Animation studio for Southland?
Southlanders have until Sunday to let the Ministry of Culture and Heritage know if they want an animation studio in the region.
The ministry is seeking feedback on a proposal for start-up funding that would allow Kiwi filmmaker Patrick Gillies to set up a 2D and 3D studio in Invercargill, employing around 10 animators from the region.
Gillies, who is a tutor at the Southern Institute of Technology school of screen arts, said the studio would allow the talented animators being produced in the region to stay and work in their field, rather than being forced to move to the North Island or work in other industries.
The funding, under the ministry’s regeneration fund, would allow him to employ animators for 15 months to produce children’s content to sell to overseas market – which could lead to a sustainable business, he said.
The Southern Institute of Technology would also be able to promote its close working relationship with Purplewurrx Studios to attract students, Gillies said.
He is currently working on a series called ‘The Ratbaggs’ about a family of anthropomorphic rats which he believes could be New Zealand’s answer to the popular British animation series ‘Peppa Pig’.
The idea for the cartoon came to him during the first Covid-19 lockdown when he realised what a huge demand there was for children’s screen content, he said.
The project has already received funding from the Invercargill Licensing Trust, Invercargill Licensing Trust Foundation and Community Trust South.
Gillies is appealing to Southlanders who would like to see more creative jobs in the region to add their voice to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage’s call for feedback on its website before Sunday.
‘‘This is my final push to seek community support,’’ he said.
Purplewurrx Studios is seeking funding alongside 13 other screen projects throughout New Zealand.