WHO ARE WE..?

We’re an array* of creatives, illustrators & animators, DeFi & NFT collectors and digital strategists who partnered together with the purpose of funding Sam The Hedgehog – an animated short film about autism acceptance.

We are very excited to present an NFT collection grounded in a real life film project that is already underway, run by real life people and not just cryptic twitter handles.

(*Did you know: a group of hedgehogs is called an “array”!)

Mic
MicCreative Director
Michael Clark is a motion graphics artist & animator and the co-founder of Johannesburg-based MAAN CREATIVE. He has produced and directed several award-winning long-form projects alongside the usual commercial fare. He has a keen interest in 2D animation and stop motion (as you can see in this project).

Co-founder of The Hedgie Fund.

Jo
JoCreative Director
Johan Scheepers is a concept artist, broadcast designer and creative director. After starting off his career at Luma Animation, one of the most successful 3D animation studios in South Africa, he co-founded MAAN CREATIVE where he directs various commercial work as well as developing original animated characters and long form content.

Co-founder of The Hedgie Fund.

Matt
Matt(🦔,🦔)
Matt Landon is an entrepreneur and freelance digital media strategist. He is a USA citizen who emigrated to South Africa in 2006 to study at the University of Johannesburg. He runs LAND ON Digital – consulting digital media strategy for global brands with a presence in Africa.
He is a DeFi and Crypto Native and is responsible for the ideation and creation of “Hedgies” to raise funds for Sam the Hedgehog.

Co-founder of The Hedgie Fund.

MAAN Creative

The studio behind the Hedgie Fund
& Sam the Hedgehog

MAAN CREATIVE is a multi-disciplinary design, illustration and animation studio focussing on 2D animation and stop motion with a reputation for a unique tactile approach to their work.

See what else we have been up to…

We are very proud to be partnered with Galaxis (formerly Ether Cards) as the developer on the project.

Through this partnership, we have also been able to add some very exciting utilities to our NFT’s…cameo film role anyone??

Our Story

The idea to create the short film Sam the Hedgehog was originally conceived by Mic, Jo and Julia Smuts-Louw (script writer) in 2014. A passion project aimed to raise awareness and support for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the film is intended to be distributed free of charge and is currently funded 100% by grants and charitable donations.

Since its inception, about R1,500,000 (USD $100,000) has been raised so far – enough to produce several elements of the film including the script, many of the sets and props and a portion of the animation. With the COVID-19 pandemic, charitable donations have slowed and the project continued to be an out-of-pocket expense to MAAN Creative.

With the rise in popularity of NFTs, we see The Hedgie Fund being the way to not only finish the film, but also create a means to truly impact charities that make a difference supporting autistic individuals and families with autistic children.

“Autism is not a disease, don’t try to cure it. Try to understand it.”

“If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”

Dr. Stephen Shore

“If they can’t learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn.”

O. Ivar Loovas