Le studio d'animation qui fait TREMBLER Hollywood

The episode features Sixt Vop, a father of four and co-founder/CEO of Animage, a next-generation animation studio. Animage creates and develops characters and franchises for children, leveraging YouTube as the primary platform instead of traditional television. The company's strategy involves building massive audiences on YouTube first, and then expanding successful brands into various franchises like video games, music, series, films, and merchandise. Sixt explains that traditional animation production, as seen with Pixar films, can take 7-8 years and cost $1-2 million per minute. This model is unsustainable in today's digital world where children expect daily or weekly content. Animage integrates AI to tackle the 85-90% of the budget that is non-creative, significantly reducing production time and cost. The creative aspects, such as storytelling and initial design, remain human-driven. AI is used to optimize the production workflow, especially in animation, which traditionally accounts for the largest portion of the budget. Animage's approach allows them to produce high-quality content quickly. For example, the fifth season of Pocoyo, an animated series acquired by Animage, was nominated for a Kidscreen Award, demonstrating that AI-assisted production can achieve quality and success on platforms like YouTube. Pocoyo currently generates 1 billion views per month and reaches over 110 million unique viewers. Sixt addresses the criticism surrounding AI in content creation, stating that for the audience—children and families—a good story with beautiful animation is paramount, regardless of whether AI was used. He emphasizes that AI should serve the creative process, enhancing the artist's vision rather than replacing it. True emotional connection in art, he believes, comes from the artist's personal experience and heart, something AI cannot fully replicate. Economically, the creative portion of an animation budget is only 5-8%, with the vast majority going into technical production. Animage focuses on using AI to reduce costs in this technical phase, freeing up more resources and time for creative iteration. The company has developed a proprietary "sketch-to-motion" AI model. This model generates animation directly from a drawing, offering precise control over camera positioning, movement type, and sequence speed, which is a significant improvement over text-to-video prompting. This allows animators to quickly translate their vision into animated sequences, drastically cutting down the time traditionally spent on animation. Animage's business model involves acquiring existing intellectual properties (IPs) like Pocoyo and Maya the Bee, or developing new ones from scratch. They then create YouTube series, releasing one episode per week, to build a massive audience. Once a brand is strong enough, they license it to streaming platforms and TV channels for premium series, video games, and merchandise. YouTube monetization alone, despite generating only around $0.55-$0.60 per thousand views for kids' content, is profitable for Animage due to the sheer volume of views (22 billion per year across all properties, generating nearly $100 million annually). This YouTube revenue then helps fund the production of premium series. Sixt highlights the shift in media consumption, with children primarily on YouTube and platforms like Roblox rather than traditional TV. He argues that content creators must adapt to these new platforms, producing content more quickly and cost-effectively. He also points out the immense power of merchandise and licensing, which builds long-term brand value, similar to Disney's strategy with Mickey Mouse. Regarding the role of AI in the future, Sixt believes that while AI can generate short clips, the emotional depth and authenticity that an artist brings to a story are irreplaceable. He sees a future where AI assists, but human creativity remains central. Animage's team of 15-20 AI engineers focuses on developing niche, frugal AI models that are highly efficient for specific tasks, like animating Pocoyo's unique style, rather than general-purpose AI. This specialized approach ensures quality and cost-effectiveness. Sixt also discusses the regulatory and political challenges in the animation industry, particularly in France, where public subsidies still largely support traditional media over new digital platforms. He advocates for redirecting these funds towards training new generations for AI-driven creative roles and supporting producers who leverage platforms like YouTube to reach global audiences. Reflecting on his previous startup, Nestor (an online meal delivery service), Sixt shares lessons learned about the importance of being intentional with fundraising, the value of having strong lead investors for governance, and the challenges of scaling a "brick and mortar" business. He emphasizes his passion for building and creating, which led him to Animage with a vision to create the next generation of beloved characters and franchises, leveraging AI to achieve global reach and efficiency.