When people talk about animations, many of them will think of world-class productions by international companies. In fact, there are outstanding animations produced by local companies in Hong Kong. Paperbox Creations (http://paperboxcreations.com/) is a remarkable example. The company is located at an industrial building in Kwun Tong, with a staff number of only 6 people during the peak of business, including the owner Lam Ho Tak. At the age of 28, Tak has already established the company for 5 years. It is recorded that one of the animations produced by Paperbox Creations has over one million hit rate on internet, which allows the company to increase its popularity in the industry.
Paperbox Creation’s production are made according to clients’ needs, with a noticeable style of strong passion and affection about local culture. In their animations, we can see the silhouette of Lion Rock, architecture of traditional public housing, scenery of Victoria Harbour, and the skyscrapers under Victoria Peak. It makes us feel intimate when watching these familiar landmarks of Hong Kong in the productions.
Changes after failure in public examination
Tak remembered that his secondary school was located in Central and Western district. At that time, he would walk around Central very often and was familiar with the area. However, he had very different feelings about life in the past. He said, “I did not perform well in my secondary school. Almost every year I ranked last in class. School life was not enjoyable and I only attended classes to pass the time day after day. At that time, when I saw the commercial buildings in Central and the people rushed to work, I knew that it was not the life I looked forward.”
He finally received the HKCEE result with a total of 10 marks. For most students who received such an examination result, they might feel lost. Tak, however, perceived it as a relief. That day, he went to IVE (Shatin) to apply for Higher Diploma in Information Technology for Multimedia Design. Amazingly, he found his interest in learning from the course and had great progress when studying in IVE. After graduation from IVE, he received an offer from the Creative Media Department of the City University of Hong Kong for further study at degree level.
Before graduating from City University, he uploaded his productions on internet and gained much recognition. One day, a staff member of the local property developer Hip Shing Hong (Holdings) Company Limited contacted him and invited him to make an animated film for the 65th anniversary of the company. For this reason, Tak and his two classmates boldly established Paperbox Creations, and got their first business deal. Last year, the company produced an animated promotional film for an international game brand and the film became popular online. The production was appraised as international standard in the industry and attracted over one million hits on internet. It was a breakthrough and helped build up the brand name of Paperbox Creations.
Learn a lesson from pricing
In early years of its establishment, Paperbox Creations with an energetic and young team members gained a number of production projects, by offering lower price but shorter completion time in comparison with other companies. Tak smiled bitterly, “At that time, we did not know too much about pricing, finance and time management. After the completion of a job, one of our clients told us frankly that we should double the price. We were so ignorant that we thought the price offer was good enough.” Tak worked very hard to finish the production day and night. One day he felt asleep during work. His client called to ask about job progress and woke him. He remembered, “That time, the only thing I could do was to apologise to the client. I told him I was too tired and overslept. The client said that it was the first time that a vendor would say that the job could not be finished for such reason honestly.” After that, Tak and the client became friends, and he learnt a lot from this client on quoting prices, writing proposals and budgeting.
Yet, there is always a limit to youthful energy. Tak is not exceptional. This year he has learnt a memorable lesson. While the business of company started to get on the right track, his team took two large-scale projects that were out of the available manpower and time. At last, they cannot finish the job before the deadline, and triggered his partners to reflect on their own interests and chose to leave the company. Without them, Tak had to complete the unfinished work on his own. He had to take over the frontline communication work which was less familiar to him, together with the production work. Finally, he was overwork and had to stay in the hospital for two weeks. He added, “During that time, most of the operation of company stopped. Some clients went to my company in person to ask about the progress of projects. Young colleagues were scared, and I felt sorry for that.” After a painful decision, Tak decided to reorganise the company and invite colleagues with high potentials to become partners. He also planned to increase manpower on client servicing, so he could focus on creative productions.
A loyal heart to Hong Kong – reflection in productions
Creation of animations is a combination of art and business. Tak said that the uniqueness of Paperbox Creations is to uphold its commitment to creative style and core value, apart from business. He explained, “Even for commercial projects, we won’t just get the job done, disregarding the exclusive characteristics of our company and creative ideas.” Tak added that many people did not have confidence on animations from Hong Kong. In the past, there were film producers hiring specialists from Japan or overseas to produce special computer effects related to Hong Kong. This made him feel uneasy. He hoped that someday he could get a share and bring the local Hong Kong culture to the international stage.
Born in 1989, Tak is a boss of post-80s generation. He loves to be himself and put on shorts and flip-flop when he goes to work or even meets clients. He also places video game consoles in the company to have fun with colleagues. During off-season, he sometimes calls it a day earlier and go to watch movies together. All these reflects the new management style of the post-80s boss with his laissez-faire approach, and the company’s working environment is relatively free. However, in the animation industry, people often have to work overnight and meet tight deadlines, so life is really stressful. Tak believes that colleagues who are willing to stay because they have the passion about animation. He expressed, “You must really love the career and not just regard it as a job. Only by this can you find the fun of it.” Then, have you found what you really love? Go for it and see where it takes to blossom.
