After graduating from university, most students wouldn’t know where to begin in setting up their own company from scratch. Animation specialists Sector5 Studios are the product of four up and coming individuals, who wanted to take their careers into their own hands by doing just that.

“We were talking about it casually during university but we discussed the idea more seriously during our third year. There were originally five of us hence the name ‘Sector5’ [due to commitment issues one member had to leave the team but they remain good friends]. The name however, stuck with us” said Ravi Maheru, 3D Animator for Sector5 Studios.

Sector5 Studios (S5S) are a company based in the West Midlands with each team member contributing their own skills in animation. As they begin to carve out a more prominent role for their company in the animation industry, they discuss how setting up a new business was the right career choice for them.

S5S started as an idea by undergraduate Ravi from University of Wolverhampton, with Matt Ayris, Illustration and Animation, Alessandro Nicholas, 2D Animator and Gary Jones, Stop-Motion Animation. Their ages range between 21 to 25 years of age, having developed a firm friendship during their time at university, they all graduated with the thought ‘what am I going to do now?’

“It took us longer to decide on the actual name, logo and design” said Ravi. “‘Sector5’ describes the various animation sections we cover as a team. Each person specialises in a form of animation and illustration, which helps provide a different take on each project. My responsibility is primarily the social media aspect of the company, getting our presence known on Facebook and Twitter.”

Sector5 Studios Showreel from Sector5 Studios on Vimeo.

Although a new business, S5S have experience in animation having worked on a number of stings for Flip Festival, as well as designing projects for music videos, banners and short films. In between client work, they keep their drawing skills up-to-date by bringing in inspiration from animators such as Japanese company Studio Ghibli and Blizzard Games.

“I really like Nick Park and what he’s done with Wallace and Gromit, the work that goes into his designs is extraordinary,” says Gary. “I find it better when you can see the personality of the animator through the work; it makes the clip a much better product to watch. I struggled with animation during my first year at university but after a few weeks I settled into it. I’m glad I persevered and the tutors really helped me and still offer advice for the company.”

Illustrator Matt handles the financial side of the company, as he has the most knowledge of the business sector. S5S went along to Access to Business in Wolverhampton for an Open Day, a non-profit organisation dedicated in helping to support anyone looking to set up a business. The team at S5S acknowledge that it is beneficial to rely on the strengths of others in the team, and focus on how your own skills can contribute to its success.

“In the end we just decided to set [S5S] up on our own. In this industry it’s all about networking and making contacts – which we had begun to do during university,” says Matt. “Try to plan ahead and get things sorted before you leave, go to as many conferences as you can, we were lucky that Flip Festival was local to us.”

“I always wanted to do concept art in gaming. I was told during the Open Day for university that going into animation would bring more flexibility, instead of focusing on game design, as most courses look solely at programming. We all worked with each other during university and found we worked together very quickly and smoothly,” said Alessandro, S5S’ 2D Art conceptualist. “For our ‘Ringmaster’ project for Flip Festival we spent a lot of time designing the sting, and the extra work we didn’t include we can save for future ideas.

Flip Ident 2011 from Sector5 Studios on Vimeo.

“We didn’t want to wait for work to come to us, we wanted to make our own, and that gave us the kick start to really start looking at this seriously. Companies will always look for an individual who is imaginative and can come up with original ideas for designs. It’s better to have a great portfolio of work than good grades.”

“A lot of students chase grades rather than letting the work grow. If you wholeheartedly put the effort into your work, then you will see your grades improve as well. We were never taught digital art or Photoshop in school, so I think a bigger push in more creative outlets to give students more options is important,” Ravi adds, “I originally thought of pursuing the career of a game designer, I never thought I would be an animator but I wanted the option of doing both.”

Currently, the team are looking at investing in a studio space to work. For all small companies, financial issues will always play a crucial factor. S5S understand that funding is very limited and loans even more so, with that in mind, they are planning on building an online profile before committing to anything else.

“It’s very difficult to gather funding and we have looked into it. You need to go out there and convince companies to invest their time and money in you, it’s better to have all bases covered” said Gary.

“In the meantime, we all draw and design whenever we can; I draw regularly to keep my skills at a high level. We would ideally like to have a profile similar to Blur Studios who have been around since 1995” says Matt. “We hope to bring in regular work from a wide range of companies and establish ourselves in such a competitive industry.&rdquo

Sector5 Studios have submitted entries that will be screened at Flip Festival.

You can also check out more of their work on Sector5 Studios website, including the official ‘Ringmaster’ sting.