The Story Behind Argon Animation - by Tim Bennett - Part 1
I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur…
I remember at school during careers lessons, as they promoted getting a good job, that I would rather be the boss than the employee...
It just seemed for fun to me!
So I left school at the age of 16 and started my 1st business as a window cleaner...
I cleaned the windows of the houses where I lived and as I earned more in one day than most of my friends earned in one week at their job, I realized that I was on the right path…
However I didn’t like cleaning windows much as it was back-breaking work…
As is often the case, 1 opportunity (if you are looking for it) leads to another and then to another and so was the case for me…
After a long journey of many business attempts, I partnered with a friend of mine and bought a 2000 capacity dance club in York in The North of England.
This was in 1989 and I was 29! Totally naive in business but having fun!
I didn’t even know that the club I had bought had a laser in it. I had never even seen one or knew what it was…
The DJ came to me one night and told me that we had a laser and that I should fix it…
So ￡600 later the small 100mw air-cooled Argon laser was working…
I sat down in front of the dance floor and the DJ filled the room with smoke…
Turned on the laser…
And in a moment, I fell in love with what I saw!
It was a major turning point in my life and one that would totally change everything I did from then on and the beginning of what has since become a 27 year journey of passion and entertainment!
2 years later, we sold the bar, It was a massive financial failure and as I walked away with the small laser in my hands…
Even though I had no idea what I was doing with the laser…
I knew I had something very special in my hands and something that very few people actually had!
The photo at the top of this article was the very 1st laser that I ever owned and the beginning of a project that has so far lasted 30 years...
The seed of light that would eventually become Argon Animation Inc had been planted!
To be continued…
Tim Bennett
Managing Director
Argon Animation Inc