Halima’s Vote, a Nigerian animated film based on Onyinye Ough’s corruption-themed storybook of the same name, has won Best International Film at the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI).
Produced by Lagos-based cartoon studio Basement Animation, Halima’s Vote encourages young girls and women to speak up against bad governance and corruption, covering vote-buying, women’s empowerment and holding leaders to account.
The news comes after Halima’s Vote won two awards at the 2021 Africa Film for Impact Festival last November, taking home the awards for Best Animation and Best Film on Accountability & Good Governance.
“We are elated to announce that Halima’s Vote won in the category of Best International Film at the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International 2022. Big congratulations to the entire production team and partners. This is well deserved,” announced the cartoon studio on Instagram.
TAAFI took place from March 24 to 26, showcasing and celebrating the best of animation from around the world in one of the leading animation hubs in North America, the Canadian city of Toronto.
Animators from Africa will be out in force at the 30th edition of the MipJunior conference this weekend.
The pre-Mipcom international screenings and coproduction market, held in Cannes, France, on October 15-16, will bring together the most influential producers, distributors and buyers of kids’ and family programming.
African animators will take part in pitching sessions as well as engage in discussions related to business opportunities, partnerships and collaborations.
Tech Timi Out
Among the animated projects heading to market are Rorisang & the Gurlz from South African company Cabblow Studios. It is one of the project pitch finalists in the teen category.
The toon follows a girl who is on a quest to start an Afropop band with her group of besties at her conservative all-girls high school, but standing in their way is their strict choir mistress.
In May, Rorisang & The Gurlz was selected for the Stories x Women initiative from the Women in Animation organisation.
This is a programme hosted by the International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations, sponsored by Disney and supported by Triggerfish. It was also pitched at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market in June.
Lagos-based studio Basement Animation will also attend MipJunior, to discuss its new project Tech Timi Out, which is still in development.
Tech Timi Out (52×11’) is a comedy-adventure series for kids aged 6-10 that focuses on kids saving the world one invention at a time.
MipJunior 2022 will offer participants the opportunity to discover the latest kids content from around the world, view screenings and network with industry peers.
Johnson Mboutidem, founder of Lagos-based Basement Animation (Halima’s Vote, Joko & Dide) and member of trade body Animation Nigeria’s board of trustees, talks to Content Nigeria about the country coming under the spotlight at the recent Annecy festival and why African animation’s future looks bright.
Mbuotidem Johnson
You have come a long way in African animation. How has the experience been so far?
The experience has been a good one. At Animation Nigeria, we have always approached building the industry as a marathon rather than a sprint. Everything we have built up until now has been built with the perspective of longevity. The journey started out slowly, but now the ship is sailing well. One major highlight was the recently concluded Annecy International Animation Festival [MIFA], where the Nigerian animation industry was duly represented. It has been so amazing to experience how things have been evolving in the industry.
How was Annecy and what major highlights can you pinpoint?
This year’s festival was mind-blowing. In the previous two years, the festival took place virtually because of the pandemic, so it was exciting to finally be able to attend physically again. The turnout was massive. Beyond this, the icing on the cake was the MIFA event. Animation Nigeria had its own stand for the first time. We had support from the French embassy and Air France, and we were able to take more than 15 Nigerian animation studios to the festival. Another highlight was the Nigeria Focus @ MIFA event, where the winner and the four finalists of the International MIFA Campus Talents initiative got the chance to pitch their projects at the Partners Pitches event at Annecy.
Can you share some of your upcoming projects with us?
Animation Nigeria has always encouraged content creators to carry their ideas to the market. Presently, the top five selected projects for the 2022 edition of Nigeria Focus Annecy workshop are: Chuso & the Bandits by Tukur Kwairanga and Mustapha Bulama; Prepared to Die by Esther Kemi Gbadamosi; Ulegi by Somto Onubogu; Pepe n Tomati by Seyi Fajimi; and Tejumade by Adebimpe Adebambo. These projects are mostly still in development and should be looked out for when they hit the market.
As a trustee of Animation Nigeria, what would you say is the one thing that can make African animators stay relevant among their peers and competitors?
There is such high demand for African content in the market right now, and the potential that African indigenous stories have is what makes us distinct. Beyond the skill, the act of storytelling and the visual interpretation of these stories is what makes us stand out and remain relevant. African culture is unique and dynamic. In Nigeria alone, we have hundreds of tribes, languages and diverse cultures, and this is a strong selling point for us.
Basement Animation is the studio behind Halima’s Vote
With the emergence of new and upcoming African animators, would you say the industry is doing better than a few years ago? How do you think it will look in the next few years?
The industry is doing better right now than ever before. I can categorically say there has been a steady growth in the quality of work that is being produced. Prior to now, African content creators were perceived in a certain way. We were looked at as poor people, from a poor continent that needed help. It was more or less a stereotype. People didn’t know that African animators and content creators were actually turning out stuff. So now that Africa has been highlighted, it has been like a discovery.
Disney has picked up a Nigerian project called Iwaju to develop; Cartoon Network has picked up Garbageboy & Trashcan; Netflix has picked up Mama K, which is being produced in South Africa… Most recently, Nigerian comic IP Iyanu was picked up by Cartoon Network and HBO. You can see that there is major focus and a high demand for African stories and content.
I am sure that in a couple of years from now, the African animation industry will boom just the way the music industry has boomed. We have experienced Nigerian artists – born and bred in Nigeria – winning Grammy Awards so, certainly, the same will happen for the animation industry as regards winning Academy Awards.
In terms of partnerships and collaborations, which make more impact, producing with African or international partners?
Creating African content is best done with Africans, not foreigners. We cannot deny the fact that experience and expertise is always needed in every project and our industry is still budding, so having collaborations that bring experts on board will have a very strong impact because we want our stories to be universal. We want them to travel far so we are not just telling African stories to Africans but to the whole world. So the collaborations work both ways, but African stories should always be told by Africans.
How can African animators leverage investment opportunities both locally and globally?
They must first understand that animation should be approached as teamwork, not a one-person project. It requires collaboration on all levels, from the story creation to the distribution of the final product. The landscape for investment in this industry is quite large. It does not just begin and end with producing content. If the content creators are open to collaborations, that can translate to investments on different levels, from creating and developing the original idea, to setting up an industry-standard studio, producing and distributing content, merchandising content, games, theme parks, books and so on. All of these can translate to income.
Ahead of next week’s launch of the animated film based on her corruption-themed story book Halima’s Vote, Content Nigeria caught up with Nigerian author Onyinye Ough to hear about the film and her other work.
Halima’s Vote is an anti-corruption story book written by Onyinye Ough that has been adapted into an animated film and will premiere on June 3.
The film, from Lagos cartoon studio Basement Animation, encourages young girls and women to speak up against bad governance and also tries to show the negative consequences of vote buying and selling on Nigeria’s public goods and services.
The Nigerian author, speaker and activist and the executive director of Step Up for Social Development and Empowerment in Nigeria (aka Step Up Nigeria) spoke about the film, its relevance in our society today and its upcoming launch.
Onyinye Ough
Step Up Nigeria aims is to build bridges to tackle corruption and improve service delivery in Nigeria. What inspired you to create this initiative?
I recognised there was a problem in Nigeria with many corrupt practices having become culturally acceptable. I set up Step Up Nigeria to begin to tackle some of the social and cultural behaviours that enable corruption. The Catch Them Young initiative was launched in 2018 to educate children on the real cost of corruption, build their confidence to speak up against corruption and promote integrity in their communities.
How much positive impact do you think children can have from reading your books or watching your animated films?
We have started seeing some encouraging results. We are getting feedback from schools about children beginning to act with integrity and trying to be like the anti-corruption heroes in the stories. That is the beauty of using storytelling because it is helping to create some fictional trendsetters around fighting corruption that children can look up to. We now have children who want to be young anti-corruption champions.
For example, in some of the schools that we have engaged with, students would use sweets or presents to get other students to vote for them in school elections. After reading some of our story books, like Emeka’s Money and Halima’s Vote, students now focus on getting the children to vote for them by committing to change things for the better. For me, this is encouraging and needs to be sustained so that we can get the next generation of leaders and politicians that will act with integrity during elections.
The Halima’s Vote book was launched in 2018, and now it has been turned into an animated film. Why did you see the need for this?
Halima’s Vote has been turned into a film to expand our stories to a wider audience who may not have easy access to books. Also, it is a short family movie that parents can enjoy with their children. In addition, our objective is to spread anti-corruption education, which requires different methods and approaches so that we can reach a wide variety of audience.
How was the experience of working with Basement Animation?
It has been an interesting experience working with Basement Animation. They are great partners and believe in the issues. This makes a big difference. They have shown what great partnerships and results can be achieved with creatives and development practitioners.
Corruption is a big problem in our society today. Can it ever be eradicated for good?
Tackling corruption effectively requires a holistic approach. We need to go beyond the obvious, like prosecutions and convictions or even making systems tougher. If we are going to stamp out corruption in Nigeria, we need to go deeper and change how our society treats corruption. The first step towards building a society that is less tolerant of corrupt behaviors needs to start with what we teach our children.
Halima’s Vote is your second children’s book about corruption and vote-buying in Nigeria. Are there plans to have further books centered on these themes and hopefully convert them into animated films?
I have written two other books: Tosin’s Story and Ansa’s Speech. The first focuses on ‘brown envelope’ journalism, while the second looks at different types of petty corruption faced by Nigerians daily.
Halima’s Vote will be available from June 3 on the Step Up TV channel on YouTube.
Some of the grant winners with Mbuotidem Johnson (far right)
Nigerian cartoon studio Basement Animation and the British Council have awarded £2,000 (US$2,390) grants to each of the 10 animation entrepreneurs who took part in the Creative Enterprise Support Programme (CESP) that was held from January to July this year.
The CESP for Animation was delivered by Basement Animation and UK-based Kate O’Connor Consulting. The grants are aimed at helping the creatives to fund their animation businesses.
The grant recipients are Oghenefejiro Itimi (Iruo Animation Studio), Olukayode Aliyu (Kod3d Studios), Lorver Daniel (Trident Media), Gabriella Opara (Echiche Animation School), Somtochukwu Onubogu (Schucks Media), Samuel Gbadebo (G-d Streamz Studio), Matthew Isikhuemen (The Albastic), Oluwaseyi Fajimi (Folktail Studios), Abdulmumin Muslim Idris (Ocean Tide Studios) and Peace Toba Olatunji (Dopay Studio).
Out of the 60 CESP participants who got into the two-week intensive animation business training programme, 30 were selected into the mentorship and coaching stage where they worked in six groups of five to create short films on the theme Body & Soul.
The top 10 participants were selected during the CESP live animation pitch and showcase event that took place at the Basement Animation studios in Lagos, where the six films were showcased.
The animated films they worked on are Finding Jomijo, Soul Beats, Flight Plans, Imole (meaning ‘light’), Against the Wind and The Journey to Paradise.
“It’s been a very long journey and I’m grateful for this opportunity to be part of the stories of these amazing 60 participants, down to the 30 participants,” said Mbuotidem Johnson, CEO of Basement Animation.
“It’s just been an amazing thing. I remember when most of them came into the studio to record their testimonies, their eyes were watery. Hearing how much work they put in and just seeing the change we desired from the beginning of the programme was really interesting.
“We didn’t have the same opportunity, starting our studio, but being part of that story of our creatives is a very good thing and we are proud to be part of it. Congrats to everyone who put in so much work.”
O’Connor, executive chair and director of Animation UK, added: “This programme was the highlight of my year. It’s been uplifting and inspiring. The animation industry in Nigeria is going to be so ready and will burst through on the international scene.
“We are sure the participants will take this sector to the next stage of growth. You are phenomenal and I’m sure you are going to create sustainable businesses.”
As well as O’Connor, the jury members were Brenda Fashugba, head of Arts Nigeria and regional lead for SSA creative economy at the British Council Nigeria; Helen Brunsdon, director of the British Animation Awards; and Andy Wyatt of UK-based Animation Associates.
Nigerian cartoon studio Basement Animation’s project Joko & Dide has been selected for the Nigeria Focus at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Market (MIFA).
Mbuotidem Johnson
The event takes place as part of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France from June 15 to 18.
The announcement follows a two-week workshop at the French Embassy in Lagos in collaboration with the 2021 Annecy festival and MIFA, through a development programme for 10 projects supported by Animation Nigeria.
The initiative is part of the efforts of the Annecy festival and MIFA to focus on Africa and create avenues for young talent in Nigeria to acquire funding, coproduction deals or collaborations for their projects.
Joko & Dide, from Nigerian animator and Basement CEO Mbuotidem Johnson, won the first edition of the Annecy Lagos workshop and his participation at MIFA will give him a chance to showcase his project on a global platform.
Sharing the news on Instagram, Johnson said: “I’m grateful to God for this opportunity and grateful for the journey. It’s just a blessing to be surrounded by amazing minds. Thank you.”
Halima’s Vote, a Nigerian animated film based on Onyinye Ough’s corruption-themed storybook of the same name, has been selected by a number of film festivals around the world.
From Lagos-based cartoon studio Basement Animation, the film encourages young girls and women to speak up against bad governance.
Among the events that will showcase Halima’s Vote is The Vues d’Afrique International Film Festival. The festival is a showcase for African and Creole cinema and a meeting place for international film professionals.
Each year, it features more than 100 films about Africa, Créole-speaking countries and their diasporas. It will take place this year from March 26 to April 1 digitally and from April 1 to 10 in theatres in Montreal, Canada.
Halima’s Vote has also been selected by the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International, whose mandate is to showcase and celebrate the best of animation from around the world in one of the leading animation hubs in North America, the Canadian city of Toronto.
Finally, the film will also feature at Sessions by Lift-Off Global Network and the Paus Premieres Festival.
Two animated films produced by Lagos-based cartoon studio Basement Animation have been selected for the African Film for Impact Festival (AFFIF).
The animated films include Corruption Wahala: An Everyday Tale and Emeka’s Money and both are scheduled to screen at the AFFIF on November 4.
Corruption Wahala: An Everyday Tale is produced by Basement Animation for United Nations Office on Drugs & Crimes.
Emeka’s Money is a short animated film about corruption that was produced via an agreement between Basement Animation, Nigerian NGO Step Up for Social Development & Empowerment (aka Step Up Nigeria) and the MacArthur Foundation (aka Mac Found).
AFFIF is dedicated to showcasing, celebrating, and empowering films and filmmakers committed to social change themes in movie production across Africa and the world.
The event will be held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To register to attend, click here.
Nigerian cartoon studio Basement Animation has partnered with the British Council to deliver the Creative Enterprise Support Programme (Animation) for 2021.
The company has issued an open call for creative and artistic Nigerians aged between 18 and 35 who are passionate about telling stories or interested in learning the business of animation and distribution of animated content.
The training programme runs from January to July 2022, in association with Nigeria’s Creative Enterprise Support Programme (CESP) and the deadline for applications is December 17. To apply, click .
The CESP provides relations between the UK and Nigerian creative sectors that support organisations to deliver training, mentoring and business development to young, emerging entrepreneurs in Nigeria while connecting them to their peers in the UK.
Halima’s Vote, a Nigerian animated film adapted from Onyinye Ough’s anti-corruption book of the same name, has won two awards at the 2021 Africa Film for Impact Festival (AFIFF).
At the event, which took place in Abuja on November 5, the film took home the awards for Best Animation and Best Film on Accountability & Good Governance.
The film, from Lagos cartoon studio Basement Animation, encourages young girls and women to speak out against bad governance and also tries to show the negative consequences of vote-buying and selling on Nigeria’s public goods and services.
The AFIFF is dedicated to showcasing, celebrating and empowering films and filmmakers committed to social change themes in movie production across the African continent and the world.
Mbuotidem Johnson, CEO of Nigeria’s Basement Animation, tells Content Nigeria about how far he has come in the animation industry, the challenges he has faced and what lies ahead for his company as it marks its 10th anniversary.
The Basement Animation team mark the firm’s 10th anniversary
Nigerian cartoon studio Basement Animation is celebrating 10 years of producing kids, teen, family entertainment and other content.
In 2017, Basement Animation was identified by Discop as one of the top five Nigerian animation studios. The company coproduced L’arbre à Palimpseste, a pilot episode that was selected to represent Africa and compete with other global counterparts at Animation du Monde 2018 in Annecy, France.
At this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Market, Basement project Joko & Dide was selected as the best creative animation pitch in the Nigerian Focus.
The company’s other works include Emeka’s money, Halima’s vote, Corruption Wahala and Downtown Lagos.
To mark Basement’s 10th anniversary, Content Nigeria had a chat with CEO Mbuotidem Johnson on how far he has come in the animation industry, the challenges he has faced and what lies ahead for his company.
Mbuotidem Johnson
What have been your greatest achievements so far?
It has to be the fact that we have been able to build a team with the right team players this past decade. We have a strong core team and because of that we have been able to execute more projects excellently. Also, being one of the forerunners in this industry is another achievement for us. It is an honour to be a part of this generation that is making an impact in the Nigerian animation industry.
What inspires you to do what you do?
It is the opportunities that our studio has been able to give to creatives who have chosen this career path. The joy and fulfilment these creatives get when they work on a project from start to finish is something we do not take for granted. This is what keeps us going.
Have you experience any major setbacks in production, financing or distribution?
Yes, we have. Every business has its own setbacks, but here we consider them as challenges, not setbacks. Nigeria as a country has so many socioeconomic issues that affect businesses. As an animation production studio, power is very important to what we do. But because of the current state of the power supply in Nigeria, we are forced to provide our own electricity. A lot of money is being spent monthly to solve this issue, but as long as the end result is that we are able to deliver quality animation to our clients and they are happy, then we are happy as well.
Another issue is that unlike how it is done in other countries, our industry doesn’t get any funding or grants from the government. We are self-funded as a company, so we are still in the space of doing serviced work as opposed to producing and distributing our own content. The aspect of distribution is tied to us having our own content. We are still in the space of servicing clients. We have a lot of our own content still in the development stage but because there is limited access to funding, we have been unable to produce as much content as we would love to.
What are you looking forward to in the coming years?
We look forward to building and advancing the Nigerian animation industry and creating more opportunities for creatives in the industry by training them to international standards. We also look forward to producing more of our own content. We believe doing these things will put the Nigerian animation industry on the map and make it more attractive to investors.
Nigerian animator Mbuotidem Johnson, CEO of Basement Animation, tells Content Nigeria about the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on production, his company and the sector at large.
Mbuotidem Johnson
What do you think about the spread of Covid-19 and its effect on the economy?
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all areas of our lives and even how we do business. No one knows how long this will last. Many businesses have been forced to adapt to the situation and revamp their models and those that have not been able to quickly find and implement new models that work are going out of business. This has brought about massive lay-offs, unemployment and uncertainty all over the world.
Businesses in the media and entertainment industry are not left out as content distribution has been affected. For example, there are movies that ought to have been released in the cinemas in this period. However, the choice has to be made between releasing their movies now and not meet their targets as cinemas are shut down or have their release dates pushed later when they will have to compete with even more movies for the consumer’s money. So it’s not exactly a win-win situation.
Most productions have been temporarily shut down but you have kept production going at Basement. How did you do this?
We are able to work remotely because before the lockdown started all members of the production team were provided with the equipment they need to work from home. We also provide data allowances so that we can send all of the large files we need to send during the course of our work.
Meetings are being held on WhatsApp groups and video calls. The system is not perfect, yet as the unpredictability of power supply is an issue that affects our working hours. It’s a work in progress and we are facing the challenges as they come.
Are you working on any animated series at the moment?
Since late last year we joined the production team of one of the most popular kids animated series from Africa: Bino & Fino [from EVCL]. Depending on our responsibilities we will be on this project for the next few months. We are also in the development phase of our own IP: Adefellas. We hope to start the production phase soon.
Bino & Fino is aimed at two- to six-year-olds
How do you intend handling any unforeseen challenges you may encounter while working remotely?
The greatest challenge would be if any of us contracted the virus. That’s one of the reasons we encouraged everyone to start working from home before the lockdown directive was given. Other than that, we are still facing the same challenges we were faced with before the lockdown: reliable internet access and epileptic power supply. And because everyone has their unique challenges, we communicate regularly with everyone to know what challenges they may be facing and help figure out a way out of these challenges.
Do you think other animation production houses will follow suit? How can they manage what is going on without it affecting their productions?
I am in touch with a number of animation studios and many of them are still functioning. We all have the same issues about power supply and reliable internet access. Eventually everyone will decide what works best for them.
Looking forward, do you intend changing how you operate in the post-Covid-19 landscape?
I don’t think it will be back to business as usual after the lockdown. People will still be wary of crowded places for some time after it is called off.
For us at Basement Animation, we have been able to build a system where people can work remotely and we intend to continue working remotely for some time after the lockdown is called off until we are sure everywhere is safe, so as to protect the health of our staff. We are also growing our team so this will be an opportunity to work with talent from other states who will not have to relocate to Lagos to work with us.
What lessons do you think Nigerians can learn from this crisis, particularly in the Nollywood and animation industries?
We really cannot predict when these types of things will happen even though we have to make plans for them. We have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. For the Nollywood and animation industries, many of us in these industries only get paid when there’s a production going on and now that production has stopped, everyone has to rely on whatever savings they had before.
Perhaps we need to try a different approach to content production and distribution such that the content we create will have a longer life and consumption of these content is maximised. This could ensure that stakeholders continue to get some payment from their past works over the course of the life of the content.
African animation prodcos Triggerfish, Basement Animation and Arobase Studio have unveiled a series of new projects on the opening day of MipJunior in Cannes.
Adefellas is from Nigerian studio Basement Animation
South African studio Triggerfish has eight new projects in the works – four feature films and four TV series. The company is working to secure partnerships and greenlight its upcoming series.
The South African prodco also creates animated content for the gaming market, and producer Vanessa Ann Sinden revealed that the firm channels its profits from this to help fund upcoming TV and feature-length projects.
Additionally, Triggerfish will be establishing a Director’s Lab initiative in the coming year in order to train local talent and foster new directors of animated content. Sinden mentioned the Lab will focus on bringing through black, female talent in order to address issues of diversity. Triggerfish previously set up a Story Lab and Writers Lab.
Nigerian animation studio Basement Animation presented two new original projects, Adefellas and Tech Timi Out, both 26×11’. The new series are aimed at six- to 11-year-olds and keep Nigeria and Nigerian issues at the core of the stories.
The company’s creative director and producer, Mbuotidem Johnson, said the two projects are currently in development and are seeking to secure copro partnerships and distribution deals.
Meanwhile, the Ivorian animation studio Arobase Studio revealed that a second season of TV5 Monde-backed series Kassa the Messenger is currently in production.
The French-language series follows a grandfather and grandson duo as they learn about local culture as they explore the country with their pet dog.
On top of that, two additional series are also in development and seeking production partnerships and distribution. The series are The Queen and The Successor, and Tamia the Explorer.
Somto Ajuluchukwu, Ayodele Elegba and Kola Olarewaju at the animation roundtable
Animation is an often-neglected part of Nigeria’s media industry but this is beginning to change, delegates at Nigeria International Television (NITV) Summit heard.
In a roundtable discussion at the Wednesday event, studio heads and animators discussed the uniqueness of the animation industry as well as the challenges.
Mbuotidem Johnson
Speakers included Mbuotidem Johnson, CEO of Basement Animation; Ayodele Elegba, CEO of Spoof Animation; Kola Olarewaju, CEO at Komotion Studios; and Niyi Akinmolayan, CEO of Anthill Studios. The session was moderated by Somto Ajuluchukwu, MD of C3 African Network.
Highlighting the challenges facing the industry, panelists agreed that one of the major issues is electrical power, saying that the use of high-powered computers and other technology necessitates constant light, which is costly in Nigeria.
According to Akinmolayan, talent is also difficult to come by because there are no training schools in Nigeria, so it falls on the animation studios to train animators, which is a long and costly process.
“Finding the right person to do your job is not easy because there are no qualified people and no training schools. Therefore, that responsibility lies on us, so we train and do the job simultaneously because that is the best tactic,” he said.
Agreeing with this, Johnson, who is also the founder of trade body Animation Nigeria, said: “I came from a background of 3D animation but as I considered my options, I switched to 2D. With 2D I can finish a project and train faster. Within a month a trained person can execute 2D renderings well enough, but 3D takes about five to six months of training and you’ve hardly begun.
“Finding investors is also one of the hardest thing to do. So to stay in this industry you have to do things in unusual ways.”
For Akinmolayan, director of The Wedding Party, the right approach to sustaining an animation studio is to get other jobs to keep the cash flowing.
“Do something on the side. I make money as a film director. If you call me to do wedding videos, I will do it. Anything to keep the money flowing in, because animation is a long-term investment and I’m not giving up.”
Olarewaju highlighted the issue of religion and animation. “When we did [short film] Sango, many people said it was fetish. They liked it but would badmouth it because of their religion. They do not see it as a work of art but as something fetish, which is mostly how Nigerians react to something out of the norm,” he said.
“The audience demand in the international market and here in Nigeria varies. Animation in the international market is often created for younger audiences, for under-nines, or nine- to 13-year-olds. However, here it appeals more to adults, so to break the market in Nigeria we are often forced to create content for adults, which is kind of restricting,” said Johnson.
Elegba, also founder of Lagos Comic Con (LCC), advised on the right strategy for getting investors. “If you are only thinking of how good your content is, you will run down,” he said. “You have to think of the business side – think distribution, coproduction, and more.”
LCC, of which Content Nigeria is a media partner, takes place at the Landmark Centre, VI, Lagos on September 15.
DownTown Lagos follows two friends who struggle to make it in the city
Nigerian animator Mbuotidem Johnson, CEO of Basement Animation, tells Content Nigeria about his new series DownTown Lagos, why he created it and the challenges he faced during production.
Mbuotidem Johnson
What inspired you to create DownTown Lagos?
At Basement Animation, we believe in responsible business practices. DownTown Lagos was created because we felt the need to use animation to address relevant social issues. This way, when we capture our viewers’ attention, we can pass across relevant, relatable information that addresses the current issue, albeit with a humorous tone.
What message is the show passing across to its audience?
DownTown Lagos is the story of two friends, Olajide Dollar and Chike Chicago, who despite their daily struggles are determined to ‘make it’ in Lagos after relocating to the city. Each episode will use animation and comedy to illustrate how they constantly come up with new and, more often than not, silly schemes to make money and become successful in the city. The show also touches on real issues affecting their community and Nigeria.
What challenges did you face during production?
The main challenge was a lack of constant power supply during the production process as the production of animated content requires constant power. Also, in the course of producing DownTown Lagos, we were transitioning to a new animation software to meet up with market and innovation demands. Finally, Basement Animation is a relatively small team, therefore we did not have a dedicated team focused solely on the project, and as such, a few of our projects had to be put on hold to enable us finish DownTown Lagos.
What shows do you have in the pipeline?
Our other upcoming animated content includes Tech Timi Out, Raga Shaga Mama and Adefellas. These are all currently in production. Basement Animation is one of the fastest growing animation studios in Lagos and is focused on producing qualitative kids, teen and family entertainment content.
DownTown Lagos aims to offer comedy with a message
In 2017, Basement Animation was mentioned as one of the top five Nigerian animation studios by Discop. That same year we had the opportunity to produce a TV commercial for Fupitoons Festival that was broadcast on Cartoon Network Africa.
In 2018, we coproduced the pilot episode of l’Arbre à Palimpseste, which won the Gulli Prize in Animation du Monde/MIFA pitch at the Annecy Animation Film Festival and was subsequently pre-bought by Gulli, the Lagardère-owned kids’ network. Basement Animation and two other African animation studios will kick off production in the third quarter of this year.
The pilot episode of DownTown Lagos, titled Do As I Say, was released just in time for the recently concluded election cycle in Nigeria. The episode encourages everyone to become more proactive as regards every aspect of nation-building, politically and service wise. It is not enough to be newspaper analysts or social media activists or everyday mourners of bad leadership. Our actions must follow our words and we must do as we say.
A number of Nigerian television companies are set to attend the Discop event scheduled to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa next month.
Crey Ahanonu
Discop Johannesburg runs between November 14 and 16 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. It will include several events that will bring innovative ideas, fresh talent and industry experts together.
There will be over 1,500 participants including 1,000-plus acquisition, production and distribution executives from 70 countries, according to Discop organiser Basic Lead.
Also in attendance will be about 250 producers of film, television and digital content, adaptation rights and packaged TV channels, including international, regional and local suppliers. There will be a wide display of movies, TV series, documentaries, animated content and dramas by these firms.
Nigerian firms at the event will include Lagos-based Basement Animation, Screen Academy & Films, Black Studios, Dope7 Media and Shutterspeed Projects.
Crey Ahanonu, CEO of Screen Academy & Films (aka SAF Productions), said: “We stand to gain a lot at this event. It will give us the opportunity to meet with content buyers and discuss filmmaking and online TV. We hope to promote our online TV service, MySafTV.”
This Enugu-based company creates an avenue to teach and empower the young and old who wish to be in the movie industry through its film academy. The company also engages in video production, films, TV shows, commercials and documentaries.
Discop Johannesburg will allow for networking opportunities between content buyers, sellers and producers, screenings of upcoming TV, web shows and movies and also sessions for discussion on topics related to innovation, coproduction relations and pitching competitions.
The conference agenda for the event includes a panel on Nigeria’s animation, comic books and video gaming industry on November 16.
Entertainment content market Mipcom takes place next week from October 14 to 17 in Cannes, France, with this year’s theme being The Streaming Offensive.
The event will aim to reflect the changes in global distribution networks, their impact on content production and licensing, and the global response to the direct-to-consumer challenge.
Nigerian companies at the event will include Basement Animation, Multi Mesh Broadcasting Company, Asake Productions, Kaftan TV, International Development Initiative in Africa and a host of others.
Mipcom brings together influential TV and digital content executives and this year will present a production funding forum where producers and financiers can meet and bring premium content projects to life. It will also see the launch of new streaming platforms by legacy players, including SVoD and AVoD, plus creative exchanges, networking, screenings and talks.
The preceding MipJunior event, on October 12 and 13, will host major animation producers from South Africa, Nigeria and Ivory Coast as they present their development slates ripe for international collaboration.
Simon Adae, CEO of Arobase Studio, Mbuotidem Johnson, CEO of Basement Animation and Vanessa Ann Sinden, producer at Triggerfish Animation, will provide a 30-minute showcase to reveal their projects and discuss possible business opportunities.
On his Instagram page, Mbuotidem said: “It’s an honour to be invited by [event organiser] Reed Midem this year to speak at MipJunior – another great opportunity to share, network and make Nigeria proud. We are changing the narrative of the Nigerian animation industry. I sense a strong wave coming in 2020.”
