The combination of music and animation has always had the potential to unlock a powerful emotional message, and that’s what the collaborators behind the new music video for Soundwielder’s “The Secret Key” aspired to do. Musician Ian Cohen tapped award-winning animation director Atanas Shopski (shopskianimation.com) to translate the song’s narrative about confronting the shadows of mental health challenges, and shining a light with the power of empathy, support and motivation.
The 2D-animated video has been honored with an Official Selection of the 2025 LA Film Festival, the winner of Best Music Video and Best Song at the Oniros Film Awards, a Finalist place in the EuroCine Film and Screenwriting Festival, an Honorable Mention from the New York International Film Awards, Honorable Mentions from the Los Angeles Movie Awards (Animation and the Music Video categories), from Zepfest the award for Best Animated Music Video (Round 3), and Best Rock Song (Round 3), as well as Honorable Mention for Best Animated Film (Round 3).
Animation Magazine had an opportunity to dissect the project with Shopski, whose other credits include videos for Filter’s “Obliteration” and the Nomad Blax hip-hop poems series, as well as the in-house projects including the mental health short Your Voice Matters.
Animation Magazine: Can you tell us a bit about how you became involved with this project?
Atanas Shopski: Ian Cohen, the brilliant musician behind it all, reached out after seeing one of my animated music videos during a Dolby Atmos screening at the Marshmellow Skies Recording Studio in Westlake Village, California. It was my animated music video for Richard Patrick from Filter. Ian expressed that he was completely blown away, and wanted to have me create an animated music video for one of his original songs. We immediately clicked on an artistic level. Ian has that raw passion that all great artists carry — it’s absolutely contagious.
The next two days I listened to Ian’s song catalog on repeat, getting goosebumps. I knew this could become something deeply meaningful, if I can bring it out visually. In the discovery phase we had long, in-depth conversations, digging into the past and trauma, what would later become the basis for the story.
We chose the track “The Secret Key.” I thought about our conversations, and the theme of the song, and then developed a concept on the mental-health struggle, healing and love. It became personal for both of us — which, I believe, is the key to anything that truly resonates. When a story is personal to you, it becomes personal for the audience, too.
What did you love about it from the get-go?
What I loved right away was the creative freedom Ian entrusted me. I had space to visually interpret the song, to do the visual development, and propose a style I wanted to explore — a bold, shadow-heavy monochrome look contrasted with a full-color explosion during the chorus.
This freedom gave me the chance to experiment on powerful shots. That’s the beauty of music videos—they are a playground for creative exploration. And exploration is growth.
Working with musicians brings a unique energy. It’s such a beautiful moment when masters of the audio and visual world come together. Yin and Yang — so different, yet one.
How long did it take to make and which animation tools were used?
We spent about two months in pre-production, mainly developing the animatic. I love that stage — when in rough form your film already works, the timing works. From there, you know it’s only pushing to perfection.
The animation and clean-up took another two to three months, as I did it myself. With final polish and sound mastering, the entire project came together in about six months — which is actually quite fast for a production of this level. We could’ve spent a few more weeks on it, but the limits are what drives creativity, knowing you need a solution fast makes you a creative problem solver, which is how I describe myself more and more.
I used Toon Boom Harmony for “The Secret Key,” as it’s my favorite tool. But I truly believe that it is not important what you use. Robert Valley animated his feature Pear Cider and Cigarettes in Photoshop. If it works for you, it is the right tool.
How many people worked on it? Where was the animation produced?
Ian, the songwriter and producer, was involved throughout. We reviewed each scene together, discussing meaning and visual choices. His support and energy kept the flow.
The animation was all produced by me — Shopski — here in Germany. I run a small studio, but when it comes to music videos, I love to do the animation myself. This is my playground. It’s what my creative soul needs.
Then the audio masters came in to finalize the soundtrack. I rendered five different versions of the animated music video. This is because in addition to having a final stereo master for streaming the video on YouTube, Ian also wanted to create a fully immersive experience for audiences. To achieve this goal, a Dolby Atmos version was produced in order to take advantage of devices with spatial audio capability. And 7.1.4, and 5.1 Surround versions were produced for home theater systems, and for film festival screenings in theaters that can support immersive audio formats.
For this aspect of the project, kudos go to the team at Marshmellow Skies, and to the two mastering engineers. Claus Trelby elevated Ian’s original mix of the song, and he also crafted mind-blowing mixes in the Dolby Atmos and Surround audio formats. For the immersive versions, Ian had a creative vision for how he wanted the bridge of the song to be mixed, and its overall emotional effect on the viewer. He wanted the overall impact of the scene to fully capture the feeling of falling into a dream state, while experiencing his repressed memory from a childhood trauma. Claus then created mixes that mesmerize and envelop the viewer, making Ian’s vision come to life. Nitanee Paris and Ken Caillat also jumped in to help make sure that the project was completely ready for prime time. The Dolby Atmos and Surround versions of the song were mastered at Coast Mastering, by Michael Romanowski. And the stereo version of the song was mastered by Duncan Ferguson, at The Voltage Exchange.
What was the toughest aspect of it?
I’d say that sound is my weakness. That’s why I love creating with musicians — I get to transform that weakness into a huge strength this way.
Visually, the toughest part was the chorus scene. I wasn’t sure about the look until the end, it was not right and I just let it sit. Then, in a kind of trance of inspiration, it all came together, when it had to, but it took its time.
When it comes to navigating projects, Robert Rodriguez has a philosophy that resonates with me. He said, “Just be a good pipe. Just say, ‘I just want to be a good pipe. Clean, open.’ And then that’s when the magic happens.” (Quote from the Lex Fridman Podcast, #465)
Why do you love working in the animated music video world?
Oh, I love everything about it! The thrill, the rush, the life-long psychological trauma that can be expressed through animation and music.
I truly love helping artists amplify their music — to make it stand out, to give it a unique voice. That’s what traditional 2D animation can do so well. It brings a human, hand-crafted emotion that complements the feel of real instruments perfectly.
Rock and metal have always spoken to me — they were my therapy growing up in the ghettos of Eastern Europe. I connect to the emotion in that music, and I feel I can express it truthfully with my visual storytelling. There’s a beautiful nostalgia in using this medium for rock music. It’s raw, it’s real, and it touches people. That’s what our art is all about.
What are you working on next?
We’re just wrapping up a very fun animated feature for kids — my first full-length feature! And we’re working on a dark-fantasy mini-series based on a polish novel with great potential.
But what we think about before sleep is RiotWorks, our new studio. We’ve set ourselves a massive creative challenge: to help define what European Anime can be.
Our goal? To tell bold, dramatic, and thrilling stories for adults — through the expressive power of animation. It’s our big mission, and we’re all in.
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