Talent needed: Animators busy putting touches to tasks at the Animasia Studio. Jobs opportunities are abundant in the content development sector for those with skills, says Ah Loong.

While most companies want paper qualifications from job applicants, Animasia Sdn Bhd takes anyone into its animation team as long as he or she can draw.

WHO would have thought that shopkeepers, fish farmers and salesmen — without any formal training in animation skills — could be part of the content development industry.

They do not hold degrees or even have experience in the field, but their love for drawing and animation has helped them become part of the Animasia design team.

An MSC-status content development company, Animasia Sdn Bhd is responsible for producing popular shows such as Bola Kampung and Supa Strikas.

The company believes that talent for the content industry is all around and many of these talented people either don’t know the value of their skills or are being told that such a career isn’t worth pursuing.

While content development may be high on the MSC Malaysia priority list, to aid the development of the country’s K-economy, many still don’t regard working in this field as a proper career.

“Some of these talents face objections from family and friends when they say that they want to pursue a career in animation,” said Wong Kwan Loong, Animasia chief operating officer.

Ah Loong, as he is better known as,said that just because someone enjoys drawing, doesn’t mean he or she will end up asa street-corner artist if he pursues hisdream.

“If the person is really good, he or she can snap up a really good job in an animation studio and earn a good salary,” he said.

Talented artists can rise to become art editors, project managers and even creative directors of a production house.

“Don’t play-play! There are career opportunities in art especially in content development,” Ah Loong said, borrowing a phrase from Singapore TV’s yellow-booted contractor Phua Chu Kang. But some people need more convincing than others, it seems.

New horizons

“It is not until they see the names of their friends, sons or daughters in the credits at the end of an animated movie will they consider the content industry as a lucrative career option,” Ah Loong said,

And it was that kind of recognition that made Mohd Nizam Jamil’s family finally accept his career of choice. “They wanted me to join the government service after graduation but I had other plans,” said the 27-year-old from Kota Kinabalu.

Armed with a degree in Business Administration, Nizam tried hard to dodge his parent’s wishes. He became a salesman and sold everything from security cameras to cars, and would doodle in his free time.

“I love all kinds of animation works and I always wondered what it would be like to be part of a production team,” he said.

Nizam got his chance when he came across Animasia’s vacancy advertisement in a popular magazine. He went for the interview and impressed Ah Loong with his art skills, and was hired to join the team.

Wan Mohd Aizatuddin Abdul Rahman, meanwhile, was helping out in his father’s fish farm when he saw an Animasia ad.

MY WAY: Despite objections from his family, business graduate Nizam followed his passion for art and now has a rewarding career with Animasia.

“I thought I’d try it out because I love comics and cartoons,” said the 23-year-old from Banting, Klang.

Wan Mohd’s father encouraged him to give the job a try and he has been with Animasia for four years now.

Former shopkeepers Dasimah Daud, 20, and Soh Carrie, 19, also decided to seek greener pastures in the content development world after they saw the same ad.

They were encouraged to apply by the fact that the ad did not place much emphasis on paper qualifications because neither of them had any.

“It just called for people with art skills so I grabbed the opportunity,” said Carrie who hails from Mentakab, Pahang.       

Pure passion

While most want-ads highlight the need for paper qualifications as a pre-requisite for a job, Animasia believes in not doing that.

“I don’t think (a lack of) paper qualifications should be a barrier for anyone wanting to join this industry, especially when they have immense talent,” Ah Loong said, adding that it would be sinful to waste a god-given talent.

Animasia also does not put much stock in degrees. Ah Loong said many universities and colleges tend to put too much focus on the technical side of animation.

While this is all well and good, he said, animators must be mastersof the basics of animation, whichis plain and simple drawing skills.

“The software is there to make a drawing great but it takes a talented artist to come up with that drawing in the first place,” he said.

Edmund Chan, Animasia’s managing director echoed Ah Loong’s sentiments, and said that it is talent that makes or breaks a content developer.

“We need the right talents, so even if the candidate is a school-leaver with no qualifications, we’ll take him or her in based on talent alone,” Chan said.

When someone wants to work as an animator at Animasia, he or she is first put through an art test to ascertain his or her competency level.

“The candidate is given a piece of paper and required to draw on it. If you’re a whiz with animation software but can only draw stickmen, that’s not good enough for us,” said Ah Loong.

IT literate

Besides giving young talents a chance to explore their skills, Animasia also offers them an opportunity to brush up on their computer skills to help them keep up with industry standards.

“Most of them come in with limited IT skills but we’ll groom them to master animation software,” Chan said.

It is quite a shock for them to work with computers in the beginning and Ah Loong knows only too well the feeling of facing something new.

When he first started, he did not know how to work a computer. And an overactive imagination made matters worse.

“I saw in movies how one click could make a whole file disappear or make the machine explode,” he recalled with a smile.       

His mentor calmed his fears by sitting beside him at the computer, and now he uses the same approach to help new recruits.

It takes about a week for newbies to get used to animation software like Flash and Maya and after mastering these, they become trainers to newer additions to the team.

This method works well, as Dasimah found out.

“Before I came for the interview, I consulted my sister’s friend who was using Flash and tried to master it. When I got the job, they helped me better my skills,” she said. Now, she and Carrie help other newbies master the software.

Nizam, who initially thought it would be too difficult to master the software, now finds it quite easy to use. He credits this to the teaching method, which is simple and straightforward.

The trainers also encouraged them to think of other ways to perform a task. “This made us discover new shortcuts and faster ways to get the job done,” said 32-year-old Mohd Izhan Ismail, a senior storyboard artist in the company.

Slowly changing

Having worked in the industry for awhile, Nizam, Carrie, Dasimah, Wan Mohd and Izhan can see that public perception towards working in the art field is changing.

“Nay sayers see the end product and our names in the credits and then realise that it is indeed a ‘proper’ job,” Izhan said.

Nizam said his parents are now proud to know that he is part of a production team and never miss pointing out that fact to friends and relatives.

Wan Mohd, Dasimah and Carrie get the same treatment from their family and friends too.

But Nizam hopes this change in perception could be faster and one of the ways to do so involves players in the industry.

“Industry players need to be the foundation of this change by producing more content of international standard,” he said.

Nizam adds that Malaysians seem to give overseas content more attention and recognition so it’s no wonder that many still think that pursuing a career in animation locally is not worthwhile.

“There’s something unique about local productions and they do have the potential to be just as good as anime, for example,” he said.

Also, the Government’s plan under the MSC Malaysia initiative, to set up animation centres in each state to train would-be animators, can help the general population realise the significance of the content industry.

“The animation centres will help bring more talents out of the woodwork,” Wan Mohd said.

While there has been support from the Government and perception of the arts and the content industry has changed, there is still a long way to go, according to Ah Loong.

“The industry needs to go out and shout that ‘There are job opportunities in the content industry’ and this will help Malaysians realise there are other career paths besides the usual medicine, law and engineering,” he said.

But the most effective person who can change the negative stigma in the art field is the individual. “If you know you have the talent, give it a shot. Don’t let others tell you otherwise,” Nizam said.

So you can draw and you want a career in animation, what’s next? Go knock on Animasia’s door, or better yet, draw your own door and walk through it. Figuratively speaking, that is.

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www.animasia-studio.com.