Komotion studios, the production outfit behind the short animation on Sango, Dawn of Thunder, says the feature film of the same title is coming out in 2020. Fans of the short have been clamoring for the feature since the release of the former. According to a recent post on their Instagram page, the studio attributed lack of funding for the delay.
“After the short film was released, we launched a crowdfunding campaign for Nigerians to support…big mistake, it was a colossal failure,” reads the post. “After the failure of the crowdfunding, we approached every single bank in the country, Bank of Industry, and even the Government…all to no avail. The search for funding lasted for over a year.”
A lifeline later came through from Hollywood, but with demands the company couldn’t comply with: “We got calls from Hollywood reps and guys from Silicon valley who specifically said ‘our budget was ridiculously low to pull it off and we might need to change the language from Yoruba to English.’ We turned them down.”
Fortunately, the company was able to get funds that didn’t come with ridiculous demands, and the 2-hour animation film which features over 60 Nollywood actors will be coming to cinemas nationwide next year.
The post highlights the difficulties with funding projects outside the norm in Nollywood. Back in September, Niyi Akinmolayan announced that Frogeck, Anthill Studios’s animated feature film set for a December release won’t be happening because of a lack of funds. Frogeck was set to be Nollywood’s first animated feature film to open in cinemas.
You can watch the short Dawn of Thunder below.