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Animator Dormitory Project Launches 2023 Crowdfunding Campaign

The Animator Supporters non-profit organization launched its 2023 crowdfunding campaign for the Animator Dormitory project on Saturday. The campaign has a US$30,000 goal, which would house 10 new animators. The organization is also planning to hire animators for music video projects with a fixed salary rather than by piece rate.

The organization is streaming a video introducing the initiative on its YouTube channel:

The organization is also streaming an introduction video with dorm resident Kimura as a YouTube short:

As of press time, the campaign has raised over US$6,000. It has already exceeded its goal to earn $1,500 by the end of February. Campaign organizer Jun Sugawara stated that the finances as of the end of February will determine the number of animators supported by the project for the year.

Animator Supporters was founded in 2010. It runs the Animator Dormitory project, a dormitory located in Tokyo for new animators. In 2011, it launched The New Animator Grand Prix contest aimed at new animators, offering a year's worth of housing support to prize winners. The organization also regularly shares information about labor issues in the anime industry through its YouTube channel.

Last August, the organization released a crowdfunded music video. According to the organization's crowdfunding page, the animators who worked on the video were paid "180 dollars per keyframe which is 2-4 times more than the industry standard."

The organization is now crowdfunding for a second music video, featuring voice actress and singer Aya Hirano as the vocalist. The organization plans to produce at least one new short animation per year and scale up the payment structure to a fixed salary rather than by piece rate. This new campaign is called "The New Anime Making System Project Phase 2."

Sources: Email Correspondence, GoGetFunding