The Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards have made the balance of its fifth edition, which ended on May 14th in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife. This has been an extraordinary edition that also served as a framework for the meetings of the Conference of Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities of Ibero-America (CAACI) and the Intergovernmental Council of Ibermedia. In addition, the event hosted the 5th Co-production and Business Forum, a meeting of Ibero-American public television, as well as the presentation of a new edition of the Quirino Ibero-American Animation White Paper, among other activities. The participation of around 40 national and supranational institutions and organizations, and more than 250 professionals from the audiovisual sector confirm the role of the Quirino Awards as a bridge between animation and the main people responsible for the design of public policies and the promotion of audiovisual in this region made up of the countries of Latin America, Spain, Portugal.
CAACI: meeting of authorities and signing of statement
The Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, as the host cinematographic authority, and Spain, as the country that heads the Ibermedia Program, were in charge of organizing the 41st Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities of Ibero-America (CAACI) and the 20th Extraordinary Meeting of the Intergovernmental Council of Ibermedia, in which representatives from Argentina (INCAA), Bolivia (ADECINE), Cuba (ICAIC), Ecuador (IFCI), El Salvador (Instituto de Cine de El Salvador), Spain (ICAA), Honduras (Honduras Film Institute), Panama (DICINE), Portugal (ICA), Dominican Republic (DGCine), Uruguay (INCAU), and Venezuela (CNAC) participated in person. In addition, both meetings had the virtual participation of institutional authorities from Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru. Among other initiatives adopted at the meeting, a statement in which 15 of the member states of the organization commit to work together in the development and establishment of objectives and actions in favor of gender equality for women and people with diverse sexual and gender orientation and identities was signed.
On the other hand, and with the aim of analyzing the current state and future of Ibero-American animation, as well as the ties between Europe and Ibero-America, the region’s authorities met with representatives of the European Film Agencies Directors (EFAD) in a worktable coordinated by José Luis Farias, director of the Quirino Awards. This meeting was attended by Jaime Tenorio (director of Audiovisuals, Cinema and Interactive Media of the Ministry of Culture of Colombia and executive secretary of the CAACI) and Luís Chaby Vaz (president of the Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual and EFAD), as well as associations of producers and managers of animation markets, among other representatives of the sector. Professional training, the protection and promotion of cultural diversity, the importance of animation in building audiences and the potential of the short film to promote international co-production were some of the topics addressed at the table.
OEI: cooperation and support of cultural industries agreement
On Friday, May 13th, the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) and the Quirino Awards signed a cooperation framework agreement in which they agreed to facilitate spaces for the generation of knowledge around the public policies of support for culture, contribute to the professionalization of the cultural and creative sectors, foster entrepreneurship in creative and cultural industries in Ibero-America, and support initiatives for the education and training of cultural professionals to improve cultural management, the management of tourism and other cultural industries.
“Proposals such as the Quirino Awards contribute to the professionalization of the cultural sector and encourage interaction between public and private agents, which is key to supporting cultural industries in Ibero-America,” said Mariano Jabonero, secretary of the OEI, during the signing of the agreement. According to Jabonero, “these industries must be promoted, since, according to studies such as ‘The contribution of culture to economic development in Ibero-America, and Evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on cultural and creative industries’, carried out by the OEI together with allied organizations such as UNESCO, ECLAC or the IDB, they show us the potential, but also the vulnerability of this sector, which represents between 2% and 4% of the region’s GDP”.
Co-production Forum: a space to boost business
Through the Co-production and Business Forum, the Quirino Awards have also become an exceptional platform to survey and investigate the animation sector of the 23 Ibero-American countries. This space for audiovisual industry professionals brought together nearly a hundred companies from 19 countries (Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Spain, USA, France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Dominican Republic and Uruguay) in its fifth edition. Over two days, more than 730 “one to one” meetings were coordinated, in which producers, distributors, sales agents, streaming platforms, television channels and institutions from all over the world participated. The list of participants included representatives from Adult Swim, Ánima, Animoon, Cartoon Italia, Barley Films, BigFatStudio, Blue Zoo, Cake Entertainment, Cartoon Saloon, Cinema Management Group, Cloth Cat Animation, Dandelooo, DeAPlaneta Entertainment, El Reino Infantil, Ikki Films, Indie Sales, Kidglove, KIKA, Lupus Films, LatinX in Animation, Miyu Distribution, Momakin, Nieko Play NTV, Pakapaka, PGS Entertainment, Production L’Unité Centrale, RTP, RTVE, Señal Colombia, Sesame Workshop, Showlab, Studio 100, The Walt Disney Company and Toonz Media, among other companies.
The 5th Co-production and Business Forum was organized with the collaboration of ICEX, Animation From Spain and PROEXCA.
Public TV round table: united by animation
Public television networks also had a space in the Quirino activities: a meeting to analyze the role they play in the development and promotion of Ibero-American animation. The meeting was attended by Yago Fandiño (director of Clan RTVE, Spain), Andrea Basilio (responsible for children’s and youth programs of RTP, Portugal), Silvana Orlandelli Uruburu (director of Señal Colombia, Colombia), Mariana Verónica Hidalgo (director of Programming of NTV, Chile) and Cielo Salviolo (director of the Pakapaka Channel, Argentina). With the support of RTVE, the meeting was defined by the participants as a necessary initiative to jointly reflect on programming policies and the purchase of content and co-production of the channels, as well as to analyze the development of animation projects.
“Our intention is to strengthen the roundtable of Ibero-American public televisions in the coming years and make it easier for more televisions to join us and get to know the animation that is taking place on both sides of the Atlantic. Today more than ever we must establish ourselves as a bridge between Latin America and Europe”, commented Yago Fandiño, director of children’s content at RTVE Corporation.
White Paper: radiography map of the sector
The Forum also served as a framework for the presentation of the new edition of the Quirino Ibero-American Animation White Paper: Phase II, dimension and figures of the sector, a publication that offers an exhaustive radiography of the animation sector in the countries that comprise the Ibero-American region.
Coordinated by Beatriz Bartolomé and written by Marta García, the research is based on the 180 feature films and series presented in the four editions of the Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards.
According to the study’s conclusions, Ibero-American animation is a fragmented sector, made up mainly of small and medium-sized companies that produce more animation content in series format than feature films. The majority of the contents are 2D series, made in co-production with some other Ibero-American country, financed with public funds and made with a team of less than 100 people. Brazil, Spain and Argentina are the main animation producers in the region, followed by Mexico, Chile and Colombia.
As for the financial data that the investigation throws up, the average budget for feature films is 1.26 million dollars, while in the case of series (1 season), it is 427,000 dollars.
On the other hand, also according to data collected in the investigation, the pandemic showed that animation is one of the industries with the greatest growth potential. In the region there are already experiences of working remotely and in a hybrid way, so there is a special opportunity to promote co-productions.
The study also concludes that Ibero-American animation is a young industry: around 50% of the companies that produced series and feature films in the last five years were created after 2010. Regarding the difficulties faced by the sector, those surveyed declare that the assembly of teams is the main obstacle identified, both for series and for feature films.The second edition of the Quirino Ibero-American Animation White Paper was promoted by DIBOOS and financed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports and by ICEX; both the book and its annexes are available for download at: https://premiosquirino.org/libro-blanco-segunda-fase/
Tenerife, an island for the meeting
More than 40 institutions from Europe and Latin America participated in the different activities organized within the framework of the Quirino Awards. The list is extensive and includes representatives of the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), ICEX Spain Export and Investment, Ibermedia Program, Ibero-American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers (FIPCA), Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Executive Secretariat of Ibero-American Cinematography (SECI), Cabildo de Tenerife, Tenerife Film Commission, Canarian Institute for Cultural Development, PROEXCA – Canarian Society for Economic Development, Entity of Rights Management of Audiovisual Producers EGEDA, Spanish Federation of Associations of Animation Producers (DIBOOS), PromPerú, ANIMAR Cluster, APA CORDOBA-Association of Animation Producers, EICTV Cuba, and Spanish Screenings, among other institutions.
Italy, guest country of the CAACI and the Ibermedia Program, was present at these activities with representatives of the General Directorate for Cinema, ANICA – Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive Digitali and Cartoon Italia – Associazione Nazionale dei produttori di animazione.
With the Quirino Awards, Tenerife reinforces its position as a meeting point for Ibero-American animation, coinciding with the great moment that the island’s audiovisual industry is going through. According to data presented by the Tenerife Film Commission, audiovisual productions in Tenerife broke records in number and in economic investment in 2021. With 10 series and a completed feature film, economic investment in animation exceeded 15 million euros last year, boosted by tax incentives offered by the island.
About the Quirino Awards
Created in 2018 by a group of professionals from Latin America and Spain, the Quirino Awards seek to value talent and the Ibero-American animation industry, in addition to promoting professional networks and contributing to the construction of an Ibero-American animation market.
The awards were named in honor of the creator of the first animated feature film in history, the Italian-Argentine Quirino Cristiani, who in 1917 directed “El Apóstol”. It is an Argentine production in which 58,000 drawings made by hand and shot in 35 mm were used.
The initiative has the main sponsorship of the Cabildo de Tenerife through Turismo de Tenerife and the Tenerife Film Commission; the sponsorship of the City Council of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, ICEX Spain Export and Investment, Government of the Canary Islands, Canary Islands Institute for Cultural Development, European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), Promotur Turismo Canarias, Canary Islands Film, ICAA and PROEXCA; the collaboration of CAACI, Ibermedia Program, Acción Cultural Española, RTVE, WELAW, La Liga de la Animación Iberoamericana (the Ibero-American Animation League), Retina Latina, Filmin, Multicines Tenerife, Paraninfo ULL, Casa de América and Culturamanía; and the support of DIBOOS, SAVE, Pixelatl, Animation! Ventana Sur, Weird Market, La Mesta, Pantalla, Clúster Audiovisual de Canarias and Annecy Festival; as well as that from the associations APA – Association of Animation Production Companies of Córdoba Argentina; Animar Cluster – Argentine Cluster of Animation & VFX; ABCA – Brazilian Association of Animation Cinema; Animachi Chile; Bolivian Animators Network; GEMA Colombia – Animation Business Group; Animation Costa Rica; Ecuadorian Animators Guild; ACDMX – Association of Digital Creatives of Mexico; Paraguay Animation; Peru Animation and Casa da Animação of Portugal.
