Animator looks to crowdfunding to support The Fantums

AN ANIMATION business that is developing a children’s series written by the BAFTA winning scriptwriter of Fireman Sam and SuperTed has turned to crowdfunding to raise £150,000 to fund the project.

‘The Fantums’ is the brainchild of accountant Anthony Hall who is hoping for success by selling the cartoons directly to consumers through Apple iTunes.

Mr Hall, who is running the operation from Leeds, is predicting sales of almost £1m in Antyx Animation’s first year of trading, growing to £3.8m by year three with pre-tax profits of more than £1m.

The Fantums is aimed at six to 11-year-olds and revolves around a cast of monsters who in each episode become friends with children and help them build up their confidence and complete tasks.

The episodes are being written by Andrew Offlier and are being created by a team of  illustrators and digital animators.

Mr Hall said an advantage of delivering the animations through iTunes, rather than TV companies, was that the company could retain all intellectual property and offer each episode at “pocket money prices” – £1.89 an episode.

Mr Hall, a father-of-three who wants to produce 11 episodes of the animation per series, said he was inspired to come up with the idea for The Fantums having witnessed the development of his three children, Alexandra, Charlotte and Zac.

Youngsters will be able to interact with the set, characters and story and take educational lessons away from each episode because of the concept’s digital format, he said.

He is offering up to 20% equity in the business for a total investment of £150,000 through crowdfunding website Crowdcube so Antyx can develop more of the episodes.

Investors can pledge a range of amounts and exit after different time periods. They also have different options around converting equity into debt or retaining their shares, depending on the risk profile they want to take.

Crowdfunding allows people, instead of banks and other institutions, to either loan or make equity investments in ventures, usually start-ups.

Mr Hall, a qualified accountant who left British Gas in 1998, said the company believes his delivery model will help to create a “paradigm shift” in the way that children’s cartoons are funded in the future.

He said: “Crowdfunding is gaining momentum in the UK and so far we’ve had interest not just from here but all over the globe.”

Antyx has been given business strategy advice, especially around tax structures, by a team at Grant Thornton in Leeds. He has also been advised by Rob Lucas at law firm Shulmans.