The Animator Supporters non-profit organization has launched its 2023 crowdfunding campaign for the Animator Dormitory project. As of now, the campaign has surpassed the first $6,000 USD towards its $ 30,000 USD goal. This surpasses the organization’s goal of passing $1,500 USD before the end of February.
With the $ 30,000, the campaign would be able to house 10 new animators. The organization is also planning to hire animators for music video projects with a fixed salary rather than by piece rate. Campaign organizer Jun Suguwarra stated that the finances at the end of February will determine the number of animators supported by the project this year.
The Animator Supporters has also started streaming a video introducing its 2023 initiative on the official Youtube channel.
The Animator Supporters: Shedding Light on An Unfair Industry
Animator Supporters was founded in 2010 and is a part of the Animator Dormitory project. The project is located in Tokyo and is reserved for new animators in the industry. In 2011, it launched The New Animator Grand Prix contest set for new animators, offering a year’s worth of housing support to prize winners. The organization uses its Youtube channel to share information about labor issues in the anime industry. With the presentation video, the channel also has an introduction video with dorm resident Kimura as a posted Youtube short.
Last August, the organization released a crowd-funded music video. With this video, animators were paid “180 dollars per keyframe which is 2-4 times more than the industry standard”. The organization is now crowdfunding a second music video featuring voice actress and singer Aya Hirano. The plan is to produce at least one new short animation a year and scale up the payment structure to a fixed salary rate rather than by piece. This new campaign is called “The New Anime Making System Project Phase 2”.
The link to donate to the Animator Supporters Animator Dormitory campaign can be found here.
