Art house gets animated

Brent Chambers' break into animation came at 27 when veteran Disney animator John Ewing hired him. Picture / Fotopress

Auckland animation company Flux is defying the industry trends that inspired its name.

The character animation specialist is on the verge of leaving its small business days behind as it looks to employ up to 25 new staff when production starts on animated children's television series Staines down Drains.

Managing director and animator Brent Chambers looks back on the company's humble beginnings with pride.

He started Flux from his home basement in 1997, and now leads a studio of 30 animators - the second-largest specialty character animation house in the country.

The company's steady growth over the past eight years is notable in an industry that Chambers said had not traditionally provided much stability for its talent.

Flux has built up a strong local profile through its work on campaigns for large companies including Telecom, Lotto, NZ Dairy and Tip Top. Doors are starting to open internationally through partnerships with animation companies in the US, Australia and Singapore.

The biggest of these was formed two years ago during work on Saatchi & Saatchi's Anchorville campaign for NZ Dairy Foods, which saw Chambers rub shoulders with Mark Baldo, director of New York-based animation company Hornet.

The two companies have since worked on more than 40 projects together, their latest being Sprung, a dialogue-based dating game for the Nintendo Dual Screen launched in New Zealand last month.

Staines down Drains, created by New Zealander Jim Mora, is a co-production with Australian television animation company Yoram Gross-EM.TV, which Chambers worked with on children's television series Flipper.

A former graphic artist and newspaper cartoonist, Chambers' break into animation came at 27 when veteran Disney animator John Ewing hired him as a trainee at Freelance Animators.

He worked on projects for Warner Brothers and Disney, including Tiny Toons, Animaniacs and Charlie Brown.

He left four years later as animation director to work for cable channel Kids TV before starting Flux.

These days he oversees the studio and its international contracts and visits overseas animation festivals to get co-productions going.

Although still a hands-on member of the studio, he finds plenty of satisfaction watching the achievements of his staff.

New Zealand's animation industry is the healthiest he's seen it, and is growing. "Movies like Shrek have made animation more acceptable on an adult level," he said.

"And the success of Lord of the Rings has meant the US is looking down on New Zealand and recognising the talent here now."

With the volume of television work coming into the country he expects to see the industry double in size next year. He wants to see Flux working on more feature films.

He's working to complete what will be New Zealand's first animated film, about Opo the dolphin, which has been in the making for three years. He wants Flux to take on more contract work in the US.

The company is setting up a studio in Singapore in partnership with Big Communications where it will produce TV commercials.

Each year Chambers receives hundreds of applications from young animators wanting to break into the industry, and is sympathetic to their struggle.

"I think graduates need to know that it comes down to pencil mileage. There's an awful lot of drawing ... you need tenacity and patience to remain seated until you get it," he said. 

State of Flux

* Flux Animation Studio started in a home basement in inner-city Auckland.
* Newmarket-based, the company has 32 traditional and 3D animators.
* It has an alliance with New York-based animation company Hornet, and is about to set up a branch in Singapore.
* Television commercial animation credits include the Popsicle Band, Ches and Dale, Anchorville and the Contact Energy birds.
* Children's books: Party Animals, the Bumble series and Buzz and Poppy.
* Children's television: The Adventures of Massey Ferguson, Puzzle Inc, Artoonz and Flipper.