~What is this?~

To have fun this indie animation day, and to bring the r/IndieAnimationScene community together, we are hosting a Pitch Competition on Aug 16th.

Brush up on your pitching skills and proudly share your project.

The top 3 most upvoted pitches will be pinned to the Community Highlights for all visitors of the subreddit to see. And they will stay up until the next indie animation day.

~When is it?~

Aug 16th 2026 from 12:00am to 11:59pm EST.

~Where?~

r/IndieAnimationScene

~Who can participate?~

Creators of indie animation projects.

~What projects qualify?~

A project will qualify if:

- It is independently animated

- It is in the pre-production stage or in any stage after

- The pitch is posted in r/IndieAnimationScene

- It has not used Gen AI in the pitch or in the creation of the project

- The pitch post has the “IAD Pitch” flair

~The rules~

- No Gen AI of any kind.

- Use the “IAD Pitch” flair

- Be kind, respectful, professional, and do not harass other creators

- You must submit your own work

- Must abide by server and reddit rules

- Pitches must be submitted within the stated competition time.

Should any of the rules be broken the pitch will be removed and/or disqualified.

~What should go in the pitch?~

Here are the things we recommended to include in your pitch:

- Title

- Logline

- Synopsis

- Characters

- Format (including: genre, show or film, length, type of animation, serialized or episodic, etc.)

- Video clips, wips, official art, concept art, etc.

- Why this story? Why now? Why do you want to tell it? Why animation?

- Theme

- Link to your project socials

~Final notes~

Have fun! Check out other pitches, vote for your favourites, comment what you liked.

This is as much a marketing opportunity as it is a networking one.

----

FAQ

Q: I only have an idea for an indie animation, can I still participate?

A: No. Unless you have substantial work done on your idea, and demonstrate it in your pitch, idea-only submissions will be removed. See subreddit rule #4.

Q: What is this for?

A: Fun. And that sweet Community Highlight Spot bragging right.

But mostly for fun, building community, and advertising your project.

Q: I forgot to add the flair. What can I do?

A: Message u/fancyseaslugs. They can add the flair for you if you forgot.

Q: I missed the deadline. Can I still participate?

A: You can definitely post your pitch. But it will not qualify for the competition. Rest assured, we will host another competition for the next indie animation day. This won't be your last chance.

Hello r/IndieAnimationScene subreddit!

I am planning on doing a Pitch Competition in this sub for Indie Animation Day (Aug 16th 2026).

The idea is this:

The competition will run from Aug 16th 12:00am EST to Aug 16th 11:59pm EST. During this time, I will make a flair called "Pitch Competition" available.

To participate in the competition you must post a pitch of your indie animation during the timeframe, and add the "Pitch Competition" flair.

The top 3 pitches with the most upvotes will be announced, and linked to, in the Community Highlights until the next Indie Animation Day comes around.

Suggested Things to include in a pitch:

- Logline

- Synopsis

- Characters

- Why this story?

- Format (Film/Show, Genre, theme, length, Target Audience, type of animation, serialized/episodic, etc.)

- Clips, wips, official art, concept art, etc.

Please vote to let me know if people would be interested in this! (Or if you have some concerns or suggestions)

View Poll

Hey everyone!

This is r/IndieAnimationScene. An Indie Animation subreddit that is meant to be a more professional space for creatives of all kinds.

We're excited to have you join us!

What to Post

Post anything that you think the community would find interesting, helpful, or inspiring. Feel free to share your thoughts, photos, or questions about your experience in the indie animation scene.

Well prepared pitches, animation showcases, and wips are welcome!

Community Vibe

We're all about being friendly, constructive, inclusive, and professional. Let's build a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing and connecting.

Why So Many Rules?

The rules are there to keep a high standard of posts in this subreddit.

If you would like a subreddit that is more geared towards fans, r/IndieAnimation is a good subreddit for your desires.

How to Get Started

1. Introduce yourself in the comments below.

2. Post something! Even a simple question can spark a great conversation.

3. If you know someone who would love this community, invite them to join.

4. Interested in helping out? We're always looking for new moderators, so feel free to reach out to the mod team to apply.

Thanks for being part of this community.

A PROPOSAL

I feel like the community has grown a bit too big for everything to just be "indie animation". Especially now with bigger players in the indie animation sphere causing confusion on what is and isn't "indie".

Like yes, things are still indie. Having money doesn't make you not indie BUT there should definitely be differentiating terms for the kinds of indie animations there are. It's a big spectrum and many incredible indie animations are being overshadowed when everything is lumped together like that.

Disclaimer: this probably doesn't cover everything, and not everyone will agree with naming convention and definitions. But I do think adopting this terminology (or something similar) will be a step in the right direction of clarifying things for the community.

That being said, here is what I have come up with:

WHAT SHOULD INDIE ANIMATION BE?

• an umbrella term for ALL independent animations regardless of size, success, distribution etc
• DEFINITION: animation created by a person, team, or privately held studio, that is not beholden to public shareholders.
• basically: are you NOT a publicly traded company? okay. Indie.
• I feel like this definition covers the basis of what people consider indie. i.e. NOT Disney/Pixar/Sony/Paramount/Illumination etc.
• It does bring in some studios that people might feel are "not indie" and/or "too big/successful/too mainstream" (Ex. Glitch, Spindlehorse, Laika Studios, Studio Ghibli) but that's where the specific terms come in.

 

"Webimation" vs "Industrimation" vs "Web-industrial Animation"

• "Webimation": Web animation. The free to watch on Youtube/NewGrounds/Tiktok/Reels/etc. variety of indie animations. This includes: animated web series and films, animatics to music/sound clips, story-time animators, etc
• "Industrimation": Industry animation. Animations made by indie studios for broadcast, streaming, or theatres.
• "Web-industrial Animation": Web and Industry animation. Available on both Youtube and streamers/theatres. If creators lose complete creative control over the story and IP, then indie status should be re-evaluated. It is still indie if the new owner "is not beholden to public shareholders".

 

WEBIMATION CATEGORIES:

"Hobby"

• basically "I built this in a cave with scraps". Usually not much of a production pipeline, if any.
• 1+ people on the project. Usually fewer than 5 but could have more.
• very low to no budgets
• generally short videos but not always
• EX. animatics to songs/sounds, solo animations, storytime animators generally start off here

 

"Collective"

• generally more put together than hobby webimation.
• usually teams of 5+ people
• generally lowish budgets. Sometimes none.
• Ex. Reanimation/Multi-animator/fan projects, many webimated pilots and shows fall into this category, thesis Films

 

"Studio"

• more resources than collective and hobby webimation. Almost certainly has a production pipeline.
• usually 20+ people working on the animation
• budgets vary project to project. Generally low-ish to medium budgets to start.
• animation is generally considered more polished
• may have more than one project in their slate but doesn't have to
• Ex. Many webimated pilots and shows also fall into this category (Animator vs. Animation, Run Monster Run, Monkey Wrench, etc)

 

INDUSTRIMATION

"Production Studios"

• Generally what we think of when thinking of industrimation.
• IE. They make their own stories. They then distribute their IPs to streamers/broadcasters or go through the theatres.
• Can be Film or Shows.
• Generally considered the more professional studios.
• Examples would be Laika, Cartoon Saloon and Studio Ghibli.

"Service Studios"

• still indie animators, they just make other people's animations come to life.

 

WEB-INDUSTRIAL ANIMATION

This is where you'll find animations like Helluva Boss, Digital Circus, Murder Drones, and even Battle for Dream Island .

They started off as Webimation only and then distribute their IPs to streamers like Netflix, and Prime. (Caveat: They must still have their shows on Youtube or similar platforms to be considered web-industrial).

I'm sure the opposite could happen too where they start of as industrimations but then begin sharing on platforms like Youtube for free.

Can't think of any examples off the top of my head though. Most likely this happens when industrimation studios close their doors, or for very old animations set free by the creators (does not count if it has been stolen and shared without permission).