3 days ago
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Emerging animation creators should learn to stop worrying and love social media, looking beyond established production and distribution models. But there are a few pointers.
“Talk back to the people who comment. They don’t want to talk to a wall,” said Hayley Lam, founder at Studio Munbou.
“That’s the beauty of independent creators and stories and internet-born characters: you get to interact with the communities and fandoms. [Vocaloid] Hatsune Miku is a great example. It really is about putting IP into the audience’s hands.”
She stressed the need to experiment to stand out on social media during a WIA Summit panel dedicated to “The Audience-Driven Future,” moderated by WIA president Marge Dean.
“If you don’t capture their attention within the first three seconds, they’re going to move on with their doom-scrolling. It’s a dopamine effect, so make your IP and storytelling memorable. It must stand out for people to stay and continue to explore.”
It also needs to make them feel something.
“Does it make them excited? Is it relatable? Are you putting out content for the sake of it, or are you trying to evoke emotion? People will spend more time, comment and relate if it makes them feel some type of way, whether it’s anger, happiness or giddiness.”
Maya Penn, CEO at Upenndo! Productions – behind “ASALi: Power of the Pollinators,” executive produced by Viola Davis and featuring Whoopi Goldberg — agreed that social media engagement is very “emotion-driven.”
“People like to feel they’re a part of the process. They like to feel they’re invested’ early. I’ve seen so many independent projects do really well when they start with: ‘Hey, here’s a character I just thought of. What do y’all think?’ It can be through a series of tweets or Instagram reels.”
When indie creators turn to crowdfunding campaigns or grants to fund their projects, audience participation is crucial.
“A big part of that also includes behind-the-scenes content. You can create that feeling that they’re a part of this journey. ‘ASALi’ was first seen by the world in 2012. Technically, it’s a project over a decade in the making, and some of these OG fans are still here.”
Reusing content and repetition is not a mistake; it helps.
“It’s not just about capturing people’s attention but also reminding them of what they already saw. You’re going to feel this is annoying, saying the same thing across five different posts. It won’t.”
Especially on TikTok, said Khoa Trinh, CEO at OTSU Labs.
“It’s the first platform ever where you won’t be punished for repetitive content. Just keep posting until you feel you’re getting somewhere, and then dig into that data.” Sometimes, all you need to start is a character.
“Gen Z and Gen Alpha are likely to connect with the character on social media because you upload the video, they can like it and follow it, and the journey has started. Sometimes they don’t really understand the background of the story, and they don’t care,” he adds.
“When you don’t have the money, you can gather fellow animators and artists in your network and create a bunch of characters, without any story. Then one of them hits very well, and in six months you have 200,000 followers and start building the characters more thoroughly.”
As Gen Z and Gen Alpha turn to YouTube or short-form content, “webcomics are a great example of how storytelling has changed,” said Lam.
“Take ‘Solo Leveling’: someone published something online hoping it would get adapted into a webcomic and then into an anime series.” When developing “Whispers of Taiji,” the goal was to create “something fun to engage in.”
“Everyone wants to create their own content, right? We threw our IP out there early on and asked: ‘Do you guys like our characters?’ You can get audience feedback — both beautiful and ugly — in real time. It’s about being co-creators with your audience to help breathe life into your story.”
Creating a community also allows animation makers to stay independent.
“I wanted to be uncompromising with my story and my world and my messaging, and not have to change things because of a note from an executive,” said Penn about “ASALi,” which focuses on nature and biodiversity.
“The idea of the short film is that it’s actually a pilot episode, and we’re hoping to do more. When you’re working on a project independently, you don’t need tons of approvals. You just need to see what your audience is saying and figure out how to implement that into stories.”
With “Ewilan’s Quest,” Sophie Saget (Andarta Pictures) decided to adapt Pierre Bottero’s bestselling novel series.
“It’s already known here in France. As soon as its readers heard about it, my social media blew up. The first person I hired was a community manager. It was all about giving them a space where they can follow what we’re doing,” she said.
“When you gather people around you, broadcasters notice. It’s the same with original content — it’s just going to take more time.”
A Kickstarter campaign brought in more than €300,000 ($342,600) for development.
“It’s like you’re working with us in the studio. The coolest part is not watching the series, it’s making it and working on the designs. When I pitched at Cartoon Forum to an audience of broadcasters and producers, I wondered: Could I finance the show just with the funds coming directly from the people who are interested in it? It’s not possible yet, but it might be in the future.”
It doesn’t mean you have to listen to everything people say.
“You can run as many tests as you need and see what people are reacting to the most. Every Wednesday, we have a quiz about the books, and that creates a lot of engagement. Find things that allow people to interact with you.” And treat yourself as a brand.
“That can feel very weird as an individual, but what I mean by that is being flexible and willing to adapt to what people respond to, but also being very clear about how you want to represent your project,” said Penn.
“Don’t be afraid of being experimental, different or bizarre. Just give it a shot and see what happens.”
English (US) ·