The future of Indie animation

Now, I do not think there is anything wrong with professionals in the media industry making indie projects, but I do worry about the implications of the future of indie animation. The need to talk about this was due to the success of an indie animated pilot- Knights of Guinevere, created by former show runner on Disney’s “The Owl House”. Growing frustrations in a “profit first” company creates animosity within the creatives it uses for that profit, and turning to the indie scene seems like the better option for those with a story to tell. Not something I'm opposed to. However, does an industry professional moving to indie spaces create an unintended consequence? I think so. Indie artists are often amateurs just trying to get their start or build up their portfolios for the chance to become a professional, when viewing their works most people give imperfections a pass due to the difficulty of creating art by oneself, as opposed to marveling in the polished works of someone with years of work experience and proper organizational skills due to the high demands of being a show runner. 

 While I admire and adore Dana for her work, I can see that in the near future amateurs will not mean, “everyday person” and indie will not mean, “a solo/small team project” because the quality bar will be raised. Year after year more professionals will leave corporate to make their pet-projects a reality through indie spaces, in doing so criticisms will skyrocket. Being a solo indie artist will not be a good enough excuse for unpolished works. Due to the power of online anonymity, criticisms are already harsh. Now imagine how much harder it will be to put your work out there when the stage that was meant for the imperfect is now crowded by mainstream industry heavyweights? There will be lots of pilots and not much else because the viewers will now become the tv executives, canceling potential left and right because someone’s work isn’t anything like “so-and-so’s” last project. Most executives need a team of people to help make decisions, but all it takes is a bad faith opinion online, and someone’s passion could be lost to the sheer cruelty of an unforgiving, unrelenting mass of angry individuals. 

This is what happened to YouTube. The platform that once ushered you to express yourself any way you wished, now feels like a corporate lobby that allows curse words after one minute. Not that it's a bad thing, but it has taken a toll on the type of content that gets made. Everyone who got famous for using shitty cameras and no scripts have started to corporatize themselves and raised the bar of what good content is – inadvertently lifting the ladder behind them for small creators that don't have the time or resources to match the quality that's now being demanded.  It's just harder now, and for many it makes making content feel like something that has to be polished and perfect in order to be worthy of an audience. Most people started to notice this during the race for top creator between an OG Youtuber and a music company, knowing that if the company beats out the individual than the whole site would change to more accommodate business over people but now the people are the business! Even more people started to wake up about this shift with the rise of creators like Mr. Beast. Every outlandish stunt pulls more views that puts pressure on other creators to be just as bombastic to gain similar numbers. Because the supply is your content, and the demand is your income, conforming to what's getting the most views feels like a must. 

Back to the topic of indie animation. If we start consuming media from people with formal experience, would it just turn into another crisis of profit over creativity? Everyone must eat but the portions start to shrink when the "food" becomes gourmet- the "food" being content. By which I mean, less eyes will be given to the inexperienced and even if chances are given, the expectations will be so high that most people wouldn't be able to live up to it. Also, at some point not even the industry trained individuals could either. The standards just grow until a "visionary" becomes the new eye catcher. 

 Usually, they are born from a lack of conformity. Making art feel new and different again, but like the eternal loop that is life and death the cycle would create another trend that's guaranteed to make art an insufferable hellscape of comparison that fuels commodification of passion. Slowly growing into an exclusive club only the well-off can afford to indulge in. We all know how that story goes.  

Art is slowly being locked behind a paywall and in most industries that's the standard, but visual art and animation are one of the few forms that people can still find finical workarounds. Art can be free; expression should be free! I say all this, not to discourage but to inform. We could lose the Indie community to the money machine so quickly, and it starts with small changes to expectation. I do look forward to the works that are to come but in the back of my mind I will worry about the future of art and animation. Feel free to disagree; I enjoy hearing different perspectives on this topic.