Stakes are high for Kevin Liu Yu. The co-founder of independent animation outfit Shenzhen Super-Engine has invested his entire savings and three years of his life to produce a full-length feature, Gray Mice and Looka.
A tale about two adventurous field mice, it's the first major animation project for the computer graphics artist who set up Super-Engine with friends and former colleagues in 2003. They have bet all the company's eight million yuan capital on Gray Mice, and coffers are running dry as their 20 staff work around the clock in cramped offices to complete it by summer. The movie has received approval from the China Film Administrative Bureau for screening in mainland theatres and Liu is seeking backers to help with distribution.
'We've been in this business long enough to know it would be hard - that by taking this path we're taking a risk,' says Liu.
But Liu also knows there's a lot of potential. 'If we succeed with this film and earn enough for our next one, we'll open up the road for others,' he says.
The mainland has great ambitions to pump up its comics and animation sector. Early ripples in Shenzhen's animation scene emerged in the 1990s when Hong Kong companies began outsourcing labour-intensive work across the border. The industry took hold as eager young animation artists flocked to the boom town, and in their wake came US and Japanese production houses seeking cheaper and more productive alternatives to outsourcing partners in South Korea and the Philippines.
Much of the animation work was laborious, back-end assignments, but that may change as Shenzhen tries to shift from manufacturing towards higher value, creative industries.