Investment lagging

Mosul entrepreneur launches Nineveh’s first animation studio

NINEVEH – Young Mosul entrepreneur Muhannad Al-Kateb has successfully launched “Khayal Studio,” the first animation and motion graphics studio in Nineveh. The studio, composed of over 15 young men and women, specializes in producing animated films and motion graphics advertisements. After months of intensive training, Al-Kateb and his team have entered the market by producing Iraq’s first educational app designed to teach elementary school students how to write in an engaging and interactive way. The team is also working on a large-scale project about “Nimrod’s Feast” from the Assyrian era.

“I founded Khayal Studio to create 3D animation and motion graphics advertisements, bringing together a team of 15 artists specializing in sculpture, painting, programming, and design,” Al-Kateb told 964 Media. “Right now, we’re working on multiple animation projects, as well as educational apps in various programming languages, integrating animation to develop fully interactive applications.”

Al-Kateb explained that his decision to start the studio came after years of freelancing. “I wanted to provide job opportunities for young people and expand my work while introducing new ideas in collaboration with talented youth,” he said. “There is no university program in Mosul that focuses on animation, so I carefully selected passionate young men and women, trained them for six months with the help of friends from Baghdad, and built a complete filmmaking team. The training is ongoing but now at a higher level.”

Two months ago, Khayal Studio released two professional films and launched an educational app called “Madinat Al-Huruf” (“City of Letters”), which Al-Kateb believes is the first of its kind in Iraq. “The app is designed in 3D and is targeted at elementary school students, teaching them how to form words through a fun, game-like experience that makes learning to write more enjoyable. If the app succeeds, we plan to develop it further,” he added.

Al-Kateb has produced several award-winning films, including Al-Khalidoun, which won Best Film at the “Watan” Festival, Captain, which earned a Creativity Award from the United Nations, and Al-Fidaa, a film about the heroism of Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service, which placed third in the global Rotary competition. Al-Kateb received recognition from Major General Abdulwahab Al-Saadi in Baghdad for this work.

“There is growing acceptance of this technological development in Mosul, but convincing the local market to invest in animation and making it part of the  market share still requires additional effort,” Al-Kateb said. “Animation projects are expensive, and the equipment required for production is very costly.”

During Khayal Studio’s early stages, they produced two more films, including War and Peace, in collaboration with Mosul director Mohammed Al-Mahdi. The studio has also created a series of historical works for the “Al-Huda Digital Museum,” including representations of ancient Iraqi clothing and Nimrod’s Feast, which Al-Kateb believes will be the largest production on Assyrian civilization to date. The team has also worked on motion graphics for various commercial companies.

Aya Bashar, a character designer at Khayal Studio, joined the team eight months ago. “My specialty is character design, where I create and animate characters for films or advertisements,” she said. “I graduated from the College of Fine Arts with a focus on painting, so I have a strong understanding of body proportions and shapes. Depending on the project, it can take me one to two weeks to design the characters, followed by two or three days to add costumes.”