Ghanaian Award-Winning Artist, Francis Yeshua Brown Launches Animation Hub

Francis Yeshua Brown launched an animation hub called Animaxfyb, which promises to become Africa’s Biggest.

Francis Yeshua Brown, fell in love with animation in 2007. As a result, he began practising on the internet by downloading tutorials. CDs and magazines that Francis got from his dad kept his passion burning. Also, in 2009, his boss at Home Studios saw his interest and updated him with current tutorials.

Francis had always wanted to do animation to the maximum. Therefore, he named his Hub, Animation to the maximum, (Animax).

“I came out in 2014 as a graduate with the Best Animation Film and Overall Best Film. NAFTI’s third year end of year school pitching invites students to produce their personal projects. That birthed Agradaa, which is in both 2D and 3D. I faced a lot of challenges, especially with the administrative body who had little confidence in the realization. I entered it into Klik Amsterdam Animation Festival in 2013, and won the emerging Animation Award. I’ve never stopped dreaming since” Francis Says.

On creating sustainable structures in Ghana’s animation and sci fi industry. Francis reveals that; “All animators in Europe, America and Asia have carved a niche. We lack an industry, so end up having a huge influence of the West in our works. Presently, there is a need of fresh stories, so there is a huge market for black content. Hollywood is depending heavily on animation for visual effects. Our film industry has been there for about 50 years – Nollywoodis now the second biggest creator of content. At some point, Nigerians were coming to Ghana to study at NAFTI – the first film school in sub-Saharan Africa”.

Francis’ Animation Ideals

For Francis, Creativity is not just about entertainment – animation can be used to trigger mindsets, and can be used to address issues pertaining to our communities. It is not adequate if it is not looking at our social situation. In the next five years, AnimaxFYB here in East Legon will be the hub of animation in Africa for authentic African stories for global consumption.