What is the biggest issue facing the animation industry right now?
The animation industry is again in a very awkward place. A few years ago, with the growth of online and after that the rise of the new platforms, the traditional funding of the animation industry completely changed. We used to rely on public funding and broadcasters, and then there was a brand new, and supposedly with much more money, financing solution. But now all the platforms are restructuring or merging or going through a lot of changes that almost completely freezes their productions. The traditional broadcasters are also adapting to the new reality, so there is no recipe to create a project. Production companies have to be able to adapt and the projects have to be developed in such a way that eventually they will have to be adapted to the medium that can finance it.
What is your company doing in response to this?
At Sardinha em Lata, our response is to develop projects in different styles and for different audiences. In the past year we have been developing four different series – one for upper preschool, one for eight-plus, one for teenagers and one for adults – all of them with very different authors, formats and approaches. The idea is that we have projects that can be attractive for different financing partners. We also rely a lot on coproduction, both as a minor and major coproducer.
How are you using generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to make animated projects and how are these tools altering the role of the animator?
We are not using AI in our projects yet, but we are paying a lot of attention to its evolution and evaluating how it could be used in our production pipeline or in different development stages. For now, we are only testing solutions that are coming up in the market and analysing the best use for them in the near future.
What does the popularity of Roblox tell us about young audiences and can online social platforms be effectively used to launch new animated IP?
That’s a huge question – it’s almost like knowing how to create ‘viral content’ for the internet a few years ago. The truth is that young audiences have a completely new way of consuming content, maybe because the traditional platforms’ impositions on content went too far and the products became less authentic.
Tell us about the project you are pitching at Cartoon Forum.
We are pitching King Gaston (13×7′), a TV series that tells the story of a youngster who suddenly has to become the ruler of their kingdom in a very funny way. The premise behind the show is to make children aware they can make choices and take responsibility, knowing that things sometimes (most of the time with King Gaston) can go wrong, but if we listen to and accept the help of our close ones everything can be solved. We expect to have Portuguese pubcaster RTP on board and we are discussing coproduction possibilities with Italy and Brazil, but nothing is closed at the present date.
