You can do this. We can change and guide this industry back to somewhere prosperous for everyone but you have to come correct or it will continue to devolve.

That’s not to say you can’t be a purist but if the last year has taught me anything it’s that this industry doesn’t care about your feelings on the world, it cares about how you use those feelings to create amazing things and in the end it’s the work that’s gonna get noticed.

Tools built on AI support. Purists will say it’s morally wrong but unfortunately the attention economy that has popped up doesn’t care about morals or purity of artistry.

If you fail to adapt you will get left behind.

Yes the ways in which animation or film in general will get made will change but ultimately the platforms people consume that art will also change. YouTube, reels and TikTok are platforms where some truly amazing work is being done by creators and overwhelmingly allot is being done by artists using

Understanding that indie animation and making patreons are good revenue streams is essential but understanding how some tools can help support your art is also essential.

AI isn’t going anywhere no matter how much you refuse to use it or advocate against it. Come to peace with this.

If you’re in college now it behooves you to start proactively thinking of ways to market and monetize yourself outside of the studio system. Indie film can’t save us entirely, unfortunately in the new attention economy AI might be the only thing to help open doors.

None of this is anything we can control by itself but as a whole it spells absolute peril for the animation industry. Original IP probably will no longer be a thing going forward. Studio headcount’s will become less and less over time, entry level positions will cease to exist.

All of this cannot be attributed to any one reason but a few common denominators are: globalized pipelines over the last decade, the rising cost of labor, unrealistic financial expectations by studios, the appearance of private equity firm wholesale corporatizing the industry.

Disney announced headcount reductions over 3 years ago with the final reductions occurring last year.

Animation unfortunately has become no longer sustainable at a studio level. Animators and artists going to college now have less opportunity than they did 10 years ago.

Editor here! Currently applauding you🥰🙌🙌🙌

I also designed a bunch of stickers for Kai! They were placed throughout her room and on her skateboard. The late-game censorship removed a lot of them (including the cracked eggs, which I'm shocked got flagged) BUT our girl Nimona made it to final 🦈💖

This is a small snippet of amount of care that went in to developing Kai, every department from casting to story to animation to lighting, and everything outside and in between, handled her with a reverence and kindness that I wish I could hand deliver to every trans person who needs it right now.

I mean there’s the financial aspect to consider but If we’re ever gonna solve the autonomy question or how to save this industry from utter collapse we have to consider that the solution may fundamentally alter the way that we support those entering the profession as well as the medium itself.

I think there is. What if we can establish a network of film events that are specifically for new shorts being produced locally? Like how the 48 hour film festival works but more for serious pieces that enable artists to grow outside of the studio system and serve as their calling card.

Not every film is gonna make it to a festival and travel costs for filmmakers to get to events is exceptionally disincentivizing for new directors.

Is there a better way for us to support new filmmakers that build followings on social and yet want to showcase their work?

A good implementation of this is the animation show of shows. If you’ve ever been to one you know it’s showcasing new artists and work being done.

This kind of distribution is more common outside the US however could be a way for new filmmakers to make their way outside of film festivals.