There's currently a conversation happening about innate creativity vs. credentials, and whether missing credentials should dictate your path.
Well, missing credentials certainly didn't slow down Lydia Mugure, aka Poppihin.
"I didn't really go to school for animation," said Poppihin. "I have accounting degrees, so when I was starting out, I'd buy all the art books, all the storyboarding guides from before the year 2000. Then, I'd study them up and try and recreate them in Blender and Krita."
Through talent, willpower, and hard work, Poppihin was able to create her own animation style – the distinctive style we see in her indie film, The Ebony Witch.
Where did the story for The Ebony Witch come from?
The Ebony Witch takes place "in a land where magic is forbidden and witches are burned by dragon fire. The witchlet Ebony sets out to defeat the evil queen and free magic once more, but the path is filled with terrible dangers, new friends and new loves."
While many may mark their first introduction to the story as Webtoon's Canvas platform, Poppihin says the story pre-dates the self-published 2021 webcomic.
"Technically it didn't start as a Webtoon. This did start as a fan fiction that was semi-popular on [Archive of Our Own]."
The fanfic was for The Vampire Diaries. Note the similarities in the protagonist names: Bonnie and Ebony.
Her webtoon adaptation is witty from the opening onward, and features striking artwork wrapped within a fantasy that centers a magical Black girl. The story has gripped the public. As of the time of writing, the comic currently has 30,315 subscribers and 993.1K views.
📸 Poppihin
From Webtoon to Indie Film
"I reached 10,000 subs on Webtoon. I was like, 'Yes, we made it.' So my logic was let's do a short to celebrate. Doesn't have to be anything big."
"It started out as a one minute short called A Witch's Wash Day because Bonnie's main feature is her massive hair."
After the short received a wonderful reception, Poppihin was struck with another idea: what if she turned The Ebony Witch into a full film?
Seems like that was a great idea.
The Ebony Witch pilot has gathered over 300K views and fueled lots of buzz within the indie animation scene. But this (may be) only the beginning.
Will there be a sequel to The Ebony Witch film?
Production is underway for The Ebony Witch Part 2. Poppihin plans to utilize both France's creator fund and crowdfunding to produce Part 2 and beyond.
In total, she has mapped out four additional parts but says, as long as she is able to make it to part four, the story will feel complete.
"I don't feel like we need to see the last fight because that's not the point of the story. The point of the story is seeing people – seeing Bonnie and characters like Bonnie, characters like Issadoe – people that look like them, just existing in a fantasy setting."
Bonnie and Issadoe 📷Stills from The Ebony Witch pilot
While producing the remaining The Ebony Witch films are her long-term goal, she feels her primary goal has already been accomplished.
"Hopefully, someone out there has now seen it and is like, 'That's really cool. Let me give it a shot.' I feel like if you pass it on, eventually we'll have so much stuff [representing Black women]."
Want to learn more about Poppihin? Her full interview will release on YouTube on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12pm central.
Charm. Me.
