One of Us is a video series featuring regular people in Singapore who are out there pursuing their passions and dreams. Some have already made it, while others are still fighting the good fight to realise their goals.

We hope that through this series, Singaporeans can realise that finding success or making a small mark in this world is not something reserved only for a select few.

This is Harry and Henry Zhuang’s story.

Passing up on a potentially stable career in the public service to start your own business is not an easy decision to make. Now imagine having a twin brother who is giving up almost the same thing to join you in starting that business.

That is exactly what the Zhuang brothers did. Harry almost became a policeman while Henry would have become a teacher.

Instead, they decided that animation was what they truly wanted to do.

When asked why they took the plunge and turned their backs on a stable career in the public service, Harry shares, “Life is short, not many people can find their own passion. If you know what your passion is, you should pursue it. I think it’s a very fortunate thing if a person can know what he wants to do.”

Tarzan, Sonic the Hedgehog, and a video recorder

Quizzed on what triggered their love for animation, the twins agree that it was the Disney animated film Tarzan they watched when they were young.

Most children enjoy animation because of the plot, cute characters or just for the simple entertainment. But for the twins, watching Tarzan for the first time when they were young unlocked a burning curiosity to find out how the magic of animation worked. They were fascinated by the possibilities animation could bring. That ignited their passion for animation.

And while other kids spent hours on end playing video games like Sonic the Hedgehog as a form of entertainment or escape, the twins were up to something else with their copy of Sonic. They used a video recorder to record gameplay footage so they could play the footage back in slow motion to analyse how the animation worked.

[related_story]

The struggle of starting in an unconventional industry

Animation is not something you’d immediately associate with Singapore; and the Zhuang brothers were prepared for the hardships that would come their way.

Early on in their career they adopted a “just try and it’s okay to get rejected” mentality. Henry shares a piece of advice he took to heart from his university professor -- “you have to eat rejection for breakfast”.

They’d pitch for projects knowing full well that they would not be picked. This, according to Harry, was because they wanted to practice and refine their ability to pitch for future projects.

In fact, their studio, Weaving Clouds, was a product of this “do first think later” approach. In order for them to pitch for a grant, which required them to have a company, the pair went ahead to incorporate Weaving Clouds. No grand plan was needed or rolled out for the creation of the company.

Doing animation work for clients as newcomers was not easy -- the brothers share that without having their clients’ trust, a lot of their early creative work had to be controlled by the clients. It took them awhile before clients could trust the duo and give them full creative freedom.

Some of the work done by the Zhuang brothers

Their hope for animation in Singapore

The brothers submitted their animation works for award shows and film festivals overseas hoping to gain more exposure and learn from other animators.

What they found on a particular trip to Russia for the KROK International Animation Film Festival was that animators from other countries could easily find jobs as animation directors to direct and produce works for production houses. The same could not be said for animators in Singapore.

This film was one of 46 films selected from 1,700 entries to the Grand Competition of Animafest Zagreb in Croatia

The brothers note that in Singapore, it could take ten to twenty years before an animator is given the job of director. That’s something they want to change. They hope that animators in Singapore could be given the chance to lead projects. Harry shares that “ultimately, directing an animation should not be about how much experience you have but how well you can create a voice for that story”.

To that end, aside from making a living out of doing animation work for clients, the duo also actively takes part in film festivals and mentorship programmes in Singapore to help the next generation of film-makers and animators hone their craft.

They hope that their studio can create a change or at least a “ripple effect that can lead to future generations venturing into animation, not as animators but as animation directors”.

You can watch the video of their story here:

One of Us is a collaboration between Mothership.sg and the Singapore Tourism Board. We believe that the people of Singapore have some of the best stories to share with each other, and with the world.