SPANISH ANIMATION, MUCH MORE THAN A NOMINATION

When the list of nominees for the 35th edition of the Goya Awards was announced this past Monday, January 18, it has drawn the attention of the press that in the best animated film section there was only one candidate, a circumstance that, although not common, is also not It is the first time this has happened in the history of the Goya Awards.

This situation is specific and practically anecdotal, since at least 4 animated feature films have been released during 2020: “La gallina Turuleca” (Filmax), nominated for the Goya Awards, “Animal Crackers” (Blue Dream Studios Spain) released on Netflix , “Lur eta Amets” (Lotura Films) and “Josep” (Imagic TV), a French co-production that was nominated at the Cannes Festival for best animated film and won the award for Best European Animated Film at the EFA. All of them are Spanish productions, although except for “La gallina Turuleca” they were not in the initial nominations due to external or circumstantial circumstances, and in some cases, bureaucratic ones.

The present of the sector

Spanish animation is experiencing a particularly productive moment, as can be seen with the at least seven feature films in production that are expected to be released during 2021. And there is no doubt that the Spanish animation sector is going through a great moment both at the level of creative as well as commercial. Proof of this is the national and international success of feature films such as “Klaus” and “Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles”, both released in 2019, as well as the batch of short films and animated series that are produced and released every year both inside and outside our borders.

Another example of the excellent health enjoyed by the animation sector in Spain can be seen in the resolution of the latest ICAA call for general aid for the production of project-based feature films, where five of the selected projects belong to the animation sector. and three of them top the scoring classification, in a clear example of the quality and viability of the animation projects presented.

It must be remembered that animation, despite being only 4% of the total Spanish audiovisual companies, generates 20% of employment in the sector, employing nearly 8,000 professionals (of which 32% is female employment) and that around 70% of The turnover of Spanish companies dedicated to animation comes from abroad.

Changes necessary for a promising future

One aspect that should be analyzed is the sector's historical demand not to set the same rules for live image and animated products. The lack of specific regulations that include differential points affects all phases of an animation product, including its journey through festivals and awards. Animated feature films have longer production times and much higher budgets. All of this makes obtaining financing in Spain for a production of an animated feature film a much more complicated process, which is why many projects need to look for co-producers outside of Spain and they lose percentage of ownership of the work with the entry of foreign financing. Many times the Spanish producer becomes a minority or even, in the worst case, the total loss of Spanish nationality by not exceeding the 20% of Spanish participation, even though the majority is produced by Spanish professionals.

This has been the case of some of the animated films that have not been able to be candidates for the Goya this year. Although the Academy has made the bases more flexible to cover the specificities that the outbreak of Covid19 has caused in the film sector, there have still been procedures dependent on other public institutions that have prevented some feature films from participating, considering them ineligible or not granting the Spanish nationality according to current regulations.

Talent on the rise

Meanwhile, in this edition of the Goya Awards it is worth highlighting and not losing sight of the abundant harvest of high-quality animated short films that have been presented this year. The passage from the shortlist of 10 short candidates to the selection of the 4 nominees for the 35th edition of the Goya Awards has been close and excitement is guaranteed until the end of the competition between the four finalists: “Blue and Malone, cases impossible”, by Abraham López, “Homeless Home” by Alberto Vázquez, “Metamorfosis”, by Carla Pereira and Juan Fran Jacinto and “Vuela”, by Carlos Gómez-Mira Sagrado.