Animation Around The World: Argentina, Israel, Malaysia, Spain
Our globetrotting journey across the animation world concludes today with the fifth and final episode of Animation Around the World, in which we look at animation in Argentina, Israel, Malaysia, and Spain.
If anything, we hope that our series has offered new perspectives on the animation production boom that is currently happening in every corner of the globe. While animation has always been produced around the world, we have seen a paradigm shift in the last few years, as animation has evolved from a niche art form into a widely consumed form of mass entertainment that is ever-present on new platforms like video games and streaming video, in addition to film, television, and advertising.
These new distribution channels for animation content has led to increased government and institutional support for the art form, as countries realize that a strong animation sector benefits their economy. Per a recent market research study, the total value of the global animation industry in 2017 was $254 billion USD, a figure that is expected to rise to $270 billion by 2020.
In our new episode Argentina’s Silvina Cornillon, who is the coordinator of animation pitches at the Latin American film market Ventana Sur, talks about the importance of creating co-production links between Latin American producers and other parts of the world. Currently, some of the Latin American feature film and tv projects that are pitched at Ventana Sur are subsequently pitched at Annecy’s MIFA market, giving Latin American producers access to new international markets and allowing them to develop strategic partnerships.
Amit Gicelter, who runs the Israeli animation studio The Hive, says that one of his country’s strengths is developing animation content. The country has a strong tech sector, and that filters to its animation industry as well, with Israeli studios developing a lot of projects utilizing 3d, mixed media, and vr/ar approaches. The country’s studios are also working to not just be known as an outsourcing country, but to develop original “IP as the front-end for our production services,” says Gicelter.
Janice Lim of the government agency Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation points out one of Malaysia’s key strengths is that its animation producers “understand both the Western and the Eastern culture, and so the work that comes out of Malaysia and the work that we can do for the various partners across the region is that we understand what is needed for both the Eastern kind of animation and the Western kind of animation.”
Jose Luis Farias, the founder director of the Spanish animation market event 3D Wire, says that Spain’s animation field is very healthy right now, but a key challenge is keeping its talent in Spain. “We are accustomed to export a lot of talent to USA and other countries,” says Farias, “and we are trying to bring them back to Spain with good projects.”
For more global perspectives, check out the rest of the series:
Episode 1: Mexico, South Korea, Greece
Episode 2: Brazil, South Africa, Poland
Episode 3: Latvia, Ecuador, Finland, Russia
Episode 4: Chile, Norway, Philippines
Animation Around the World was produced by Cartoon Brew Editor-in-Chief Amid Amidi. The series DP and editor was Damné Jesús Pérez Irigoyen. The series was filmed at the Annecy MIFA Market in June 2018.
