Introduction
Please introduce yourself. Who are you, and where are you from?
My name is Martin Alternes. Im from Bodø, but I live in Oslo, Norway.
Bodø, Norway
My company, Webarbeider, is an animation studio. I started out studying music and sound design, and started doing a lot of jobs on games, movies, and animations. I did the sound design for an animated short that ended up winning a lot of awards and being premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and a bunch of other film festivals around the world. I gradually started taking on more and more jobs producing animation videos and later decided to start my own animation studio.
Martin Alternes, the owner of the Norwegian animation studio Webarbeider, does not believe the customer is always right – the customers of the customer are!
Please describe the state of the animation industry in your country and the obstacles you’ve encountered.
In Norway, the need for animations is more or less split in two. One side is the startups and small businesses that look for traditional explainers. They don’t care much about esthetics, the ability to communicate a message, or what their audience might want and care to see. They want it very cheap, and they mostly go abroad or use local animators. This is not my segment anyways. The other part is much more interesting, challenging, and enjoyable to work up against. It’s filled with the bigger agencies and companies, with bigger budgets and more elaborate needs and demands regarding communication skills, style, design, and usage. This is where Webarbeider wants to be at home.
Do you have a big team? How is your company different from others?
Our regular in-house team is not big. We are two regulars, and the rest is very much network based. This is a solution that for now ensures a broad ability to deliver – both in terms of complexity, but also capacity.
What drives your company?
The desire to make our customers excited to work with us and happy with the results of our work. Also, we love what we do.
Share some exciting or curious stories inside your company that you remember.
When we landed our very first big job as an independent studio, our lead animator got sick. We had to go for several days to find an animator to replace him without the client knowing anything. The project came out as one of our best 😀
What are some qualities that make a successful company like yours?
Always willing to learn. Willing to take chances. Willing to ride out «the dip», as Seth Godin puts it. The will to sacrifice parts of today for what we believe will come tomorrow—not looking at anything or anyone as competitors but having an open mind.
What is your favorite project and why?
My favorite project is always the next one.
Experience in using KROCKIO
How did you find out about KROCKIO?
I’m not sure I remember, but I remember trying out wipster and frame at the same time.
Why did you choose to use our platform?
As mentioned, I remember trying out Wippster and Frame.io, but I felt both were too orientated around the designer’s needs and not the needs of the studio’s clients. The main reason we use a tool like this is that it is a place for our clients to follow the process, see versions and give feedback along. For me, it was crucial that the software was super easy for the ones who never had been through a process like this and might never do it again.
Has KROCKIO exactly impacted the way the workflow is organized, and how?
It has changed us from handling our productions with email and links to dropbox etc. It is one of our USPs and a big value to us as a serious animation studio.
Then, finally: Give others advice on “How to manage work on big projects?
Don’t be a fool – try KROCKIO. I have told others to try KROCKIO, but they still send their clients videos and receive feedback through email. It’s not a very smooth solution if you ask me.
How to put everything in order and not lose anything?
Use KROCKIO!
If you work with video in any form, either as a freelancer or with a company or agency, use KROCKIO. It is great both for working in a team and showing off work, and collecting feedback from clients.
