29/1/2025
Generation
Next Lab Generation announced a few weeks ago the fourteen projects selected to participate in the fifth edition of its workshop, which kicked off on January 8 with an initial online phase. The Fundación Ortega-Marañón (FOM) will be the venue for this edition’s closing event, which will include conferences and round tables on the latest trends in innovation and new technologies in the field of animation and video games. In addition, there will be a presentation of the works created with VR technologies by the workshop’s finalist projects.
Only six of the fourteen projects participating in the workshop will make it to the second phase as finalists and will have the opportunity to pitch in front of a jury made up of three industry professionals. The jury will be in charge of selecting the three winners, who will receive professional registration for Annecy MIFA 2025 and the chance to make a presentation at the Next Lab Generation conference.
THREE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS MAKE UP THE JURY FOR THIS FIFTH EDITION
Art Director Tigran Arakelyan, from Armenia, will be part of this edition’s jury. His relationship with the event began in 2023 when he lectured on “Making a movie with Quill: Zako” with the OnOff studio. Arakelyan graduated from Hakob Kojoyan Art High School (2009) and Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinematography (2013) as a film art director. Between 2010 and 2012 he was a designer at the well-known ReAnimania International Animation Film and Comics Art Festival and has worked as an art director on more than 10 films, including the acclaimed Aurora’s Sunrise. In 2018, he co-founded OnOff Studio, where he has played a key role in several projects, including the feature film Zako, which was supported by the National Cinema Center of Armenia and was entirely made with Quill, one of the main software programs implemented in the workshop, giving Arakelyan a very expert view on the possibilities and challenges of this technology.
María Luquero is also part of the jury, a creative director, production supervisor and 3D artist with an extensive career in the field of animation and digital storytelling. With an innovative approach, paired with a solid experience in international projects, she has been Production Coordinator in outstanding projects such as Pocoyo, Tadeo Jones or El Ranchito VFX. Her connection with Next Lab dates back to the first edition (2021), where she was selected with the series “Titan Tofu”. Since then, the project has been selected in national and international markets such as MIFA Pitches (Annecy Festival), Spanish Screenings On Tour 2022 at Animation! Ventana Sur, or Cartoon Forum. María returns now to Next Lab Generation to bring her experience and vision to new projects, thus reaffirming her commitment to the sector’s development and the promotion of the creative minds of the future.
The jury is completed by the London-based Spanish director and animation designer James Castillo, who won an Emmy for Best Interactive Media Film at the first edition of the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards. The work that earned the Spanish director the award was the innovative medium-length film “Madrid Noir”, an interactive VR experience developed with the Unreal Graphics Engine. A project by No Ghost and Atlas V studios in collaboration with industry giants Oculus, Epic Games, Creative XR and CNC. In addition, Castillo has taken part as a character designer in several animation projects such as the new TMNT movie directed by Seth Rogen for Nickelodeon, Mitchels vs the Machines (Sony), 3Bellow (Dreamworks), or part of Guillermo del Toro’s Arcadia series. In recent years, his work has been strongly committed to the development of VR projects.
ONCE AGAIN, MADRID BRINGS THE SECTOR TOGETHER TO DISCUSS INNOVATION, ANIMATION AND VIDEO GAMES
Two days of conferences and Case Studies will take place in Madrid on February 27 and 28, bringing together again the most influential professionals in innovation and new technologies in the world of animation and video games.
During the event, there will be a discussion, from different angles, on how the emergence of new technology tools is opening up new opportunities for independent studios and developers, democratizing access to high quality creation and allowing more people to experiment with these technologies.
In addition to the pitches of the workshop’s finalist projects—where the conclusions drawn by the participants and the teaser produced in just eight weeks can be presented—the program will include conferences such as “New Tools: Anime with Blender and OctaneRender.” We will dive into the production of anime with an innovative approach with the help of Lino Grandi, a 3D artist at OTOY, the company that developed the rendering and animation software OctaneRender and Sculptron. In line with this, the program will once again feature Daniel M. Lara, who will present the latest in Clay Pencil, the innovative tool that enhances the capabilities of Grease Pencil in Blender. This integrated tool allows 2D animations to be converted into 3D models in real time, facilitating the creation of three-dimensional characters and scenes from two-dimensional drawings.
Another topic addressed at the event, will be the use of AI in animation, a technology that has arrived in recent years to redefine the sector’s horizons. Sofia López, AI Growth Manager at Freepik, will join us with the conference “AI in creativity: Freepik,” in which we will explore how creative processes in graphic design and audiovisual content are being transformed. Freepik is a suite with different tools that in recent years has consolidated its position as a key player in the AI-driven transformation of the audiovisual sector.
Both the complete program and registrations to attend the event on February 27 and 28 will be available soon via the Next Lab website.
Next Lab Generation 2025 has the main sponsorship of the Community of Madrid, through the Council for Culture, Tourism and Sport, as well as support from the ICAA, Annecy Festival, Madrid’s Audiovisual Cluster, FOM and Weird Market.