2 months ago
The producers and distributors of Hong Kong animated characteristic Another World – directed by Tommy Ng and produced by Polly Yeung – discussed really nan groundbreaking task came together and is breaking into world markets during Filmart, arsenic portion of nan market’s attraction connected animation.
Seven years successful nan making, nan 2D hand-drawn animated movie premiered astatine Annecy International Animation Film Festival past year; won Best Animated Feature astatine Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, and has been playing a drawstring of different festivals, including Sitges, Pingyao and Zurich. Distributed locally by Edko Films, it was nan highest-grossing section movie successful Hong Kong past twelvemonth and nan highest-grossing Hong Kong animated movie of each time.
Gkids has acquired North American authorities to nan Cantonese-language movie and is understood to beryllium lining up a June theatrical release, while Goodfellas came connected committee for world income aft seeing nan beardown assemblage guidance to nan movie successful Annecy. It has already sold to aggregate territories, including nan UK, wherever it was released by Central City Media, pinch respective much successful negotiation.
Adapted from a Japanese novel, nan different communicative revolves astir a tone responsible for guiding transient souls to their adjacent reincarnation, who embarks connected a perilous ngo pinch a young woman to forestall her being overwhelmed by her anger and transforming into a monster. Yeung co-wrote nan book pinch Ng and produced done their Hong Kong-based Point Five Creations, pinch Chan Gin Kai of Singapore-based Silver Media Group, besides connected committee arsenic a producer.
Yeung explained that she was trying to constitute a book astir “letting spell of anger” erstwhile she came across Naka Saijo’s novel, Sennenki: Thousand-Year Journey Of An Oni, and decided to accommodate it arsenic an animated feature. “Animation audiences are much unfastened to different genres and structures of storytelling,” said Yeung.
“With live-action films, audiences thin to attraction much connected nan genre, and thin to put you successful a box, but pinch animation you tin really break nan boundaries of genre and storytelling.”
She past approached Ng, who had already made respective award-winning animated shorts, on pinch nan opening and closing sequences of cult Hong Kong scary movie Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight, and they started to create nan task together. Realizing it would beryllium difficult to raise finance for a Hong Kong animated feature, nan duo started by making a 14-minute short film, funded by Hong Kong’s Creative and Cultural Industries Development Agency (CCIDA), to transportation financiers for a full-length feature.
“But during nan process, we realized we needed overmuch much than a short movie – we needed a completed book and tons of conception creation to make nan financiers really understand what we were trying to execute successful a agelong feature,” said Yeung. “And truthful it took america 7 years to decorativeness nan full thing.”
In summation to Hong Kong authorities support, which initially came done an Animation Support Program nether CCIDA’s CreateSmart Initiative, nan financing puzzle progressive investors successful Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Japan, arsenic good arsenic nan Animekey streaming level successful Saudi Arabia. Some backing came from nan Film Development Council of nan Philippines (FDCP) done its ICOF programme and CCIDA stepped successful pinch a 2nd tranche of backing done its Film Development Fund (FDF).
The task was besides a multi-territory collaboration connected nan imaginative beforehand pinch animators successful Hong Kong, France and Philippines, arsenic good arsenic artists moving connected nan inheritance scenes successful Japan. “We were moving 24/7 because truthful galore clip zones were involved,” said Yeung. The unique characters, including nan tone guideline Gudu and young woman Yuri, were designed by Ng.
The Annecy invitation came 1 twelvemonth aft nan task took portion successful nan show arsenic a work-in-progress, which Yeung tipped arsenic a useful strategy to get your task connected nan radar of awesome festivals. It was during an Annecy screening of nan completed movie that it came to nan attraction of Goodfellas’ Acquisitions and Head of Co-production, Eva Dottelonde.
“The movie wasn’t really connected our radar but we were stepping past a theatre successful Annecy and saw audiences coming retired of a screening. They were evidently very affectional and having a beardown guidance to nan film. We instantly contacted Polly and asked for a screener,” said Dottelonde.
“As a income agent, we look for films that create conversations, that are really different and enactment successful people’s minds complete clip – and we saw each of those things successful this film. We knew it would beryllium challenging, because of nan topic, because it’s animation and there’s a fewer convulsive scenes that could impact nan property rating, but we were excited to activity connected nan movie and thief motorboat a caller voice.”
Dottelonde said different rumor was nan truth that animated films from Asia are ever compared to Japanese anime, which buyers and audiences are much acquainted with, but that astatine nan aforesaid time, anime has surgery down barriers and there’s now increasing acceptance of animation from different Asian countries.
“It’s a inclination that’s starting, particularly among Gen Z, because they’re much unfastened to animation successful wide arsenic good arsenic different cultures and styles of story-telling. It’s still difficult for a movie that is not Japanese to person worldwide success, but we tin spot from Another World that thing is changing.”
Sophie Wong, managing head of UK supplier Central City Media, said she first became willing successful nan movie owed to nan engagement of GKids and Annecy – past watched it connected a screener and was besides impressed by really different it was: “I didn’t watch nan short purposely, because I wanted an constituent of surprise, and nan first point that struck maine is that I could really visualize it arsenic a theatrical release. It’s visually stunning, nan characters are amazing, and nan storytelling, though very complex, is besides very heartwarming and meaningful.”
CCIDA Commissioner Drew Lai explained that it’s uncommon for Hong Kong projects to person backing from some nan Create Smart inaugural and FDF, but she expects to spot it hap much often arsenic projects diversify their root materials and accumulation methods done caller technology. The authorities agency besides supported nan movie by taking nan squad to markets and festivals to look for collaborators. Now nan task is completed, CCIDA is besides moving pinch Point Five Creations, which owns nan characteristic IP rights, connected a scope of products including toys and clothing.
Lai said CCIDA is besides hoping this could beryllium nan commencement of an animation renaissance successful Hong Kong, which is known for nan McDull franchise (Another World was nan first Hong Kong animated characteristic to beryllium selected for Annecy since My Life As McDull successful 2003) and occasional films for illustration Yon Fan’s No. 7 Cherry Lane, but does not person a large animation industry.
“Hong Kong tin beryllium an costly place, truthful it could beryllium rather costly to person a large workplace here, but pinch nan assistance of AI and different caller technologies, we tin expect that nan size requirements of animation accumulation would gradually get smaller,” said Lai. “Also it’s much communal now for teams to activity virtually crossed galore different locations.”
Yeung besides said she sees imaginable for Hong Kong animation, particularly arsenic location are truthful galore talented creators coming through. “But if we really want to move this into an industry, I deliberation co-production is simply a measurement to do it; we request to cooperate pinch different countries, and bring animation artists together, moreover finance done different countries, because it’s not inexpensive to make an animation movie.”
And while AI tin present immoderate efficiencies, Yeung said location are different areas successful which it will ne'er beryllium capable to switch quality talent. “Especially for 2D animation, nan truth that it’s handcrafted is nan astir valuable portion of nan creation,” said Yeung. “If each movies are AI-generated, past nan creation portion is excessively easy, it’s not an achievement, truthful why would anybody watch it? I conjecture AI helps america accelerate portion of nan process, for illustration conception creation successful pre-production, it’s easier to spot really thing will look earlier our artists really tie it out.
“But nan portion I’m really very hesitant astir is utilizing AI for storyboarding. I do judge you request to create that portion by yourself. If you don’t cognize really to do storyboard, past you don’t really cognize really to show a story.”
Yeung concluded by saying that Point Five Creations is presently moving connected a communicative for a sequel to Another World, but warned nan assemblage to not expect a 2nd movie excessively soon: “The communicative comes first earlier everything else, truthful we’ll activity difficult connected nan communicative first, past we’ll beryllium fresh to denote a sequel.”
Filmart’s Another World lawsuit study was 1 of respective panels that focused connected Asia’s booming animation industries, besides including sessions connected exploiting animation IP and co-production of animation projects betwixt Asia and Europe.
