Animator Matt Braly, known for creating the series Amphibia, has announced the formation of his own studio, Fantasy Project. His goal is to self-produce Clara and the Below, an animated short film that reinterprets The Nutcracker with a gothic aesthetic. The decision responds to the repeated cancellation of his projects at large studios. Braly seeks total creative control and a more agile development process, funding it through crowdfunding.
A fragmented development model: shorts that assemble a movie 🧩
Technically, the project avoids the traditional feature film model. Clara and the Below is conceived as a series of interconnected short films that, when joined, will form the complete movie. This approach allows Braly and his team to produce and release content in stages. It reduces financial risk and long production cycles, facilitating early feedback from the audience. It is a modular development strategy, more common in video games or web series, applied to animation.
Goodbye to bosses who cancel projects for sport 🎯
Braly's strategy has an evident charm: if your project is canceled, the only person you can blame is yourself for not having made more donations in the crowdfunding. You trade the uncertainty of executive whims for the certainty that, if it fails, you and the hundreds of people who trusted you are responsible. A system that transforms workplace anxiety into direct personal responsibility. At least the apology notes will be more sincere.