The organizers of the KingstOOn Animation Conference and Film Festival have announced the winners of the Jamaican event’s fourth, fully virtual edition, which came to a close earlier today. The five-day toon celebration boasted a record number of registrations this year, with over 4,000 animation lovers and professionals from 100 different countries.
For the festival competition, animators from 108 countries submitted almost 1,500 entries in the Best International Short Film category, followed by over 750 in the Best International Student Film category and approximately 300 in the Best International Special Effects Film category.
The prizes for this year’s event included licenses for Toon Boom Harmony, Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, TVPaint Animation 11.5 Professional Edition, Wacom graphic tablets and scholarship opportunities to attend the Capilano University’s summer animation program online.
Finalists of the Concept Category participated in the Pitch Bootcamp and pitched their animated concepts to Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon in B2B networking meetings. Best Concept winners will get the opportunity to negotiate a development, representation and co-production deal with Africa Animation Network and Baboon Animation Studios.
Winners in the Best Caribbean Short Film category were also given the opportunity to have their project broadcasted on Television Jamaica and the chance to negotiate Broadcasting rights with Moviestar, a major telecommunications brand operating in Spain and in many Latin American countries.
The 2021 winners are:
Kingstoon Emerging Animated Content Competition
Best Storyboard: Mango Man by Andre Rankine – Jamaica (1st Place)
Mental by Chevon Irving – Jamaica (2nd Place – Tie)
Colours in the Wind by Gabrielle Watts – Jamaica (2nd Place – Tie)
Best Character Design: Doc the National Bird by Gary Plummer – Jamaica (1st Place)
Row-Row the Throw Pro by Melisa Kerr – Jamaica (1st Place)
Taegan, The Prosthesis Hero by Renee Ross – Jamaica (2nd Place)
Best Caribbean Short Film: TOL by Dylan Attelly, Jérémy Gravinay, Joëllia Rose, Stephen Martingoulet, Matthieu Templet-Nadeau, Anne-Isabelle Zamant and Tiffani Browne – Martinique (1st Place)
The Big Catch by Arminda Bailey – Trinidad and Tobago (2nd Place)
Best Concept: Jellyman Adventures by Shaquille Crosse, Kyle-Andrew Lee, Chevardi Gray and Dwayne Pottinger – Jamaica (1st Place)
HOWZATT by Rene Holder and Tracy Hutchings – Trinidad and Tobago (2nd Place)
KingstOOn International Animated Film Competition
Best International Special Effects Film: The Quiet by Radheya Jegatheva – Australia (1st Place)
The Last Mother by Megan de Jong and Garai Vorm – The Netherlands (2nd Place)
Best International Student Film: The Sugarcane Man by Tina Obo, Leroy Le Roux – South Africa (1st Place)
Feeling Blues by Astrid Massad, Nicolas Lipari, Marion Morgante, Maria-Louiza Bitsou, Guillaume Clamart-Mezeray – France (2nd Place)
Best International Short Film: Biji by Kin Lek Chew – Malaysia (1st Place)
C Is for Cars by Warren Brown – Canada (2nd Place)
Best International Feature Film: The Fixies vs. Crabots by Vasili Bedoshvili, Ivan Pshonkin and Oleg Uzhinov – Russian Federation (1st Place)
The Heritage of Sri Sutturu Math by Abdul Kareem – India (2nd Place)
KingstOOn was organized by the Government of Jamaica in the Youth Employment in Digital and Animation Industries (YEDAI) project, in collaboration with the World Bank. The objectives of the event are to provide Jamaican and Caribbean animators with ways to continue learning about the global industry, create opportunities for producers to generate profits from their projects and to showcase diverse content, including film and animation products from around the world.
This year’s event included a range of international speakers from companies such as Disney, Netflix, Sony Animation, Nickelodeon, Hit Entertainment, Pixar, Sesame Street, HiT Entertainment and Lion Forge. It also pinpointed ‘Diversity in Animation’ as the central theme, with three sessions structured to specifically focus on the issues of diversity and cultural inclusion within the media.
kingstoonfest.com
