Animating Love in All Shapes and Colors

AddArt/Funny Tales Studio brings a great mix of entertaining shows to the market.

Four years ago, brothers Dmitris and Stavros Savvaidis formed their design and animation studio AddArt aka Funny Tales in the beautiful Greek port city of Thessaloniki to present compelling art content and projects for their clients all over the world. “From its outset, our studio was perceived as a laboratory of ideas and a springboard for artistic expression,” says studio founder and producer Dimitris Savvaidis. “AddArt/ Funny Tales specializes in 2D animation and production. Operating on an interdisciplinary basis, at the intersection between art and technology, it brings together diverse ecosystems in order to deliver meaningful, engaging creative output, in the form of animated TV series, features, short films, video clips and documentaries.” The studio’s first series Pix & Leo aired on 800 platforms all over the world via BabyTV, a FOX group channel. Funny Tales is also in production with another show titled Bug & Play for the same broadcaster. The shop is also involved in various interesting roles in many other global productions. “Our new series which we’re bringing to Annecy is My Superhero Husband,” says Savvaidis. “This is our prized project since it is picked for the MIFA Pitches in the TV series category. Then, we have What the FluffoVerse, which is our wacky TV series for 8- to 12-year-olds in co-production with Cosmonaut, an amazing studio from Japan. There’s also Our Space, an 8-part animated documentary series, co-produced with Awesome Town Entertainment from Canada In total, we have more than 20 IP’s from preschool to adult fiction and some animated documentaries in development searching for the right partners to get realized and produced.”

Embracing Differences

My Superhero Husband is created by the amazing Alex Tagali and Mikaela K. Deligianni. “This is a sitcom about superheroes in a town that embraces individuality and love in every way,” notes Savvaidis. “The differences between the main characters, Joule and Cynthis, immediately reminded us of I Love Lucy. Just imagine the hi-jinks of Lucy Ricardo stuffed into Superman’s body: That’s Joule, who is constantly being ‘managed’ by their transgender superhero husband, Cynthis! We believe that what I Love Lucy did for mixed race couples, My Superhero Husband does for the queer community. This innovative show will warm the hearts of families and reaches them without preaching to them.” He adds, “The LGBTQI+ communities are still fighting for recognition, and some brands have been staunch allies. Through My Superhero Husband and our partner, Alphabet Initiative Agency, we reward these brands for their solidarity by providing them a showcase on screen. Our partnership with Lyre´s alcohol-free spirits has helped us promote the project here at MIFA and brought us significantly closer to our production goals.” The talented studio founder says he loves the limitless creative freedom animation offers. “My vision is to provide audiences of all ages with stories created with passion and love, stories thrilling enough to move them and wacky enough to change them, as we wholeheartedly believe that storytelling has the power to change the world!” he offers. “Animation gives you the possibility to create and visit parallel realities and universes through imagination and creation. It offers endless possibilities to reach the core of humanity.” Savvaidis is optimistic about the future of animation in his country. “The demand for content is helping animation thrive. Quality-driven studios such as Funny Tales will sooner or later get their chances to shine in the global animation scene. But we have an extra advantage. Greece is becoming a great destination for creating content because of the new incentives. EKOME is giving a 40% cash rebate on money spent in Greece. This is putting us in the global map and providing us with the boost we needed to showcase our projects and services at an amazing rate. I think Greece is a huge opportunity for animation right now.” “Funny Tales is full of artists and creators that love animation and I want to take this chance to thank them personally,” he adds. “Dimitris Kazantzis, our general manager and line producer; Vasilis Evdokias, our creative director; Lefteris Faidas, our creative director; Ioannis Texis, our lead storyboard artist and director; Chrisa Gouma, our lead scriptwriter; Vasilis Dimopoulos, our lead designer; Alkis Koumaros, Eleftheria Moscha, Silena Nikolopoulou and Vasilis Gerkou, our artists/designers; Konstantinos Athanasooulos, storyboard artist; Konstantinos Andrias, animator; Lida Sakelaridou, scriptwriter; and Fanouria Arvaniti, graphic designer! They are the drive and creative power of Funny Tales and I am grateful they are with us!”