Triggerfish launches Netflix-backed Pan-African Story Artist Workshop

Cape Town-based animation studio Triggerfish has announced a call for a Pan-African film Workshop of the artist of history, sponsored by Netflix.

Successful applicants will have three months of paid skills development with international industry experts. Nathan Stanton, an Oscar-winning feature film story artist like Brave, Finding Nemo e Monsters Inc., will guide the training program.

Sponsored by Netflix and produced by Triggerfish, The Story Artist Lab builds on the success of theirs Mama K's team 4 workshop of all-female writers, which saw nine African women placed in the writing room for the first Netflix animated series from Africa.

“The artists of history translate the scripts into animatics, the first free version of the film which then shapes each stage of the animation that follows,” says Tendayi Nyeke, Zimbabwean-born development executive at Triggerfish. “So having skilled artists from the continent's history in control of how their stories are told is a game changer, not only in preparing upcoming African directors, but also in giving pre-production artists the opportunity to assert their own voice as they bring African stories to life. "

African citizens with concept art and / or storyboard portfolios can apply until Friday 23 July 2021 at www.triggerfish.com/storyartistlab. Applicants must be available full-time for three months from August 2021; remote work is encouraged.

Triggerfish had a prominent role at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival last week, winning the Mifa Animation Industry Award 2021 for the "pioneering role the company has played in animation in South Africa and Africa more widely."

Recent initiatives to develop the African animation industry include the Triggerfish Story Lab, a search for Pan-African talent that has already seen two series with the green light for the world stage: Mama K's team 4 for Netflix and Kiya for eOne, Disney Junior and Disney +, plus the free online Triggerfish Academy training course. The South African outfit is also the main study in the upcoming Disney + African animation anthology Kizazi Moto: Fire Generation.

The first two Triggerfish films, Adventures in Zambezia e Trust, has sold nine million movie tickets worldwide. The 25-year-old studio also produced the upcoming film seal team, starring Academy Award winner JK Simmons and Emmy winner Matthew Rhys; and animated Roald Dahl's Oscar-nominated adaptation Revolting rhymes as well as the beloved adaptations by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler produced by Magic Light Pictures (winner of the 2021 Annie The snail and the whale, winner of the 2020 International Emmy Zog, BAFTA nominated and Annecy winner Stick man, winner of the Golden Rose The rat of the highway).

Triggerfish also offers mobile and AAA-rated gaming services for the likes of Electronic Arts, Unity and Disney Interactive and is developing a diverse array of film and television projects for most of the world's largest studios.