Let me start by thanking those who have sent in their feedback regarding the e-comic. On behalf of our small team I appreciate exceedingly. I still await those who have yet to. Pending the time that I thought I'd entertain you guys with some our old briefs i sound like a lawyer don't i? i'll just stick to calling it videos. It is very possible that you might have seen some of these videos it also possible that you may have not. Either way I'll give you some back-story that you have never heard about the animated picture you are about to view.
Omofunky is still our most popular flick ever on any viewing medium you can possibly think of. We created this short in 2006 for a company called MTech Communications.
MTech was commissioned to supply MTN with wallpapers, animated GIFs, mobile games and short animated 3gp flicks..
Coincidentally, and among other VAS (value added service) companies, we walked into Mtech claiming we could do sorts of things on the mobile phone, the catch at the time was Animated Visual Ring-tunes you know, like the Crazy Frog. They believed us hook, line and sinker. We got commissioned with a 2 year agreement.
So we went back home and combed the Internet for production procedures and methods. We eventually found procedures for the other items but we hired a guy called Etok Orok to do the animations. The challenge was that we were commissioned to create 5 short flicks but we had the manpower for 3 only. Apparently Etok could create 2 out of that 3. I'll upload the ones that Etok did in some other post.
Seeing that we were nearing the deadline, I had to help Etok out and this is the one I chose to do.
I liked this because i had heard the joke at school and every time I told (on some occasions retold) it to a new chic (wide smile) she laughed and that was it ( I got her).
I was on a Bad Guy P back then...LOL!
So i had to animate it. The problem was that i didn't know how to draw let alone use flash. So i went to Etok and asked him to teach me.
Etok is a very nice guy but he, is not the best teacher, You'll kill him twice if you ask him to teach you anything. So i watched him work. After i thought i learnt a few things, by watching, i asked him for a storyboard which agreed to do.
I went back home and started working on it. The Flash software, and drawing, were so difficult for me that it took me three weeks to finish this. Luckily that fell into our deadline so along with the other contents i went to submit to the then content manger of Mtech: Seyi Famubode (she is married now so Famubode is her maiden name).
Etok's jobs were by far better that what I created. I was so scared stiff her crtisizing oOmofunky that while Seyi viewed it, I looked the other way. All she she said after viewing was "I'll get back to you guys".
Whew!
So we waited. She never got back to us,so i threatened to pull out of the agreement. After a lot of boardroom talk we settled our "wahalas" and they promised to get back to us again. They never did. We found out later that MTN's wap portal was not working: it never actually worked at the time.
Frustrated, angry and disappointed we tried to sell the content (violating the agreement) to I-Touch (Mtech's Competitor). Somehow that did not go well.
We signed an revenue sharing agreement that allowed us to earn from customers downloading the content. The agreement clearly stated that, while it was in effect, we were not to distribute the content in anyway.
But after a year of waiting with no proceeds do you think i cared?
Hell no, I let it go. A few of my friends came around and I gave it to them and the agreement was still in effect then. I'm sure i do not need to talk about how viral this video went on phones and on-line. Some T.V. stations even used it for their skits. I understand some people, schools and even offices use the line "we are in_ _ _ _ _we don't talk like that"
I originally called this video Omo-Yanaija (yankee and naija) but by the time it came back to me it was Omofunky (i liked that name better so i kept it).
Till date I'm sure Mtech Communications distributed this content as well because the ones that I saw had our names cut off ( I remember vividly Seyi requested that we edit our names off).
Anyway that's all in the past. The one thing this short flick did was to answer a very important question for us
"Will Nigerians agree to watch a made- in- Nigeria animated flick?"
The answer is a resounding YES.
This answer is what has kept our spirits very strong. Even when our purses dry up we are willing to go on.
Also one of the reasons we believe strongly in the Kinetic Project. Even the world would love to see a well told story irrespective of where it is coming from.
I mean even with the crap graphics Omomfunky was created with, I'm amazed at how viral it went. That tells me how important the substance of what we are animating is(or should be).
I have other contents that look way better than Omofunky in terms of animation and art. But when it comes to connecting with the audience Omofunky carries the day.
Even though you may have seen this video before, I assume that after reading our story you'll view it very differently.
We hope that difference will make you subscribe, follow or share our blog or at least the post.
We need at least 100,000 genuine followers growing exponentially to create a 15min-20min of Kinetic which we hope to air on Africa Magic (what's your opinion on that?)
You guys are the best. Have a nice day then and may the force be with you.
