Interview With Hamid Ibrahim: “A Start-up Is the Labour of Love”

If you don’t know about Kugali Media, the Pan-African entertainment company working alongside Disney on an upcoming animated series, get to know. Since 2017, they’ve been leading a makeover in the animation industry to bring diverse voices to the world of entertainment – and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. Their work is inspired by African stories and their aim to showcase this “awesome” culture to the rest of the world.

Following the announcement of their collaboration with Disney, I had the pleasure of chatting with Hamid Ibrahim – one-third of the Kugali Media trio – about Kugali’s inspiring journey towards the release of Iwájú and how the project is going so far. Spoiler alert: “It’s coming along very awesomely.”

HS: Nice to meet you, Hamid. Tell us a bit about your background – where did you grow up, and did you face any difficulties when choosing an art-based career?

HI: I was born in Uganda. In the first year of my life, my mum carried me to Kenya and I spent 10 years there before I went back to Uganda again. Before I was a bit more successful, if I were to tell people that I work in the arts, their automatic assumption is that you probably have to do something else on the side. If that’s the case here, you can imagine how it is back home in Uganda. If you’re going to do art, you’re going to become an art teacher – that was the only job prospect that people had in mind. One of my main motivators is Da Vinci, and he is actually the reason I got into art. The Mona Lisa popped up in an advert, I remember it very vividly because the advert said: “the Mona Lisa, much more than just art.” That captivated me. He had a pretty incredible life, and it became almost a benchmark for me; I thought, “if he can do all this stuff, let me see if I can do some of it.” I came to the UK when I was turning 18. I was going through college courses and thinking architecture because I can do both the arts and science. Then I came across a game design table, and that’s the first moment it hit me that people actually do this. I also realised that I can’t do architecture. With animation, I don’t have to wait 20 years to see what I’ve built, I don’t have to care about physics, I can just do what’s cool and what I like – that’s how the whole journey started.

HS: How did the release of Black Panther influence your decision to work with Disney? Was this particularly influential or inspiring?

HI: Not really. It did help Kugali. I’ll give you both sides, so yes and no. Yes, in the sense that when we did our first Kickstarter, we knew Black Panther was coming out, so we got lucky it was coming out around then. Black Panther came out right after us so there was a hype – we were the first people to have done an African comic book anthology. Now because of that, it boosted it up a little bit. So, we cannot say it didn’t help us in that side. The bigger boost came later on when somebody shared us on their blog. In terms of just career paths, not really. It was more like, “oh damn that’s a dope movie that actually did really well” – it was more like a very exciting thing. It was an exciting time, it was a change in time – it’s not the same old stuff now, it’s something different.

This is the first time in history that Disney has ever collaborated with another entity, ever.

HS: So far, we know that Iwájú will explore themes of “class, innocence and challenging the status quo,” and the initial concept art looks great. When can we expect more and what can your fans look forward to?

HI: When can you expect more? Sometime this year. And then what can you expect? Some cool stuff. I can’t really disclose much. It’s still very hidden at the moment but believe me, the first concept images look awesome, right? The way it’s going, it makes those images look like, “that’s alright.” It’s coming along very awesomely.

HS: How has the pandemic affected Kugali Media and what are you looking forward to once we get back to normal?

HI: Almost to no effect, which is funny because Kugali are very Pan-African, so we were dealing with these Zoom issues for a very long time, even with the Disney deal. This was two years ago when the back and forth hadn’t even started. Obviously, they’re in California and we’re in the UK, so it’s almost like nothing even changed. It’s just that I have my gym chair and towels in the background now – that’s the difference. The actual format didn’t really change much for Kugali as we were already working pretty remotely. In fact, it’s a bit annoying for me because I work too hard to work at home.

HS: It’s so important that you educate whilst providing entertainment. I know that you really prioritise bringing diverse voices to your comics to do so; for example, informing people that Africa isn’t just one country. What else is really important to Kugali?

HI: Right now, we are showing that there are people out here that are very talented, the thing that’s lacking is opportunity. So, that’s something we want to get across. You’ve seen the quality of work we produce, right? Most of our artists live in Africa, everybody who is currently in the company has lived in Africa for a while at least. Over half of the people are in Africa right now.

When animation started over 80 years ago, Africa seemed to have been left behind and that’s one thing that always bothered me.

HS: Not only are you working on storytelling through comics and science fiction, but Kugali is also active in the augmented reality field. You double as an official Snapchat creator, which is pretty cool, so could you tell us a little more about Kugali and AR?

HI: So that’s one of the projects I’m very, very excited about. When animation started over 80 years ago, Africa seemed to have been left behind and that’s one thing that always bothered me: we tend to join the party late. In the case of AR right now, it’s being discovered. The rules are being written and we are right here writing the rules as well and that allows us to dictate how it’s going to move forward. Companies like Disney have a lot of history in animation and that gives them a lot of staying power. If all those people are from the west, that’s going to influence the stories. It’s very easy to find somebody in Africa who speaks in an American accent, and that’s because of that culture. They are the people who have the most leverage and they push their culture. If we can do it, we can put our culture at the forefront and show how awesome it is. Hopefully we can influence the world as well. That’s why it’s really important to me.

HS: You mention how you’re writing the rules and are one of the first companies to do so. Do you have any advice for other companies that are hoping to follow in your footsteps in this cultural revolution?

HI: Work really hard. Do amazing work. Most people care about what you can do for them versus all the prejudices. For example, if you come into an environment and they are all white people, at one time, people would have told me, “be careful”, and that’s their perspective. I think that’s not a very good way to look at the world, I think that’s a very defeatist way to look at it. People care more about what they get rather than who you are, that tends to be the case. It doesn’t matter how people feel about you. It doesn’t matter what’s happening, just make sure you’re one of the best and things will be a lot smoother.

HS: As a company that was kickstarted through crowdfunding, what has the journey been like from that point to now working with one of the most successful entertainment companies in the world?

HI: You know that saying, “a start-up is the labour of love.” It’s just a lot of downs and ups. There was a couple of months where I lived on rice and eggs. I had to keep as low cost as possible because I had left my main job and I hadn’t paid myself from Kugali yet, but I was paying people from my salary. Ziki was paying people from his salary at that point as well. The Kickstarter was the first big thing that worked well for us and the first BBC interview helped a lot too, along with other things like becoming an official Snapchat creator. There were a lot of downs as well. We have one failed Kickstarter out there but that was kind of our fault, but we learned from that and then the next one we crushed it. You’d have to be very lucky for you to win at it if you don’t love it. If there were some periods of time where I didn’t believe in Kugali, it wouldn’t have made sense because I would have been leaving a paying job. My life was pretty decent and then you’ve got your rice and eggs for a while – it’s a big shift.

It doesn’t matter how people feel about you. It doesn’t matter what’s happening, just make sure you’re one of the best.

HS: The quote “going to kick Disney’s ass” was well received by the company considering you’re now working with them. What has it been like working alongside Disney? And how has the collab announcement changed Kugali?

HI: They’re pretty nice. Actually, they’re ridiculously nice. It was me that said that line in the BBC interview. A lot of people are like, “you said you wanted to kick their ass so how come you’re working with them?” Now, we’re going in the same direction, it’s more like a team sport – we’re helping each other to get to that ultimate goal, which is telling African stories. Now, let’s say at some point they decide to take a step back from telling African stories, then we’re going to be kicking their asses.

HS: We know that you’ve worked with Disney before, on the production of The Lion King remake, for example. How does that experience compare to now working with them on one of Kugali’s own stories?

HI: It’s very different. Before, that was just working and doing what you’re told. Now, it’s us telling the story. All of us have lived in Africa and have had that perspective. Tolu is currently in Nigeria where Iwájú takes place, so we are able to keep everything in check with Nigeria. This is the first time in history that Disney has ever collaborated with another entity, ever. If you look at the logo of any animated release or show by Disney, it’s always one name at the top: Disney. This time, it’s Disney and Kugali. We are the only people in history to have that. It’s an African studio that did it, too, and that means a lot to me.

HS: It’s no secret that Disney has received years of backlash for their limited representation of the African community and disappointing racial depictions. How important is it to be breaking that stigma and contributing to not only a huge step forward in the entertainment industry, but a cultural revolution?

HI: That’s one of the things where I try to stay in my lane, you can only do a few things at a time. I know that’s the effect it’s having but I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t think about it that much. African stories and art are the most awesome stories and art you can see, and it’s the best it can possibly be, that’s my lane. I know that a lot of pride can come from that, people can see we did that. It has that effect that you are describing but I barely think about that. I know it’s important to a lot of people but I’m just making sure everything is going great.

We’re going in the same direction, it’s more like a team sport – we’re helping each other to get to that ultimate goal, which is telling African stories.

HS: You have a very achievable goal of global success – what can we expect after the release of Iwájú in 2022?

HI: I can’t really mention them, but there are quite a few projects we are tampering around with right now which haven’t been announced yet. Some will get announced sooner this year and some will be announced next year. Just follow us. One thing I wanted to mention is, you know The Lion King circle of life scene? One of the things that made me love animation was that sequence, because they speak Swahili in the film and I speak the language too. You know when you watch TV as a kid, you almost don’t really pay attention. But when they spoke Swahili it clicked, and I was actually watching it, not just going with the flow. Obviously, I worked on the remake of The Lion King which is a big deal to me (that’s the only thing I have hanged up on my wall). The VFX supervisor for Iwájú also worked on the original The Lion King – that’s a dope circle of life right there. He’s actually one of the main people we’re talking to. I would have never imagined that, it’s crazy.

Iwájú is scheduled for release on Disney Plus in 2022.

The Urban Journal