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This summer, young viewers will meet a unique magical blended family and a charming new animated friend as they swim and soar through the land and sea adventures of Not Quite Narwhal — premiering June 19 on Netflix.
The DreamWorks Animation preschool series is based on the children’s books by Jessie Sima, about an adorable little creature who is part narwhal, part unicorn and 100% himself.
Synopsis: Curious and fun-loving Kelp has always believed he’s a narwhal like the rest of his family under the sea, until the day he makes the most amazing discovery — he’s actually a unicorn! Rather than choose one or the other, Kelp embraces being both a narwhal and a unicorn, juggling his day-to-day life as he figures out how to navigate his two worlds: the ocean and land.
The 3D CG series is co-executive produced by Brian K. Roberts (Dragons: RescueRiders, Gabby’s Dollhouse), Nakia Trower Shuman and Sarah Katin (both writers on Pretzel and the Puppies, The Boss Baby: Back in Business and Fancy Nancy).
The voice cast features Nevin Kar as Kelp, Lucy Lowe as Scallop, Ryan Lopez as Cruz, Scarlett Kate Ferguson as Pixie, Sasha Knight as Ollie and Mixie Chen as Juniper.
Wheelhouse DNA, the digital-first and influencer arm of media, marketing and investment company Wheelhouse, and Frederator Studios, a subsidiary of Genius Brands International Inc., have partnered with comedian Adam W. (Waheed), on the development and production of a new adult animated series. This deal marks the first partnership between Frederator and Wheelhouse DNA, and the debut of Adam W. writing and starring in a series.
Set in ancient Egypt where the gods are real, aliens built the pyramids and the afterlife exists, the 10-episode series follows a lovable royal buffoon (Waheed) who finds himself suddenly thrust onto the throne.
“This project delves into the mysteries of one of the world’s most captivating cultures and brings it to life in a modern way that is both enlightening and entertaining,” says Wheelhouse DNA Managing Director Fanny Baudry. “We’re excited to combine our production expertise with Adam W’s creative vision and Frederator’s premium animation capabilities to take viewers back in time to explore the fascinating world of ancient Egypt.”
Frederator is an independent producer of animation for streaming services, linear television and online video platforms, and has produced 19 series and more than 250 short films for and with partners including Netflix, Amazon, Google, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Sony Pictures Animation and Cartoon Network — such as Adventure Time, Castlevania and Bee and PuppyCat.
“Wheelhouse DNA has proven to be one of the most innovative and successful studios with exceptional taste in content,” said Isabel Schultz, Director of Development at Frederator. “We are grateful and excited to partner with them to bring our amazing creator Adam W.’s voice to life in this hilarious adult animation series.”
Waheed has accumulated over 11.5 billion views in 2022 alone and is on track to double that this year. He was just named one of The 20 Most Influential Creators by Rolling Stone, and earned a spot on the Forbes Top Creator List in 2022.
Now, he is pivoting his online success to the entertainment industry, partnering with Spencer Strasmore (Ballers, Shooter) to co-create this animated series and develop a slate of origina content across digital, TV and feature film. Previously, Strasmore was a producer and development executive for Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson’s production company.
“I’m thrilled to partner with Frederator and Wheelhouse DNA on this original animated series,” said Waheed. “I like to push the boundaries with my content and animation is the perfect fit as there is no limit to how big I can go.”
LatinX in Animation (LXiA) announced today the recipients of the Spark Animation Grant for 2023: Alec Castillo, Danna Galeano and Sandra Suarez. With support from the Grant, each awardee will create and produce an original animated short film. Themes and subject matter of the proposed shorts range from death, time and destiny, to Trichotillomania and the relationship between two opposites, their dreams and responsibilities.
The Spark Animation Grant is designed to uplift the visibility, perspectives and imaginations of U.S.-based Latinx animation filmmakers. Returning for its second year with support from Netflix, this year’s program expanded to support three filmmakers, with an increased grant amount of $20,000 for each filmmaker. Netflix’s sponsorship of the LXiA Spark Grant builds on their partnership with the Latino Film Institute, and is part of Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity, an effort to create more behind-the-camera opportunities for underrepresented communities within the TV and film industries.
“LXiA is excited to welcome the 2023 Spark Animation Grant Fellows with an incredibly talented group of animators and filmmakers, whose creative and fresh voices touch upon incredibly timely and personal stories. We can’t wait to see their short films come to life over the next year,” said Bryan Dimas, Co-Director of LatinX in Animation.
To ensure they’re set up for current and future success, the Spark Animation Grant fellows will be paired with an independent Producer, as well as an industry mentor, including creatives from Netflix. Fellows will also participate in a series of professional development sessions. LXiA Spark Animation Grant will support fellows over the course of 13 months, and will culminate in a special screening at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) in summer 2024.
Meet this year’s filmmakers:
Alec Castillo
Alec Castillo is a Cuban-American animator and comedian, originally from Miami and currently based in Los Angeles. Some of his past work has been featured on Adult Swim, Netflix, Mitú and FunnyOrDie.
Danna Galeano
Danna Galeano is a Colombian-born filmmaker and animator. As an animator for the Latino social media company, Mitú, she created the animated character Guacardo, which has since become a viral sensation. She has also worked at Republic Records and Sony Music, creating animated lyric videos for talent across the globe. She hopes through her work that she can bring a unique and heartfelt perspective that connects with audiences and inspires them to see the world in a new way.
Sandra Suarez
Sandra Suarez is a Mexican-American stop motion animator and mixed-media artist living in Los Angeles, California. She strives to create stories that explore the messiness of life and encourage kindness to oneself and others. Her projects range from silly, wacky and weird to introspective and sincere.
A familiar furry friend is ready to begin his next animated chapter in Tummy Tom, a new film series (4 x 60′ or 13 x 5′) based on the bestselling Dutch children’s books. Produced by Phanta Animation and BosBros, the first footage from the launch film Tummy Tom’s Teddybear has been unveiled for the Cannes Film Festival and Market.
“We are really looking forward to this year’s Marché du Film, where we’ll we be presenting our stellar slate of kids and prime content,” Daniëlle Raaphorst, CEO of Incredible Film, the international Dutch and Flemish content distributor handling sales for the film series. “With a varied mix consisting lead by Tummy Tom, our projects represent what Incredible Films has to offer and we look forward to sharing these stories with buyers at the market.”
Tummy Tom
Tummy Tom
Slated for delivery in 2024, Tummy Tom’s Teddybear sees the charming cat discover a shocking problem: Bear is missing! Bear is his favorite cuddly toy, and it must be found. Luckily, Tummy Tom gets help from his best friend, Cat Mouse.
A very popular children’s character in The Netherlands, and beyond, Tummy Tom first appeared on the local version of Sesame Street in 1978. he books by Jet Boeke were first published by Gottmer in 1983, and have since sold millions of copies.
Portugal’s animation stars shone brightly at the sixth edition of the Quirino Awards, winning four of the nine awards given to promote Ibero-American animation. The feature film Nayola and the short films The Garbage Man, Ice Merchants and Garrano were the Portuguese works recognized in an edition that also paid tribute to 100 years of animation in that country.
Works from Spain and Argentina also received awards during the ceremony held on May 13 at the Teatro Leal in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, and broadcast online worldwide.
Nayola by Portuguese director José Miguel Ribeiro was chosen Best Feature Film. This Praça Filmes production tells the story of three generations of Angolan women marked by the long civil war the country suffered at the end of the last century. Premiered in the official competition of the Annecy Festival in 2022 and internationally recognized in a dozen competitions, Ribeiro’s first feature film is an adaptation of the play A Caixa Preta by José Eduardo Agualusa and Mia Couto.
Jasmine & Jambo
Meanwhile, the award for Best Series went to Spain’s Jasmine & Jambo by Silvia Cortés, a series that seeks to explain musical concepts and genres to a preschool audience through the adventures of two friends who are passionate about music. Produced by the Catalan company Teidees Audiovisuals in co-production with TV3, the first season of the series has been broadcast in more than ten countries around the world.
Awarded Best Short Film, The Garbage Man by Laura Gonçalves is a Bando à Parte production that reflects the poetry, saudade and authorial signature that characterizes Portuguese animation in recent decades. Made in 2D animation, the film tells the story of Tio Botão, a man capable of transforming garbage into real treasures.
The Garbage Man
The winners were chosen by an international jury made up of Andrea Fernández, Julio Bonet, Risa Cohen, Robert Jaszczurowski and Simón Wilches-Castro.
The ceremony also paid tribute to Claudio Biern Boyd, producer, and creator of animated series such as The World of David the Gnome, Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds and Around the World with Willy Fog, among others. Biern Boyd was born in Palma de Mallorca in 1940 and died last October 17. He was the founder of BRB Internacional and Apolo Films, the production companies behind some of the series and films that marked Spanish animation at the end of the last century.
Sponsored by the Cabildo de Tenerife, the Quirino Awards reaffirm with this new edition their relevance in the construction of a common space for animation in the 23 countries of this region comprising the countries of Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
Quirino Award winners at the 6th annual ceremony (photo c/o Quirino Awards)
2023 Quirino Award Winners
Best Ibero-American Animation Feature Film: Nayola, by José Miguel Ribeiro, produced by Praça Filmes, en coproducción con JPL Films, Soil Productions, Il Luster, Luna Blue Filmes (Portugal, Belgium, France, The Netherlands)
Best Ibero-American Animation Series:Jasmine & Jambo – Season 1, by Sílvia Cortés, produced by Teidees Audiovisuals, Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals, con la participación de IB3 (Televisió de les illes Balears), Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals (Spain)
Best Ibero-American Animation Short Film: The Garbage Man by Laura Gonçalves, produced by Bando à Parte (Portugal)
Best Ibero-American Animation School Short Film:Chimborazo by Keila Cepeda, produced by Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain)
Best Ibero-American Animation Commissioned Film: This Dog Looks Weird by Facundo Quiroga, Juan Nadalino & Sebastián García, produced by Kiosko (Argentina).
Best Ibero-American Animation for Video Game: Endling – Extinction Is Forever, developed for Herobeat Studios (Spain)
Chimborazo
This Dog Looks Weird
Endling – Extinction Is Forever
Best Visual Development of Ibero-American Animation Work:Ice Merchants by João Gonzalez, produced by Cola Animation, Wild Stream, Royal College of Art (Portugal, France, U.K.)
Best Animation Design of Ibero-American Animation Work:Passengerby Juan Pablo Zaramella, produced by JPZtudio (Argentina)
Best Sound Design and Original Music of Ibero-American Animation Work: Garrano by David Doutel & Vasco Sá, produced by Bap – Animation Studios, Art Shot (Portugal, Lithuania)
Learn more about the Quirino Awards and conference at premiosquirino.org.
Who could have predicted that more than two decades after Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Bill Lawrence’s animated show Clone High was canceled by MTV after only one season on the air, the cult fave would make a miraculous comeback? That’s right — Abe Lincoln, Joan of Arc, JFK and Cleopatra and some new second-generation figures (Harriet Tubman, Frida Kahlo, Confucius) are back to experience high school in a new version of the show on Max this month.
Set in a high school for clones of historical figures, the series finds the clones thawed out after 20 years on ice to resume the experiment with new clone classmates — as they deal with the madness of adjusting to new cultural norms and highly dramatic teen relationships! Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios, Clone High executive producers include Lord, Miller, Lawrence, Erica Rivinoja (South Park, Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm) and Erik Durbin (Last Man on Earth, American Dad!).
Returning stars include Will Forte as Abe, Nicole Sullivan as Joan, Phil Lord as Scudworth, Chris Miller as JFK and Mr. B, Christa Miller as new character Candide, Donald Faison as George Washington Carver and Judah Miller as Scangrade. New voice actors joining the cast include Ayo Edebiri as Harriet, Mitra Jouhari as Cleo (voiced by Christa Miller in the original series), Vicci Martinez as Frida and Kelvin Yu as Confucius.
A Richer History: Frida Kahlo (voiced by ‘Orange Is the New Black’ actor and singer/songwriter Vicci Martinez) is one of the new diverse batch of clones in the new class of ‘Clone High.’
New Faces and Voices
Erica Rivinoja
“When they reached out to me to be the showrunner, I was genuinely very excited to work on this new show,” says writer-producer Rivinoja. “I used to write on the original show 21 years ago, and now we had the chance to add new characters and bring it back alive into this world. I had to leave at some point to direct the upcoming animated movie adaptation of Cat in the Hat (2024), so we needed someone else to shepherd the project. That’s when my friend Erik Durbin, with whom I’d worked on Last Man on Earth, who was also a big fan of the original show, joined the project. We kind of shared the baton on the series.”
Both showrunners point out that they love the new characters and situations they encounter in the 2023 version. “We have a whole bunch of new characters and they are much more representative, diverse, unique and weird,” says Rivinoja. “ It has been really a lot of fun to have them all and get new people involved. In the original series, I was the only woman in the writers’ room. No offence to Erik, but it has been really nice to have more women around. The hardest part has been trying to do what Chris and Phil did, and that one season is so beloved. I felt a lot of pressure trying to live up to that.”
Clone High
Durbin agrees. “The great part about it is you’ve got these other characters who can you know show a broader range of the world that we live in. We have to do right by these characters, so the challenging aspect is making sure like their personalities and points of view mesh into this beautiful little show that flew high with three main character. Now, we have seven central characters and a bigger core of friends, so it’s important that we make them all feel interconnected.”
Gandhi
One character that is not returning to Clone High is Gandhi, who was voiced by comic Michael McDonald in the first season of the show. Rivinoja points out that that character was the reason the show was canceled. Many viewers were offended by the depiction of the Indian national hero as a party animal and a womanizer. At the time, many politicians, including Gandhi’s grandson, held a hunger strike in front of the MTV India offices during a visit by then-head of Viacom.
“We all love Gandhi, but he was he reason the show went off the air in the first place,” says Rivinoja. “So we just didn’t want to touch that.”
Erik Durbin
“It’s been nice to have characters who represent a larger swath of our world and they each bring their own backgrounds and heritage,” says Durbin. “They each have different ways of being dramatic and funny. You have someone who is carefree like Confucius. We also have these great comedians portraying characters like Harriet Tubman and Cleopatra. It’s been so much fun to work with them.”
“I also just love our new character Topher Bus (voiced by Neil Casey), who is actually a clone of Christopher Columbus trying hard to rebrand himself, since Columbus has been justifiably canceled,” adds Rivinoja. “He is really awful, but it’s really fun to poke fun at the idea of people trying way too hard to be cool and relevant, which is in fact what every teenager tries to do.”
She adds, “One of the things I love about the new characters is that I feel the initial characters really fitted into the classic tropes of the time, like the jock, the nerd, the popular girl. Life has evolved in the past 20 years, so our new characters don’t fit those tropes so much. In a way, it made our job a little bit harder, but it has also made the show more interesting.”
cleopatra joan of arc
The 2023 version of Clone High is also faithful to the original show’s visual aesthetics, which came from industry heavyweight Mike Moon, the former Disney and Netflix executive who is now heading the Moonlight label at Illumination. The animation production is handled by L.A.’s ShadowMachine (Tuca & Bertie, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) and Ottawa’s Jam Filled (A Tale Dark and Grimm).
“The original show had this wonderful homemade feel to it because it was actually done on the cheap,” says Rivinoja. “Of course, animation has come a long way the past two decades, so it was really important to us to make sure that it still held on to all of the hand-crafted qualities Mike Moon’s original designs were really forward-thinking and quite unique. We never wanted the new show to look too sleek and it was really important for us to maintain the essence of that first year.”
Principal Scudworth (Phil Lord) sets the mood during “saxual education week” in ‘Clone High’
Creative Spirit
When asked about his favorite episodes of the new season, Durbin says a clear standout is one written by Rivinoja which explores the backstory of the Mr. B., principal Scudworth’s loyal robot butler and the school’s vice president/dehumidifier. “It’s a really outstanding episode, and the storytelling is just super fun and different. We hope Guillermo del Toro will be proud of us,” he notes. “There’s also a musical episode which is really fun.”
The showrunners are hoping that audiences tuning in to the premiere this month will be able to relate to the stories and the experiences of the new high school clones. “We hope they’ll find some laughs at how seriously these kids are taking their lives and their attempts to just be teenagers,” says Durbin.
Clone High
“That’s exactly what I was thinking, too,” says Rivinoja. “I hope people will see themselves and their pain and drama on the screen. I mean, high school wasn’t great for any of us … I am guessing that anyone who is reading Animation Magazine didn’t have a great time in high school, either!”
The new Clone High premieres on Max on May 23, with two new episodes debuting each Thursday. A second season is already in production.
Shattering box-office records and generating over a billion dollars worldwide, Nintendo and Illumination’s video game-inspired animated gut The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be available to home audiences tomorrow, May 16, exclusively on digital platforms nationwide where you can buy or rent movies — from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Bringing the iconic pop culture characters to life in this CG-animated big-screen adventure are Chris Pratt (Jurassic World franchise) as Mario, Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The LEGO Movie) as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy (Last Night in Soho, The Queen’s Gambit) as Princess Peach, Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele) as Toad, Seth Rogan (Neighbors, An American Pickle) as Donkey Kong, Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda franchise) as Bowser and Fred Armisen (Wednesday, Portlandia) as Cranky Kong.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
The movie tells the story of two Brooklyn plumbers who are brothers and best friends: Mario, the brave one with the “let’s-a go” attitude, and the perpetually anxious Luigi, who would prefer to go nowhere. The story opens as the Super Mario Brothers are reckoning with their struggling plumbing business, and wind up in a whirlwind adventure through Mushroom Kingdom. Through their journey, we meet a cast of familiar, lovable characters, ultimately uniting together to defeat the power-hungry villain, Bowser.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is directed by Teen Titans Go! duo Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic from a script by Matthew Fogel (Minions: The Rise of Gru), produced by Chris Meledandri, Founder & CEO of Illumination, and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is currently playing in theaters. Find showtimes near you at thesupermariobros.movie.
Sterling, Lana, Cyril and the other violently incompetent agents of long-running animated primetime comedy Archerwill bid fans adieu after the upcoming 14th season. The show’s official Twitter account confirmed “the final season” today, which will premiere August 30 with two new episodes starting at 10 p.m. PT/ET on FXX, with next-day streaming on Hulu.
Created by Adam Reed (Frisky Dingo, Sealab 2021), Archer premiered in 2009 on FX, later moving to FXX in 2017. The half-hour, noir-inspired 2D comedy centers on self absorbed super spy Sterling Archer (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) and his colleagues as they navigate the changing world of espionage. Season 14 will see Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler) at the helm of The Agency — her goal is to make money while also making the world a better place, but she soon finds out the spy game isn’t so cut and dry behind the big desk.
The series also features the voices of Judy Greer as Cheryl/Carol Tunt, Chris Parnell as Cyril Figgis, Amber Nash as Pam Poovey, Adam Reed as Ray Gillette and Lucky Yates as Algernop Krieger. Natalie Dew (The Capture, Sandylands) will join this motley crew as the voice of super agent Zara Khan in Season 14.
Consider this the victory lap. The final season of Archer premieres 8.30 on FXX. Next day on Hulu. pic.twitter.com/QcJdbXG6sj
Over its decade-plus run, Archer racked up dozens of industry and critics’ honors, including two Primetime Emmy Awards (Outstanding Animated Program, 2016; Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media, 2016 [Archer Scavenger Hunt]) and a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in 2020 (lead background artist Jill Dykxhoorn, Archer: 1999 “Road Trip”), as well as three additional nods for best animated program and voice-over nominations for Benjamin and the late Jessica Walter, who voiced Sterling’s mother Malory Archer and was nominated in both 2021 and posthumously in 2022.
The series has also received over a dozen Annie Award nominations and has won the Critics Choice Television Award for Best Animated Series four times out of six nominations. Tyler has also been nominated for three NAACP Image Awards for her performance as Lana.
Archer is executive produced by Reed, Matt Thompson and Casey Willis at Floyd County Productions. The series is produced by FX Productions.
During the Quirino Awards’ Ibero-American co-production forum in Tenerife, Terremoto AIE (Spain) and Vivement Lundi ! (France) announced the addition of new partners for the puppet animation feature film Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake: Co-producers Panique ! Productions (Belgium) and Pájaro (Chile), as well as distributor KMBO (France).
Terremoto AIE, the Spanish group formed by the animation studio Citoplasmas Stop Motion, Cornelius Films and Bígaro Films, developed Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake, which is being directed by Irene Iborra. The film is adapted from the best-selling children’s book La Pelicula de la vida (The Film of Our Life) by Maite Carranza, which sold more than 24,000 copies in Spain and has been translated and published in seven languages. The character designs were crafted by French artist Morgan Navarro.
Olivia is a 12-year-old girl whose life is turned upside down when her family is evicted from their home and forced to live in a squatted apartment. Her mother Ingrid, a cheerful and optimistic person, can’t cope with the situation anymore. To protect her little brother Tim, Olivia imagines that their life is a movie…
Vivement Lundi !, an Oscar nominated French company renowned for producing stop-motion films and series, joined the production of the film in 2022 after discovering the project during Cartoon Movie 2020.
The film’s budget is estimated at €5 million and several Spanish partners are already committed: RTVE, Televisió de Catalunya, À Punt, ICAA (Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts), ICEC (Catalan Institute for Cultural Enterprises), IVAC (Valencian Institute of Culture), Ibermedia and the City of Barcelona.
In France, Bretagne Cinéma has given a first support to the film through its international co-development support. The Breton regional fund has just supported the project again, this time through its production support. KMBO, which handled the successful French releases of The Amazing Maurice and Mavka. The Forest Song, will distribute the film in France.
The new co-production partners, Panique ! Productions (Belgium) and Pájaro (Chile), join the project with a pre-buy from the Belgian TV RTBF and the support of the Chilean government in tow.
The co-producers plan to complete the financing plan for the film during 2023. Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake will be shot in Barcelona, and the Spanish premiere of the film is scheduled for the fall of 2025, through distributor Filmax.
Rob Wade, CEO, FOX Entertainment, today will unveil the FOX content slate for the 2023-2024 television season to the national advertising community during its in-person Upfront Presentation at the Manhattan Center. FOX is adding two new dramas, two new animated comedies and two new unscripted series to its lineup, as the media company continues to increase program ownership from in-house business units.
“Across every genre of FOX’s 2023-24 lineup, we continue to attract the brightest, most prolific creators in the industry,” said Wade. “As a result, our content portfolio continues to deliver balance and variety in its storytelling through the strength and stability of our returning favorites and tremendous creativity of our new series.”
From FOX’s Emmy Award-winning animation house, Bento Box Entertainment, come two all-new animated comedies: Krapopolis, from Rick and Morty co-creator Krapopolis, and Grimsburg, starring and executive produced by Jon Hamm. Krapopolis and Grimsburg join returning series Bob’s Burgers (Season 14), Family Guy (Season 22), The Great North (Season 4) and The Simpsons (Season 35).
From Emmy Award-winning creator Dan Harmon (Rick and Morty, Community) comes Krapopolis, an animated series like no other. Set in mythical Ancient Greece, the series centers on a flawed family of humans, gods and monsters that tries to run one of the world’s first cities without killing each other. The voice cast features Emmy Award winner Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd), Matt Berry (What We Do in The Shadows), Pam Murphy (Mapleworth Murders) and Duncan Trussell (The Midnight Gospel).
In the series, Ayoade voices “Tyrannis,” the mortal son of a goddess. He’s the self-involved, narcissistic King of Krapopolis trying to make do in a city that lives up to its name. Waddingham plays “Deliria,” Tyrannis’ mother, goddess of self-destruction and questionable choices. Within her extended Olympian family — forged in patricide and infidelity — she’s known as the trashy one. Berry is “Shlub,” Tyrannis’ father, a mantitaur (half centaur [horse + human], half manticore [lion + human + scorpion]). He is oversexed and underemployed, claims to be an artist and has literally never paid for anything, in any sense of that word, for his entire life. Murphy voices “Stupendous,” Tyrannis’ half-sister, daughter of Deliria and a cyclops. Trussell plays “Hippocampus,” Tyrannis’ half-brother, offspring of Shlub and a mermaid, and, obviously, a hot mess, biologically speaking.
Krapopolis is owned by FOX Entertainment and produced by Bento Box Entertainment. Harmon is creator and executive producer. Jordan Young is executive producer and Showrunner (Season 1). Alex Rubens is executive producer and showrunner (Seasons 2 & 3).
Created by Catlan McClelland and Matthew Schlissel, “Grimsburg” centers on the misadventures of the great detective Marvin Flute (voiced by Jon Hamm).
All-new animated comedy Grimsburgstars Emmy Award winner Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Top Gun: Maverick), who also serves as an executive producer on the series. In Grimsburg, Marvin Flute (Hamm) is a brilliant detective with opinions as eccentric as his taste, who can’t help but prioritize his own personal problems — whether it be his family or petty differences among his co-workers — over the crimes he’s tasked with solving. Now that he’s back in Grimsburg, a town where everyone has a secret or three, Flute will follow every lead he’s got to redeem himself with the ex-wife he never stopped loving, even if it means hanging out with the son he never bothered to get to know. The cast also includes Wendie Malick, Matt Jones, Sam Richardson, Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell and Jim Rash.
Grimsburg is owned by FOX Entertainment, and produced by Bento Box Entertainment. Catlan McClelland and Matthew Schlissel created the series and serve as co-executive producers. Gail Berman, Hend Baghdady, Chadd Gindin, Connie Tavel and Jon Hamm serve as executive producers. Chadd Gindin serves as showrunner.
Taylor Gray (Star Wars: Rebels) has joined the star-studded cast of the sci-fi animation series NEW-GEN, based on the Marvel-distributed comic-book series by J.D. Matonti, Chris Matonti and Julia Coppola of A.P.N.G. Enterprises. The series is being animated by Emmy-winning production house Pixeldust Studios.
Gray will star as superhero Diamond. Previously announced cast includes Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Nick Wolfhard (Fire Emblem), Anya Chalotra (The Witcher), Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), Luke Wilson (Stargirl) and Henry Rollins (The Legend of Korra).
Additionally, the studio has announced that Grammy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated composer Jerry Wonda of Platinum Sound Studios will be producing the soundtrack for NEW-GEN, alongside partner John Loeffler. Wonda is best-known for his songs including “Hips Don’t Lie” (Shakira), “Maria Maria” (Carlos Santana) and other hits with award-winning artists Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, Justin Bieber, John Legend, Janet Jackson, and more.
Loeffler has created soundtracks for national advertising brands such as American Airlines, Coca Cola and Ford Trucks. He is the co-composer of Pokémon songs including “Gotta Catch ‘em All” and has accomplished 15 years of Pokémon underscore music, as well as working on Yu-Gi-Oh! and others. He has recently served as the EVP of BMG, overseeing the signing of John Fogerty, Journey, Chicago and Rufus Wainwright.
Synopsis: The series centers on twin brothers who live as ordinary teenagers and nanotech enhanced superheroes: NEW-GEN is a futuristic utopia where human beings, alien creatures and mechanical lifeforms peacefully coexist. Designed and built with nanotechnology, NEW-GEN balances nature and technology, weaving together an ecologically sustainable paradise. Its existence becomes threatened by a nanotech war and heroes from Earth and NEW-GEN are called to defeat the encroaching evil.
NEW-GEN is created and produced by A.P.N.G.’s J.D. Matonti, Chris Matonti and Julia Coppola. The writer/showrunner is Brent Friedman, whose credits include the Star Wars franchise, and it is co-written by Eugene Son, who has worked on major superhero franchises including Avengers Assemble, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more.
The project is planned as a multi-platform, multi-tech experience. Viewers will be able to download an augmented reality app enabling players’ use of nanotech powers to battle various creatures from the show. Fans can explore a web-based experience which weaves scientific fact and fiction to depict what nanotech is and where it might be in the future.
The animated series will be directed by J.D. Matonti, who is repped by Zero Gravity Management. Jetpack Distribution has worldwide TV distribution. Joester Loria Group will be the licensing and merchandising partner for NEW-GEN.
Gray is repped by INSURGE-Ent, Seven Summits Pictures & Management, Sutton, barth, & Vennari, and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson McGinnis Ryan.
Perfectly timed to Mother’s Day (and the acclaimed actress’s birthday!), Mattel, Inc. announced today that Meg Foster — known to genre fans for her role as Evil-Lyn in the 1987 cult classic live-action Masters of the Universe film, returns to Eternia with an all-new role in the new animated series Masters of the Universe: Revolution, set to launch globally on Netflix in 2024.
Foster will voice Motherboard, an ancient sorceress of technology in the fight for the soul of Eternia — joining the fray as a formidable force against the Masters schemes to plunge the world into imminent darkness. Acting as Hordak’s liasion on Eternia, Motherboard is a powerful sentient artificial intelligence that uses her nanovirus powers to manipulate Skeletor and the people of Eternia as she aims to ensnare the planet, and Grayskull, as a prize for Hordak.
Masters of the Universe
“My part in Masters of the Universe more than 35 years ago remains one of my most cherished roles,” said Foster. “I am both thrilled and honored to come back into the fold to embody a brilliant, all-new villainous character that adds color to the vibrant storytelling that Kevin Smith and Mattel have brought to life for fans around the world.”
Set as the follow-up to 2021’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Masters of the Universe: Revolutionis an all-new story that takes the classic He-Man vs. Skeletor rivalry to places audiences have never before experienced. It’s technology up against magic as He-Man and the heroic warriors face the forces of Skeletor and a deadly threat to the planet in the next epic chapter in the battle for Eternia.
Foster joins Revolution’s all-star cast, which includes Chris Wood as He-Man, Melissa Benoist as Teela, Emmy nominee Mark Hamill as Skeletor and William Shatner in a still-to-be announced role.
“It’s not often that original and beloved actors return to their legacy franchises, so we are excited for the opportunity to welcome Meg Foster back to Eternia,” said Fred Soulie, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Mattel Television. “Her presence in the original live action film left an undeniable impact on fans, so much so that it cemented the film in the pop culture zeitgeist for over 30 years, causing her formidable work as Evil-Lyn to set the stage for Meg to enrapture audiences once again, now as the villainous Motherboard.”
Foster is represented by Chris Roe Management.
Masters of the Universe: Revolution is set to debut on Netflix in 2024 and is executive produced by Mattel’s Soulie, Rob David and Christopher Keenan, as well as Ted Biaselli and Kevin Smith.
LAIKA’s Chief Marketing Officer David Burke has added Chief Operating Officer to his responsibilities at the Oscar-winning studio, creators of Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, Missing Link and upcoming Wildwood. Burke joined LAIKA in 2019 from Universal Pictures, where he had been General Manager for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since 2006. The promotion was announced today by Travis Knight, President & CEO, to whom Burke will continue to report.
“Dave is a bold, forward-thinking leader and an all-around terrific guy,” said Knight. “He has become an indelible part of LAIKA’s story. Dave’s exceptional thoughtfulness, creativity and discernment make him uniquely suited to steer our studio into the future. Partnering with Dave has been a joy, and together we wholeheartedly believe LAIKA’s finest chapters are ahead of us.”
Burke’s role at LAIKA has expanded to encompass all aspects of the company’s Operations activities while remaining the lead on brand marketing and film promotions. As a key member of the Executive Team, he is also involved in developing LAIKA’s Live Action strategy.
“I am thrilled to take on the expanded role of Chief Marketing and Operations Officer at LAIKA,” Burke shared. “I am grateful to our CEO Travis Knight for his leadership and trust in me to help drive the company’s mission forward. Our team of talented colleagues is second to none, and I am excited to continue working alongside them in this new capacity. Together we will continue to build on LAIKA’s legacy of creating singular and original stories that entertain and inspire audiences worldwide.”
Since his arrival at LAIKA, Burke has optimized each of the studio’s five Academy Award-nominated legacy titles across VOD, AVOD and physical media, including nationwide retrospective theatrical screenings of LAIKA’s library through Fathom, setting post-pandemic records in the retro screening space.
Reflecting Knight’s dedication to a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace, Burke has established a formal DEI framework for the studio focusing on accessibility and talent pipeline expansion. A significant manifestation of this effort is a partnership with HBCU Bowie State in Maryland, where LAIKA funded the creation of the university’s stop-motion animation curriculum and physical studio. He has also developed LAIKA’s partnerships with Women in Animation, Film Independent’s Project Involve and Portland Community College.
Courtesy of LAIKA and The Academy Museum
Burke’s tenure at LAIKA includes a multi-year sponsorship of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. He championed the idea of a named gallery, and the 2000 SF LAIKA Gallery on the museum’s third floor celebrates the earliest technological advances in cinema. Additionally, the Academy Museum’s past summer’s month-long program, The Magical Films of LAIKA, celebrated the world premiere screenings of all five of LAIKA’s films on 4K with Dolby-enhanced sound, as well as panels, educational engagements and bespoke merchandise.
Burke has expanded LAIKA’s exhibition program partnering with the Museum of Moving Image (MOMI), the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and most recently a record-breaking stop-motion animation exhibit at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP). The multi-year exhibit, Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA, sold out its opening weekend and is on course to becoming one of the museum’s most popular exhibits. The British Film Institute (BFI) will also mount an exhibit of LAIKA puppets, sets, props and costumes next year, and more international exhibition locations are in the planning stages.
Under Burke’s leadership, LAIKA has prioritized expanding its social media presence, resulting in a strong pipeline of original content specifically created for its burgeoning and highly engaged social media audiences. Burke’s marketing team has created hundreds of pieces of content over a three-year period, garnering hundreds of millions of views, and growing their social following to over 10 million global users across platforms.
During his tenure with Universal before joining LAIKA, Burke planned releases on close to 400 film titles, including 60 films that debuted to #1 in the Ireland and Northern Ireland markets. A partial list of titles includes: The Bourne Ultimatum, Jurassic World, Fifty Shades of Grey, Ted, Les Misérables, Bridesmaids, It’s Complicated, Bridget Jones’s Baby, Straight Outta Compton, Illumination films including Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets franchise titles, the Fast & Furious franchise, Mamma Mia! films as well as Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and Jordan Peele’s Get Out.
Prior to his General Manager role with Universal Pictures, Burke worked with leading Irish independent film distributor Clarence Pictures, where he was involved in releasing a wide range of Irish and international films. He is a former Chairman of The Industry Trust, which promotes the value of copyright and creativity in Ireland’s film, television and video industry. He holds a Film Studies MA from University College Dublin as well as an MBA from DIT Business School.
The Pokémon Company International announced that the third batch of episodes for Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the globally popular Pokémon animated series, will make its U.S. premiere June 23 exclusively on Netflix. With this new release, Trainers will be able to witness Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu become Champion of the Pokémon World Coronation Series after 25 seasons of countless battles and challenging quests.
A new trailer was released to mark the announcement.
Ahead of the new Pokémon animated series, Pokémon Horizons: The Series, Trainers are invited to send off Ash and his Pikachu in the final chapter of their adventures, which will conclude with a collection of special episodes to commemorate their 25-season journey. Availability of these future episodes will be announced at a later date.
Synopsis: The stakes are higher than ever for Ash, Goh and Chloe as they advance toward their goals! As the Pokémon World Coronation Series tournament heats up, intensive training is in store for Ash, Pikachu and their Pokémon friends. Meanwhile, Goh embarks on a series of challenging trial missions to become a member of Project Mew. And as Chloe and Eevee learn about the different evolutionary paths that Eevee can take, will they be able to come to a decision about its future? Get ready for nonstop action, familiar faces from journeys past and more Pokémon discoveries to be made!
In addition, the first batch of episodes from Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series is now available for rent or purchase on iTunes, Google Play and Prime Video in the U.S. Additional episodes from the final season will be available on digital storefronts in the future.
Montreal/Madrid-based international sales and distribution company Pink Parrot Media’s 3D animated family feature Butterfly Tale will include an original song from the Juno-winning and Grammy-nominated Canadian pop singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes: “Something Big.” PPM will be representing the project in Cannes.
Co-produced by Canada’s CarpeDiem (Snowtime!, Racetime) and Germany’s Ulysses Filmproduktion (Ooops! Noah Is Gone, The Amazing Maurice), Butterfly Tale is scheduled to be released internationally later this year including in Canada by Vortex and Maison 4:3, together with Pink Parrot Media, and in Germany by Wildbunch.
The film’s soundtrack, produced by Blu Dog, will feature “Something Big” performed by Shawn Mendes, courtesy of Island Records, under license from Universal Music Canada Inc., alongside new original songs “Anywhere with You” performed by Johnny Orlando, a rising talent from Universal Records, courtesy of Universal Music Canada Inc; “Champions” performed by La Zarra, who is representing France in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest; “Silence be Still” performed by Coeur de Pirate; “Fly Away” performed by Joshua Alexander and “Now or Never” performed by Jennifer Lee Dupuy.
Butterfly Tale is directed by first time film helmer, Sophie Roy, written by Heidi Foss (Pup Academy) and Lienne Sawatsky (Wishfart) and produced by Marie-Claude Beauchamp for CarpeDiem and Ulysses’ Emely Christians. The lead characters are voiced by Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) and Mena Massoud (Aladdin 2019).
Butterfly Tale
Pink Parrot Media has already secured a raft of international distribution deals for Butterfly Tale, including: Wildbunch (France), Monolith (Poland), Front Row (Middle East), Filmart (Turkey), Mis Label (Scandinavia), Just Ent (Benelux), Pro Film (Bulgaria), SC Idea Films (Romania), Blitz (Former Yugoslavia), Flins&Piniculas (Spain), Forefront Media (South Africa), Top Film (CIS and Baltics) and Kaleidoscope (U.K.).
“We’re in the final phase of post-production on Butterfly Tale and its fantastic to see this beautiful project come together, including the soundtrack which features an incredible collection of musical stars,” said Tania Pinto Da Cunha, PPM Partner/VP and Head of International Sales & Acquisitions. “The upbeat and catchy songs from Shawn Mendes and these talented artists perfectly encapsulate the magic and feel of Butterfly Tale, and we’re sure will elevate audiences’ experience of this heart-warming and heroic tale.”
Synopsis: Set along the diverse, picturesque and ever-changing backdrop of the great Monarch butterfly migration, Butterfly Tale is the heartwarming tale of a gutsy and loveable, yet inept, one-winged butterfly named Patrick (Massoud), who stows away in a milkweed trailer in order to be part of the journey of a lifetime. With his best friend, a goofy caterpillar named Marty, and Jennifer (Maslany), a butterfly who is afraid of heights, Patrick will become an unlikely hero. But first he must face his fear, embrace his uniqueness and triumph over adversity while battling changing weather patterns, humans and three evil birds bent on revenge.
Epic Games announced the release of Unreal Engine 5.2, further expanding the advanced real-time 3D creator’s capabilities. Updates include enhancements to virtual production tools, character deformer, materials and more.
More information about Unreal Engine 5.2 is available at unrealengine.com.
Additionally, Epic announced the dates for Unreal Fest 2023, taking place October 3-5 in New Orleans. With well over 150 sessions, plus dozens of hands-on lab sessions, this year’s Fest will extend learning tracks to include Unreal Engine ecosystem tools along with UEFN and Fortnite Creative content. The call for speakers is open now through Friday, June 9; proposal guide and submission portal available here.
Procedural Content Generation framework
Unreal Engine 5.2 offers an early look at a Procedural Content Generation framework (PCG) that can be used directly inside Unreal Engine to populate large scenes within a defined area with assets of your choice, without relying on external packages. The framework includes both in-editor tools and a runtime component. This is an experimental feature that will be further developed over future releases.
Substrate
A new way of authoring materials that offers more control over the look and feel of objects used in real-time applications, such as games, and for linear content creation. Substrate replaces the fixed suite of shading models with a more expressive and modular multi-lobe framework that provides a greater range of surface appearances and a wider parameter space from which to work. It is especially powerful for describing layered looks (ex. “liquid on metal” or “dust on clear coat”). Experimental feature.
PCG
Enhanced virtual production toolset
Dovetailing with the desktop ICVFX Editor, a new iOS app for ICVFX stage operations (coming soon for iPad via the Apple App Store) will offer an intuitive touch-based interface for stage operations such as color grading, light card placement, and nDisplay management tasks from anywhere within the LED volume.
Enhancements to Unreal Engine’s VCam system offer greater scope for creative decision-making during pre-production, such as the new ability to operate multiple simultaneous Virtual Cameras off a single editor instance, as well as to create more sophisticated and layered camera moves.
Extended nDisplay support for SMPTE 2110 builds on the initial groundwork laid in Unreal Engine 5.1 toward the next generation of ICVFX hardware deployment. Experimental feature, production viability targeted for Unreal Engine 5.3
Apple Silicon dock
Apple Silicon support
Native support for Apple Silicon has been added to the Unreal Editor for a better user experience, improved performance and greater stability. The Universal Binary of Unreal Engine that natively supports both Apple Silicon and Intel CPUs is now available to download from the Epic Games launcher.
New ML Deformer sample
Unreal Engine machine learning technology can be used to create a high-fidelity real-time character for PC and consoles with deformations driven by full muscle, flesh and cloth simulation with this new ML Deformer sample. The download includes an interactive demo sequence that shows muscles bulging and sliding under the skin, and folds forming on clothing. You can also compare the results with ML Deformer on and off, and animate the model with the included Control Rig asset.
The Portland Art Museum has announced that Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro will take part in a public conversation at the Museum on June 23, in conjunction with Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio, the special exhibition opening June 10.
Organized by The Museum of Modern Art, Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio invites audiences to explore the extraordinary artistry, creativity and storytelling behind the masterful stop-motion animated Netflix film Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which recently won del Toro and co-director Mark Gustafson the 2023 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio is a celebration and exploration of the inventiveness, passion, and artistic cooperation that goes into making a cinematic vision come to life.
Known for taking artistic originality to new heights across film, television, animation, and more, Guillermo del Toro is one of the most inventive and iconic directors of the 21st century. During the weekend of his talk at the Portland Art Museum, del Toro will also be among the honorees of PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow’s 2023 Cinema Unbound Awards, celebrating groundbreaking and innovative multimedia artists, and the Museum will present special screenings of work from across the filmmaker’s acclaimed career.
The Museum’s exhibition, along with a robust slate of programs will givespecial attention to the talent and creative collaboration of hundreds of local cinematic animation artists at ShadowMachine — a renowned stop-motion animation studio based in Portland, Oregon, a city increasingly recognized as a creative hub of the art form. Programs will include Animation Art Days throughout the summer with ShadowMachine artists and other Portland-based animators and scholars; a multimedia installation by Portland artist, performer and musician Larry Peace-Love Yes, whose artwork was an inspiration on ShadowMachine’s set during the production of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; and PAM CUT youth summer camps exploring the art of animation, including gaming, design, stop-motion, AR, and more.
with Amy Dotson, PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow Director and Portland Art Museum Curator of Film & New Media
Friday, June 23, 2023, 3 p.m. Portland Art Museum’s Grand Ballroom (TICKETS)
Celebrating his work as a filmmaker and multimedia artist, join us for a conversation between iconic filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and PAM CUT Director and Portland Art Museum Curator of Film & New Media, during which the two will discuss the artist’s process and vision around creating Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and his connection to the hundreds of artists here at Portland’s ShadowMachine who helped bring his cinematic vision to life. Presented by Netflix.
Discovering del Toro Film Series
June 23-25, Whitesell Auditorium, Portland Art Museum (in collaboration with MoMA)
Friday, June 23
The Devil’s Backbone, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 24
Blade II, 4:30 p.m.
Pan’s Labyrinth, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 25
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, 1:30 p.m. (free with Museum admission)
The Shape of Water, 4:30 p.m.
Hellboy, 7:30 p.m.
Free Screenings of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
(Free with paid Museum admission; viewing opportunities with open captions and audio descriptions as well as sensory-friendly screenings.)
Saturday, June 10 & June 17
11:00 a.m. – Open caption screening with available audio description
2:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 11 & June 18
11:00 a.m. – Sensory-friendly screening with lower volume and brighter lighting
2:00 p.m.
Friday, June 16
2:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 25
1:30 p.m.
Pinocchio: Animation Art Days
Peek into the artistic, animation and storytelling process, as told by ShadowMachine artists and other Portland-based animators and scholars. All ages are welcome.
June 25 – ShadowMachine Cinematography Department
July 15 – ShadowMachine Art Department
August 13 – ShadowMachine Puppet Department
September 10 – ShadowMachine Animation Department
Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio
Showcasing the collaborative art, craft and storytelling of the film, Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio immerses audiences in its world, featuring iconic creatures, set pieces, stop-motion animation technology and fantastical visual and sound elements. At more than 8,000 square feet, the exhibition will guide audiences through the creation and collective artistry of del Toro’s work.
The Portland Art Museum’s presentation of Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio will expand on the richness of the local stop-motion animation community by giving visitors a look inside the artists’ process. The exhibition and programs will give special attention to the talent and creative collaboration of the local cinematic animation artists at ShadowMachine.
Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio is organized by The Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition is organized by Ron Magliozzi, Curator, and Brittany Shaw, former Curatorial Assistant, with Kyla Gordon, Research Assistant, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art. The Portland Art Museum’s expanded presentation is curated by Amy Dotson, Curator of Film and New Media and Director of PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow.
Magic Frame Animation and Creation Entertainment Media today announce their collaboration for the kids’ animated feature film, Secret Magic Control Agency II: Mission Sleeping Beauty, the sequel to the popular Netflix film from 2021. The studio partners will present the film, which is currently in production, at the Cannes Marché du Film this month.
“This film continues the story of the much-loved characters from the first Netflix film, but with an entirely new mission!” says Lidia Chirita, Head of Sales and Co-Productions at Magic Frame Animation. “We know that families around the world will love the comedy, adventure and amazing visuals that this film has to offer. We’re very excited to be working with our partners at Creation Entertainment Media and to be showcasing the project for the first time at Marchédu Film.”
In this sequel to Secret Magic Control Agency, which topped the global viewership charts as one of Netflix’s most watched films, agents Hansel and Gretel return to undergo their most important mission yet. In a race against the clock, the agents must work together to save a princess from her enchanted slumber. But when they cross paths with a sorcery-wielding Prince who is after the same prize, Gretel finds herself battling the most powerful force she’s ever experienced… true love.
Returning for the second film is award-winning actress Sylvana Joyce and Nicholas Corda (Pokémon, Avatar: The Last Airbender). Alex Tsitsil’in will direct, with the film’s music composed by Sefi Carmel.
The producers are eager to introduce their endearing family comedy-adventure which brings the beloved characters of classic fairy tales Hansel and Gretel and Sleeping Beauty to the screen. Following the success of the first outing, fans can look forward to an engaging story told with vibrant, magic-infused animation.
“We’re incredibly excited about this project, especially as there has been such a great response to the first Secret Magic Control Agency film,” says Carmel, CEO of Creation Entertainment Media. “Audiences can expect to see some returning characters, and some new ones, in what will be an exciting adventure for all the family to enjoy. We look forward to presenting the film at Cannes!”
IBERMEDIA NEXT has opened its call for applications for its next line of funding today (Friday, May 12). The initiative, which is framed within the IBERMEDIA Program and is financed with NextGenerationEU funds, proposes grants of up to €150,000 and a support program valued at up to €95,000 for digital animation or live-action projects that include a high percentage of animation.
Applications are now open through the new website, ibermedianext.com.
In addition to the online call, a presentation on IBERMEDIA NEXT will also take place during the Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards in San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Tenerife (May 11-13) before the professional community of the sector, with the participation of Víctor Herreruela (Coordinator of the Ibermedia Technical Unit) and attended by José Luis Farias (Executive Producer of the Quirino Awards), and on behalf of The Ibero-American Animation League, José Iñesta (Director of the Pixelatl Festival) together with Silvina Cornillón (Manager of Animation! Ventana Sur).
The presentation will be held at 6:30 p.m. (Canary Islands time, UTC/GMT+1) in the Function Room of Lercaro Palace within the Quirino Awards official program. This conference, which has pursued its goal of connecting the Ibero-American animation community for six years, is one of the allied organizations of IBERMEDIA NEXT together with The Ibero-American Animation League, comprising the Quirino Awards, the Pixelatl Festival (Guadalajara, Mexico) and Animation! Ventana Sur (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
The discussion will offer attendees the opportunity to learn details about this unprecedented funding round from IBERMEDIA NEXT.
Promoting New Technologies in Animation
The period for receiving applications for the IBERMEDIA NEXT funding will continue until August 21, 2023, open to prototypes, teasers, pilots, short films and videoclips are eligible, among other options. The minimum project duration must be five minutes and it must use new technological tools for animation and/or open code tools in its development. The final result of these projects will be traditional audiovisual content, virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR) or augmented reality (AR). Digital animation or hybrid projects are admitted, as long as the latter include at least 75% animation in the footage.
An innovative initiative of the IBERMEDIA Program, IBERMEDIA NEXT is framed within the “Spain, Audiovisual Hub of Europe” Component 25 of the European Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, and is financed by NextGenerationEU funds.
After careful consultation with the sector, these grants have been designed according to the needs of Ibero-American and Italian companies and creators that work in digital content and seek to explore the possibilities of new technologies, which need to find funding to continue creating, establish a solid network of contacts in the sector, or have a presence in the right contexts to make their work known.
Networking at the Virtual Plaza: The First Step
One of the intentions of IBERMEDIA NEXT is to facilitate connections between sector agents. For this reason, its website hosts the IBERMEDIA NEXT PLAZA tool for professionals — a free platform on which companies and producers from Spain, Italy and Portugal can connect with other companies and creators from all the member states of the IBERMEDIA Program. Registration on IBERMEDIA NEXT PLAZA will be the first necessary step to be able to present applications for the grants.
To create community and share the generated knowledge, IBERMEDIA NEXT also assumes the creation and maintenance of a large public archive that will include, among other useful materials, a series of video tutorials aimed at the animation and digital content sectors, to favor the professionalization of new talent thanks to the application of new technological tools in production processes.
Victor Herreruela presents the new IBERMEDIA NEXT funding line during the Quirino Awards in Tenerife this week.
Support Beyond the Economic Aid
In addition to an economic contribution of up to €150,000, the audiovisual projects chosen in this first line of funding of IBERMEDIA NEXT will also have a complete program of training, consultancy, promotion and dissemination, valued at €95,000. These projects and the companies and professionals that lead them will also benefit from networking opportunities, having the chance to participate in promotional activities in events of The Ibero-American Animation League (Pixelatl, Quirino Awards and Animation! Ventana Sur), as well as other sector events.
Training and support of the projects that benefit from the call for proposals, which will include group classes as well as individualized tutorials in an asynchronous online format, in addition to on-site advice during The Ibero-American Animation League events, will be private and personalized. There will be a series of consultants, outstanding professionals chosen by IBERMEDIA NEXT, who will guide the development of each project, providing ad hoc consultancy sessions that permit optimization of approaches and increase the possibilities for success within the industry. To adapt as much as possible to the needs of the selected projects, this group of highly qualified consultants will be chosen after the finalist projects have been selected.
In practical terms, the process begins by seeking partners for the project on IBERMEDIA NEXT PLAZA, creating the team and making the application within the deadline. After the decision has been made, in November 2023, the status of each application can be checked on ibermedianext.com. Over the following few months, IBERMEDIA NEXT will announce the members comprising the evaluation committee of the finalist projects, who are also commissioned with defining the strategic lines of the training program.
Building Innovative Avenues through IBERMEDIA
IBERMEDIA is an incentive program for the co-production and co-development of fiction, documentary and animation films and series, made in a community comprising 23 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Since its creation in 1998, the program has managed 31 financial aid calls, in which 1,099 grants have been given to the co-production of Ibero-American feature films, 1,143 grants for the development/co-development of series; grants for the promotion and distribution of 292 films and the exhibition of 298. In addition, more than 3,390 training grants have been awarded to sector professionals throughout Ibero-America.
IBERMEDIA NEXT is an initiative of the IBERMEDIA Program to house new pilot lines that support different productions from the classic lines of the Program: the application of new technologies in the field of digital animation and audiovisual content with a high percentage of animation.
It also has the collaboration of the Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards and The Ibero- American Animation League, to which they belong together with Animation! Ventana Sur and the Pixelatl Festival. The Quirino Awards arose from the need to recognize talent in the Ibero-American animation industry, create connections and networks on both sides of the Atlantic and provide a framework to celebrate as a forum for co-production and business.
The Ibero-American Animation League was launched in 2018 as an alliance to strengthen collaboration and promote creators from the region. Launched by the Quirino Awards, the Pixelatl Festival and Animation! Ventana Sur, it arose in response to the increase in international co-productions between Ibero-American producers, with the aim of strengthening international cooperation in the region.
FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations) and WIA (Women in Animation) announced the five delegations selected for the second edition of Stories x Women, a program aimed at increasing diversity of voices in animation globally by supporting access to international opportunities for women animators who want to tell their authentic stories from emerging national film and audiovisual animation communities of Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
“For 10 years, WIA has been focused on reaching 50/50 gender parity in animation by 2025. The Stories x Women program aligns perfectly with our mission of supporting and empowering people of underrepresented gender identities in animation. It’s actively removing barriers faced by women and gender non-conforming creatives and making space for them to tell their authentic stories,” said Marge Dean, WIA president. “We can’t wait to see the growth and development of this international group of talented creators.”
These creators, chosen from a pool of 130+ candidates, will benefit from a series of mentoring sessions led by internationally acclaimed animation experts, as well as 1:1 coaching sessions that will prepare them to pitch their projects in the upcoming 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market (MIFA), including as part of the MIFA Pitching Sessions.
This second edition of Stories x Women was open to two-people teams, which had to have a woman in a leading project role such as producer, director or screenwriter.
The selected delegations are (sorted out by country in alphabetical order):
Superpunk – Brazil. A project led by Mirtes Santana (with Guilherme Petreca)
Negocio de Brujas (Witch’s Business) – Chile. A project led by Paulina Sanhueza Meléndez (with Alejandra Jaramillo Fanta)
Nerea – Dominican Republic. A project led by Fabiola Contreras Rosso (with Arima Léon)
The Golden Pig – Malaysia. A project led by Hwei Ling Ow (with Kate Goodwin)
Papo Hapo – Turkey/Kenya. A project led by Irmak Atabek Ndungu (with Mbithi Masya)
“FIAPF is proud to bring the second edition of Stories x Women with WIA with the support of The Walt Disney Company and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Our industry, in particular its production segment, is committed to bringing new stories and new voices to our audiences across the world. Stories x Women supports the work of women animators from regions that are less visible in the international market and is an extra contribution to the collective efforts made by this industry in that field,” says Luis Alberto Scalella, President of FIAPF. “As the global voice for producers worldwide, FIAPF promotes all forms of film genres, including animation and its universal language.”
Meredith Robert, Disney Executive Vice President of TV Animation, commented, “I’m thrilled to be part of this exciting initiative to support, mentor and champion women in animation from around the world. Annecy is the world’s premier animation festival and inviting these incredible storytellers to the festival, and giving them access to all its resources and connections, will go a long way to helping them bring their unique stories to the world.”
