COMINK – an opportunity to make money from your passion for drawing comics

Last weekend, at the multi-genre Comic and Entertainment event Manga Comic Con Vietnam 2023, director Charlie Nguyen announced the second season of the COMINK comic creation contest.

COMINK is an annual comic creation competition starting in 2022 founded by Australian filmmaker Paul Brenner, director – film producer Charlie Nguyen and friends. The contest is for everyone who is passionate about telling stories with drawings, regardless of level, experience, age, gender or region. The only requirement is that the submitted work must be original and unpublished.

This year, the competition will last for 12 months, starting in August 2023. Entries for round 1 will be accepted until the end of December 2023. The total prize value of the contest is up to 300 million VND. In addition to cash prizes, winners also receive in-kind rewards as well as valuable courses with experts in the field of fine arts and film production.

In his role as co-founder and jury, director Charlie Nguyen said: “Vietnam is currently the place to consume and process many international comics and webtoons. We want to provide an attractive and practical playground for you to freely express your creativity. We need to nurture our passion for storytelling and create unique entertainment products. It’s time for Vietnamese young people to be present as storytellers, not just consumers or processors. I believe that Vietnamese people are just lacking a playground, not lacking good stories.”

COMINK promises many exciting opportunities for attendees because film director – producer Charlie Nguyen and his colleagues hope to find unique stories to turn into movies or TV series, like the way the Major studios in Hollywood and Japan have been doing it. “I believe that those who love comic books know very well which cinematic works originated from comic books and became a huge success around the world. So now is the time to start the journey to create that miracle, from the artists who come to COMINK” – director Charlie Nguyen shared.

Meanwhile, co-founder Paul Brenner confided: “We want to connect comic book artists to digital platforms to make their works more known and help them build their brands.” personal and make money from your passion. To do that, COMINK will search, discover, train and develop talented creative artists. COMINK’s advanced program will bring real job opportunities, real connections with the entertainment industry, which Vietnam is an attractive point in the region.”

It is known that COMINK gathers a strong team of advisors, from famous director Charlie Nguyen, leading effects expert in the film industry Thierry Nguyen, master Phan Vu Linh – Lecturer in the Department of Comics at the University of Fine Arts. Formerly Director of the Digital Art program at Hoa Sen University, master Nguyen Thi Bao Khanh – Director of the Junior Art program – Lecturer in Graphic Design at Hoa Sen University, master Pham Nhu Linh – Deputy Director Director of the Center for Applied Arts, Informatics and Foreign Languages at the University of Fine Arts, artist Can Tieu Hy, master Ho Dang Bach Ly – Deputy Head of the Department of Basic Fine Arts – lecturer in graphic design at the University Van Lang…

In season 1, the contest organizers were overwhelmed with the quality of the drawings and the freshness and appeal of the contestants’ stories. The interesting thing is that the ages and professions of the participants in the contest are very diverse, ranging from 12-year-olds to middle-aged people, from high school students to famous actors. The eye-catching, fun and youthful practical experiences at this year’s Manga Comic Con festival have helped many young people enthusiastically participate in COMINK. It is expected that the number of entries this year will be “huge”.

“I have researched the comic book market in Vietnam for many years and I know Vietnam has a very interesting art history spanning many centuries. The global webtoon market size increases each year and focuses more on the younger generation. In Taiwan, 61% of webtoon audiences are under 24 years old, in the US this number is 77%, in Thailand it is 59% and in Indonesia it is 71%. In Vietnam, this market is dominated by foreign content. COMINK is proud to be a platform for Vietnamese people and wants Vietnamese comics to lead the sales rankings in the Asian region” – founder Paul Brenner expressed.

mgn.vn