Amonge Sinxoto. Source: Supplied.

Tell me about your book and project.

Last year I published my first children’s book with New Africa Books, called My Big Name. It is a story about Isenguye coming to understand the mojo in her big name! We are now developing this story into a 2D animated series that encourages kids to explore and embrace the different parts of their identity.

What inspired it?

The sentiment of connecting people to their identity has been a common thread in all of my work (non-profit, activism, literature ect.) and so this project is just an extension of my passion for identity centred leadership.

How long has the book and TV show been in production?

We have been developing the story over the past eight months. We are still in early development and are currently looking for creative partners, distributors and private investment.

What challenges have you faced?

What has been challenging is navigating a space that for the longest time has been a white male dominated industry. But luckily we have come in at a time where there are a lot more opportunities in the industry for us to tell our stories.

What impact do you hope it will have, especially on young people?

I hope that young people engaging with this content see themselves. I hope they see their joy and laughter. I hope they see the mistakes and solutions of the characters as encouragement to ask questions and learn about themselves and the people around them.

Do you have any advice for young people who want to go into publishing their own book and developing a show?

Just do it! I know it’s super cliche but the first step is getting all your ideas out of your head and on to the paper. Once you’ve done that, it’s a lot of refining and reviewing. It won’t be perfect at first but the only way it get it there is to start.

What do you hope to achieve in France? Why France?

Annecy Film Festival is the largest animation festival in the world. I hope that we get our story out there. Get people excited about our message and characters. I hope to also connect with other creatives on the continent who can make this vision come alive.