For the animation folk, I can only think of the following:

It's all about how long + much you are prepared to loose to finally gain your dreams. Yes you might be willing to be a spartan like Gerard Butler in 300, you might kill a thousand Persians but will you kill Xerxes?

In all industries no matter what field, three key fundamentals remain

1) How good you are
2) Who you know
3) What's the market size

So if we are going to do an objective assessment of the SG animation industry it will be this:

Assuming artist A has cleared point 1) and is at the top of his game, has slogged his way and fought tooth and nail overcommed poverty somehow manages to scrap together and company and sustain it and not go bankrupt in the process developing his/her IP. then we move on to...

point 2): Artist A knows some local big wig B in the local singapore media scene. sadly the big wig is also trying to survive and in reality this big wig B is fighting both the cheaper FT companies and high end superior MNC ang moh firms. that means he is in the middle ground...i.e nowhere. yes he might have made it in the eyes of Artist A, but little does Artist A know that this big wig B is facing problems of his own -> he is in no man's land....he has worked his guts out to find out that after all his effort, financial sacrifice and disrespect he has endured...he is nowhere near the MNC ang moh IDM firms...and worse of all...he cannot compete with the cheaper FT firms who are on par if not even (for some) superior to what he can offer...and let's face it...you don't think the MNCs and FT firms aren't trying to develop their own IP...?

Everyone is trying to develop their own IP...they just don't last long enough financially to be able to do it...or they are trying to get someone they admire in the industry to help give their IP a 'push' little do they know that someone also trying DESPERATELY to succeed in creating (and we are not even at the marketing stage or commercialization stage -i.e where you see fiscal results or even profits -if any) their own IP....

point 3) After doing point 1 and 2 both the big wig and artist A will both come to realise that on top of their present problems they have an even worst one which cannot be solved by their efforts at all...the lack of a local market to 'consumer' their goods. if there are no consumers there are no profits. Putting up your animated short on youtube is not commercialization, even if it has thousands of hits. Unless you aim for youtube partnership to earn ad dollars...which is another game altogether and equally gruelling...

then at this point artist A and local big wig will say "lets try to market out great IP overseas!!!" till they reach the shores of foreign markets and realize there are 100 times the amount of competition, and artists there even sleep on their fren's couches just trying to get a break in the biz...then artist A and big wig will say FML, as it is just the same over there with 100 times the competition and 100 times the talent amount as well....and a foreign playing field where your operating costs are double what they are back home...

at this point you have 3 options:

Option A): Be Bitter, say FML and wish to be like Nicolas Cage in leaving Las Vegas where he goes there to drink till he dies till he meets a hot hooker and falls in love...but wait that is a Hollywood version... lets just say you will be a bitter man/woman/creature...

Option B): Come back to Singapore with your tail behind your back...work in another industry whatever industry as long as you don't have to look at the screen to create aniamted **** anymore...**** now you really hate thsi ****...

Option C): Invent a time travel machine and go back to slap yourself into submission so that you avert the above disasters and switch / change careers no matter what the cost to your ego which is so defensive at this point that even the whisper of a baby spider will shatter it into a gazillion trillion pieces of jaded angel dust ash that will all back to your flesh and pierce you like a boss....

Red and Blue pill...as always...