Two Hong Kong based-animation start-ups – AKAI Animation Studio and Diversity Creative (HK) Limited – have teamed up to make stop-motion advertising to promote action figures from Fext Hobby, a local toymaker.
The partnership began when AKAI discovered that Diversity Creative offered stop-motion services – a rarity in Hong Kong – after meeting at FILMART, Hong Kong’s annual entertainment content marketplace, earlier this year.
While stop-motion animation is popular with advertisers in Mainland China, the technique is hardly used in Hong Kong. As a result, local stop-motion talent is in short supply.
Diversity Creative’s founder, Mr Gutsyip, said: “We learned from our chat with Mr Allen Kai from AKAI that he was also deeply interested in stop-motion animation. Under his recommendation, we collaborated to produce a stop-motion animation advertisement for the Hong Kong toy brand Fext Hobby.”
The made-in-Hong Kong ads are running on various Fext Hobby digital touchpoints and storefronts, including Facebook, Instagram, Taobao and Weibo.
The ad is also playing at October’s Wonder Festival in Shanghai, a collectibles and model fair hosted by Chinese video site Bilibili and Japanese toymaker Kaiyodo.
Stop-motion filmmaking helps bring out the mobility and playfulness of Fext Hobby’s different action figures, Mr Gutsyip explained.
Diversity Creative, which was founded in 2022, will continue to focus on stop-motion animation as its core business. Mr Gutsyip also wants to expand into print to publish comics.
Despite its low profile in Hong Kong, stop-motion filmmaking is celebrated and widely adopted worldwide, thanks to iconic works, such as Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs and Aardman Animations’ Shaun the Sheep series.
Both AKAI and Diversity Creative took part in FILMART after winning in the start-up tier in Hong Kong’s Animation Support Programme, an annual contest organised by the Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association.
Diversity Creative won for Floor Elf, a tale about the fate of missing household objects. Akai’s winning entry was called Inheritance, the story of a teenager whose life changes after learning to play Go, a traditional Chinese board game.
Mr Gutsyip hoped that the Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to promote digital entertainment, which requires substantial investment in manpower and equipment, to cultivate new talent and drive the industry forward in Hong Kong.
He also praised FILMART for helping animation start-ups find funds and explore cooperation opportunities.
“This allows creators who specialise in different fields to give full play to their strengths and achieve win-win results through cooperation,” he said.
This year's FILMART and EntertainmentPulse, the event’s accompanying conference, brought together more than 7,500 industry professionals from 50 countries and regions. More than 760 exhibitors took part.
The next event will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 17-20 March 2025.
