When looking at animation a big question is: where is the funding from?
Animation isn’t cheap. It’s incredibly labor intensive and time consuming which results in high labor costs during prolonged periods. The shows themselves are also often given away for free. This leads to a very important question: How do they afford it?
In this article we’ll be looking at different ways to fund animated projects. Some are used exclusively, some are used in combinations with others, and some, in my opinion, should really only be seen as supplemental.
However, do note that I am not a financial expert. You should look at what methods work best for you and weigh your options depending on your situation. don’t take my opinions as gospel
The traditional way to get funding
When you look for funding to complete a project depending on your needs you might not have to go through the same hoops that someone who want to start an online web series have to. That don’t mean that it is necessarily easier, but it is very different approach. Depending on where you live there are different methods of to get this done.
In many parts of the world you might want to reach out to separate foundations and pitch your project while looking for funding. That money can then be used to produce a full movie which can be licensed, sold or produced independently, or put on film festivals.
Festivals are important for a myriad of reasons. They can net you awards which are great to show on a resume, festivals are a great place to network, you can build more of a name in the industry and you might even win cash prizes.
Depending on where you live there are different kind of foundations to pitch to, some of which are more eager to help.
There are some foundations that directly aim to aid local cultural work and can give out money depending on regions. They might help you if you have a strong personal tie to the place or if you aim to make a story surrounding that place. The same is true for queer foundations or religious ones. If you, for example, want to make a movie about Bulgarian Christians who are trans (just an example) you might want to check if there are any Bulgarian or queer or Christians foundations that would like to help.
Outside of that you might want to sell your idea outright to a production company. Selling your idea can give you plenty of opportunities and maybe more long term stability. Today you generally either have to have a good reputation in the industry, have big names attached (either person or IP), or personal connections to get something greenlit, but there are some studios that are willing to produce for no-names. It might be better to look at local alternatives.
A lot of people make a living out of selling show ideas. This don’t mean that they necessarily get their idea produced.
Crowdfunding and patreons
A seemingly direct alternative to get funded is through direct donations. Instead of going to a publisher or foundation that takes a risk on you, you can go directly to the audience and see if they would pay for it. By putting up a pitch and presentation on crowdfunding platforms you can get people to chip in to fund the project collectively.
The main issue with the method, outside of being risky, is that you suddenly are have a lot of people’s money and there is a real pressure to perform. You owe people updates and a finished product. If you fail to do that you might be suspended, might get blocked from Kickstarter, and it can be a bad streak in your career.
Platforms like kickstarter will not give you any funding if you are unable to reach your goal so if you are unable to reach the funding goal. you might reach 90% of what you need but that isn’t enough on many occasions. You will need to do a considerable marketing push which can be hard if you have a small audience and work alone.
A tip from me is to put the campaign at the lowest possible prize to still be able to make your campaign work. I see a lot of people potentially gain a lot of money through crowdfunding sites but due to low amounts of backers or high goals they loose all of that potential funding. These creators typically tend to keep working on that project regardless.
What you gain through a successful Kickstarter campaign is not just the money. News sites often report on Kickstarter campaigns reaching their goals and Kickstarter often favors campaigns that reach their goals. Both of these things lead to a bigger audience in the long term and more backers.
The amount entirely depend on your situation but it is important to really think through what you will need.
Platforms like Patreon can be good if you are looking for a steady income from subscribers. A good idea is to offer extra rewards for members. Sometimes people have Patreon accounts with no significant reward or anything to give. It might be a good option if you are looking at something long term.
Platforms like Ko-Fi can be used to get tips.
Gundam and MPL and TADC and Bakugan and Vanguard and GI Joe and…
Throughout the years a lot of animation has been used as indirect commercials. Most 80s cartoons where made to sell toys and today a lot of projects use the same model to fund itself. Both industry and indie animation can be kept afloat for free online by selling associated products.
A lot of people sell merch to fund their series or even as the main motivation. Today there are a lot of services that can sell clothes with your designs on them. Depending on what service you may use you might be given a percentage of each sold items or the merch makers might take a fixed sum per item.
More recently there are companies that specialize in plushies and figurines too.
The main thing is that not only small productions do this. Mayor brands are built around this sort of system. The reason why Gundam, Cardfight vanguard and The Amazing Digital Circus is on YouTube is not because the ad-sense is that great. They are there for 2 reasons. tell stories, and sell products.
Student films and budget free animation
A lot of animation specifically is produced in university. Money is for a lot of people not a big issue while they are studying and because time and expertise are the most important things for animation that time is a good place to work on personal projects. While the courses themselves are very important another important thing in university life is building contact and making projects.
If you can utilize that time efficiently you can produce many things.
Almost every animation program ends with a personal project. Some may be used to make a personal showcase others are used to make pitch material or pilots for the students future careers. Others also make their own studios in the end depending on your program.
Ad-sense and sponsorships
A lot of people may think that the main way to make money from indie animation is Ad-sense on sites like YouTube. I think that’s a bad way to look at it. YouTube can choose to cut your ad-sense for pretty much no reason and it generally pays very bad, especially for small creators.
Some people have definitely been able to make a living off of Ad-sense by doing animation but it is rather unreliable. It is not an avenue that should be shut off on your YouTube channel but it probably shouldn’t be your end all be all.
It might be better to look at direct sponsorships. A lot of youtubers are plagued by nasty sponsor who I won’t name, WHY AREN’T YOU?
It may not fit every project but it can be a more secure way to get a larger amount of money.
Conclusion
There are many ways to find animated projects and the most important thing is to find something that works for you and to think safely and realistically.
I mostly aim to show some different avenues that you can take. If i missed anything be sure to say so in the comments!
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