Strength in Numbers
ICAA promotes animation collaborations at Pixelatl Festival.
ICAA promotes animation collaborations at Pixelatl Festival.
As it has become an annual tradition, Spain’s Audiovisual Hub will have a strong presence at this month’s edition of the Pixelatl Conference. The country is a strong driving force as a co-producer of children’s and animation content in the Ibero-American region. The Spanish government has devoted an impressive amount of funding and talent to promote the development of animation, based on a comprehensive strategy at the Hub. It should be noted that animation, despite making up only 4% of all Spanish audiovisual companies, is responsible for 20% of employment in the sector, employing about 8,000 professionals. (According to the latest studies by Diboos, Spain’s animation organization, 70 percent of the animation income is generated from abroad.)
Spain is positioning itself as a strategic partner in many Ibero-American co-productions of children’s animated projects. The commitment to creating bridges with Latin America through initiatives such as the Ibermedia talk, the Quirino Awards and the Spain-Latam co-productions is very strong
As Beatriz Navas, director of the ICAA (Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts of Spain) points out, “In Spain, we are fully aware of the special needs of our country’s animation sector as well as the Ibero-American region’s particular specificities and the enormous potential it has as an engine of economic, social and cultural development. This can only be done through interaction and debate with all possible components (private, public, technological, training), by stimulating collaborations and investing in new initiatives that arise. In this sense, both administrations and organizations have to function as encouraging and stimulating agents.”
At this year’s Pixelatl program, José Luis Farias, director of the Quirino Awards and member of the Ibero-American
Animation League, talks with three experts in the sector — Juan Carve, founder of Chucho TV, a Uruguayan production company specializing in 2D animation; Bernardita Ojeda, illustrator and director of the production company Pájaro; and Yago Fandiño, director of children’s content at RTVE— to reflect on some of the topics of interest in the world of children’s animation and its audiences. Below are the some of the key points which will be covered in this informative panel, which is promoted by the ICAA as part of its commitment to children’s animation content:
Things to keep in mind when creating for a specific age range:
You have to keep in mind the child’s perspective, and you start designing for a certain age group. But the approach can change during the process, sometimes due to the feedback you receive. In a series aimed at 12-year-olds, an explosion does not imply anything, but for a preschool audience it does. When there is a dichotomy between what you want to tell, how it is told and the aesthetics, a fracture happens. If visually the product is associated with young children but the plot is aimed at older audiences, it will be a failure. On the other hand, you have to try to propose new ideas with styles and graphics; even if you don’t get a love at first sight, it is more stimulating for the children and they’ll end up receiving the project well. The challenge is creating content that stands out and becomes a new cultural reference. On the other hand, the targets are changing and are increasingly fluid.
It is important not to do “for” but to do “from”, to put oneself in the child’s place, so that the young viewer learns and doesn’t tune out. With children’s content we create memories: We remember what we watched as children because we were immersed in a training process that impacted us a lot. By creating new content for children, we are building their memories and that is wonderful. We must be aware of the responsibility that comes with speaking to children, and accept that challenge with enthusiasm, and be able to leave our comfort zones.
Important children’s animation reference points and events:
Pixelatl, La Liga events, Quirino Awards, Weird, Ventana Sur and other global animation markets are very important because you discover a lot of content and you get in touch with great people. There is a lot of creativity and these places allow you to have direct access to those contents and minds. Events like Cartoon Forum, Annecy, the Children’s Media Conference, etc. are also important as are forming alliances and collaborating on shared projects.
For example, Ventana Sur along with the Quirino Awards for Ibero-American Animation (Tenerife) and the Pixelatl Festival (Mexico) came together to form the Ibero-American Animation League. This alliance responds to the objective shared by the three events of promoting the creation and development of audiovisual projects in the region, strengthening the ties of collaboration between Latin American countries. Since its launch in 2018, different initiatives have been carried out: The Liga Award allows an Ibero-American project to participate as a fully paid guest in the three events. For Annecy and the MIFA market, a special program highlighted the Ibero-American participation at the events. ◆
For more info, visit culturaydeporte.gob.es/cultura/ areas/cine/inicio.html