HERRSCHMIDT ANIMATION

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Introduction: Call-Center or industrial visualization?

By the time mom and dad cut the money supply, even the long term film student has to ask himself what's next: Will I work as a taxi driver, waiter or Call-Center agent and make movies alongside? Or he might choose to be a part of professional TV or cinema productions. However for most of todays young filmmakers, there is no perspective to make a living with what they really love to do: realize their own motion pictures.

Many independent filmmakers produce their films with the help of government financing. The completed films go on a festival tour for one or two years, win an award, if their lucky, and then disappear forever. Such a project does not hold any financial gain, thus many filmmakers depend on other sources of income.

What does the traditional film industry have to offer?

The traditional animation business provides the opportunity to sell a (kids) series to a TV station. You may create commercials or industrial visualizations. Most young filmmakers work as freelancers and earn their money as animators and technicians in established companies. To effectively sell a series to a TV station, you need an entertaining concept, years of experience and a professional production environment. It requires a lot of time, money, many connections and offers the most artistic freedom in the traditional animation industry.

During the last twenty years the traditional film industry, like the whole economy, has been increasingly threatened by the expansion of the internet. CD and DVD sales go down and people don't visit movie theaters as much as they used to. Also Youtube and Co. are serious competitors to television. The old guard - big film studios - invest less energy in the development of new talent and it gets continually harder for young filmmakers to get a foot in the door.

The digital revolution

Only a few filmmakers see the internet as a potential alternative. The rest is rejecting the noise and large competition on the net. Many things are either free or stolen and intellectual property rights are suspended. The internet actually functions like a large copy machine. Anything that comes in touch with it, will be copied! On the other hand the digital age has not only been threatening the old guard, it has made the artistic process more democratic.

Todays digital tools make production cheaper and faster. The interconnection of the world enhances collaborations across cultural borders. Line-producers and vendors become obsolete. The filmmaker can communicate directly with his audience and is able to share his ideas at the speed of light. A great online presentation extends a films life span way beyond the festival tour.

During the last two years of my academic studies, I have been increasingly fascinated by the internet as a potential financial income source, next to commissioned work and studio jobs. Besides the possibility to build an audience and expand it with every new project, I am especially interested in a way to expand this relationship into a working business model. How do authors, bloggers, musicians, Flash-Game developers and internet marketers find their audience online? How do they earn money on the internet? Can their business models be translated to filmmakers? And how many "fans" do you need to finance your life?

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