Animati.ng is about animation in Nigeria. It's an initiative to develop the industry for animators and by animators. What we intend to do is build an ecosystem for animation in Nigeria. For more information, visit http://animati.ng/

1. Prospective Dates: January 27 – 31, 2014

2. Introduction
The Animati.ng Week is an event that is being organised to bring together professional
animators, enthusiasts and stakeholders to discuss issues pertaining to digital animation in
Nigeria. Under the umbrella of the Animati.ng, the event would serve as a springboard for
achieving the project’s mission of contributing to the developmental assistance of the
animation industry by, among other things, providing animators with the knowledge and
resources they need to be both locally relevant and globally informed.
The forthcoming Animati.ng Week will be themed ‘Quality Content and Cultural Relevance’
and will focus on how animators can generate professional quality animation with relevant
content that conveys rich cultural meaning. Furthermore, the theme has been carefully
dissected and broken down into four sub-themes which are listed in the next section.
To do justice to these topics, the event aims to pull together a distinguished and
accomplished group of animators and producers of animated features who, by means of
their experience, are qualified to inform and educate the industry. The list of speakers are
also included below.
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3. Session Themes
1. 100 years: capturing culture through digital animation
On January 1, 2014, Nigeria would have crossed the centenary mark of its existence. After
a hundred years of attempts to blend unity with cultural diversity, much has been
accomplished and much has evolved. Today, the affordances of media technology have
contributed and continue to influence how Nigerians look upon and relate with their
country's past, present and future.
This session will examine how digital animation can also serve as a medium to capture the
wealth of Nigeria's history and culture and effectively transmit it to the younger generation
as a long-lasting heritage. It aims to discuss how, in the present, animators can develop
valuable content and generate sustainable ideas from the country's past in order to project
a promising future.
2. The art and skill of digital animation in the 21st century
Digital animation is not for the faint-hearted; it is for those who are brave, daring and
ambitious. Still, it is not rocket-science. Twenty-first century technologies have put
animation within the reach of those who want to attain high levels of mastery and expertise
in the field.
This session will discuss the requirements in terms of talent and techniques for becoming a
top-class animator. It will examine the skill-set needed, the software used and the personal
traits essential for starting out as an animator and transforming into a specialist at it.
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4. 3. Professional animation: when talent and technique are not enough
This session will examine those small details that separate high quality animation from
ordinary ones. Since the increasingly low barrier to the creation of animated products can
potentially expand the number of entrants in the field, there is a need to highlight those
elements that distinguish professional animation from average work.
The session will discuss the subtle means, methods and intricacies of producing superior
animation. It will help animators understand the importance of combining a keen sense of
professionalism, organization, discipline and ethics with an eye for perfection.
4. Making and managing an animation business: tools, tips and tactics
Most animators combine an intense love and passion for their work with the daily pressure
to make ends meet. This conflict between creativity and commerce, or passion and
survival, is a notable characteristic of animators who take the extra step of setting up
businesses amid the economic risks and uncertainties of market forces.
This session will discuss these issues and analyze the factors that should be considered
by animation startups in the Nigerian environment. It will examine the pitfalls to evade, the
strategies to employ as well as the benefits and downsides of running an animation
business in Nigeria.
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5. Proposed Speakers
Adamu Waziri
After over a decade of international 3D animation experience
at award winning animation studios on projects for clients
including Disney, HP and Sony, Adamu now heads an
animation company called EVCL based in Abuja and
producers of the first indigenous Nigerian children’s
educational cartoon. The pioneering show, called Bino and
Fino, an African-produced preschool TV series that aims to
show a more acccurate representation of children growing
up on the African continent, is now being aired in the U.K. on
Sky TV and in South Africa.
Ebele Okoye
Based in Germany, Ebele is an independent director/
producer who has led award winning co-productions
between Germany and Eastern Europe. Her current project is
“The Legacy of Rubies”, a 23-minute Nigerian-German coproduction which is part of the Focus Features Africa First
Short Film Programme. She is a content developer and
producer with Shrinkfish Media & Animation, an animation
entity based in Abuja but working virtually with people all over
the globe for the production of quality African stories. She is
also the initiator of the Shrinkfish Media Lab (smedLAB) an
audio visual training initiative targeting Media artists with a
special focus on animation, the first run of which started at
the Goethe Institut, Lagos in March 2013.
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6. Enuma Chigbo
Enuma is passionate about two things: God and the media.
She holds a degree in English Language and has worked as
a journalist, special projects coordinator and an advertising
administrator with THISDAY Nigeria and South Africa. She is
currently a Media Consultant with the Cross River State
Government and the owner of Minds of Creation Ltd. Enuma
is the Managing Director of ‘The Scarlet Trail’, producers of
the children’s cartoon, ‘The Adventures of Lee and Boo’,
which is aimed at inculcating Nigeria’s values, beauty and
potential through vivid colourful and humorous animation.
Michael Akindele
Michael has over 8 years experience interfacing with C-Level
executives at Tech, Media & Telco (TMT) companies in all
aspects of Communications, Technology and Media Creation
for various Tech Companies, Brand & Media Firms in Europe,
Africa, Asia and North American region. Other key areas of
expertise include technology development, media creation,
original content development, content verticals including
video, music & games production, CG 2D/3D animation,
among others. He is the CEO of Fusion Media, a Nigerian
company that is currently producing an original 3D animated
series titled ‘The O Twins’.
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7. Shina Ajulo
Shina is the CEO of Sporedust Media, a Nigerian animation
company. Sporedust is made up of self-taught animators
whose skills were built through observing styles of different
animation cultures including Disney from the US and anime
from Japan. With additional skills amassed through tutorials
online, they have attuned themselves to animation
technology and, with it, developed their flagship product:
Chicken Core: The Rise of Kings. He now aims to fulfill his a
life long dream of making a world class feature animation.
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8. Contact Information
The Animati.ng project has been conceived of at the School of Media and Communication, PanAfrican University.
For more information, contact:
•
Patrick Enaholo
School of Media and Communication
Pan-African University
2, Ahmed Onibudo Street
Victoria Island
Lagos, Nigeria
Email:
Tel:
•
penaholo@smc.edu.ng
+44 757 069 1640 (UK)
Akinyemi Adetunji
Virtual Museum of Modern Nigerian Art
Pan-African University
2, Ahmed Onibudo Street
Victoria Island
Lagos, Nigeria
Email:
Tel:
aadetunji@pau.edu.ng
+234 803 363 5159
Website: http://www.animati.ng
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