by Hayk Manukyan

AN INTERVIEW WITH HAYK MANUKYAN

Neenja, an animated series about discovering hidden powers, is perhaps a bit autobiographical. But Hayk Manukyan uncovered his hidden talents at a very young age, unlike the hero of Neenja, Harut, a balding cab driver. In real life, the co-star of Neenja, Sah, is an actual animator who helped bring the project to life. The two worked together at the Hollywood-based studio Six Point Harness, where Neenja was set into motion as an original production.

Let’s find out how Hayk brought his vision to life, and what he has in store for his own personal episodic arc.

AARON SIMPSON: How does an episode of Neenja come together?

HAYK MANUKYAN: I start by visualizing the story as a whole, then I find a cut-off point in the story which can stand on it’s own. For example in part 1, I end it after Sah tells Harut he is the chosen one. Before the episode ends, we see a hint of Harut’s power which hopefully leaves viewers wanting to see what happens next. After I know my cut off point, I move onto storyboarding, which I do in Flash. My storyboards are usually posed out to the point of almost looking like rough animation. Once I start animating I take the poses in the storyboards and work with them to get the final result.

AARON: How did Six Point Harness get involved in the project?

HAYK: I was working at Six Point and overheard they were interested in new, original properties. But I was pretty burned out from the Neenja part 1 production. I had been juggling my full-time job and late night animating. So I asked Brendan Burch, CEO of Six Point, if they’d be interested in helping finish Neenja. Brendan was excited about the whole idea and so I brought Neenja to Six Point.

The follwing 3 months were probably the greatest 3 months I’ve experienced in the animation industry. I got paid full time to work on my own project, plus I had Angelo Vilar (an amazing artist at Six Point) doing the backgrounds and storyboarding.

AARON: Is the lead character Harut based on someone you know?

HAYK: Harut is actually a combination of people in my family, people I’ve gone to school with, and mostly me.

AARON: Tell us which Los Angeles-based Flash animator co-stars in your series?

HAYK: I always like basing my characters on real people and at the time when I was designing Harut’s trainer, I decided to base it on Saharat Tantivaranyoo, a friend of mine at Six Point. Everything from the way he looks, talks, and acts made it into that character, also called Sah.

AARON: What type of recognition has the series received so far?

HAYK: Part 1 of Neenja won a first place award on Newgrounds and it was also featured here on Coldhardflash.com. The feedback I got from people was also pretty good.

AARON: Neenja is about a man discovering his talents and harnessing them. How did you learn to harness your animation skills?

HAYK: My uncle in Armenia was an animator, and I guess it passed down to me. My parents realized I was into drawing at a very young age so they pushed me into it even more. By the time I discovered animation in America at age 11, I already had years of drawing experience. I also had a little thing called ignorance which played a big part. I felt, at age 14, I was ready for Disney, and I mailed them photos of my artwork expecting to get in. Six months later Disney sent me a packet of sample portfolios and examples of what they are looking for. It made me realize how much more I had to learn in order to reach the level of Disney animators. Luckily they included a list of recommended schools, and so I started taking a lot of classes on life drawing, reading books on animation, online interviews of great animators and so on. After high school I was hired at Cornerstone Animation Inc and the rest I learned on the job.

AARON: There are 2 episodes yet to go in the Neenja series, right?

HAYK: Both episodes 5 and 6 are written and ready to be completed. Part 5 is halfway there, but because I don’t have the schedule I had back when I was at Six Point, the process is taking much longer.

AARON: You’re also planning a feature film, correct?

HAYK: It’s a long term goal I’d like to reach, but it’s nothing to expect anytime soon. I still have a lot to learn before I tackle that one full on. Plus I still need to finnish Neenja.

Hayk Manukyan, the creator of Neenja, has been slowly building a library of Flash animation tutorials. Hayk has worked at several animation studios, including Six Point Harness, but he is currently animating on the Alvin and the Chipmunks feature at Rhythm & Hues Studios in Los Angeles.

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Hayk Manukyan, the man behind Neenja: The Way of the Harut, is hard at work on his 5th episode. The previous 4 have all been released on Tire Fire Films, and now he’s logging his progress on YouTube. The first rough scene pass has been posted, and I’ll keep you all in the loop as more hits the ‘Tube.

Neenja: The Way Of The Harut, the Flash-animated series created by Hayk Manukyan, is back with a tremendous 4th episode. The opening action sequence is filled with hundreds of drawings, and extremely fluid animation - much traditionally animated. The series is doing well, as expected, on Newgrounds, and the Tire Fire Films website.

According to the Hayasa Pictures website, we’re 2 episodes away from the end - volume 6 will the be the last!

As reported back in June, Hayk Manukyan’s ‘Neenja’ project is coming to life over at Tire Fire Films. The Flash-animated series, about an Armenian taxi driver who becomes ‘the chosen one,’ is now up to its third episode. ‘Neenja’ currently lives in 3 places - over at Tire Fire, on Hayk’s Hayasa Pictures site, and Newgrounds.com, where episodes 3 is currently the 4th ranked upload of all time.

You can also catch up with the Hayasa Pictures gang over at their MySpace page.

Six Point Harness has just unveiled Tire Fire Films, a division of the company entirely focused on original properties. It’s an exciting launch for the team, and it marks several years of development and production on their original projects, all of which are animated in Flash.

One of the more recent projects is ‘Clawdad,’ a bizarre, underwater comedy created by Seth Cooper. Here’s the write-up from the website:

No one in the Habitat quite understands Joby-Joby and his bizarre friendship with a giant prehistoric crustacean named Clawdad. Next door neighbor Gurka doesn’t seem to mind, she even lets Dak and Lily play basketball with Joby and Clawdad in the driveway. Anything to get them out of the house and stop pestering the Hands who keep her home looking nice, and provide her with state of the art electronics.

Also, notice that Hayk Manukyan’s ‘Neenja,’ a series discussed here not long ago, has now folded into the Tire Fire empire. I have it on good authority, that there’s MUCH more to come.

Hayk Manukyan has slowly built himself into one of the strongest Flash-animators in Hollywood. His shorts have achieved acclaim on the internet, and, more recently, he’s landed himself a job on MTV2’s ‘Where My Dogs At?‘ As reported here, this show is being produced at Six Point Harness Studios, where Hayk is taking on the more difficult and elaborate shots.

And now he’s back with his a new original short called ‘Neenja.’ You’ll recognize the lead character who has appeared in several of Hayk’s shorts, but this time, he’s gone samurai. He recently posted ‘Neenja - part 1′ at Newgrounds, and by weeks’ end, it should be atop the heap. Head on over to Harutoons.com for more info.