A panel at the ongoing Social Media Week on Friday urged more youths to key into African animation and storytelling, describing it as the next revenue-generating industry.
The speakers gave the advice during a panel discussion on “African Animation and Storytelling – The Final Frontier.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that SMW is one of the world’s foremost conferences and industry news platforms for marketers.
It provides brands, agencies and technology providers with the latest insights, trends and best practices together with access to a global community of marketing decision makers.
Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie, Content Producer, Simone’s Oasis, said that African animation was the next frontier for storytelling journey in Nigeria.
She said that as creative and animators, they had chosen the currency of animation to help shape the Africa of the future by telling stories of the past on the global stage.
Falouhghi-Ekezie said that there was a lot of potential in the animation industry, urging youths to explore the sector as a career option.
She said that one of the major challenge faced by the animation space was the issue of funding.
“It is still hard to convince investors to finance the animation sector, because most of them do not really understand what the African animation sector entails.
“If the industry can scale through this hurdle, it will be the next sector generating money for the country,” she said.
Talking on the benefits to children, she said that there was an allowance for learning in animation, noting that children could learn creativity from watching them.
“The realm of storytelling through animation allows a certain suspension of belief and allows them to really immerse themselves in the creative vision they have, because they do not have to abide by the rules of natural law.
“Animation is a great avenue for exploration and growth of the mind, especially for children,” Faloughi-Ekezie said.
Awele Emili, Managing Director of Animator Art, said that in developed countries like U.S and China, animation was a sector that generated billions of dollars, noting that it was essential for more creatives in Nigeria to tap into it.
She said that the animation industry gave creatives in the field the opportunity to tell African stories to children here in Nigeria, Africa and around the world.
Emili said that even developed countries like the U.S wanted to tell African stories because they found it fascinating.
Yetunde Ogundipe, Creative Director, Beereel Pictures, said that the African Animation industry needed to find its foot in a sector that generates about 400 billion dollar a year globally.
She said that if the sector was well funded, it would create a lot of job opportunities for the youth.(NAN)
