Monetize the love of cartoons: who are the cosplayers and how do they monetize their likeness with the characters and stars?

Olya Una Fata is a blogger who creates content about cosplay, makeup, different fandoms and much more. The girl told what cosplay is, how you can make money from it and much more.

what is cosplay

“For me, cosplay is a way of telling a fictional character, bringing it to reality through the prism of my views on his character, his appearance, his past. This is a great way to realize yourself in many creative professions: tailor, craftsman, wigmaker, editor, director, actor, photographer, retoucher, event organizer and others. Overall, this is a very important part of our modern culture, it connects people with similar interests and we can’t help but rejoice at how quickly our community is evolving,” Olya shared.

About the challenges of working as a cosplayer

“There are many challenges in this: from financial to human. They invite you to a very cool but very expensive project and you have to decline because there is only enough money to hire a studio and a photographer. The people in the team literally converge only on irresponsibility and possible laziness, two weeks before the already paid photo shoot. And it so happens that the costume looks very simple, and you postpone tailoring as much as possible … As a result, you do not sleep before the festival, because you finish the night in a hurry. There were sleepless nights, tantrums, terrible burnout, and just dissatisfaction with the outcome. But perhaps the best thing I can do for the real world is to bring the magic of the dream world to life.”

About the most important thing in cosplay

“I was on the jury of cosplay competitions several times, I thought a lot about how to judge before. What to withdraw from? I decided it would be the most honest thing to see the performance through the eyes of an audience, a cosplay fan who just wanted to enjoy the show. Then I realized that the image quality for me consists of the best fabric and the most iconic armor, very small details. Of course, all of this is also very important and cool, but I personally get a special buzz when a cosplayer adds a bit of himself to a character’s look. Of course during the performance I would like to see the same movements and habits as in the source but we are all different, we are not all actors and do not have the appropriate experience, so it is much more important in a speech or speaking. will convey the atmosphere, energy, pulsating image of a character in one video – then I am sure that the image will be noticed and appreciated, ”said Olya.

About winning cosplay

“Cosplay is still more of an expense to me than an income. My dear viewers are very supportive of me: they help me with donations and sponsorship subscriptions, and in return I make memorable marks for them by name or nickname. A type of photo postcard made for a specific person. With the help of my subscribers, I am able to recoup the cost of renting the halls and the work of the photographer, but often, at best, I go to zero. I hope in the future this will become more than just a hobby.”

On the relevance of cosplay in Russia

“I’m delighted to see cosplay become something so big, mundane and normal. I remember in 2015 that even simple pink eyebrows can cause a lot of questions from passers-by and condescending finger-points. Now, for example, just a few weeks ago, I was riding on the subway with one and a half meters of plastic wings, and no one even said anything, I just noticed the sweet smiles of the passengers. It is also pleasing to see that cosplay is starting to be considered as something important along with acting and modeling. Companies now often look for cosplayers with high-quality visuals and interesting crafts rather than models at job fairs to draw the attention of the B2B audience to the products. I’m sure in a few years, cosplay will permeate all media spheres and become a tight fit and a vocation for many talented writers!

Advice for beginner cosplayers

Olya advised beginner cosplayers: “Do not be afraid and gain as much experience as possible. Try not to give up. Dive into and meet projects, communicate, share information. They all provide incredible personal support! And such experience will certainly come in handy in life, no matter what field a person specializes in. Courage!”