Animation Magazine Dec 2020 AFM Issue

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December 2020

Volume 34, Issue 10, Number 305

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Stuff We Love

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Running Man

Sidus Animation brings its latest feature Running Man: Revengers to the American Film Market.

Features

Studio Spotlight

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Notes on the Meaning of Life

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Montreal’s Magic Shop

Shorts 28

A Cottontail’s Tale

Madeline Sharafian’s charming short Burrow follows the home-improvement adventures of a resourceful rabbit.

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A Mother’s Prophetic Dreams

Kang Min Kim talks about his haunting, personal, Ottawa Prize-winning short KKUM.

Pixar’s Soul features its first Black protagonist and an imaginative take on how to find one’s place in the world.

By Ramin Zahed

The principals at L’Atelier Animation talk about their second big movie project Fireheart and what they learned from the Leap! experience.

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Television/Streaming

Opportunities

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A Trip to Kilkenny’s Magical Past

Cartoon Saloon helmers Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart talk about the innovations used in their stunning new movie Wolfwalkers.

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An Eco-Warrior Like No Other

Jose Zelada and Richard Claus offer a sneak peek of Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon, their exciting and ecologically minded film set in the Amazon.

Cover A: The all-new Animaniacs premieres

on Hulu Nov. 20.

Cover B: Pixar’s Soul debuts on Disney+ Dec. 25.

AFM: Sidus Animation brings Running Man: Revengers to market.

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Rebooting ‘Zany to the Max’!

Exec producer Wellesley Wild and co-exec producer Gabe Swarr talk about the art of recapturing the Animaniacs’ lightning in a bottle.

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A Friendship to Treasure

Show creator Max Keane tells us all about his charming Netflix preschool show Trash Truck.

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Mesoamerican Gods

We catch up with Sofía Alexander, the talented creator of Crunchyroll’s hot new animated series Onyx Equinox.

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Autonomous Animator

Cash In Your Experience

By Martin Grebing

Backyard Buddies

Day in the Life 33

Sean-Ryan Petersen, who voices

Valentino in Cartoon Network’s popular series Victor and Valentino, takes us out on the town!

Sunil Hall and Lynne Naylor-Reccardi give us the scoop on The Mighty Ones, their hilarious new show about a twig, a pebble, a leaf and a strawberry!

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E ditor ’ s N otE

ANIMATION MAGAZINE

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s I sat down to write this month’s letter, I realized that just this past week, we reported on the launch of several new animation studios and healthy project initiatives all over the world on our website. The year of the never-ending pandemic has been murder on the movie theater business, but it has opened the door to so many new toon projects as live-action shows and features are facing major difficulties with COVID-19 restrictions. But as Netflix chief Ted Sarandos pointed out this week, this removal of theatrical from Hollywood’s equation won’t last forever. “I wouldn’t look at this as being that radical a change,” he said. “At some point, theaters are going to reopen and people are going to go back to theaters. I hope so. I’m a fan of doing it myself.”

Like many of you, I wish I could have seen two of this issue’s featured titles, Pixar’s Soul and Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers, in a proper theater. The comforts of home are no substitute for enjoying these amazing animated movies on the big screen with a state-of-the-art sound system and a rapt audience. I hope we all get to experience these hugely cinematic projects on proper movie screens in 2021. They are both magnificent, visually stunning films, and deserve to be enjoyed the way they were intended to be seen. Until we do, I hope you find the time to read our stories about the making of these two very different, yet equally inspired and involving movies.

Each month also brings an embarrassment of riches in new animated shows created specifically for at-home audiences. We introduce you to three excellent and diverse series aiming for separate viewerships in this issue. Netflix is offering Max Keane’s utterly charming new show Trash Truck, which is exec produced

by Glen Keane and Gennie Rim, and Hulu debuts Sunil Hall and Lynne Naylor-Reccardi’s hilarious show The Mighty Ones (about the friendship between a twig, a pebble, a leaf and a strawberry — that description alone cracks me up!). Meanwhile, Crunchyroll is also pushing the envelope with the fantastic new series Onyx Equinox, created by promising Latinx talent Sofía Alexander. I am sure you’ll find the background stories behind these three new shows both inspiring and fascinating.

By the way, if you are looking for a fun way to spend your Thanksgiving holiday this year, remember that Hulu is premiering the much-anticipated Animaniacs reboot on Nov. 20. I can’t think of a better way to forget our worries and have a lot of laughs by binging this fun reboot, exec produced by Steven Spielberg, Sam Register, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Wellesley Wild and co-exec produced by Gabe Swarr. Wild and Swarr were kind enough to chat with us about their hot new show in this issue as well.

I hope you enjoy what we’re prepared for you in this issue. On behalf of all of us at your favorite animation magazine, I wish you a peaceful and soul-nourishing Thanksgiving holiday.

Ramin Zahed Editor in Chief ramin@animationmagazine.net

December 2020

Vol. 34, Issue 10, No. 305 Info@animationmagazine.net

President and Publisher: Jean Thoren Accounting: Jan Bayouth EDITORIAL

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Quote of the Month “Yes, I am a Black man, but I made it clear from the first day that I do not speak for every Black person in the world and America …You get 20 Black people in a room, you’re going to have 20 very different opinions on every single subject …

We had both an external and an internal culture trust, both of which were equally important.”

POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO MAILING ADDRESS: ANIMATION MAGAZINE 26500 W. Agoura Rd. Ste. 102-651 Calabasas, CA 91302 TO SUBSCRIBE:

For the U.S., the rate is $60 for 1 year or $95 for 2 years.

Rates for Canada and Mexico are US$75 for 1 year or US$120 for 2 years delivered by foreign airmail. Foreign rates are US$90 for 1 year or US$145 for 2 years delivered by foreign airmail.

Please allow six to eight weeks for initial delivery.

Also available in a digital version for $36 for 1 year or $60 for 2 years.

Animation Magazine © 2020 Animation Magazine

Prior written approval must be obtained to duplicate any and all contents.

The copyrights and trademarks of images featured herein are the property of their respective owners.

Animation Magazine acknowledges the creators and copyright holders of the materials mentioned herein, and does not seek to infringe on those rights.

— Soul writer and co-director Kemp Powers

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Frame-By-Frame

STUFF TO READ The Art of Wolfwalkers [Abrams, $40] Expertly guided by animation author and lecturer Charles Solomon, the beautiful 220+ hardcover takes us on a behind-the-scenes journey of Cartoon Saloon’s latest stunning triumph of 2D. Filled with exclusive hand-drawn sketches, paintings, interviews and digital renderings that showcase the studio’s unique artistic style (400 color illustrations!), The Art of Wolfwalkers is brought to life with exclusive commentary and interviews with cast and crew, including directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. It’s the next best thing to running away to the ancient Irish woods with your own wolf pack. [Nov. 10] Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Art of the Animated Series (Second Edition) [Dark Horse, $40] Marking the 15th anniversary of this show which has inspired legions of fans and a generation of animators alike, this deluxe tome is a gift to us all. Series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino themselves take readers by the hand to reveal hundreds of pieces of concept, design and production art from their hit show. The second edition boasts new cover art by Konietzko (with an extra-special cover treatment), eight pages of new material, all-new introduction by award-winning Avatar comics writer Gene Luen Yang, beautiful slipcase, gilded edges, ribbon book marker and an exclusive collectable lithograph. A great excuse to practice your wallet-bending powers! [Nov. 24] Drawing and Life Lessons from Master Cartoonists [Yoe Books, $50] Eisner-winning comics guru and former creative director of Disney, Nickelodeon and The Muppets Craig Yoe delivers another compelling look at the history and personalities behind the art form’s most iconic panels. This unparalleled hardcover collects never-before-reprinted cartooning courses from the likes of Charles Schulz, Winsor McCay, E.C. Segar, Joe Shuster, Dan DeCarlo and many more inkpen rock stars, offering eye-opening beginning and advanced lessons in drawing and writing comics, as well as encouraging life coach tips taken from their own journeys to success. The perfect pick-me-up for visual storytellers feeling that winter wind-down. [Nov. 10] Over the Moon: Illuminating the Journey [Titan Books, $50] Blast off on an incredible behind-the-scenes journey with this hardcover companion to Glen Keane’s highly anticipated feature directorial debut. Leonard Maltin (Of Mice and Magic), one of the world’s most respected movie critics, is our scrivener guide through beautiful full-color reproductions of character, background and viz dev artwork for the Netflix Original. Readers will also discover how dedicated the team was to creating an authentically Chinese modern fairytale, visiting inspiring locations, sampling moon cakes and working with incredible artists — like fashion designer Guo Pei, who created the goddess Chang’e’s jaw-dropping costumes. No rocket required! [Nov. 10] STUFF TO WATCH Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol. 2 LE [Aniplex, $160 BD] This RightStufAnime. com exclusive is the ultimate way to prepare for the smash hit Demon Slayer movie to hit NorAm next year. Directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by studio Ufotable, Vol. 2 (eps. 14-16) follows the adventures of kindhearted young Tanjiro in Taisho Period Japan as he continues his quest to become a mighty demon slayer and restore his possessed sister. The Limited Edition includes a bevy of exclusive bonuses, illustration card set, special booklet and three soundtrack CDs featuring music by Go Shiina. [Nov. 24]

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Marona’s Fantastic Tale [GKIDS/ Shout! Factory, $29 BD] Anca Damian’s poetic, visually enchanting and life-affirming movie about an optimistic stray dog and the many humans she has loved throughout her life won over festival juries and audiences all over the world when it debuted last year. Now, you can adopt this sweet story boldly animated as your very own. The Blu-ray/DVD combo offers Marona in both the French version with English subtitles and the English dub version, along with an interview with Damian, Q&A from the Animation Is Film festival, art gallery and trailers.

[Nov. 10]

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Sonic the Hedgehog Limited Collector’s Edition [Paramount, $25 BD] Relive the lightning-speed action of one of the year’s biggest blockbusters with this new LE release, featuring exclusive artwork and bonus movie poster collectible cards. In addition to the tale of Sonic stirring up planet Earth and facing down the evil Dr. Robotnik, fans can enjoy commentary by director Jeff Fowler and the voice of Sonic, Ben Schwartz, deleted scenes, bloopers, “Speed Me Up” MV and more behind-the-scenes featurettes. [Nov. 24] Steven Universe: The Complete Collection [Warner Bros., $90 DVD] Originally announced for December,

the early arrival of this beautiful set proves that good things happen when you “believe in Steven!” This ultimate 15-disc “Storybook” set features custom art on every page

by Chromosphere. Inside, you’ll find every episode of Rebecca Sugar’s six-time Emmy-nominated series, plus Steven Universe Future and the smash hit Steven Universe The Movie — gem-fusioned with hours of allnew bonus content including animatics, mini-isodes, commentary, movie sing-a-long and more. We could all benefit from the love and positivity beaming from this GLAAD Media and Peabody Award-winning masterpiece right now. [Nov. 3] ◆

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Notes on the Meaning of Life Pixar’s Soul features its first Black protagonist and an imaginative take on how to find one’s place in the world.

By Ramin Zahed

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here are lots of reasons to appreciate and admire Soul, Pixar’s 22nd feature and the studio’s first movie with a Black protagonist in its 34-year history. Directed by Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter (best known for directing Monsters, Inc., Up and Inside Out) and co-directed by playwright Kemp Powers, the movie centers on a middle school music teacher (voiced by Jamie Foxx) named Joe whose soul separates from his body after an unfortunate accident. He then has to find his way back to Earth to reunite with his body before his enemy can steal Joe’s dream of performing jazz on stage.

Docter began thinking about the original high-concept idea for the movie one day as he was pondering the importance of finding one’s true calling in life. “I basically have wanted to be an animator my whole life,” says the two-time Oscar-winning director during a recent interview. “While my friends were out playing soccer or going on dates, I was locked in my room making animated cartoons. I was so into animation that I found a school that was started by Walt Disney (CalArts) and when I graduated in 1990 I started at Pixar, where I helped create Toy Story and eventually I got to www.animationmagazine.net

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direct Monsters Inc., Up and Inside Out.” The director says he feels that making animated movies was something that he was born to do, but some days he also wonders whether making cartoons is what he’s supposed to be doing with his time on Earth. “In fact, some days, I wonder: if I had a choice, would I decide to be born and come alive?” He asks. “So, really, it’s that thought or struggle that became the core of our film.”

a crack at coming up with interesting ways to put souls on the big screen. “We felt we needed more humanity, like clear facial features we could recognize with expressions and attitudes, so we came back to this drawing that Pete did early on, which seemed to suggest

The Trouble with Souls Of course, Docter and his team had a major challenge with the concept of the movie: They had to figure out a fun and original way to depict souls in animation. “We did a lot of research around the world, including various religions and teachings and the fundamental idea that came up again and again was that souls were described as vaporous, non-physical and formless — similar to air,” he explains. “So, our big issue was how can we capture something non-physical … How do you draw air?”

The film’s producer Dana Murray, who also produced Pixar’s Oscar-nominated short Lou and exec produced last year’s Smash and Grab, says a lot of artists at the studio began to take

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Authentic Representation: Soul centers on a New York City middle school music teacher (voiced by Jamie Foxx) who is offered a chance to play with one of his favorite jazz bands (led by Angela Bassett). Things take a surreal turn when he falls down a manhole and finds his consciousness lost in a supernatural world.

the ephemeral but also had a face,” she recalls.

“We thought, if souls represent the full potential of who we are inside, maybe we could use color to help show that, and we also developed a whole new technique we’d never done before. We added line work to help to define

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the edges that might otherwise be too fuzzy, or that you couldn’t see very clearly. So then after months and months, we finally had found our soul characters.”

Next up was fleshing out the main character’s life on Earth, before he finds himself separated from his body.

“We needed something that Joe could do that showed the promise of life, some passion that he had, something we’d all root for — like animation,” says Murray. “But that would be too inside joke. What if he was a scientist, or maybe a businessman, or… or...? We searched all around, and then almost by fate, somebody referred us to this video of an online Master Class by jazz legend Herbie Hancock. We

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realized that jazz was the perfect representation of what we were trying to say in the film. (i.e. Don’t judge, take what you’re given, and turn it into something of value.)”

Upon deciding that the main character of the movie would be a musician, the production tapped Jon Batiste, who is the pianist from The Colbert Show, to compose original jazz music for the score. They also brought in Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network) to deliver the music for the souls’ world of “The Great Before.” “Their music is so radically different, yet somehow perfectly matched for the film.”

Finding Authentic Voices Since the film dives into the jazz world and the African-American experience, the film needed to rely on the right Black voice, which Docter and Murray found in screenwriter and playwright Kemp Powers. “When I first came onto the project almost two years ago, Soul was still in rough form,” he says. “Joe was a character that needed a lot of fleshing out.

Thankfully, Joe’s character and I had a lot in common. Just how much was he like me? Well, Joe is 45 and I’m also in my mid 40s. Joe lives www.animationmagazine.net

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Meeting of Minds: From left, writer/co-director Kemp Powers, director Pete Docter and producer Dana Murray had to come up with ways to visual the main character’s metaphysical experiences.

in New York, which is my hometown — although Joe is from Queens and I’m from Brooklyn, and everyone knows that Brooklyn is better. Joe is a musician, and coincidentally, I used to be a music critic, I’m a musician myself, and my son is even named after the jazz great, Charles Mingus.”

Kemp and the animation team spent a lot of time deciding the various elements that make Joe who he is. They took the crew to a typical barbershop in the neighborhood, visited a public school in Queens and met up with a real-life, passionate, middle school jazz band teacher. They also took trips to several jazz clubs in Manhattan. As Kemp points out, “Although my research and my personal experiences did help develop Joe and the story to a point, it was very important that the film transcended any one person’s life. As I said to Pete and Dana from the very beginning, ‘I don’t represent every single Black person’s experience.’

So, it was really important that we reached out further, so we partnered with a number of consultants on this film who we kept close throughout the entire creative process.”

For visual inspiration, Docter and his team looked at some of the sketches of influential www.animationmagazine.net

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British artist and cartoonist Ronald Searle.

“He had such a distinctive graphic style, and we wanted to do something in our human world that was different from what we had done in Toy Story or Finding Nemo,” explains the filmmaker. “Of course, our artists put their own stamp on the designs of the movie’s worlds. We also looked at some Swedish minimalist sculptures to get that modern influence for both the characters and the soul world. In terms of other cinematic influences, we looked at films like Defending Your Life, Heaven Can Wait and an obscure 1940 movie called The Bluebird of Happiness (directed by Walter Lang and starring Shirley Temple), which is one of the only features we could find about a before-life experience.”

The filmmakers hope the movie will help bring audiences together during such a weird and trouble-filled year. “We hope our film will help audiences open their hearts to characters with different backgrounds and experiences,”

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says Docter. “I can’t gauge the impact a movie has on a young audience, but I hope it will create more awareness and understanding.”

Kemp adds, “Even before I came on board this project, it wasn’t uncommon for me to watch a Pixar movie to put me in a good place emotionally. I hope our movie will help put people in a good place. I recall during one of our screenings, a mother said that our movie made her think about disagreements she had had with her son about what he was going to study in college. Maybe it will inspire people to look at their friends and family and have a pleasant conversation about what they’ve seen. That’s what Pixar’s films have done for me in the past.”

“This past year, we’ve all had to look at how we spend our time and what we find most important in our lives,” adds Murray. “Our movie says that all souls come from the same playground and that we’re all created equal. That’s a good message to put out there for kids and their families.” ◆ Disney-Pixar’s Soul will premiere on Disney+ on December 25, and in theaters internationally where the platform is not yet available. december20

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Cartoon Saloon helmers Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart talk about the innovations used in their stunning new movie Wolfwalkers. n another example of how inspiring animated projects can lift spirits even during the darkest years, Cartoon Saloon’s much-anticipated feature Wolfwalkers arrives in select theaters via GKIDS this month, and will be available for streaming via Apple TV+ in December. This third offering in Tomm Moore’s Irish folklore triptych (which includes The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea) is astounding both in terms of its inventive storyline and characters and its creative use of the medium.

The film’s narrative takes us back to Kilkenny, Ireland in the mid-17th century, where we meet Robyn, a young English apprentice hunter who comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack of wolves in the country. Her life changes after she saves a native www.animationmagazine.net

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girl named Mebh, who leads her to the discovery of the magical “wolfwalkers” and her transformation into the very thing her father (voiced by Sean Bean) is tasked to destroy.

The exquisitely crafted film has been a labor of love for the team at Cartoon Saloon for many years. Moore says Ross Stewart, who co-directed the movie with him, recently found a notebook where they had taken down notes and ideas about Wolfwalkers some seven years ago. “The story has evolved so much since then,” says Moore. “The production officially began about three and half years ago. We had a much bigger budget than we had for Song of the Sea. That’s why we were able to incorporate some of the ideas that we had for the first two movies, but weren’t able to execute them at the time due to budgetary limitations.”

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“Ross and I were inspired by the legends of wolfwalkers in Kilkenny, which we learned about when we were kids,” says Moore. “It’s basically the Irish version of a werewolf story, where they would leave their bodies and traverse the forests as wolves, while the human bodies would be asleep back at home.”

One of the cleverly executed ideas that echoes throughout the film is the way the characters and environments related to the forest are distinguished from those associated with the rigid human world and the English arrivals.

“Those stylistic differences were baked in from the beginning when we were developing the story,” explains Moore, who was the art director on Moore’s two previous movies. “We wanted to december20

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Ross Stewart

Tomm Moore

Folkloric Fantasy: Cartoon Saloon’s artists took inspiration from the natural beauty of Ireland’s landscapes to create the organic world of Mebh and the Wolfwalkers.

explore this visual contrast between the organized, straight lines and confined world of the city and the free-flowing organic world of the Irish forests. We looked at woodcut prints from the 1650s, German Expressionism and anything where we could use a lot of shadows, ink and geometry to make everything quite squared off to symbolize the oppressive feeling. Then, as we journey more towards the forest, we wanted things to feel more organic psychologically. So we were thinking about [Isao] Takahata’s Tale of Princess Kaguya and illustrations by Emily Hughes, pushing into these really organic, flowing look for the forest.”

The directors add that they were excited about introducing more elements from the world of comic books and illustration to their movie. “This is something that we’d talked about before but never managed to achieve in our films,” says Moore. “When we have Mebh arrive from the forest into town, she doesn’t december 20

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have that thick outline around her that the other characters do. Instead she has a pencil-scratched line around her so we can clearly see that she’s from a different world, without it being completely mismatched. That’s something that you would find in a comic book, where you see a character look different in each panel. When Mebh is angry you can see the lines fire up and pop up around her.”

“We used lots of shape, design and color languages and basically use all the tools in our toolbox to tell our story as expressively as possible,” says Moore. “One of the things about hand-drawn animation that differentiates it

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from other movies is that you can use the whole language of drawing, the history of painting and representation visually. You can use the space to compose in a very painterly way or very abstractly, depending on what you want audiences to feel during a specific scene.”

About 200 people worked on the project at Cartoon Saloon’s Kilkenny studio, and they were assisted by about another hundred based in Mélusine Production in Luxembourg and Folivari in France. With the exception of the film’s innovative “Wolfvision” sequence (see sidebar), the backgrounds were done in paint and paper using Photoshop and the animation was done in TVPaint. They also used the Moho software to bring the props to life. “Moho acts as a rigged Toon Boom software, which allows us to tackle some of the smaller things and the crowds,” says Stewart. “Everything else is handdrawn by TVPaint. With Moho, we can move some of the background elements so that we avoid the old Scooby-Doo TV show effect.” www.animationmagazine.net

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Playful Protagonists: The filmmakers note that setting the film in 1650 allowed them to add more fantastic elements, “almost like a story you might read in a compendium of fairy tales.” The artists used more rigid lines and woodblock styles to depict the human world of Robyn and her father (Sean Bean).

As challenging as the technical and the labor-intensive nature of the hand-drawn production were, Moore says the toughest part to get right was the story. “This was my third time directing a movie, and the story is always the most challenging part. At one point, we thought we had it all down, and then we ended up rewriting the first act!”

Moore says he and his team were thrilled to bring their co-production partners from France and Luxembourg to Kilkenny. “We love showing them bits of Ireland that have influenced www.animationmagazine.net

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our work,” says the director. “Song of the Sea’s dominant colors were blues and purples, while The Secret of Kells was mostly green. For Wolfwalkers, we have the green of the forest, and the orange colors of the trees in the fall and the wolves’ magic, and some greys as well.” It can’t be a coincidence that the colors of the Irish flag are also green, white and orange!

Stewart adds, “We were lucky as the COVID-19 lockdown happened right toward the end of the production. We got the news in February, and managed to get the music recorded two weeks before the lockdown, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to get the orchestra to record Bruno Coulais’ music.”

The directors are grateful that they were able to screen their movie in their hometown at a special premiere, where people got to en-

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joy the movie with a live audience. Artwork from the movie has also been featured in a special gallery exhibit in the city, and special illuminations featuring scenes from the movie were projected on the walls of Kilkenny Castle last month as well. As the movie gets a limited release in the U.S. and will debut on Apple TV+ next month, they hope audiences will take the positive messages of the movie to heart. As Moore puts it, “There are lots of themes running through the movie that deal with species extinction and environmentalism, but I think the heart of the movie is that Robyn and Mebh manage to be friends despite the fact that they come from wildly opposing backgrounds.”

Stewart notes, “The movie also has a nice little message about the way Robyn ends up being true to herself as it takes a lot of bravery for a young person to come to terms with who they are and say it loud, despite what society has to say.” ◆ GKIDS releases Wolfwalkers in theaters on November 13. The film will premiere on Apple TV+ on Dec. 11. december20

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ne of the standout innovations of the movie is the use of VR, CG and frame-by-frame animation to visualize the world through the POV of the wolfwalkers. Created in collaboration with Dublin-based animator Eimhin McNamara (The Bird and the Whale), the system involved building the environments in VR and CG, and then printing those pages, and rendering them in charcoal and pencil.

“We reverse engineered the process so that every single page has a totally rendered background,” says director Ross Stewart. “We used dynamic camera moves, natural media, mixed with previz that was done with 3D software to create this ‘wolfvision,’ so audiences can see how the world looks from the point of view of the wolves as they run and roam the natural world. We achieved this by using computer technology that we’d never used before. We were able to make the regular world look monochromatic, while their senses were glowing and phosphorescent.” Adds Tomm Moore, “It feels like a rollercoaster ride. When we showed it to the audience, it made people in the cinema really perk up!” ◆

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An Eco-Warrior Like No Other Jose Zelada and Richard Claus offer a sneak peek of Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon, their exciting and ecologically minded film set in the Amazon.

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osé Zelada, the Peruvian writer, producer and co-director of the upcoming animated feature Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon grew up in the Amazonian region. He always wanted to make a film that reflected the stories his mother had told him when he was a boy, as well as the current reality of the region’s endangered rainforest. “Ainbo has an important connection to the Amazon through our roots,” says the Peruvian filmmaker “The beliefs, the way of seeing life, the point of view of people who live in the Amazon are so unique and different. Our universe is created through the coexistence with nature. The talking animals, magical landscapes are from stories told in the Amazon over thousands of years. All these elements help set this film apart from other animated features.”

The movie, which will be presented at this month’s virtual American Film Market, follows the adventures of the titular young girl, who must battle a spirit that embodies the evil of www.animationmagazine.net

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‘Ainbo gives us the opportunity to show the Amazon in a more honest, authentic and faithful way — from an indigenous viewpoint. I think that being imagined and designed by the ‘sons of the Amazon,’ it has that unique touch that will make an impact on audiences.’

— Writer, producer and co-director José Zelada

man and threatens her Amazon paradise. Zelada and his co-director Richard Claus decided to make Ainbo an animated feature because they wanted not only to tell a great cinematic story but also send a message about the environment to future generations.

The project was a multi-continental collaboration. Zelada led a team of Peruvian artists to develop the visuals of the film, including characters, landscapes and the look and feel of this special world. Later on, the film was animated in the Netherlands, led by Claus, whose credits include The Little Vampire 2D (2017) and An American Werewolf in Paris (1997).

“I heard about the project from the film’s

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Amazon Delivery: Director Jose Zelada (left) and production designer Pierre Salazar await the coming release of their movie. december20

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Savior of the Forest: Ainbo tells the powerful story of a young girl who was born in the village of Candamo, in the deepest jungle of the Amazon, and has to fight to protect her world from loggers and miners.

executive producer, Cinema Management Group’s Edward Noeltner, during a meeting in Paris in 2018,” recalls Claus. “He had seen a presentation of the film at the Ventana Sur market and was so impressed that he agreed to distribute the film internationally and to co-finance it. On the way back from Paris I thought that this would be a film I would also like to be involved with. I asked Edward if I could read the script, he sent it to me, and this is how it all started.”

Claus says he was struck by the project’s important ecological message. “The Amazon is threatened not only by illegal mining but also by ‘legal’ deforestation,” he says. “Together with rising levels of pollution around the world, mainly caused by the wealthiest 10%, it all contributes to climate change and its dangerous effects. Another aspect is the life of the indigenous people in the Amazon, who are fighting against the devastation of their culdecember 20

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ture and the environment driven by economic interests.”

Tales of the Ancestors Zelada says his mother was one of the main sources of inspiration for the film’s main character. “The characters that surround Ainbo are based in Amazonian mythology,” he explains.

“They are spirit guides. Motelo Mama, for example, is an ancient spirit based on a classic legend of the giant mother turtle that carries a big part of the jungle on her shell to hide it from its predators. The Yacuruna is a demon that controls the minds of the natives to take advantage of them and steal the gold. Vaca and Dillo are a tapir and an armadillo that bring comic relief to the film and are also Ainbo’s spirit guides who help her along her journey. They all have an important role in Amazonian mythology. All of these characters, as well as the Amazonian forest, help us create

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the visual world in the film.”

The film’s animation is being produced at Amsterdam’s Katuni studio, using Autodesk Maya. “Our pipeline technical director Bram Vermaas wrote the software to import all the assets an animator needed for a specific shot, and with another tool the animation was exported to Shotgun, so that the supervisor and director could review the animation,” explains Claus. “In Maya, the animators worked with tools like animBot and the whisKEY animator toolkit. These additional tools helped to speed up the process a lot — for example, it made it easier to pose the characters and to prevent intersections.”

Claus says the film was quite an ambitious project as the visuals, including characters, creatures and backgrounds, were meticulously developed by his Peruvian co-producers. “The storyboard with thousands of panels demonstrated the detailed attention which was given to every single scene by our Peruvian colleagues,” he says. “It was challenging to find a way to stay true to the ambitious intentions given our financial resources and the production constraints. This was a permanent struggle, but the result, the final film, shows that we succeeded.”

The film also proved to be quite an interesting challenge for first-time director Zelada. “It was such a challenge at the beginning because of the different cultures and languages … but as time went by, we started to flow and connect in one main narration,” he notes.

“Richard had experience in other films and brought relevant input that accommodated Ainbo well for the main story. Working with him ended up being a great experience.”

As they put the finishing touches on the $10 million-budgeted movie, the directors have high hopes for their labor of love. Says Claus, “With a strong-willed girl from the Amazon as the lead character, its environmental message and its setting in the Amazon, the film stands out from most of the other family entertainment movies. I hope the audiences will be entertained by this very special story.”

Zelada chimes in, “Ainbo gives us the opportunity to show the Amazon in a more honest, authentic and faithful way— from an indigenous viewpoint. I think that because it’s imagined and designed by the ‘sons of the Amazon,’ Ainbo has that unique touch that will make an impact on audiences. Hopefully, it will open a window for the world to see the Amazon in new ways.” ◆ CMG is representing Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon at the American Film Market. For more info, visit ainbomovie.com. www.animationmagazine.net

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Running Man: Revengers

A Winning Tale Sidus Animation’s Running Man: Revengers sprints to the AFM.

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ast year, Korean studio Locus made a big name of itself when its CG-animated feature Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was released around the world. Directed by Sungho Hong with co-directors Moo-Hyun Jang and Young Sik Uhm, Red Shoes offered a fresh new take on the classic fairy tale. This month, the studio is presenting a new feature at the American Film Market. Titled Running Man: Revengers, this family film is written and directed by Young Sik Uhm, exec produced by Sujin Hwang and produced by Sungpil Choi.

Locus Corporation was founded in 2009 by James Hyungsoon Kim and Sungho Hong and has quickly risen as one of Korea’s largest content creators. With offices in Seoul and Shanghai, Locus is also the parent company of Sidus,

Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs www.animationmagazine.net

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which has produced over 80 live-action films, including some of Korea’s most influential and internationally renowned films including A Dirty Carnival, Bong Jun-Ho’s break-out feature, Memories of Murder and the Netflix Original Time to Hunt. Locus’s animation division is now relaunching as Sidus Animation Studios, which currently has a staff of 50, with Locus’s CGI/VFX divisions bringing the company’s total staff to 200 members.

The newly rebranded studio has a new slate of animated projected currently in production, including Running Man: Revengers, Toemarok (working title) and Yumi’s Cells. As CEO James Hyungsoon Kim explains “The reinvented studios’ business plan has a three-pronged approach: Building upon the success of Red Shoes

Toemarok

and the Seven Dwarfs by producing top-quality family animated films, expanding the Korean animation industry with teenage and adult-oriented animation based on renowned book and webtoon IP, and an additional revenue base of preschool and young kids series bolstered by a vibrant character licensing business.”

One Belt to Rule Them All Running Man: Revengers is a feature film based on the hit variety show that premiered on SBS in 2010. The property was adapted into an animated TV series in 2017, produced by Sidus Animation Studios, SBS and Line Friends, which now has two seasons. The movie’s plot begins on the day before the Running Man competition. An internet broadcaster named ‘Pangpang’ tells the

Yumi’s Cells

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audience about a legendary belt that can make its wearer the supreme ruler of the world. As each player seeks out this magical belt, their friendship beings to crack. Meanwhile, Pangpang has set up a series of challenges of his own!

Sidus Animation is also in production for Toemarok, an animated TV (13 x 25-minute episode series) adaptation of the bestselling Korean fantasy novels of the same name. Literally translated as “the records of chasing out evil spirits,” Toemarok follows four heroes who possess special, occult powers based in religion, myth, and legend, for a unique blend of the superhero and occult thriller genres.

Also in production is Yumi’s Cells, an animated feature film based on the popular webtoon with

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over 3,000,000,000 views. Created by Donggun Lee, Yumi’s Cells centers on a young everywoman who is trying to find her way in life. Yumi’s Cells is co-produced with Studio N, a subsidiary of Naver. Both Toemarok and Yumi’s Cells seek to bring animation to an older audiences (15+ and YA+, respectively).

According to the studio founders, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was produced over a number of years utilizing all of the studio’s combined knowhow. The project was the first animated film of its quality and scale to be produced entirely in Korea. Sungho Hong notes, “Even though Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was Sidus Animation Studios’ first project, its high quality and valuable message are receiving

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acclaim the world over, which includes its recent release in N. America via Lionsgate. We were delighted to see Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs has been met with a warm reception from audiences around the world, and are particularly delighted to see many found value in and related to its message. We strive to continue to produce high-quality animated films and TV shows that are moving as well as entertaining.”

Running Man: Revengers is scheduled to be available for delivery by the end of 2020, with a screener available for distributors at AFM. ◆ For more info about the movie and the studio’s other projects in development and production, visit sidusanimation.com.

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Montreal’s Magic Shop The principals at L’Atelier Animation talk about their second big movie project Fireheart and what they learned from the Leap! experience.

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bout six years ago, Montreal’s L’Atelier Animation studio was formed as a partnership between Laurent Zeitoun and Yann Zenou to produce the acclaimed CG-animated feature Leap! (Ballerina). Visual effects veteran Peter Skovsbo joined the studio as general manager in the summer of 2018, and the company has shown remarkable growth in recent years, with several new interesting projects underway. We recently had a chance to chat with L’Atelier’s exec producer Louis-Philippe Vermette and head of CG Benoit Blouin to find out how the boutique shop has been weathering the challenges of this unpredictable year.

“The producers of Leap! wanted to make the film in Montreal, but they were very specific in what they were looking for in a studio,” recalls Blouin. “Although there were several worthy

and established facilities at the time, the fact that we were willing to work with them in building a studio custom-made to their expectations created an opportunity that was too promising to pass up. That is how L’Atelier Animation was born — a studio built with filmmakers, for filmmakers.”

According to Blouin, the studio currently has about 150 employees of whom about 80% work remotely. He says in 2020, the studio ramped up its employees to 200, while go-

ing through the worst weeks of the pandemic.

Dealing with the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic taught them that they could scale our numbers without having to increase the studio’s physical footprint.

Versatility Is Key The studio’s pipeline consists of: Shotgun for tracking and task management, Maya for modeling to rigging, layout and animation; FX are done in Houdini, Guerilla is used for lighting

‘We are ready to work with passionate producers and creatives who value a partner, not just a service provider. We want to be part of these kinds of unique projects that will take advantage of every single trick we have up our sleeve!’

— Head of CG Benoit Blouin

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Robozuna

and technology of the medium at an early age. Blouin says he grew up watching Movie Magic, a series about visual effects in the ‘90s.

“At around the same time, Pixar movies were making their debut, and they had a huge influence on me. I started my career working in visual effects for feature films but as soon as I had the chance, I chose to work primarily on animated movies. The animation industry is really exciting these days and I can’t wait to see what’s coming up next.”

Vermette says he loved to draw at an early age and his big a-ha! moment came when he saw Disney’s Aladdin when he was 15. “That was the first time I had an epiphany about animation,” he says. “The second time I really fell in love with animation was when I joined the team at L’Atelier. The way these wonderful talented people captured lighting in a bottle and how they fused into a forward-thinking, purpose-driven team is spectacular. In short, they remind me every single day that I made the right career choice!”

Ballet Lessons

Parc Asterix’s Attention Menhir!

4D ride

‘I think we are too much of a well-kept secret.

We’re a group of pretty low-key people, really just focused on doing the great work we do.’

— Exec producer Louis-Philippe Vermette

and rendering and comp is performed in Nuke.

Blouin adds, “We are also constantly kicking the tires on alternative solutions such as Unreal and Unity for previs and rendering, or Blender as a complementary software package.”

When asked about what makes the animation studio stand out in a very competitive field, Vermette replies, “Storytelling is in our DNA. We’ve driven to extract as much value as possible out of our partners’ stories, so coming up with solutions to maximize the storytelling while sticking to their production parameters is a skill we’ve honed over time. And it is fundamentally the reason why we prefer to be involved early in the (re)writing and pre-production steps.”

Vermette says L’Atelier is in the process of completing its second feature film, Fireheart, with Leap! producers Zeitoun and Zenou. Budgeted at $40 million, Fireheart is set in New december 20

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York City during the Roaring Twenties and centers on 16-year-old Maria, who dreams of becoming a firefighter, despite objections from her overprotective dad. When a mysterious arsonist threatens the city, she disguises herself as a man to enroll in the firehouse and soon becomes the bravest of a team of untrained volunteers.

“We also started two productions this past summer,” notes Vermette. “One continues our trusted relationship with KidsCave Studios, following the 40 x 22-minute series Robozuna.

Their outstanding new original project is a girls’ action-comedy series aimed at seven- to 11year olds. The other is a new partnership with Burbank-based Splash Entertainment on an offthe-wall, direct-to-streaming feature film.”

Both Vermette and Blouin are die-hard animation lovers, who fell in love with the art

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Of course, Blouin says he and his team learned a lot about Leap!, which made about $84.2 million at the box office worldwide.

“That story is the bedrock of everything we do!” he explains. “There should not be any compromise regarding the narrative, the main characters, their emotions and their journey.

We worked with our partners to cut out the noise and focus on where each ounce of effort might pay off the most. In the end, we help them make the most informed decisions possible. For this to happen, it is critical that we establish a very close relationship based on clear and transparent communication.”

Blouin says he and his team are ready to work with passionate producers and creatives who value a partner, not just a service provider.

“We want to be part of these kinds of unique projects that will take advantage of every single trick we have up our sleeve!,” he adds.

Vermette agrees. “I think we are too much of a well-kept secret,” he continues. “Everybody knows about Leap!, but too few people are aware of the studio behind the animation.

We’re a group of pretty low-key people, really just focused on doing the great work we do. We need to do a better job at getting our name out there, letting truly talented producers know how terrific a service house we are, and just how rewarding bringing their passion projects to us can be.”

Hope this article helps get the word out, Louis-Philippe! ◆ For more info, visit latelieranimation.com. www.animationmagazine.net

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Rebooting ‘Zany to the Max’!

Exec producer Wellesley Wild and co-exec producer Gabe Swarr talk about the art of recapturing the Animaniacs’ lightning in a bottle.

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or those of us who lived through the ‘90s, the popular Warner Bros. toons Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain were two of the seminal pop culture phenoms of the decade. The good news is that show, which was created by Tom Ruegger and ran for five seasons on Fox Kids and Kids’ WB From 1993 to 1998, is being revived and rebooted on Hulu this month thanks to the team at Warner Bros.

Animation.

Animaniacs’ original exec producer Steven Spielberg and principal voice actors Rob Paulsen (Yakko), Jess Harnell (Wakko), Tress MacNeille (Dot) and Maurice LaMarche (Brain) are also back for the revival which is also exec produced by Sam Register, and showrunner Wellesley Wild (Family Guy, Ted and Ted 2) and Gabe Swarr (Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Penguins of Madagascar, El Tigre). This time around, the show’s music is composed by Steven and Julie Bernstein, protégés of the original composer, Richard Stone.

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it’s still fresh and relevant today, and the character designs and animation are remarkably faithful to the original show, while keeping up with the look and technology we expect to see in 2020. As Swarr explains, “When you see the new designs, they instantly feel familiar to the fans of the original show, but there are some big changes in how the characters are drawn. It’s kind of like the designs you remember them looking like, not so much what they

(Vancouver), Snipple (Manila) and Digital eMation, Tiger Animation and Saerom Animation (Seoul).

Not Your Typical Process Wild says Spielberg and Register wanted to take the reboot in an interesting direction since most children’s and family shows are storyboard-driven, while adult animation projects have a showrunner and a co-head of

‘I like to think of Animaniacs as the heir of the Looney Tunes.

The slapstick, the self-aware comedy and the hand-drawn feeling are all part of the staying power of the show.’

— Exec producer Wellesley Wild

actually look like.”

The team at Warner Bros. Animation Burbank handles all of the show’s pre- and postproduction work, while the animation production is aided by teams at Yowza! Animation (Toronto), Tonic DNA (Montreal), Titmouse

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animation, with a writers’ room. “They wanted to set the show up like an adult series, and I was tapped as the showrunner because of my background in shows such as Family Guy and the Ted movies,” recalls Wild. “Steven wanted a very thorough look into what I was going december 20

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ream Timeless Toon: Wellesley Wild, Gabe Swarr and their team at Warner Bros.

Animation strove to put a new, modern spin on the beloved Animaniacs characters while staying true to the special magic that made the original show such a huge fan favorite.

to shape the show as, and I was very honest about what I was going to do. So, after lots of back and forth, he ended up picking me.”

Soon after, the show found its head of

cause they are open-minded about each other’s suggestions and ideas. “We have an excellent working relationship,” says Wild. “In a way, I’m in charge of what the characters are

‘The goal was to take the best DNA from the original and plus-ing it by using the latest developments in animation technology.’

— Co-exec producer Gabe Swarr

animation in Swarr, who has decades of experience in TV animation. “I remember I was working at Nickelodeon at the time I was first approached,” says Swarr. “I was so worried about ruining the original show that I said no.

There are some die-hard Animaniacs fans out there, and they have such hardcore ideas of the what the show was, that I hesitated. But then after meeting with Wellesley at Amblin in late 2017, we hit it off and realized that we had the same idea for the show.”

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saying and Gabe is in charge of what they look like. So, the key is to be open-minded and respect each other’s opinion and consider each other’s thoughts and ideas.”

Both the producers admit that working with someone as iconic as Spielberg on such a popular franchise was a bit daunting at first.

“You have to put yourself on the spot,” says Wild. “Steven has very specific ideas about what he wants in all of his projects, and Gabe and I were there to meet those specific needs.

Neither Gabe or I are schmoozy types, so we

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just went in as ourselves and said, ‘This is what we do!’”

Swarr says he and his team had a very broad approach at first. “We presented Steven with a bunch of different looks and gradually narrowed it down to find out what he was looking for,” says the animation director. “The trick was, how to modernize it without departing too much from the original? The big thing was cracking that code.” Wild adds, “The goal was to take the best DNA from the original and plus-ing it by using the latest developments in animation technology to bring the property up to the 21st century.”

Yes, Mister Spielberg!

As expected from a perfectionist auteur like Spielberg, the two-time Oscar-winning director was very involved at every step of the show’s production. “He looks at everything … every outline, pitch, script, animatic, design,” says Wild. “My initial outlines and scripts were the ones that went through the gauntlet, so it www.animationmagazine.net

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ream was a little bit of a learning curve. Soon, trust was developed, and we got to a place where he said he was going to pull back.”

Swarr adds, “He is a filmmaker and not animator, so he has a live-action approach to animation. I had to be very specific about what we could do and couldn’t. I had to reboard the first eight episodes to make sure we got what he wanted. We showed him the first episode last year, and he told us that he thought we had a very strong start.”

“When he likes a script, he always says, ‘Now, we’re really cooking!’” shares Wild.

The showrunner and his team tried very hard to hit the ground running from that very first episode. “We wanted to let the fans know from the very first lines that came out of the Warners’ mouths that this is the show that they’ve been waiting for and wanted almost 20 years after the original aired on TV in 1993.

We wanted fans to know immediately that we wanted to retain the nostalgia, the meta humor and social commentary, and that we were continuing that tradition by making fun of reboots in that first episode. That self-awareness is the trademark of the original show.”

Of course, one of the big challenges of the show is to remain topical while serving up unexpected storylines, great slapstick humor and showcasing hilarious songs that stay with the audience long after they’ve seen the show. “It’s hard to believe, but we wrote the first episode about two years before it’s airing,” says Swarr.

Wild adds, “It’s really hard to be timely and topical since we send our show overseas and it takes about 12 months to make an episode.

We had the same situation with Family Guy.” What Wild and his writers did was take a look at the calendar and see what was coming up in 2020-2021. They had no way of predicting the surreal turns the world took this year, but they were able to pin down election-year humor. “Some of those events, like the Olym-

pics, were derailed by the coronavirus. Occasionally, we can also sneak in something toward the end of the development process, and we can dub a line or two about four months before the show airs. So that all helps.”

Both Wild and Swarr say they love the way the show continues to maintain its antiauthoritarian voice. “Smartasses are always funny,” says Swarr. “That counterculture voice always feels young and fresh. The show has Marx Brothers’ comedies in its DNA. That’s what Steven was drawn to.”

The producers also believe that this 2020 version of Animaniacs is the perfect antidote to our cynical, troubled times. “There is something inherently funny about baloney in your pants or genetically altered mice taking over the world, especially during these troubled, polarizing times. What better time to deliver jabs to the establishment?”

Wild says the music and its catchy songs continue to be a huge part of the equation.

“There is one episode that you will see in about a month and a half, and I’m not going to spoil anything for you, but I really love one of the songs, because it has a great mix of warm comedy and a plot about an alien trying to de-

Familiar Voices: Original actors Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell and Tress MacNeille are back to voice Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner.

stroy Earth. I just think it all worked out really well, and the voiceover work is really wonderful.”

Heirs of Looney Tunes “I like to think of Animaniacs as the heir of Looney Tunes,” adds Wild. “The slapstick, the self-aware comedy and the hand-drawn feeling are all part of the staying power of the show. Gabe and his team of animators work so hard to make it feel fresh and new, and we feel like we’re being taken back to the old days of the Warner Bros. cartoons.”

“The thing that I like is the diversity of the looks,” says Swarr. “You have these segments with Pinky and the Brain or the Warners, and the animation is done so well that they really feel like real characters. You don’t see that very often in small-screen projects, because you don’t have as much time to produce the animation as you do in features.”

Both the producers hope a new generation of fans will fall for the mad antics of Yakko, Wakko and Dot (and Pinky and the Brain, too).

“We hope we can capture that lightning in the bottle again and recreate the feeling the original audience felt when they watched the show in the ’90s,” concludes Wild. “I hope they will have fun and be surprised,” adds Swarr. “I hope we keep them guessing and that they are always surprised but what comes next!” ◆ The new Animaniacs show will premiere on Hulu on November 20.

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A Malaysian Story: The Future of Southeast Asian Animation Talent

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ast September, a group of Malaysian creators started readying their animation projects for submission to a national competition. Many of them will be completing a series of creative tasks to complete short animation projects for their very first time.

These programs are designed to build experience, confidence, skill and ultimately awareness of the larger animation and digital content industry. What is remarkable is that these contestants are schoolchildren, aged from 13 to 17, representing the cutting edge of future skills and talent that Malaysia seeks to build in the years and decades to come.

This cohort is the future of the Malaysian digital content ecosystem, revolving around the animation, visual effects, games and new media that the Malaysian government is keen on developing as a viable and sustainable industry. In Malaysia, agencies such as MDEC (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation) tout the importance of skills and expertise in the digital economy, including coding, digital adoption and inclusion, software engineering and for the last decade, animation and visual effects.

While there are several programs designed to make the Malaysian animation ecosystem grow more robust, there is no substitute for having skilled talent to drive the industry.

Hence the focused efforts towards nurturing, developing world class creative talent. Malaysia offers these programs to develop interest in careers, build better skills but ultimately is targeted to generate quality industry-ready talent.

MDEC employs a varied range of talent development programs to inspire and educate,

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including the Enterprise Development Program (EDP) and two school-level awareness programs: Kre8tif! @ Schools that covers animation and a sister program LEVEL UP @ SCHOOLS covering game development program.

Bridging the Gap In 2020, a new Enterprise Development Program (EDP) was launched as an upskilling bridge program designed to promote continuous learning for talent who have just recently entered the industry. Based on industry research, EDP was introduced to help individuals develop new abilities and minimize skill gaps as they transitioned into the industry. EDP consisted of a dozen upskilling programs, some with certification options and covered technical and business acumen skills. Courses ranged from finance to storyboarding, 3D animation to UI and UX. The program has seen a good take-up rate, with over 300 individuals having been or still undergoing training at this time.

The EDP has been successful in several ways. First, it helps studios focus on getting new hires on board quicker by lowering the amount of in-house training required, thus shortening the process for talent to be production ready. The EDP is also a good way of community sharing since it formalizes the instruction from industry seniors who are able to share their applied knowledge and experience to a wider audience. The program also benefits cross training business skills with creative knowledge, thus widening the overall appreciation and knowledge base.

Intended to create awareness and interest, it is targeted to inspire and nurture creativ-

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ity among young Malaysians aged 13-17 years.

This program educates and fosters interest in animation, visual effects and game design leading towards encouraging enrolment in creative content courses at tertiary levels while also planting seeds for new IP generation.

Since 2016 over 1,500 middle and high school students from 330 schools across the nation were trained. Over 350 creative IPs consisting of original animation shorts and games were developed during lessons in game development, animations basics, storyboarding, narration, character building and delivering project work as part of a year-end national competition. Both these programs could only be developed by partners, including creative studios, education partners who assist with on-ground activation and technology enablers such as Toon Boom, Blender, Autodesk, Unreal, Unity and more.

Beyond these animation and digital content related programs, MDEC continually engages with Malaysian universities, with various digital tech talent development initiatives. At time of print, a total of 60 colleges and universities across the nation have been engaged with 47% of these institutions being publicly run institutions. Aside from animation, visual effects and games under the Digital Creative Content sector, the other areas currently in high demand are in the Cybersecurity and the Data Economy.

MDEC is a government agency behind Malaysia’s digital economy development. We support the animation and visual effects industries as part of the Digital Creative Content ecosystem and continue to support aspirations in becoming the hub for regional creative content. MDEC is focused on providing the necessary ecosystem supporting the animation industry be it talent development, funding or other enterprise support programs. ◆ For more info, please visit www.mdec.my or follow us on: Facebook: facebook.com/MyMDEC Twitter: @mymdec www.animationmagazine.net

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A Friendship to Treasure Show creator Max Keane tells us all about his charming Netflix preschool show Trash Truck.

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any preschool kids have a peculiar obsession with giant trucks. So, it’s no big surprise that Netflix’s hot new animated preschool toon features a little boy named Hank and his best buddy, a trash truck simply called Trash Truck. The beautiful CGanimated show also features the central duo’s posse — Hank’s little sister Olive, Miss Mona the mouse, Donny the raccoon and Walter the bear — as they explore the sun-kissed farmland around them and have amazing adventures together.

The promising new show is created by Max Keane, production designer of the Oscar-winning short Dear Basketball, who is the son of iconic animation veteran Glen Keane (Over the Moon). Along with Max, Glen Keane and Gennie Rim (Over the Moon) also serve as exec producers. In fact, the production is quite a family affair, as the voice cast includes Glen Keane as Grandpa/Trash Truck, Max Keane as Dad, Henry Keane as Hank, Megan Keane as Mom and Olive Keane as Olive, as well as Brian Baumgartner as Walter, Lucas Neff as

Donny and Jackie Loeb as Miss Mona.

The show was actually inspired by Max’s son Henry’s love for garbage trucks. “When Henry was about one and a half, he was obsessed with the garbage truck. He would wake up from naps saying the word ‘trash!’ When we walked down the street he would have to close every lid of each garbage can he saw, and when the trash truck came by our house it was a big deal. We would all run to the window or stand outside and wave and watch as the trash truck came and dumped our trash can.”

Everybody Loves a Good Truck Keane and his wife loved to share Youtube videos of garbage trucks with his son, and

that’s when he realized there were millions of views for some of these clips. “I realized that there were families all over the world rallying around their kids’ love of the garbage truck,” he notes. One morning, he actually understood his little boy’s fascination with the large vehicle. “I stood there and stared at all the interesting shapes, lights, grimy hydraulic hoses and machinery. That’s when I saw it, I realized what Henry was so excited about. This truck was amazing! Then, as the trash truck drove off with a rumble, the driver honked a couple cheerful honks. And as the truck drove down the street Henry leaned out of my arms and said, ‘Bye, bye, truck!’”

When Max Keane told Gennie Rim and his

‘I hope that audiences will experience our show as a comfortable place that they get to slip into and have a little break or escape from the day. Hopefully, they can enjoy watching it while sitting next to a friend or someone they love.’

— Trash Truck creator and exec producer Max Keane continues on page 32

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ream dad about the idea, they encouraged him to develop his show idea further. Around that time, story editor and creative producer Angie Sun also joined Glen Keane Productions and helped shape and form Trash Truck into a kids’ show. Keane also knew that he wanted the show to have a look and feel that was specific to a place he remembered from his own childhood. He contacted Leo Sanchez Studio, and together they created an animation test that sold the idea to Netflix’s Melissa Cobb, VP - Kids & Family, and Dominique Bazay, Director - Original Animation.

The show, which became one of Netflix Animation’s first projects, began production in March of 2018. “It was really exciting and fun being one of the first shows to start in production and watch how fast the studio grew around us,” recalls Max. Dwarf Animation Studio in France is producing the animation for the series. Max notes, “The studio is founded

by Olivier Pinol, who has a great team of talented artists that did an amazing job on Trash Truck. We worked closely with Dwarf Studios to push the bar on what is typical in a preschool show. I am really proud of the results we achieved together. Also, Kevin Dart and his team at Chromosphere, which includes Sylvia Liu and Eastwood Wong, did all the production design and gave Trash Truck its appealing style through their unique sense of shape, color and lighting. They also did some really nice 2D animation that we see playing in the movie theater episode.”

Max says the production mainly uses Photoshop, Toon Boom and Flix for storyboarding (“as well as a bunch of Post-its and Sharpies.”)

They also use Shotgun for animation reviews and all CG production, Avid for editing and Evercast for final sound mixes. He adds, “For all our virtual meetings we used Zoom and also used Slack throughout the production to stay in contact … and lots and lots of Gifs!”

A Little Help from His Friends When asked about the specific challenges of the production, Max replies, “Well, I’m a first-time showrunner, and that meant every-

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A Golden Childhood: Trash Truck was inspired by Max Keane’s experiences with his young son, who also voices the lead character in the preschool show.

thing was a big challenge. But I was really fortunate to have an amazing production team around me and the support of our executive producer Gennie Rim, who gave me the confidence that we would solve any challenges that arose. More specifically, it was always a challenge trying to balance the time between work and family. Fortunately there was a lot of crossover and I could see my family while I was working, but it was still a challenge.”

Looking back, Max says he never really thought of Trash Truck as specifically a preschool show. “I like to think of the classic Disney animated shorts or films like My Neighbor Totoro, where they weren’t made for a specific demographic and you can enjoy watching it at any age. That to me makes the show feel special.”

He says he believes that an audience will notice the unique quality of the show. “We worked really hard to push the bar on what is typically seen in preschool. From character designs that Glen and I worked on, to the animation, lighting and rendering from Dwarf Studios, to the impressive music and score that Scot Stafford and his team the Pollen Music Group wrote and recorded, to the rich sound design from Jamey Scott, have all pushed Trash Truck to be something truly unique and special.”

He also praises the show’s relatability and the appeal of its characters. “I wanted Hank to sound like a real six-year-old boy and his sister Olive to sound like a real five-year-old girl. So I asked my kids Henry and Ol-

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ive if they would do the voices of Hank and Olive. That authentic quality to a kid’s voice really grounds the show. I also wanted Hank and Trash Truck to have a genuine connection, I wanted Trash Truck to sound gentle and funny and caring. So, I asked Henry’s grandpa, my dad Glen, if he would do the voice of Trash Truck. Growing up, my dad would tell stories or play with me and he would make lots of sound effects, and I just knew he would be a perfect Trash Truck. Glen did an amazing job at honking and grumbling and creating a voice for Trash Truck!”

Max says there is one thing he really wants audiences to take away from his show: “I want them to see this show and experience it as a comfortable place that they get to slip into and have a little break or escape from the day. And hopefully they can enjoy watching it while sitting next to a friend or someone they love.”

We had to ask Max if his dad ever gives him advice on animation. He jokes, “The answer is yes! Lots of advice and wisdom... I just can’t remember what he said. I am only partly joking, my dad really does offer so many valuable words of advice. I wish I could record them all and listen back to them because they are all inspiring, practical and challenging. I just hope that somewhere that advice is still bouncing around in my subconscious and will surface when I need it most. The one that has resonated with me the most, and isn’t necessarily related to animation ... My dad has always encouraged others and myself to ‘be you.’

It’s simple advice but I think it’s one that I will often forget or overlook as important. But it is good advice for anyone and will always keep you honest in what you are making.” ◆ Trash Truck premieres on Netflix on November 10. www.animationmagazine.net

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Mesoamerican Gods We catch up with Sofía Alexander, the talented creator of Crunchyroll’s hot new animated series Onyx Equinox.

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ne of the animation highlights of the new fall season is the arrival of the highly original new show Onyx Equinox. The 2D-animated show, which will premiere on Crunchyroll, follows the adventures of a a young Aztec boy named Izel who is saved from death by the gods and is chosen to act as ‘humanity’s champion,’ forced to discard his apathy toward his fellow man and prove humanity’s potential on a journey that will take him across ancient Mesoamerica. The show’s creator, exec producer and showrunner Sofía Alexander was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about her exciting project: Animag: Can you tell us the origins of the show and the inspirations behind it?

Sofía Alexander: The concept of Onyx Equinox began in a college assignment. Back then, it was only Izel, Yaotl and Izel’s sister, Nelli. The story began evolving through my time in college, with a concrete story pitch developed for my senior project. There are many inspirations behind the idea. I was born in Quintana Roo, Mexico, a state nearby many Maya archeological sites. My grandfather was proud of our indigenous heritage, and it was important to him we learned and were exposed to it

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as much as possible. My childhood memories are heavily tied with visiting the sites. It was an obvious choice to tell a story set in such a beautiful time.

When I learned how much history had been lost during Spanish colonization, I found myself wondering what that world looked like, what parts of these huge civilizations were completely wiped away? I loved Lord of the Rings, which of course is inspired by a mix of European mythologies. I started to imagine a Mexico that was just as magical and epic as that. Onyx Equinox is also heavily inspired by my own experiences growing up and figuring out my own perception of the world and society in general.

When did you start working on the show?

Onyx Equinox began as a comic strip, a college assignment back in 2007. Izel and Yaotl looked about the same back then, too. The story went through many concepts and rewrites, redesigns and character development, and then I developed a pitch for my senior project in 2011. I let the story sit for a while, thinking one day I would draw it as a graphic novel.

When I came out to L.A. I revisited it, and reworked it into a pitch for an animated series,

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and through a fortunate series of being in the right place at the right time, we began writing the show in October 2018.

How many people work on the show and where is the animation being produced?

The production studio is located in L.A., but the animation was made at Tiger Animation and DR Movie in South Korea.

Which tools/software do you use to produce the animation?

Everything from concept art, character sheets, storyboards, editing and even writing is all hand-drawn/typed on the computer. We used programs like Storyboard Pro, After Effects and Photoshop in our L.A. studio., but when it came to Tiger and DR Movie, we did have some of the animation process done with more traditional tools.

What would you say were some of your biggest challenges on this project?

Translation between cultures was a big one for sure. Beside language, there’s a lot of culturally different concepts and history to unpack. Mesoamerica doesn’t get as much spotlight as we think, and when we see it in media,

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Humanity’s Defender: The Crunchyroll Original follows an Aztec boy named Izel who is saved from death by the gods and forced to prove humanity’s potential on a journey that will take him across ancient Mesoamerica.

Sofía Alexander

it’s depicted through a foreign lens. As a Mexican woman, I had to translate to Americans and then to our South Korean studio. Luckily, we also had the help of an archaeologist/anthropologist who helped keep certain aspects of the world of Onyx Equinox that are inspired from real history as accurate as possible.

How did your experiences on Infinity Train and Powerpuff Girls prepare you for the show?

Infinity Train and Powerpuff Girls were strictly experienced as a storyboard artist and visual storytelling, which does help in board direction. However for the rest, there’s nothing that would train you or give you experience to become a showrunner. This is something you learn on the job, and if you’re lucky you’ll have mentors and team members who will help guide you. I was very lucky in that aspect!

What are you most pleased about in Onyx Equinox and what do you hope audiences take away from it?

I’m very happy that I was able to tell this story in general! I’d say the parts I’m most proud of are the music and the color design, but I think everyone who worked with me on it really put their heart and soul into it, and I hope it shows. I hope the audience is compelled by the story and that it sparks interest in Mexico’s rich culture and history, and that people will want to travel to some of the sites that appear in the show. Most of all, I hope that audiences around the world will be able to love and identify with the characters.

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What do you think of the current animation boom and the opportunities available to Latinx talent?

We’re getting there, but it isn’t perfect. It’s wonderful that there are doors being opened for diverse voices, but we’ve got a ways to go when it comes to increasing our numbers, being included in leadership positions and the normalizing of diversity in content instead of considering it a movement or a media phase.

For example, it was wonderful to have my show greenlit knowing that an underrepresented population would be getting exposure, but it was more difficult to find Indigenous and Latinx talent than I thought it would be.

My background is in art, so there were plenty of artists from all walks of life that I knew I wanted for my team, but for other departments like writing and acting, I didn’t know anybody personally, so I had to rely on agency connections to find people.

But things are changing, and I know that there are programs that are already out there and

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that are being developed that are designed to find those talents in places outside of expensive art schools. I have high hopes that between elevating those voices that are already in the animation industry and seeking out talent from other areas than the usual ones, we will be seeing some positive changes very soon. (And hopefully, there will be more interest in coming onto Onyx Equinox for a possible Season 2!) I also hope that Indigenous and Latinx people who see the show can see themselves reflected in a way that they identify with, and that by feeling seen, they will know that their stories and content are valuable and wanted, and that they can and should tell their stories, whatever they may be.

What kind of advice can you give newbies who want to thrive in the animation business like you did?

Make genuine connections with your peers and help each other out. Accept others’ kindnesses and pay it forward when you can. Tell the story you want to tell instead of the one you think studios will buy, because if you’re going to be running a show, you’ll have a much better time if you love it every step of the way! I almost didn’t pitch Onyx Equinox when I had the chance, because I didn’t think any place would consider it “marketable.” But it was a story I told from my heart and I hope that shines through. ◆ Onyx Equinox premieres on Crunchyroll on Saturday, November 21.

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Backyard Buddies Sunil Hall and Lynne Naylor-Reccardi give us the scoop on The Mighty Ones, their hilarious new show about a twig, a pebble, a leaf and a strawberry!

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twig, a pebble, a leaf and a strawberry are the unlikely main characters of DreamWorks Animation’s new series The Mighty Ones. The 2D-animated show, which is exec produced by Sunil Hall (Pickle and Peanut) and Lynne Naylor-Reccardi (Samurai Jack), follows the adventures of these four best friends as they face the many challenges of life in an unkempt backyard, which is owned by a trio of disheveled humans.

The origins of this eccentric show go back to about eight years ago, when Naylor-Reccardi (widow of late animation veteran Chris Reccardi) approached Hall to develop a show together.

“I jumped at the chance,” recalls Hall. “She had seen some of my drawings and liked my sense of humor. Lynne pitched me some rough ideas and characters she had and I was drawn toward these tiny creatures made of yard objects that she had sketched. We decided to create a show around them. As kids, my brother and I used to spend hours in the backyard coming up with weird adventures and imagining hidden worlds. I think a lot of that inspired this world.” www.animationmagazine.net

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Naylor-Reccardi says she was impressed with the way Hall would describe a situation in life. “Because he was a great storyteller and had experience directing, storyboarding, working in our industry, I wanted to see if he would like to co-create with me on show concepts I had. I pitched a couple to him and he liked one that had a few characters that you would find lying around a yard: a stick, a leaf, a raspberry.

We decided to push the raw materials further and I reached out to Dani Michaeli, asking him if he would help us out with the writing to develop the show. We dove in, finding the main characters through their dysfunctional dynamics, misunderstandings, and the world they had to survive in.”

Eight Years in the Making The trio began developing the pitch in 2012 and began working on the pilot for The Mighty Ones at Nickelodeon in 2013. Nick eventually left the project, and the show found a new home at DreamWorks in 2016. The series will finally premiere on Hulu this month. The show’s animation is produced at Snipple Animation Studios in the Philippines. “They work in Harmony and they have a really fun, snappy animation style that feels a lot like traditional 2D animation,” says Hall. “We don’t sheet time this show, and Snipple works straight from our (pretty rough) animatics, so they contribute a lot to the timing and acting in the show. It’s been a great collaboration that’s really grown over the course of the season.”

‘As kids, my brother and I used to spend hours in the backyard coming up with weird adventures and imagining hidden worlds. I think a lot of that inspired this world.’

— Exec producer Sunil Hall

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ream The art really supports the story and every episode looks and feels different.”

Naylor-Reccardi says the team gets a lot of support from the studio to help maintain their original vision. “There were the usual challenges of not burning out everyone, finding the voice actors, getting an amazing crew together, pushing constantly for the best episodes,” she recalls. “Alec Puro, our composer, has a great relationship with Sunil. I love how our music has evolved for each episode. The nature of our show creates a lot of heavy lifting, so it was more about trying to find a way to produce it without killing our crew and still maintaining the quality we wanted.”

Unlikely Heroes: The Mighty Ones takes its goofball characters to unpredictable places.

Tune in for the Laughs

‘I hope that the stories will be relatable to what can happen in life in a funny way for kids and adults as well.’

— Exec producer Lynne Naylor-Reccardi

The show is boarded with Toon Boom Storyboard Pro and the animatics are created in Adobe Premiere, while all the design work is done in Adobe Photoshop. “Our background painters use a mix of digital paint and scanned texture elements that they create with ink and paint on paper, and then manipulate in Photoshop,” says Hall. “In the office, we work on HP workstations and use Wacom Cintiq pen displays. The animation is done in Toon Boom Harmony and we assemble the final picture in Avid Media Composer.”

Adds Naylor-Reccardi, “Our design work is done in Photoshop. We have a library of brushes that we created to be used digitally.

We have an awesome art director, Jenny GaseBaker, who pulled together the look of the show incredibly! We all wanted a painterly environment that would create the fantastical world our characters hang out in.”

Hall says he really loves the show’s characters and the team’s story process. “It’s really fun to put these four weirdos in strange situations and see how things play out,” he says. “Our process is very collaborative and it’s really been a joy to bring in a wide group of creatives and see how they all lend their different voices to the show. We are a board-driven show, which means december 20

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it allows us to do a lot of visual gags. Animatic edits are my favorite part of the process. We get together with the directors and editor, and start pitching jokes and adding things. Then we type up a script and record it with our killer cast. They bring tons of personality to the characters, and lots of good ad-libs. We then go back into the animatic and tweak the acting to match everything the voice actors have brought to it. When it’s working well we start with a strong outline and just build it up layer by layer, adding humor and personality at each stage.”

For Naylor-Reccardi, one of the best parts of the show is the wide possibilities of storylines the goofball characters can face in each episode. “There is always the potential for more stories,” she says. Anything can be thrown into their world and has. Our co-executive producer, Greg Miller, and our killer directors all bring so much to the episodes.”

Of course, the series also had its set of challenges. The duo admits that the schedule can be pretty relentless. “I think our show is fairly ambitious for the amount of resources we have available,” says Hall. “The art style of the show is really awesome and I’m constantly impressed by how much the design team brings to the show.

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Both Hall and Naylor-Reccardi hope that audiences will get a kick out of their show’s fun sense of humor. “We think it’s a pretty funny show, and hopefully our viewers will agree,” says Hall. “I’m hoping it’s the kind of show that will appeal to adults as well as kids. We put a lot of thought and work into every aspect, from the art style to the music, so I hope people can appreciate the overall aesthetics and vibe of the show.”

“I really hope they will get a break and laugh!” adds Naylor-Reccardi. “I think humor is really healing. I hope that the stories will be relatable to what can happen in life in a funny way for kids and adults as well. We really wanted it to be for everyone. We wanted the look of the show and the music to be cool as well.”

The Mighty exec producers also offer some advice for animation newcomers. “It’s tough to land those first few jobs, but once you get going things tend to pick up, so be persistent and try to stay positive,” says Hall. “I started out during a slow time in the industry and struggled to find regular work. At times I questioned if I wanted to keep doing this, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I’ve met some really amazing people and worked on great projects in my career and I feel pretty lucky to be where I am today.”

Naylor-Reccardi also encourages newbies not to give up. “I think it’s important to be willing to collaborate and learn,” she offers. “Be willing to expand and try a lot of things, it’s really not about being perfect, it’s about finding what really moves your heart. If you get in, dive into the concept, it is a team effort unlike being a gallery painter or something. I still believe relationships are important. There is amazing talent out there to inspire. It can be a lot of fun!” ◆ DreamWorks Animation’s The Mighty Ones premieres on Hulu and Peacock on November 9. www.animationmagazine.net

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A Cottontail’s Tale Madeline Sharafian’s charming short Burrow follows the home-improvement adventures of a resourceful rabbit.

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rom the early days of Oswald and Bugs, rabbits have always been wonderful subjects for animators. The eighth Pixar SparkShorts film, Burrow introduces us to a wonderful new lagomorph heroine who is trying to dig out the perfect home for herself.

The 2D short, which is directed by Coco animator Madeline Sharafian and produced by Mike Capbarat, was expected to run before Pixar’s Soul in theaters — but could debut straight to Disney+ in November.

The CalArts grad attracted a lot of fans with her student short Omelette seven years ago. She tells us that growing up in the Bay Area, she was fascinated by rabbits from a very young age. “‘Rabbit’ was actually my childhood name,” Sharafian recalls. “I grew up near a National Park, and I recall seeing cottontail rabbits on the trail heads, poking their heads out.

I was also obsessed with cut-aways and Wes Anderson movies. So I wanted to combine all of those things in an animated short. I also felt that digging down and feeling isolated from others worked well as a metaphor.”

Sharafian, who worked on Cartoon Network’s We Bare Bears before getting hired at Pixar, starting the initial storyboarding phase of her short in November of 2018. “Like all SparkShorts projects, we had six months on Pixar clock time, which is close to a full year of Earth time,” she jokes. “I was grabbing artists at the studio to work on Burrow between their projects. We had close to 34 people on the short. We knew we had to do all the backgrounds in Photoshop, and we wanted a traditional watercolor look. Artist and Illustrator Ana Ramírez González is so talented with textures and brushes, and we tried out different things to achieve the right 2D look.”

The short’s animation was done in TVPaint. “All my student films were done in TVPaint,” says the director.

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Madeline Sharafian

simpler and flatter so that the colors would pop up against those detailed backgrounds to maintain that hand-drawn feeling. We had to do these small lines stitched together, and it all had to be hand-drawn because it was too hard to automate the process.”

Sparked by Spirited Away Sharafian says the year 2001 was a big turning point for her. That’s when she was in middle school and saw both Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and Pete Docter’s Monsters, Inc. in theaters. “I didn’t realize animated movies could make you feel this amazing,” she recalls.

“I felt like a changed person after I saw those movies. That’s when I set my goal to work in animation.”

Citing author-illustrators such as Beatrix Potter (another big rabbit fan) and Richard Scarry as other huge sources of inspiration, Sharafian adds, “Of course, I am also a major Miyazaki fan. I remember there was a scene in My Neighbor Totoro when the two girls were looking at these acorns, and I just loved how shiny those acorns were. Recalling that scene, I kept adding shiny highlights to the ladder in the short!”

Looking back at her SparkShorts experience, Sharafian says she loves the fact that artists in the program are allowed to work quite independently without much executive oversight.

“I kept looking over my shoulder, but they are

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really behind you no matter what you decide to do,” she says. “The amount of time you have on your project is so short, so you can’t really overthink anything. You just have to commit and move on. Everyone who worked on the project was so excited to work on a 2D-animated project. People were coming out of the woodwork just to do one or two shots. The art team was really excited, because in CG-animated movies you don’t get to see the concept art in its original form on the big screen, but it’s different in 2D projects.”

As Burrow and its hard-working animals are finally making their way out to the world, Sharafian says making short films on her own before Pixar was a great way to build confidence. “I didn’t want to burn the team out, so we tried to find as many shortcuts as we could,” she says. “We needed to be as clever as we possibly could be. But it paid off because we actually found time to add a little button (epilogue) where we see Rabbit in the bathtub. We hadn’t originally planned that, but we moved quickly and the team had extra gas in the tank, so everyone wanted to keep going and push for that extra bit.” So much like a clever, fast-moving rabbit who is working diligently on a trail head. ◆ Burrow will debut alongside Soul on Disney+ on December 25.

For more info, visit pixar.com/sparkshorts. december 20

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Shorts

A Mother’s Prophetic Dreams Kang Min Kim talks about his haunting, personal, Ottawa Prize-winning short KKUM.

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mother prays for her son after having prophetic dreams in Korean director Kang Min Kim’s latest short KKUM, which won the Best Narrative Short prize at Ottawa last month. The L.A.-based director says he based his haunting black-and-white stop-motion short on his own mother’s dream.

“I have made short films (38-39°C, Deer Flower and Jeom ) based on real experience of my family. My new film, KKUM, is based on my mother’s dreams, which have always been strong premonitions for important moments in my life. I rely on her dreams more than any religion. I can’t count how many dreams she had for me. I had to pick three lucky dreams and one nightmare for this short.”

Kim, who handled almost all aspects of the production, from design, story, fabrication, camera, animation, editing and post, began work on the short in July of 2019 and finished animation in two months. He wrapped up the sound and music, which were handled

by Barrett Slagle, in December of last year.

Kim used Dragonframe, After Effects, Photoshop and Lightroom to produce the short.

His mother actually provided her own voice for the project.

“KKUM is the most personal and strangest film I have made,” he admits. “But I hope audiences enjoy my film from the opening to the ending. I want audiences to take a different feeling, texture, and emotion from this short film. It would be great if my film makes them

Otherworldly Dreamscapes: KKUM is inspired in part by the filmmaker’s mother’s prophetic dreams.

ect when he was a graphic design student in South Korea. “That project changed my life,” he recalls. “I realized this is real communication that I want to have between designer and audiences. So, I moved to L.A. to study animation at CalArts. My animation idols are Yuri Nor-

‘My new film is based on my mother’s dreams, which have always been strong premonitions for important moments in my life. I rely on her dreams more than any religion.’

— Writer/director Kang Min Kim

think about their mother.”

The animation director says he knew he wanted to pursue a career in the field when he used stop-motion for a music video proj-

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stein and Igor Kovalyov. I try to find and follow new films made by directors who are working hard these days.”

So, why does he love working in the ani-

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mated short format? “I think that filmmaking is not mathematics. It doesn’t have an answer,” he replies. “So, I can explore my world without any boundaries. This is why I was able to change my style, material and technique with each one of my projects. I think short form is perfect for telling who I am, where I came from and what I love.”

Now that he has won the Ottawa International Animation Festival’s most prestigious award, Kim is in the perfect position to provide helpful advice to newcomers in the field.

He offers, “I would like to say one thing to students: Making a thesis short is the last chance you can do whatever you want without pressure. It is a special vacation in your life. Enjoy and make your beautiful thesis!” ◆ For more info, visit studiozazac.com/kkum.

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TOC ADVERTORIAL

Training the Next Generation of Animators Point Park University’s acclaimed animation program offers a great mix of in-person instruction with virtual classes.

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t Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pa., the animation program sets itself apart from its competitors by having students start animating their very first semester. “Animation is all about practice and experience. This early start gives our students an extra year of animation that most other programs do not have,” says Jonathan Trueblood, associate professor of animation at Point Park U. “We want our students to experience as much animation as possible before they graduate.

Our students can choose to focus in 2D animation, 3D animation or motion graphics.

During their first two years at Point Park, students take two courses in each of these

areas to help them decide which path they would like to focus on. Additionally, they will take other courses in drawing, cinematography, and visual development to help bolster their creative skills and become more well-rounded artists.”

Point Park students also get to learn industry leading software packages like Toon Boom, Maya, Adobe Creative Suite, and Cinema 4D. In their junior year, students take Character Animation and Analysis 1 and 2 where they can focus on their preferred type of animation and software.

These classes emphasize acting and animation on top of further honing their technical and foundational skills. By their senior year students already have had three full years of animation experience. This experience leads their senior thesis projects and demo reels to stand out upon graduation.

“Our students’ favorite classes are as diverse and different as the animation field is these days,” says Trueblood. “Our ‘Fundamentals of Motion Graphics’ class, which www.animationmagazine.net

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has been taught by an array of our wonderful instructors, is often an unexpected favorite with our students. Most students come into this class unsure what motion graphics is and often leave the class considering this as a potential new career path.”

According to Trueblood, the “3D Character Animation” class is another favorite.

“This is our second class using Maya for character animation so we take the training wheels off and let our students have a lot of fun,” he explains. “Assignments include things like animal walk cycles, facial animation with lip sync, and the student favorite cartoony animation project with lots of smears and multiple limbs. Professor Morrison really focuses on the nuances of the performances and pushes our students to develop better workflows that enhance their output.”

Professor Trueblood’s “Visual Development” class continues to be a student favorite. “This class teaches them how to

take their ideas and build them into worlds.

Each week is a new project that culminates into a final visual development portfolio at the end of the semester that is ready to be sent out to studios,” he notes.

Like many schools in the country, Point Park has incorporated online learning with

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in-person instruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “This semester we started using SyncSketch since we are both on-ground and online,” says Trueblood.

“SyncSketch has been an incredible tool for doing class critiques, work in progress check-ins, and an avenue for feedback and discussion for our students. Knowing that some students will be online this year the school also purchased XP-Pen tablets for all animation majors that they can sign out and use. We’ve tried really hard to make sure that all the software we use on campus is available to those working remotely as well. The students have really done a great job this semester and their work continues

to be incredible despite the hurdles that have been caused by the pandemic.”

The good professor has some helpful advice for students who are considering being part of the program. “I think one tip I would give is to be more than just a fan of animation — be a student of it,” he says.

“Understand early on why you like a cartoon or style other than saying ‘It’s cool!’

What are the principles of animation and art that make some films or shows more successful? Study films and art and practice making your own. There is a wealth of information, tutorials, books, videos, online courses, and more that are at your fingertips like never before!”

Visit PointPark.edu/Animation to learn more and see students’ work samples.

Questions about Point Park’s application process can be directed to conservatory@pointpark.edu. You can send questions about the animation program to jtrueblood@pointpark.edu. december 20

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CREATE ANIMATION IN YOUR FIRST SEMESTER AT POINT PARK UNIVERSITY!

Animation created by Point Park University students.

POINT PARK BENEFITS FOR ANIMATION MAJORS: • Experience 2D animation, 3D animation and motion graphics when you begin the major, and then focus on your passion.

• Find internships and other professional opportunities near campus in Downtown Pittsburgh.

• Graduate career-ready with a BFA in animation, and a portfolio and demo reel to showcase your creative skills to studios.

• Use the latest software, such as Toon Boom, Maya, Adobe Creative Suite and Cinema 4D. • Learn from industry-experienced faculty and guest artists.

View more work from Point Park animation students and see where graduates are working – visit the webpage below!

• Enjoy small class sizes for personal attention.

Career-ready.

Learn more:

PointPark.edu/Animation december 20

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O ppOrtunities

Autonomous Animator

By Martin Grebing

Cash In Your Experience A

s someone with lots of experience as an animator, modeler, VFX artist, video editor, compositor, 3D generalist, or anything in between, chances are you have hidden value right under your nose and don’t even know it.

You could be sitting on a literal gold mine, so break out your shovel, grab your pan, and take a look at the following potential revenue streams to see which ones you can start prospecting now.

grander.

Try this: Take your best instructional video and toward the end, simply make an offer, “If you would like me to walk you through this process with your actual project, or if you don’t have time and would just like me to do it for you, contact me here (insert email or phone number). I’d love to help.”

Upon being contacted, discuss your terms and fee and if all goes well, you just received a new paying gig and brand new client.

Selling Content

Making Instructional Books

In time, most people involved in production amass an impressive collection of content, both in quantity as well as variety. If you have full rights to said content, by all means, don’t hoard it for yourself — share with the rest of the world by putting it up for sale. You can sell directly to your friends, colleagues or perfect strangers firsthand for cash or have it available for electronic purchase from your own website.

If you want more exposure for your wares, consider posting them on more centralized locations whence others of your ilk come to shop. These larger content reseller websites will host your content, having it available for purchase 24/7 and, minus their fee, will send you the profit.

Believe it or not, people still buy books. A lot of them. And what’s even cooler than that is,

Making Instructional Videos There are countless free instructional videos perpetually available online for just about anything. Chances are, you’ve watched a few yourself. While producing, posting and having these videos available is essentially free (or extremely cheap at its most expensive), there is significant potential value in posting instructional videos if done properly.

But, beware: You should forgo the notion of making money by receiving royalties from acquiring millions of views. Although your work may be truly fascinating to some, it probably doesn’t command a large enough audience to bring in the numbers needed for YouTube to send you checks.

Therefore, instead of thinking about monetizing your instructional videos linearly, consider them stepping stones to something

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only in the realm of what to do, but massively-so in the realm of what not to do. Knowing how to navigate landmines is far more critical in an early career than getting a pep talk from family members or receiving common knowledge advice from generic career websites or social media banter.

To be an effective trainer, you need to first know your client inside and out. Conduct an interview and ask them about their goals, their biggest challenges and what areas they need to improve. If you have expertise in these areas and can firmly commit to helping the client in writing, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to custom design a training

Photo courtesy of 20th Television/ The Simpsons

selling books can be extremely profitable -especially digital download books as there is no printing or binding required, no warehouse involvement, no stocking fees and no shipping and handling to be had by anyone.

So find those systems, techniques and tricks you’ve been using at a high level for many years, boil them down to easy-to-follow, recipe-like instructions and make a book.

Be sure to include all the stunning, full-color images you can muster. Your readers will appreciate the visuals and your book will be more impactful to boot.

Training For those of you that enjoy and/or are comfortable working closely one-on-one or speaking to groups of people, training might be an option for you.

Beginners have much to gain from a seasoned veteran’s guidance and wisdom. Not

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package specific to that client that will make them froth at the mouth. Be certain to address how your training program will positively, if not massively, benefit your client’s bottom line by monetizing the increase in productivity and new capabilities that will be realized.

With creativity, determination and thinking outside the nine dots, there is real potential to earn significant money by marketing your knowledge as opposed to punching the clock and selling your time doing production. With practice and guidance, these revenue streams could even surpass your traditional earnings.

And when that happens, make a video, sell the book and train people how to do it for themselves! ◆ Martin Grebing is the president of Funnybone Animation Studios. He can be reached at funnyboneanimation.com.

december 20

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A D Ay I n T he L Ife This month, we caught up with super-awesome actor Sean-Ryan Petersen, who voices Valentino in Cartoon Network’s popular series Victor and Valentino. (Fun trivia: SRP’s first big cartoon gig was doing the voice of Olly in Dive Olly Dive!)

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Me at my best, LOL (sans filters)!

Good morning y’all!

There’s nothing better than my musthave Grande Vanilla Iced Latte to get me through my day.

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Here I am at my home studio knocking out some auditions for some super-cool secret projects.

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Grabbing a burger from my favorite establishment, Hopdoddy, and enjoying some California sun.

december 20

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Perusing around the mall to get some early holiday shopping done. Too soon?

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Just making sure I have all I need for Halloween.

I’m getting some much-needed room essentials. Glad the malls are open again.

Remember though, stay safe!

Of course, after a busy day, I like to chill and catch me some new episodes of Victor and Valentino!

Me and the boys having so much fun ... it’s to die for!

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