The Official Blog Of Animonsta Studios: Animation inspiration

Animation inspiration - NST

25 January 2010 Posted by Rocky Raccoon

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."