16-year-old from León, Spain, wants to launch his own animation studio
Harris Fatungase, a 16-year-old from León, Spain, dreams of setting up an animation studio. With no plan or budget, sceptics are piling on his story.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A 16-year-old asks for funding for his animation studio
Harris Fatungase is 16, lives in León, Spain, and has laid his dream on the table: to set up an animation studio with Disney and Pixar as his benchmarks. The interview, published by EL ESPAÑOL de Castilla y León, has triggered a flood of reactions. What does it take for a teenager with no business plan to get funding?
Fatungase is the son of Nigerians who settled in the city 23 years ago and was born in León. He finishes compulsory secondary education this year and will start sixth form next year. He wants to produce animated shorts and antiestéticature films, but so far there is no registered name, no team, not even a computer. The criticism focuses on exactly that: plenty of enthusiasm, little tangible substance.
The viability of the project under scrutiny
Funding an animation studio is difficult even with a defined pipeline: it requires licences, powerful equipment and a reasonably stable team. Without previous production, investors rarely trust an idea alone. Crowdfunding can be an alternative for small projects, but almost every successful case has at least a prototype or a teaser behind it.
Two positions have clashed in the public conversation. The first, the majority one, holds that a project with no structure cannot seriously ask for money. The second reminds people that young talent needs opportunities, and that Disney also started with a garage and a pencil. The problem is that no one has provided figures: no budget, no costs, no viability plan.
A dream without a storyboard
Harris's story is endearing, and precisely for that reason the reaction has been merciless. Between the sarcasm and the defence that "talent knows nothing about bureaucracy", one pending lesson remains: financial literacy. Knowing how to ask for money is also part of the craft.
Perhaps in a few years his name will appear in a film's credits. Or perhaps the only script he ever writes will be the one about learning that, without a plan, dreams don't get funded. That said, no one has denied him his enthusiasm.
Harris Fatungase is 16, lives in León, Spain, and has laid his dream on the table: to set up an animation studio with Disney and Pixar as his benchmarks. The interview, published by EL ESPAÑOL de Castilla y León, has triggered a flood of reactions. What does it take for a teenager with no business plan to get funding?
Fatungase is the son of Nigerians who settled in the city 23 years ago and was born in León. He finishes compulsory secondary education this year and will start sixth form next year. He wants to produce animated shorts and antiestéticature films, but so far there is no registered name, no team, not even a computer. The criticism focuses on exactly that: plenty of enthusiasm, little tangible substance.
The viability of the project under scrutiny
Funding an animation studio is difficult even with a defined pipeline: it requires licences, powerful equipment and a reasonably stable team. Without previous production, investors rarely trust an idea alone. Crowdfunding can be an alternative for small projects, but almost every successful case has at least a prototype or a teaser behind it.
Two positions have clashed in the public conversation. The first, the majority one, holds that a project with no structure cannot seriously ask for money. The second reminds people that young talent needs opportunities, and that Disney also started with a garage and a pencil. The problem is that no one has provided figures: no budget, no costs, no viability plan.
A dream without a storyboard
Harris's story is endearing, and precisely for that reason the reaction has been merciless. Between the sarcasm and the defence that "talent knows nothing about bureaucracy", one pending lesson remains: financial literacy. Knowing how to ask for money is also part of the craft.
Perhaps in a few years his name will appear in a film's credits. Or perhaps the only script he ever writes will be the one about learning that, without a plan, dreams don't get funded. That said, no one has denied him his enthusiasm.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (22 replies).
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