25/1/2024
Generation
Next Lab Generation revealed in early January the twenty projects selected to the fourth edition of its workshop, which kicked off three weeks ago with an initial online phase. Espacio Rastro Madrid will once again host the event that will mark the closing of this edition, with an array of conferences and round tables that will explore the latest trends in innovation and new technologies in animation and videogames. Also, during the event there will be a presentation of the pieces created by the workshop's finalist projects.
Only ten out of twenty projects presented in the workshop will advance to the second phase as finalists and will have the opportunity to pitch in front of the international jury, composed of five industry professionals. The jury will select the three winning projects, which will participate in the Next Lab Generation conference at Annecy MIFA 2024, in addition to receiving €8,000 gross in development aid, three months of mentoring, a travel grant and registration for a project representative to attend the Annecy Festival 2024.
FIVE INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONALS MAKE UP THE JURY
The first member of the jury, Morten Thorning, founder and CEO of The Animation Workshop until 2019, comes from Denmark. He also founded the Danish program for artistic residencies for the Animation Open Workshop, the incubation house Arsenalet, the Viborg Animation Festival, and the National R&D Center for Animation, Visualization and Digital Storytelling. He has received the Danish Bodil Award and the Norwegian Golden Gunnar Award for lifetime achievement in animation, and the Hanne Hansen Award and Ping Award for his work for the Danish graphic novel. Morten currently works in the fields of animation and Virtual Reality as a screenwriter, creative producer, director and art advisor through his companies, Bureau G and SCRPT.
From the other side of the ocean, Pablo Vazquez from Argentina joins the jury of this fourth edition. Pablo is the creator of the animated series Caminandes, produced by the Blender Foundation, using exclusively open-source technology. He has worked for more than 15 years in lighting, shading, and rendering in Blender Foundation short films (Cosmos Laundromat, Agent 327, Spring, Sintel). He has also been part of other projects as a freelance illuminator, such as the well-known multiplatform videogame Watch Dogs: Legion, by Pinkman.tv. He currently works at Blender HQ as part of the tools and communication development team.
Also on the jury is Ruxandra G. Popescu from Belfast (Northern Ireland). Director and XR creator deeply enthusiastic about bringing her technical and artistic expertise to the development of the XR entertainment industry. With a background in Fine Arts and digital animation, she has specialized in Virtual Reality animation and has been experimenting with VR tools for years, advocating their incorporation into any 3D production in favor of efficiency. Ruxandra's previous experience in digital and traditional media has shaped her workflow and approach to developing immersive stories; based on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of both processes.
Representing the Spanish industry, we have Tania Palma from Madrid, who has a passion for design, innovative technologies and the digital world. Tania is a 3D designer and artist, as well as a production manager for animation, advertising, and mobile application development projects. She is currently working as line producer for the Madrid-based production company Capitán Araña and is deeply involved in the production of the animated feature film 'Norbert', the development of the animated feature film 'Like!'. She is also coordinating the production of the animated feature film 'SuperKlaus'.
This year's panel of judges is completed by Will Anderson, an accomplished Scottish filmmaker and animator who received a BAFTA for "The Making of Longbird". Based in Edinburgh, he is actively involved in writing, directing, and producing numerous character and dialogue-based animated projects spanning film, television, theater, and online content. Always with character in focus, and spanning from 2D to 3D design, it is the process itself that drives his stories, which lean towards existential topics. Will has received commissions and support from the BBC, BFI, MTV, [adult swim] and WarnerBros. Discovery.
THREE KEY DAYS FOR THE INDUSTRY
As a novelty in this edition, on Thursday, February 29, a special monographic day on Blender and Grease Pencil will be held in the afternoon to kick off the training program aimed at projects benefiting from the first call of IBERMEDIA NEXT. That same day, in the morning, behind closed doors, the fourteen IBERMEDIA NEXT projects will have a day of consulting and B2B with experts and artists. In the afternoon and with general access with registration, there will be a series of conferences and networking opportunities around Blender and Grease Pencil, ending with a meetup open to the entire animation community in the Mercado de San Fernando. During this special day we will be joined by part of the creative teams of Unicorn Wars, Chica y Lobo and Tadeo Jones 4, and several professionals such as Pablo Vazquez (Blender Foundation), Amélie Fondevilla (Les Fées Spéciales), Tigran Arakelyan (OnOff), Daniel M. Lara (Pepe School Land), and Federico Moreno Bresser (Reel FX), among many others. Registration for this special activity will be available soon on Eventbrite.
Activities will continue on March 1 and 2, again at Espacio Rastro Madrid, where the closing event of the workshop will take place. This meeting point for industry professionals will feature various conferences with leading professionals and networking opportunities for attending professionals. The complete program and accreditations will be available soon on Next Lab’s website.
One of the scheduled events will feature Ruxandra G. Popescu leading the Case Study on "PEPITOS". Ruxandra will share her experience in crafting virtual worlds for VR, focusing on conceptual art and aesthetics. Another member of the jury, Will Anderson, will give a lecture on Innovation in Character Creation, covering his influences and how he made the transition between 2D and 3D digital animation workflows.
Eric Giessmann and Piers Goffart from the German studio Lavamachine will also be present at the event and will give a lecture on what it is like to produce stereoscopic VR short films. They will explore their collaboration with Meta and show three animated masterpieces created almost entirely in Virtual Reality using Quill.
On Saturday morning, the finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their projects. During this session, participants will present the pieces they produced over the eight weeks of the workshop, providing insights into the creative process, and highlighting the personal growth experienced throughout the training. Further program details will be disclosed soon, and the registration period for the fourth edition of this event bringing together industry experts in animation production and innovative technologies, will open shortly.
The fourth edition of Next Lab Generation is made possible thanks to funding provided by the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) as part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan promoted by the European Union; the main sponsorship of the Community of Madrid through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sport; the participation of the Ministry of Culture and IBERMEDIA NEXT; and the collaboration of Enisa, Annecy Festival and Weird Market.