Animonsta in Harian Metro

31 January 2010 Posted by Rocky Raccoon 10 roars
Salaam and Good Day,

Last Sunday we were featured in Harian Metro, centre spread. This time you guys get to look at big pictures of Eejean, Safwan, Naim and Dzubir so you'll recognize them when you see them in public (but we're shy really). We're very happy with this and would like to thank Harian Metro and Shamran Sarahan for the great writeup. Below is the web version of the article. Original article can be found here.

Boboiboy taruhan terbaru

Oleh SHAMRAN SARAHAN
shamss@hmetro.com.my
2010/01/31

SETAKAT ini Upin & Ipin satu-satunya terbitan siri animasi tempatan yang berjaya dan memberi impak besar dalam penerbitan animasi produksi tempatan di negara ini.

Namun selepas sekian lama asyik disogok dengan siri animasi ini, mungkin ramai juga ternanti-nanti kemunculan satu siri animasi baru sebagai alternatif atau siri tambahan sebagai tontonan umum di rumah.

Lantaran itu, bekas Pengarah Upin & Ipin, Mohd Nizam Abdul Razak, 27, berasakan tiba masanya satu siri animasi yang baru dan segar dihasilkan untuk mencetus variasi dalam dunia animasi negara ini.

Selepas berjaya mencipta fenomena melalui Upin & Ipin, Nizam bersama syarikat baru miliknya, Animonsta Studios (AS) yang diterajuinya dengan tiga rakan kongsi, Mohd Safwan Ab Karim, Kee Yong Pin dan Muhammad Anas Abdul Aziz, mahu muncul dengan produk animasi terbaru yang kini dalam pembikinan, iaitu Boboiboy.

Bezanya kali ini, Boboiboy mengetengahkan animasi tiga dimensi (3D) yang berkonsepkan watak superhero tetapi berwajah tempatan.

Sudah pasti cabaran besar bakal ditempuhi Nizam dan rakan dalam pembikinan siri animasi ini memandangkan populariti Upin & Ipin yang cukup gah ketika ini.

Bagaimanapun bagi Nizam, tiada permulaan yang mudah untuk memulakan sesuatu dan dia percaya penghasilan animasi Boboiboy mampu memeriahkan lagi industri dunia animasi di Malaysia.

"Kalau boleh saya ingin melihat Boboiboy muncul sebagai satu lagi 'ikon' untuk kanak-kanak di negara ini," katanya.

Nizam bersama kira-kira 20 kru AS kini giat menyiapkan episod awal siri berkenaan dengan durasi selama 11 minit bagi setiap episod.

Yang menarik, rata-rata kru yang terbabit dalam pembikinan siri animasi ini masih muda dan berumur lingkungan awal hingga pertengahan 20-an. Mereka akan bersama menyiapkan kira-kira 26 episod untuk siri animasi berkenaan.

Tatkala bertemu Nizam dan Safwan bersama tiga lagi kru penting dalam AS, Dzubir Zakaria, 24; Yap Ee Jean, 25, dan Naim Ahmad, 22; baru-baru ini, masing-masing rancak bercerita mengenai projek animasi itu yang dijangka ditayangkan di televisyen pada pertengahan tahun ini.

INFO
> Boboiboy adalah cerita animasi untuk tontonan kanak-kanak yang diilhamkan oleh barisan animator muda berumur lingkungan 20-an daripada Animonsta Studios (AS) yang berpangkalan di Cyberjaya
> Penggerak utama yang mengendalikan AS adalah Mohd Nizam Abdul Razak, Mohd Safwan Ab Karim, Kee Yong Pin dan Muhammad Anas Abdul Aziz yang pernah menjayakan animasi popular Upin & Ipin
>Boboiboy menelan kos perbelanjaan kira-kira RM2 juta dan mendapat kerjasama daripada agensi Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd yang akan membantu menyalur dana bagi merealisasikan projek terbabit
> Agensi kerajaan, termasuk Pusat Kandungan Kreatif Multimedia Malaysia (MAC3) di bawah Perbadanan Pembangunan Multimedia (MDeC) membekalkan beberapa perisian untuk kemudahan AS menghasilkan Boboiboy
> Boboiboy dijangka ditayangkan pada pertengahan tahun ini membabitkan 26 episod dan setiap satunya dengan durasi 11 minit
> Maklumat lanjut mengenai Boboiboy di laman web www.animonsta.com

SINOPSIS RINGKAS BOBOIBOY
> Boboiboy adalah kisah mengenai watak Boboiboy bersama rakannya Yaya, Ying dan Gopal yang memiliki kuasa luar biasa menentang makhluk asing yang ingin menawan bumi
> Makhluk asing yang turun ke bumi membawa pulang biji kopi ke planet mereka, namun kerana aroma dan rasa kopi sungguh sedap, seluruh kroni makhluk asing itu sanggup turun ke bumi semata-mata untuk mendapatkan kopi berkenaan
> Boboiboy dan rakannya cuba menghalang tindakan makhluk asing terbabit hingga tercetus konflik dan pergolakan sesama mereka

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More Monstas!

25 January 2010 Posted by Rocky Raccoon 14 roars
Happy Monday!
January is almost at an end and what an exciting start to 2010 it has been. Hope everyone has had some good results from pursuing your new year's resolutions. As you've read before Animonsta was started by 8 Monstas and later grew to 11. Well we are happy to  inform everyone that as of 25th January 2010,  we have expanded our Monsta team to a strong number of 20. Check out our newly updated Monsta lineup.


So today I'd like to share with you guys our new recruits of Monstas that will become the life and blood of our team (if not already).

From left: Iman, Naim, Zirul

Kam, Rashdan, Akid

Ekeen, Hana, Nina

Tim, Hadziq

Zaim, Khairul
This new lineup includes character modeling, background modeling, storyboard artists and concept artists, further boosting our production team, not to mention our Futsal team as well. The team is hard at work with preparing for our first series of promotional products, a pilot episode and some soon to be announced minisodes. What is pilot about? What are these so-called minisodes? How did BoBoiBoy get his powers? All shall be revealed soon. Stay tuned ;)

ps – The writer would like to point out that he had nothing to do with the glowing effect on his face in the above group picture. Perhaps it is a sign?

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Animation inspiration - NST

Posted by Rocky Raccoon 8 roars
Salaam and Good Monday!

I hope you guys picked up a copy of The New Straits Times yesterday (Sunday) because Animonsta had a writeup in it. What's that? You forgot? That's no problem because the NSTP website has already shared it online.

Animation inspiration
BoBoiBoy

All eyes are also on Animonsta Studios, a four-month old company founded by Mohd Nizam Abd Razak, Mohd Safwan Ab Karim, Kee Yong Pin and Muhammad Anas Abdul Aziz.
The four young animators, all in their 20s, were the original group behind Upin and Ipin.
Nizam, Animonsta's managing director, says the team's experience at Les' Copaque gave them a head start in the industry. They are now working on their first project, BoBoiBoy.
"People assume we don't understand the business because of our age. We were the core team behind The Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula movie. We know what it takes to make an animated movie successful."
They also know that animation is a high-cost and high-risk business.
"We started out by borrowing money from our parents and now we have applied for a RM2 million fund from MDeC. It is risky but we have a good product to sell," says Nizam.
To avoid high overheads, Animonsta set up its base in Cyberjaya at MAC3.
MAC3 is the Malaysian Animation Creative Content Centre, a facility to house and offer high-tech animation facilities to start-up companies. It is a part of the government's initiative to develop the industry.
"Being here at MAC3 is a big help. Otherwise we will have to invest a lot on our own."
Nizam says BoBoiBoy has received good reviews from major animation studios such as Electronic Arts, Marvel and DreamWorks who were brought in by MDeC under a mentorship programme.
He says BoBoiBoy tells the story of a 9-year old boy and his friends. They have to fight off aliens who have invaded Earth for coffee. It will be released as a TV series first before heading for the big screen.
The Malay version will be shown in June. Production cost for the series is about RM2.6 million.
"We will roll out the movie both in Bahasa Malaysia and English."
Nizam says penetrating the global market will not be easy as it involves huge costs.
"Although there are no specific funds allocated for marketing and promotions, the government has been very supportive in providing funding for production work, mentorship programmes, incentives and facilities."
However, he says more should be done to develop good scriptwriters.
Animonsta aspires to make BoBoiBoy the next Malaysian super hero for children.
"We don't really have a local super-hero and we believe BoBoiBoy can be that."





The young team behind Animonsta. Third from left is Mohd Nizam Abd Razak, the managing director of Animonsta.
The young team behind Animonsta. Third from left is Mohd Nizam Abd Razak, the managing director of Animonsta.

Scans of the newspaper articles.

You can read the full article here . We'd like to thank the New Straits Times and Chandra for the great article. 

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