“If you can change tracks, then change tracks as quick as you can!” So spoke a graduate of Ming ­Chuan Univer­sity’s digital media design program with five years of work experience in a speech he made back at his alma mater. His warning fostered a sense of anxiety among the newly arrived freshmen in the audience.

But there’s something to the old-timer’s advice.

It is all too common for Taiwan’s animators to conceive of innovative works only to end up with insufficient funding to bring those works to life…. Taiwan’s animation industry is facing hard times. Consequently, even though many students want to work in animation and related fields, they face grim employment prospects when they graduate. 

(courtesy of Us Studio)

Overseas Diary I: Japan

(courtesy of Us Studio)

Hard work, step-by-step advancement

Director Ang Lee once said: Taiwanese, being people from a small island, need to take the initiative to leave it and engage with the world. Both culturally and geographically close to Taiwan, Japan is a kingdom of anima­tion, and it represents the top choice among Taiwan­ese animators for overseas careers in the field.

“Full of rich resources and with many related exhibi­tions” is the general assessment of the Taiwanese anima­tors who have gone to work in Japan. Manga, animation and gaming are interrelated fields there, and they have given birth to all manner of peripheral products and merchandise. Consequently, the animation indus­try in Japan has tight, well developed and complete chains of production. The high level of professionalism and comprehensive systems of promotion character­istic of the Japanese animation indus­try are even bigger reasons why many Taiwanese animators move there for extended stays.

To enter the Japanese industry, many people start from scratch, enrolling at a professional animators’ school. In addition to the education, they also can make connections for future employment. ­Chang Shao-wei, who is head of the animation studio Poirot, took this route.

“Taiwanese emphasize the value of experience, but the Japanese emphasize the cultivation of youth,” says ­Chang. Because there are so many styles of animation there—ranging from martial arts, to sports, to stories based around female leads—each animation studio has its own specialties. He notes: “Companies in Taiwan hope to get experienced, battle-tested talent; whereas Japanese firms hope to get newcomers that they can mold entirely to suit their purposes. That ultimately res­ults in each studio having its own style. The new talent will turn into the kind of animators the company needs.”

But animating isn’t easy, and many find the working conditions too challenging to stay on. Lin Hung-­sheng, who graduated from a professional animators’ school and who does background animation work for Mu­kuo Studio, recalls: “While studying at animators’ school, those ahead of me all said that the work was very hard and the pay poor. But it would go in one ear and out the other. When we graduated, we learned just how true those reports were.”

In the field it’s quite normal to work 12 hours a day, six days a week. Plus, you often end up working on tight deadlines, so you might have to pull all-nighters. Some studios even have dormitories where workers can catch a few winks.

And starting salaries aren’t high. Typically, there is a basic wage, which is supplemented depending on how many projects one works on. Sometimes, in the case of internships and probationary hires, there is no salary whatsoever. For all kinds of reasons, animation studios there have extremely high rates of personnel turnover.

But once you get past the initial growing pains, the professional respect you get isn’t based on your years on the job but rather on the actual work you can do. And there is a comprehensive system of career advancement, so that quite a few people decide to stay in Japan and pursue their careers there.

(courtesy of Us Studio)

Overseas Diary II: America

The technical procedures needed to create an original animated film are complex and time-consuming. Production costs can far exceed those of a live-action film. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Cultivating directors with original stories

A goat toils to enter medical school and excel there. After graduating, it wants to work hard and establish a place for itself in human society. But as it looks for employment, it faces innumerable obstacles because it is different.

Such is the plot of Barry, an animated short that was screened at the Tai­chung International Animation Festival, the South Taiwan Film Festival, and Taiwan Ani­cup. The characters are appealing, and the story’s rhythm is simple and clear, with humorous narrative techniques that belie its serious themes. Although rooted in the dir­ector’s own background and history, the film struck a chord with many people overseas.

There are quite a few college and university departments in Taiwan connected to animation. Because they typically focus on gaming and multimedia, they tend to offer instruction in the use of software. But there is little emphasis placed on the narrative techniques that are at the core of creating original animated films, despite the fact that these stories are actually the key to these films’ ability to draw people in.

That is why Shen An­chi, after graduating with a degree in animation from Tai­pei National University of the Arts, entered the bachelor of fine arts program in character animation at the California Institute of the Arts.

“The stories have to be understandable to audiences, and the characters have to be likable.” Shen thus sums up the program’s creative ethos. Located in California, at the center of the film industry, where creative personnel abound, CalArts was founded by Walt Disney. It’s no wonder that the school has tight ties with the industry. Apart from the many famous artists on the faculty who personally instruct students, students also have abundant opportunities for internships with animation studios.   

Because the program emphasizes the cultivation of directors of animated films, every year the students there individually create shorts for their major project. Thus was the birth of Barry.

Not yet embarked on her professional career, Shen, like many overseas students, can’t help but feel a bit overcome by uncertainty. Her doubts aren’t unlike those raised by her film: “Maybe no matter how hard I work, I still won’t be able to attain a good result.”

Japan excels at 2D animation, and its industry has had a major impact on Taiwan’s. (courtesy of Lin Hung-sheng)

Young and fearless

Although Taiwan’s animated films attracted renewed attention after Barkley was nominated for a Golden Horse in 2017 and On Happiness Road won the Golden Horse for Best Animated Feature in 2018, as far as Taiwan’s long-­moribund animation industry was concerned, this happy news was merely a brief respite. It did not herald an industry­wide turnaround.

Even so, six graduating students in the Department of Digital Media Design at Ming ­Chuan Univer­sity—Yang Chi-chun, Chang Chun-kai, Lu Hsin, Kuo Chia-tse, Yeh Yi-ling and Wu Wen-jie—were un­deterred by the grim career prospects described by senior workers in the field. After working together on a graduation project, they jointly founded the animation firm Us Studio, where they have continued to pursue their dreams.

“You can create stuff that wouldn’t be possible shooting live action.” “You can create another world beyond people’s wildest imaginings!” “You can use non-humans (such as animals), or even tell stories from the perspect­ive of inanimate objects.” “There are no limits. You can do whatever your heart and mind desire!” The members of Us Studio thus enthuse about their chosen art.

And these advantages were on full display in Gone with the World, the animated short that was their gradu­ation project.

Six minutes long, with five scenes and eight characters, the story uses a glass bottle to link together the perspect­ives of different animals. Compared to most gradu­ation projects, the film was ambitiously complex and required the students to master unfamiliar techniques. The team’s advisor worried they wouldn’t be able to finish it.

But finish it they did, and then they showed even more youthful hubris by submitting the film to various international competitions, where it won several prizes, including the Grand Jury Prize at the 2018 San Diego Inter­national Kids’ Film Festival.

The California Institute of the Arts has strong connections to the animation industry, and its students have frequent opportunities to come in close contact with masters in the field. (courtesy of Shen Anchi)

Where there’s a will, there’s a way

Because they are so difficult to make, animated films may take many years to finish. Us Studio is located near Tai­pei Expo Park in the basement of an unremarkable office building. Passersby would never guess what was inside. The work space really seems sealed off from the world—a place where these animators can focus on real­iz­ing their dreams removed from worldly concerns.

When people are young, they have beautiful dreams, but can these dreams put food on the table? Us Studio has answered this question in the affirmative—because the founders’ passion for animation has attracted invest­ors who are willing to support their next original work.

Although one can’t instantly change the broader environ­ment, there’s no harm in trying when you are young. Give it your best shot and don’t be too concerned about the results. Ultimately, each good new work sparks hope for Taiwan’s animation industry.    

Coming up on eight years in Japan, Lin Hung-sheng has worked on Dragon Ball Super, Black Jack and other well-known animated series and films. (courtesy of Lin Hung-sheng)

With long hours and low pay, animation work is suited only to those with a true passion for it. (courtesy of Chang Shao-wei)

Shen Anchi’s Barry describes the hardships experienced by those studying overseas. (courtesy of Shen Anchi)

Shen Anchi’s Barry describes the hardships experienced by those studying overseas. (courtesy of Shen Anchi)

Shen Anchi’s Barry describes the hardships experienced by those studying overseas. (courtesy of Shen Anchi)

Shen Anchi decided to pursue a career in animation in part because of her love for the animated film Ratatouille. (courtesy of Shen Anchi)

Animation is an all-embracing medium that supports bold and imaginative storylines. Gone with the World uses stories about animals to convey an environmental message. (courtesy of Us Studio)

Animation is an all-embracing medium that supports bold and imaginative storylines. Gone with the World uses stories about animals to convey an environmental message. (courtesy of Us Studio)

Animation is an all-embracing medium that supports bold and imaginative storylines. Gone with the World uses stories about animals to convey an environmental message. (courtesy of Us Studio)

Animation is an all-embracing medium that supports bold and imaginative storylines. Gone with the World uses stories about animals to convey an environmental message. (courtesy of Us Studio)

The founders of Taiwan’s Us Studio are boldly pursuing their dreams as animators.