Animation reigns in Spain: Pixelatl paints a healthy picture of the Spanish scene

*** An abridged version of this article originally appeared in September / October. '20

Spanish animation studios and VFX will have a strong presence at this year's virtual Pixelatl Festival. “Spain is once again present at the event with a virtual booth that will include a Who's Who of animation and VFX in Spain, promotional videos, information on tax incentive news, as well as a list of accredited studios and companies, such as Wise Blue Studios. , Peekaboo Animation, El Ranchito, 3Doubles and Paramotion Films, ”says Tito Rodríguez, director of marketing at the Spanish Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA).

On September 2 at 10:00 Mexico City time (CST), at 17:00. Central European Summer Time (CEST), the ICAA in collaboration with Diboos, the Federation of Spanish animation associations, will offer the panel "Spain Your Animate Mate ... New Spanish tax incentives" where attendees will discuss the benefits of the country's latest new tax incentives. In addition, together with WEIRD - Animation, Video Games and New Media Market, the org will present three animated short films of young talents in a panel entitled "3x Projects by New Spanish Animation Emerging Talents" (September 3 at 13pm CST, 00pm CEST).

Last, but not least, the Quirino Awards will once again bridge the animation scene between Spain and Latin America, presenting a report on "Resilience in Ibero-American animation" within the League of Ibero-American Animation (formed by Quirino, Animation! Ventana Sur and Pixelatl).

A tax haven for cartoon producers

"Since May 2020, Spain has increased its tax incentives," Rodriguez notes. "We now have a very competitive tax discount of 25% to 30% for international productions (5% more than in previous years), having lowered the minimum spending for animation and VFX projects to 200.000 euros and increasing the maximum amount of the deduction to a total of 10 million euros. In addition, the Canary Islands, thanks to their special economic and tax regime, authorized by the EU, offer several tax incentives for the animation and VFX industry which are 20 points more than the rest of Spain. In particular, a tax discount of 50% -45% for international productions and a tax credit of 50% -45% for Spanish productions or co-productions “.

In addition, the ICAA provides extra support to Spanish animated films, reserving 8% of its two feature film production subsidies for animated titles. These two support lines have a combined budget of almost € 52 million in 2020. Normally, public support from all sources combined should not exceed 50% of a film's total budget, but this year the limit has been raised. 75% for animated films whose production budget does not exceed 2,5 million euros.

“Raising the limit to € 10 million and lowering the limit to € 200.000 will represent a turning point for the sector in Spain,” says Nathalie Martínez, CEO of Wise Blue Studios (Animal Crackers, Hero Dad). “On the one hand, setting the new limit of up to 10 million means that a single company in Spain could undertake the production of a full film up to a budget of 35-40 million dollars and maximize the tax rebate. On the other hand, lowering the minimum required spend to just € 200.000, allows Spanish companies to take production services of a wide range of budgets or even partial services, such as post-production only, VFX, etc., than the previous floor of 1 the minimum of one million dollars did not allow it.

Among the many novelties expected to come out of Spain in the near future there are Tad the Lost Explorer 3 (Lightbox Studios Animation), Unicorn Wars (UniKo) e Mibots (Wise Blue Studios). Additionally, Clan, the children's channel of RTVE (Spanish public TV), has selected seven animated series in their 2020 call for support for the project. The projects are Get along Gang (Tomavision), La Granja Feliz (Movie), Hey, Elvis Riboldi (Peekaboo), Bumpy the Bear (koji), Billy Buenrollito (Imira), Annie and Carola (MB and Mondo International) and the second season of Mommonsters (Big Bang Box and 3Doubles). These seven projects summarize a total of 326 episodes and more than 50 hours of high-quality, family-friendly Spanish animation.

“Highlights also include Hero Dad (Wise Blue Studios), the first real-time animated show that [is entering] worldwide distribution with WildBrain and Cry babies (Hampa Studios), currently a YouTube hit with a strong merchandising strategy, ”adds Rodríguez. "And of course, Home of the homeless by Alberto Vázquez, produced by UniKo and Autour de Minuit, which received the Jury Prize in Annecy earlier this year, which is also part of Pixelatl's official program. "

The director also points out that 2020 started on a very positive note with Sergio Pablos Animation Studios receiving an Oscar nomination and seven Annie Awards for the feature film. Klaus. Despite the delicate situation with the COVID pandemic, companies in the animation sector have continued to work and have kept their jobs at a very high level.

As Nico Matji, president of Diboos said earlier this year, “The animation and visual effects industry in Spain, although affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic like the rest of the cultural sectors, has shown his strength and ability to recover from this crisis. We were able to switch to teleworking with relative ease because we are eminently digital companies, used to constantly learning and innovating ”.

Rodríguez says that Spanish studies are experiencing a "new normal". “Office work is combined with remote work from home,” he adds. “The productions have resumed and the international projects have been carried out in compliance with strict health regulations. Festivals are returning as physical or hybrid editions, cinemas are reopening and the box office is slowly recovering. Thanks to initiatives such as improving tax incentives, for example, and increasing our public subsidies, we are experiencing some fresh air and seeing more international investment and national audiovisual productions ”.

For more information, visit icaa.es.

Pixelatl Festival takes place online from 1st to 5th September on elfestival.mx.