grants, loans and schemes made available to animators, visual effects companies etc. So it’s no coincidence that London is one of the powerhouses in the world when it comes to the visual creative sector. They didn’t just get there over night.
There are other aspects as well. A lot of clients such as broadcasters and advert agencies don’t pay what they should to local talent. And usually outsource to the UK, South Africa, India etc when it comes to certain projects. But before they are painted as the bad guys I can understand to an extent why they do. Though pretty new to the market I have noticed that a lot of practitioners in our field are just not professional and do not inspire ANY confidence whatsoever in clients. Companies are not going to entrust millions and a brand name on one man band outfits that have no office, no customer service etc. It’s a chicken and egg situation because you could say the reason they are not professional is because the clients don’t respect them enough compared to their S.A. counterparts.
Anyway, I still see a positive trend. It’s only a matter of time before the breaks happen and they are slowly. We are a mixed media creative studio and we focus more on VFX but we have future 3D animation plans. Feel free to check out our website at http://www.e-black.net. You can get to our twitter, facebook, blog and youtube accounts from there.
And the ‘O twins’ is looking promising. All the best.
October 13th, 2009 at 5:55 AM
Hello Adamu, first of all let me thank you for commenting on the post. Secondly, I agree that people- and this tends to touch on every facet of the business in this country, whether creative or otherwise- are mostly unprofessional in their approach and attitude towards their chosen fields. However, while the prospect of someone investing millions of Naira (or whatever) into the Animation industry would certainly be a welcome event, the truth is right now…I’d settle- and I’m sure many actual animators would agree- for a platform to showcase these peoples work. Even if someone managed to put together two whole seasons of an animated series, the question is would any of our networks be willing to show it? I say this because I heard a while back that someone did something like that, bankrolled the whole thing personally, only to find that none of the stations in this country were even willing to give it a first look. Sigh, ah well, but as you say, things do seem to be improving.
BTW: That’s one cool website u have there. Thanks for the link.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:07 PM
Hi …. I have been skirting around the Nigerian animation scene for about a year now… I have found there are a lot of freelance self trained 2D/3D animators, sound people, 3D graphic artists etc in Nigeria and whilst they still need to improve their skills they are actually quite good… This work by Fusion is very good. and should succeed… Networks are a bit more receptive these days as they really need content.. I think the problem is Management..and Im doing something about that… I intend to set up a decent studio and organise these freelancers..the studio will have a training room and i will bring in experienced foreign media people to do “boot camp” workshops to improve local skills… we must get local talent off the shelf..
November 11th, 2009 at 11:03 PM
i think animation in nigeria will thrive if foreign cartoons are banned by the NBC(NIGERIA BROADCAST TELEVISION)thereby giving local animation talents a chance !-like myself who got turned down recently by a T.V station in nigeria b/c they preffered buying N120 vcd cartoon at ALABA than paying expensively to air my cartoon series .HOW ANNOYING! ROLL OUT THE BULLDOZERS!
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Hi, I quite agree with David regarding the 3D animators in Nigeria who are often self trained. The quality of thier works are fairly good and they can do soo much better if they can work as a team. The boot camp is also a way forward for them to horn in their skills better. I presently organize short courses on 3D animation and intend setting up a much more comprehensive training facility for 3D Animation sometime soon in Nigeria.
One of the problems facing Animation in Nigeria is the one man Thing, A on man who ca not be up to professional standard and believe that is the truth. I studied 3D animation at Cape Town and worked with a studio there for a while, Most animators there work work as a team there, you hardly find one person working alone on a project. When there is a project, studios bring in professional animators to come contribute to the success on the project. When you do not have exchange of ideas on a project, you end of providing substandard product and that only kills the 3D animation market in Nigeria.
There is the need to set up a forum or association for 3D and 2D animators in Nigeria. Am not sure there is one in Nigeria, I have been in country for some months now, training on 3D but am yet to come across a forum or association for this profession. If there is one in existence already, please do let me know.
There is need for animators in Nigeria to meet regularly to keep up with emerging trends in the industry and to also work on how to address the issues facing the growth of the Industry in Nigeria.
Lets empower ourselves more and stop our companies from taking our investments to other countries.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:19 AM
First I like to thank everyone for their comments. I’m glad to know that there are people trying to further the development of animation in this country and I’m sure their a lot of animators and aspiring animators who will be glad to hear it also. And I’m sure many fans of the medium will be eagerly anticipating the results of all the effort you guys are putting in. Thanks again.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:21 AM
@Bola Perhaps it’s best you put a hold on the Bulldozers for just a little while. Things may just be getting better.
December 15th, 2009 at 3:56 PM
Sorry for the long delay in reply. But it’s wonderful to see all the comments. It shows that it’s just a matter of time. @Average Joe and @Bola, I agree with you regarding the networks needing to show the content and also paying for it. That is key, otherwise why invest if you can’t make your money back?
But things are changing. I think one of our fellow animators recently landed a deal with HiTV. I’ll keep you posted if I get anymore news.
At our studio we are looking at other ways to bring Nigerian animation to the awareness of the general Nigerian public. To do that we are funding a series of shorts and are cutting out the ‘middleman’ and going direct to viewer online via our Youtube channel. Call it a sensitisation exercise of sorts. Also we want to find out what content might work best with Nigerian audiences.
Our first stab is already bearing good results. You can find it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcO04YNTsSs .