Directors Regina Welker and Nina Wells discuss their new film "Latte & the Magic Waterstone"
The new German-Belgian animated film Latte & the Magic Waterstone made its Netflix debut last Friday. Directed by Queen Welker e Nina wels, the children's film is based on a book by Sebastian Lybeck and follows the adventures of a hedgehog named Latte and his anxious squirrel friend Tjum, who has begun to reclaim a stolen magic stone from a bear king. We had a chance to chat with the directors of the CG animated film in an email interview. Here's what they told us about their fascinating project:
Congratulations on the debut of your Netflix movie this month. Can you tell us how each of you got involved in the film?
Queen Welker: I have known the executive producer of the film Lilian Klages for a few years. We worked together on the first funding trailer for Latte macchiato, which was a lot of fun. I immediately fell in love with Latte and her friends and I was very excited when I was asked to direct Latte as my first feature film.
Nina Wels: In early 2017, about four months before production began, producers Lilian Klages and Thomas Müller asked me if I wanted to direct this film written by Andrea Deppert and Martin Behnke based on a very successful and well-known children's book. by Sebastian Lybeck with Regina. After we met for the first time, we both agreed that this was an exciting and fantastic story that we would really like to tell and we started developing our own ideas.
When did you start working on it and how long did it take to complete it?
Queen: The first funding concept / trailer was created about five years ago. The production of the film started in late summer 2017, when I started working as a director. And swoosh! I was sitting in the final audio mix with the final image in April 2019. Well, the time has passed very quickly!
Which animation studios worked on the film?
Queen: Production and coordination were mainly split between Eagle Eye in Germany and Grid Animation in Belgium. Over six production companies were involved and took care of different tasks. We had MotionWorks in Halle (Germany) doing storyboards and layouts, Woodblock in Ludwigsburg (Germany) working on projects, Tinker Magic in Spain was in charge of rigging, philmCGI in India helped a lot with animation, Daywalker Studios in Cologne ( Germany) did the whole set and shading until everything went back to the Grid in Belgium, which did the whole light / render / comp to the final photo.
What were the visual influences of the project?
Queen: For me, the combination of an illustrative and fantastic world with magical colors in an almost realistic set with tactile characters was the challenge in this project. And there you see the two great influences: pure nature like forests, stones, fur on one side and colorful magical fairy tales on the other. We worked a lot with lighting to transform the chaotic reality of (for example) a forest into a beautiful visual language. Lots of wildlife photography with all its small details or surface structures and super interesting animal images (e.g. some weird frogs) were the main references. But also works of art by Pascal Campion, the aspect of the short film The Dam Keeper o Garden party as well as some animated commercials were a nice source of inspiration for colors and lighting.
Girl: We were also inspired by the light and atmosphere of the forests of Northern Europe and other European countryside.
What would you say was your biggest challenge on this feature?
Queen: The biggest challenge was to have a strong and stubborn main character who is still fun and lovable and has a weakness. Milk has so many different character traits, which makes it super interesting but also difficult to balance its behavior. It can be strong and strong, but also silent and emotional. From the production point of view, the biggest challenge was that all the different departments were spread all over the world and we had to present the vision and align everything.
Girl: It was important for us not to stray from our vision of this film. Like most European animation productions with a much smaller budget than animated films in the United States, we faced a lot of trade-offs. Ultimately all of the studies helped us with their fantastic work and enthusiasm to do it.
How was the reception of the film in Germany and Europe?
Queen: It was released in Germany a little later Frozen II from Disney, which perhaps took some attention away, but was overall very well received. Especially our premiere at the Schlingel children's film festival in Chemnitz (Germany) was very exciting and the kids loved it. So what else could you wish for? We also had quite a large audience in France - I guess everyone liked our French dance instructor bear! Unfortunately, some other European countries did not get theatrical release as planned due to the pandemic blockades. But maybe it will happen anyway, at least online.
Girl: Fortunately, Latte macchiato it had its theatrical release in Germany and France a few months before Corona arrived in the world. I was so happy to see that he played in France and Germany, a great start. But then, as we all know, everything changed.
Who are your biggest animation influences and sources of inspiration?
Queen: I guess the inspiration for the animation and the characters are always real people and situations. Because animation is a perfect language to tell true stories in a metaphorical way. The influences on the artificial side are obviously many different animations - we had snippets Despicable Me o How to train your dragon in our references for Milk.
I also love going to film festivals and watching all these beautiful short films with many different styles. This is definitely one of the biggest influences.
Girl: Over the years, I have been mostly inspired by the souls of directors such as Makoto Shinkai or Mamoru Hosoda, both narratively and visually. I'm also a huge fan of Dean DeBlois' work, among others.
What do you hope the audience takes away from the film?
Queen: First of all, I hope the audience will enjoy watching the film. Furthermore, we have many important topics from environmental protection to friendship and family belonging. In terms of respect and acceptance, Latte has such a positive message, so I hope there are situations in the film where the audience is touched and emotionally involved.
Girl: The message that a true friend you can count on is one of the most important and wonderful things you can get in life.
How do you feel about the fact that in 2020 we are starting to see more animated films directed by women?
Queen: It is about respect and acceptance for all. Women can do interesting and creative work if given the chance. And all subsequent female generations should no longer be involved in this discussion. I made this film because I am a director, not because I am a director. We also have a female main character, not with a special intention, but it worked best in our character setup. And to be honest, she's such a nice girl, you don't care if she's a girl or a boy.
Girl: Hey world, get used to it! In Europe, a lot has changed in the last decade, the more animations are directed by women and more and more studio teams are increasingly balanced between female and male artists. It won't be big news for so long.
What are you working on next?
Queen: I'm writing some of my stuff for a TV show and some commercial projects, but I'm also talking to Lilian about new projects. Milk the hedgehog speaks a lot in the film, but surely he has much more to say!
Girl: Kristina Yee, a talented Irish writer and director, and I are currently developing the story of a film. It is an original story based on one of my ideas influenced by my love of anime. A second project for which I have already written the script is in the funding phase and in the fall I will take over the animation direction for another animated film (which is also directed by a woman).
you can watch Milk and the Magic Waterstone on Netflix this month. For more information visit www.sola-media.com/details/latte.html
