Much more than a meeting point
From the 5th to the 8th of October we attended the 3D Wire 2017 market, in which our web-series project CLITO, which is in the production phase, was selected for the annual catalog of the event. For us, this festival is an annual meeting, essential for animators, directors, screenwriters, etc. where not only do we find innovations within our field and videogames (sector closely linked to ours), but we were able to have fun with role-playing games, reconnect with professionals from all over the world and enjoy conferences.
As on other occasions, we were able to discover the possibilities of the future of the animation sector. On one hand, Carlos Biern presented the next White Book of the Spanish Animation, with statistics about how it has evolved the industry in the last 6 years, and makes a forecast of the future of it. It should be noted that despite the fact that billing continues to depend on televisions, the data predict that video on demand platforms will increase production. In the last 6 years we have been able to enjoy 40 feature films and 147 short films of Spanish animation showing that, although it is currently a small sector, it can become a leading sector due to its great potential of growing.
On the other hand, we find an interesting expansion factor thanks to the Latin American incorporation. This day the guest country was Colombia, with special emphasis on co-production and Ibero-American collaborations. Likewise, Paul Vaca and José Luis Farias, among others, presented the Quirino Awards, which aim to be a meeting point between Spain, Latin America, Portugal and Andorra, putting the talent of the Ibero-American industry in value, creating a market where the animated product travels. These awards will be held in Tenerife, on 6th to 7th April 2018.
Not only do we discover intercontinental possibilities within our sector, but we also reflect on other formats of animation. Thanks to the lectures of Pedro Alpera and James Curran, we find animations with totally different approaches of the ones we are used to. Both showed us how the GIF format can become a different way of telling stories.
We could also observe the animation that is taking place, thanks to the presentations of different projects, both feature films such as The Dragon's Keeper, a co-production with China that will show us a magical story covering a western and oriental audience at the same time; or UNICORN WARS, the new film by Alberto Vázquez, which delighted us with the presentation of a story about war, which will not leave anyone indifferent.
During the pitch projects, within the category of short films, we would like to highlight A family tale, by José Corral, whose presentation captured all our attention and surprised us in an unimaginable way, since it uses different styles of animation with real image to treat gender violence from the point of view of each member of a family. Finally, within the TV presentations, we saw how Shamik Majumdar showed the various Disney series that we can see soon, we also attended the presentation of Super Science Friends, a transmedia series whose chapters are uploaded directly to youtube, so that all fans who have supported it can enjoy it instantly.
Finally it is necessary to comment the attendance of Eleanor Coleman, who gave a lecture about the topic of women in the animation industry, which emerged last year, within the round table 'New Talents of 2D Spanish Animators'. Coleman took over and told us about the unconscious stereotypes and their consequences, so we could understand how it affects the possibilities of women in the industry. We, as a mostly female team, can only say that there are many women who work and do not strive to take projects forward, and we will not let gender prevent us from doing so.
Finally we just have to say thank you, since it was a very complete event with a fantastic organization, in addition the game of gamification has made us have fun during all the days with the different activities that they had prepared. Now we only have to wait a year to be able to be there again.