Amir Biran, VP of digital and e-commerce at One Animation, talks about his role within the company and how OneAnimation has reached great heights throughout the years. Let’s delve into his story and insights!
Q: Please briefly introduce yourself
A: Hi, my name is Amir Biran. I am the VP of digital and e-commerce at One Animation studios. I came to the company three years ago and I specialise in digital monetization. This involves monetizing and digitalising the shows that we create. I run two departments, one is an e-commerce department in which we create merchandise, toys and products for our shows. The second department is the gaming department, in which we create games for children that are both educational and entertaining.
Q: What is One Animation?
A: OneAnimation is a Singapore based studio that focuses on CGI animation for children. The studio was built by people who have come from large corporations such as Disney, Dream Works, Animal Logic and Sony Pictures. These individuals have utilised the skills that they have gained from working in these companies to open One Animation.
Q: What is the purpose of One Animation?
A: The purpose of One Animation is to create high-quality content for young children and preschoolers around the world.
Q: What is the most successful show One Animation has produced?
A: We are most known for a show called Oddbods. It is a very famous show that features seven characters and each one possesses its own unique personality. It is a non-verbal comedic show about how they all live together, that has elements of slapstick humour. The message that we are trying to communicate to children is that everybody is different and should embrace their “inner odd”.
Q: Why is Oddbods a non-verbal show and to what extent has this been effective?
A: The idea to make Oddbods non-verbal was actually a creative vision proposed by the creators of the show. Most of the new shows today are very verbal, so they wanted to resurrect that artform because it isn’t as common in television nowadays. Because the characters do not speak, this has actually worked very well for us in terms of growth and monetization. This is because if you create a show exclusively in English, then you have the opportunity to broadcast it to an English speaking audience. However, if you want to grow globally then you need to use different subtitles and different voices for each country.
Q: How has OneAnimation reached audiences around the world?
A: Because our show doesn’t face this language obstacle, it enabled us to reach several different countries very quickly. YouTube has been a very useful outlet in enabling us to grow and reach different audiences as well. In total, we have 25 billion global views and 28 million subscribers on the Oddbods YouTube channel. In addition, Oddbods is broadcasted globally on a multitude of streaming platforms such as Disney Channel and Netflix et cetera.
Q: What are some achievements or awards that One Animation has received?
A: We have three Emmy nominations for Oddbods and many other trophies and awards from other academy awards. We are also the only Asian studio that has a track record for being nominated this amount of times for the international Emmy.
Q: What are some exciting projects that you have done or are currently carrying out?
A: We have another show that just launched on Netflix this month called Sharkdog and it is already in the top 10 most viewed shows for children. In addition, I am developing three new entertainment and educational games that will launch at the beginning of next year.
Q: What are other ways One Animation has been successful?
A: The main reason for the success is the quality. The studio generates a very high quality of animation and the content is funny and educational. The non-verbal portion was also one of the main reasons we went viral on YouTube. Another reason is because we have talents from all around the world and the studio is very eclectic, so the team is very passionate and driven and really aims to do some good in the world by making children laugh and learn. Every month alone there are about 200 million children in the world watching Oddbods so we take it heavily and understand that there is a lot of responsibility. After all, this is their childhood. So, we really focus on adding a good impact in the growth of these children and instilling the right values. Producing good content is one part of the equation, but usually when children watch shows there is only one season so they watch it and then need to wait a year or two for the next season to be released. However, we understand that in order to keep the children engaged we need to add other things throughout the year, so this is where my role comes in. Nowadays, children are very digital. In fact, 7/10 of children in the US from ages 3-6 have an iPad or tablet. So we focus on producing toys and creating digital games so that they can interact with the shows and characters. Pre-covid there were even a few theme parks for Oddbods in China as well as meet and greets here in Singapore for the children to meet the Oddbods characters and perform for them.
Q: What kinds of games has One Animation produced?
A: We have a few, starting with Oddbods Turbo Run which is an endless running game where children are immersed in the Oddbods world and can collect coins. This is purely for entertainment and is similar to Temple Run. We also have educational games for all kinds of ages, so for the younger ones we have a game called Oddbod Oddlife: Daily Games which is an augmented reality game where children see their faces as an Oddbod character. There are also a variety of mini games that encourage developing healthy routines. For instance there is a game that promotes basic hygiene as well as a de-stressing game that teaches children how to calm down – similar to a medituation game. There is also a game that helps children fall asleep which is called the Yawn Game. One of the characters is named Zee, which is the green oddbod, and is my personal favorite because all he likes to do is to sleep and eat pizza, so I can relate. Anyways, in the game he cannot fall asleep so Zee asks the child to help him fall asleep by yawning. The game actually instructs the child to open their mouth and yawn because yawns are known for being contagious and so when the child mirrors the character it makes them quite sleepy. Based on the research that was conducted we have found that young children actually become sleepier and fall asleep about 10-15 minutes after playing the game.
Q: Do you love what you do?
A: I think I have the best job in Singapore. I really enjoy going to the office, I work with really fun and creative people. And also touching the hearts of so many children in the world with our shows, toys and games is very rewarding for me. Especially with my baby [Amir’s daughter was born one month ago], I am looking forward to her growing up and taking her to the studio where her father works and getting her a plushy to show off to the other children in the kindergarten.
After meeting Amir and talking to him, I could see how passionate he was about his career. One Animation has certainly done fairly well over the past few years in accumulating a large following and developing engaging and educational content to its target audience. If you have any little ones, I highly recommend choosing a show from One Animation!
Written by Lynn Robchinsky
Photo by : One Animation
