Microstocks, intermediary platforms between content creators and buyers, have significantly changed the animation industry. Within the framework of such platforms, along with large production studios, single authors have long entered the market, having received the opportunity to earn money on creating animation. Taras Riabokon, the founder of FX MONSTER, spoke about how to develop in the direction of creating animated templates, about the volatility of the market and important qualities that help to remain relevant and in demand. A few years ago, Taras started as an independent author, but today his templates are used by large global organizations, and his company occupies a leading position in the market.
Taras, you have built a successful career selling animation templates. Tell us how you started, what were the difficulties at the first stage?
I started as a single author, that is, I single-handedly created templates and uploaded them to the platforms. At the very first stage, I did not yet know that I would seriously develop this project. More precisely, there was such an option. But initially I came to this area to see and try. I uploaded my first template in 2014. When I realized that this activity was interesting to me, there was room for development in it, and it also began to generate income, I quit my main job and began to devote most of my time to creating animation templates for microstocks. The difficulties were more related to the fact that in 2014 the market for stock templates was just beginning to develop, there was little information about how it works. I had to learn a lot, try, experiment. There is both risk and courage in this: to leave work and do animation in this way. The specificity of stocks is such that the author does not make his template to order, but at the first stage it is completely free. After uploading to the platform, if the buyer likes the product, they will buy it. But there is, of course, a pleasant side: creative freedom, the ability to experiment and take full responsibility for their activities and income.
Today your company occupies a leading position in the market. How did you understand that you need to expand and hire new employees?
In this matter, everything happened very systematically, gradually, according to the situation. First, I had larger projects, and with them - the need for help. At that moment I invited my friend to work together. With small steps, we began to grow and, following the same logic, we began to look for new people to join the team. Those who wanted to develop, learn and work in our direction, we took and taught things that were clear to us at that time. Thus, we unloaded routine processes. As a result, we began to work as a collaboration of several authors on microstocks. And today in my team there are about 50 employees.
Taras, tell us about your approach to work. What do you think helped you achieve success?
First of all, full immersion and involvement in the process. Especially when learning something new. Our sphere has such specifics - something is constantly changing, modernizing and improving in it. Of course, you also need to feel the market and analyze a lot, on the basis of which you can predict its movement a little. For example, at the very beginning of my work, I focused on frame-by-frame animation - FX animation. Worked with special effects: lightning, fire. I understood that I wanted to work for a foreign market, and there is a demand for such animation in the USA, Korea and Japan. Accordingly, my products were focused on the needs of companies from these countries. And most importantly - you should not be afraid to experiment, try and constantly improve your skills. I am focused on growth not only within the company and making a profit, but also as a specialist. It's all very interconnected.
You said you grew gradually. Did you have projects that gave a serious impetus to your development?
There are several such examples. At the very beginning, I was involved in large projects. Roughly speaking, these were sets of animated elements. I devoted most of my time to these projects. They gave me tremendous experience, and I greatly upgraded my skills. Subsequently, we switched to other projects. The remaining examples are more related to the use of our templates by large brands - there are a lot of such cases. Among the largest companies I can single out Google, Supercell, Coca-Cola, Fanta, Ebay, Nike, Prada, Oracle, Lays, Cheetos, Danone, Visa, Huawei, PayPal, Nintendo, Procter and Gamble, Bank of America, Adobe, Dell, Snapchat, Saudi Aramco.
Taras, what are you and your company currently focusing on?
At this stage, I act not only as the founder of the company, but also as an art director. I solve more global issues of organizing the work of the team in the framework of choosing the direction of further development, strategic planning. I also conduct a comprehensive systematic market analysis. As I said, for effective development, it is necessary to foresee the movement of the entire industry a little. In this matter, you must always be very careful and not let everything take its course, because changes in the market sometimes occur very rapidly. Today the market has become more competitive. At the moment, according to my calculations, we are among the top three companies in the world market and occupy a large share.
What market share are you talking about?
We own approximately 7000 animation templates. This is a significant part of the market. In terms of the number of products produced, we are now showing exponential growth.
What advice would you give to a beginner who just wants to start working on microstocks and creating animation templates?
I can say that the times when the market was an "untiled field" have already gone. Now it is very difficult for independent authors to survive in this competitive environment. To do this, you need to be super productive and incredibly talented, while not burning out from work at all. Now large studios like us, due to the large team and streamlined workflows, create high-quality templates in a very short time and in large quantities. A newcomer simply cannot withstand such competition, which is why many single authors began to leave the market. But, of course, if there is a desire, then it is necessary to study a lot, try, experiment and constantly monitor the market - it is very volatile.
