The boost to the sector also comes from reinforcing training with the launch of the 3Doubles Campus
Tenerife is no stranger to major changes in the animation industry. The arrival of platforms has changed the way the public consumes content, the outbreak of AI and the end of the post-pandemic hyperproduction bubble have all been decisive factors in the definition of a new scenario.
‘Messi and the Giants’ trailer with production service by Atlantis Animation
The Canary Islands have taken on a crucial role: their tax incentives and mechanisms, such as the ZEC (Canary Islands Special Trade Zone), are enabling the production of high-quality, cost-efficient projects.
Tenerife has become a very attractive territory, both for these projects and for the artists who develop them, also thanks to the excellent quality of life offered on the island.
Furthermore, the animation industry is making a great effort to adapt to the new technological demands of production at a time when companies are tending to diversify their activities and, in some cases, are seeking to grow through co-production, the creation of their own IPs or a commitment to real image.
Another boost comes from reinforcing training. As of October, students from Tenerife and the rest of the world will be able to train as professionals in this industry thanks to the 3Doubles Campus https://3doublescampus.com/, which will allow specialisation and attract top talent to contribute to the industry’s growth.
The vast majority of the productions in which Tenerife-based animation companies are involved are globally orientated. Among the most recent is the trailer for the series Messi and the Giants, which involved the services of the studio Atlantis Animation. https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/tenerifefilm/professional-directory/in-efecto/
Following its arrival in Tenerife in 2019, Atlantis quickly established itself as a boutique studio specialising in the production of high-quality 3D animation series.
“Our customised approach allows us to find technological, artistic and financial solutions that turn ideas into realities. Although we originate from France, we already consider ourselves a fully Spanish studio and player in the Canary Islands industry”, says Raúl Carbó, CEO and co-founder of the company, together with Catherine Macresy and Dan Creteur.
Messi and the Giants could be a milestone for the company. “This is a project we’ve been involved in since its inception with Sony Music Spain, and thanks to its configuration with Sony Pictures Television Kids and Leo Messi Management, it has the potential for global visibility”, he says.
“Messi and the Giants is in the development process right now. Our partner and creative director, Dan Creteur, is closely involved in this narrative and visual phase”, explains Carbó.
Atlantis Animation’s work in Messi and the Giants involved heading up all its creative aspects, from the narrative to the design of the characters, sets, environments, and colours – everything related to graphic development and artistic treatment.
This, he says, “is a very important part of the project, as visual codes are vital in a project aimed at children and teenagers”.
Attracting international investors
Superklaus, a feature film co-produced by 3Doubles Producciones that is premiering in the cinema.
Beyond its involvement in the launch of 3Doubles Campus , 3Doubles https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/tenerifefilm/professional-directory/3-doubles-producciones/ is currently involved in the incorporation of international companies as shareholders, a move that confirms the capacity of Tenerife-based animation to attract the interest of foreign investors. In the case of 3Doubles, it has incorporated Viva Kids and Studio 100 Media as shareholders.
“In our case, [the incorporation of new shareholders] has meant finding stability in the current situation, as the audiovisual industry is not going through a good time now that everything is being readjusted after the arrival and initial boom of the platforms”, explains Darío Sánchez, founder and CEO of 3Doubles.
“This also allows us to tackle bigger budgets and higher quality feature films, something only possible thanks to the talent shown by the professionals working at the company”.
“In addition, the three [shareholder groups] complement each other and cover the entire spectrum of the industry, which has led us to reorganise our understanding and approach to the business, each helping to achieve the other’s goals”.
“A big change on our part is that we were previously a service company (although we participated in some productions on a minority basis), but now we have a vocation as producers, as well as continuing to provide services”, he explains.
This year, 3Doubles, Capitán Araña and Groupe PVP will release the Spain-Canada co-production SuperKlaus. 3Doubles is also currently producing the film Heidi, el rescate del lince, in co-production with Studio 100 and Belgium, which will premiere at the end of summer 2025. In a couple of months, 3Doubles will also start the production of Flamingo Flamenco, its next major commitment, together with Studio 100, VIVA Kids and Ireland.
Superklaus, due to premiere in cinemas on 5 December, is already the company’s biggest sales success to date, having already agreed to pre-sales in more than 70 territories through the agency Pink Parrot.
For 3Doubles, Superklaus also marks the first co-production in which they are majority producers (along with Capitán Araña).
The company has been growing year on year since it was set up in 2017. Momonsters was its first major project, although Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow marked the start of a new phase.
“In that production, we began to glimpse the company’s potential, its pipeline and the talent we had, which allowed us to make Giants of La Mancha and, subsequently, 200% Wolf”.
“For the former, 3Doubles arranged the grooming, rigging, layout and animation of the whole film, although the main challenges were at the level of grooming, pipeline in terms of integration with other studios, as well as our quality Check/techAnim process, which we are still fine-tuning”.
“200% Wolf, in which Flying Bark (Australia) and Atlantika Films (Spain) are the producers, demonstrated the great talent of Spanish animation. The result can be seen in cinemas worldwide later this year”, he says.
“As regards Norbert, by Capitán Araña and Aquí y Allí Films (Spain), we have arranged the whole image generation, from modelling to compositing, where the main big challenge has been the integration of 2D and 3D, as well as the rig and animation of such peculiar characters”.
“Both projects have allowed us to progress in our pipeline to tackle the next productions we have in the pipeline, such as Rock Bottom, a co-production with Mexico, and Heidi, el rescate del Lince”.
Squirrel Media, incorporating Mondo TV Studios
Another new investor incorporated in the island’s animation business is the acquisition of Mondo TV Studios https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/tenerifefilm/professional-directory/mondo-tv/ by Squirrel Media, Spain’s leading media-tech group.
“We are in an even stronger position to continue growing”, says Amélie Houpline, the studio’s General Manager.
“We are working on upcoming audiovisual titles, focusing on the quality of the projects to be developed, both in co-production and service”, she says.
Mondo TV Studios was set up in Tenerife in 2016. Since then, it has grown significantly. At first, it focused on setting up the necessary facilities and adapting its operation to the local environment. Over time, it has expanded its technological and human capabilities.
Over the years, the company has invested in modern infrastructure and worked closely with local, national, and European talent, which it values as key to its development.
“In addition, the advantages offered by Tenerife, such as tax incentives and a favourable environment for audiovisual production, have greatly boosted our growth. Today, we are proud to be able to handle international projects from here and continue to expand, always looking for new ways to improve and grow in the industry”, explains Houpline.
“The growth of the animation industry on the island can hail from several avenues”, she says. “Tax incentives and institutional support are key factors in attracting more international production companies. In addition, the training and development of local talent is essential to maintain sustainable growth, ensuring that there are skilled professionals to carry out the projects that come in”, she adds.
Exploring new business avenues
The Day The Earth Blew Up, a feature film by Warner Bros with production service by Tomavisión.
Further evidence of the worldwide importance of animation made in Tenerife is the activity of Tomavision https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/tenerifefilm/professional-directory/tomavision-studio/ , which has worked on internationally renowned projects such as Space Jam, a New Legacy, a Warner Bros. American blockbuster that grossed 167.7 million dollars at the box office; Merry Little Batman, a Warner Bros. Christmas special that can also be seen on Amazon Prime, and The Day The Earth Blew Up, again with WB, about Looney Tunes, which premiered this year in Annecy. All of these are traditional animation productions.
Recently, Tomavision has also worked on its first adult series with the USA – Titmouse’s The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy – the first season of which is also available on Amazon Prime. A zany comedy about aliens, it features the voices of celebrities such as Stephanie Hsu, Natasha Lyonne and Kieran Culkin.
Tomavision was also involved in the reboot of one of the international preschool IP stars, brought to 3D for the first time and available on Nickelodeon. The studio completed 26 episodes of animation, part of the FX and 52 episodes of lighting for the first season, on which it served as a service provider for 19 months.
In addition, between 2022 and 2024, it had a team of 46 people working on two 2D upper preschool series available on US public broadcaster PBS, completing 26 storyboards, design, Bgs and LO for 80 episodes and animation of 40 episodes.
It is currently finishing Caterella, part of Storm Films‘ Furry Tales film saga, which will premiere in cinemas this October.
The Tomavision team in Tenerife fluctuates depending on the number of active projects. It currently has around 40 people but has worked on as many as six projects simultaneously with more than 150 employees.
One of Tomavision’s milestones since opening its doors in Tenerife in 2017 is the co-production with China of all 104 episodes of the series Emmy & Gooroo in 2D, which was then taken to 3D and traditional loose brushstroke animation.
For the blockbuster Space Jam, Tomavision put together a very specific clean up, toning and organic effects team and, in the case of Caterella, has for the first time taken on a full CGI pipeline, from design to final render, completing the studio’s adaptation to accommodate full 3D animation services.
“Looking to the future, Tomavision is exploring new business avenues such as co-production, its expansion into real image, which is also very powerful in the islands, and continuing to offer quality services, covering all targets and styles and focusing a lot on adult or family content, which artists really enjoy”, says Blanca Vivas Pickman, Director of Commercial Operations.
Enriching the local productive fabric
“Tax incentives have contributed to a solid but not local offer. They are almost all foreign companies with new headquarters in the Canary Islands, which is very good for enriching the local productive fabric”, says Alejandro Gil, director of the TV advertising and branding company La Créme Films. https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/tenerifefilm/professional-directory/la-creme-films/
“The next step would perhaps be to train the people of the islands well”, adds the director of the Tenerife-based company, whose clients include brands such as RTVC, Donuts and TVE.
Production of audiovisual content for Tork
The animation work of the company Glaboo https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/tenerifefilm/professional-directory/glaboo-studios/ , whose clients come entirely from the international market, is carried out in the advertising field with prestigious brands. It has an audiovisual content factory for Tork, the world’s leading brand in professional hygiene. From its office in Tenerife, it creates both images and advertising videos that the brand uses globally. These include 3D animations, video commercials for advertising platforms in a wide variety of formats. Glaboo estimates that its turnover will increase in 2024 by more than 35% and expects to increase this figure again significantly next year.
Glaboo has an agreement with the University of La Laguna, which nurtures young talent. “40% of our current workforce come from that university”, says Amit Sadhwani, the company’s Managing Director.
“The work we did to obtain the Great Place to Work certification is driven by our need to grow, as we want to attract the best local talent to keep them from leaving the island, and we can only do that by striving to be different and providing a supportive and friendly working environment”, he says.
According to Sadhwani, “we have invested in very comfortable and modern offices, an attractive remuneration policy and incentives for productivity and achieving overall company goals that make all employees part of our success”.
Kayara, 3D animation for distributor CMG
Feature film Kayara with service by B-Water Animation Studios
B-Water Animation Studios https://www.webtenerife.co.uk/tenerifefilm/professional-directory/b-water-studios/ currently has a team of 70 people in Tenerife, a figure that will increase over the coming months.
“We are at one of the busiest times in recent years”, says Angélica García, Director of B-Water Animation Studios, a company with a long international track record that arrived on the island in 2018.
Among B-Water’s main achievements is the production of the premium series Treasure Trekkers, over two seasons, and a TV movie, where it developed the first global hybrid pipeline combining Maya and Unity to create a series where each episode took place on different parts of the earth and even on the moon.
The company is also behind the award-winning German series Pettson & Findus, one of the first productions made entirely in Blender, at a time when Blender was just beginning to prove minimally stable enough to sustain the production of a 3D series with a 2D look.
Last year, it overcame the major challenge of making the series of four 22-minute episodes Ghosts of Ruin in just nine months, taking on everything from the search for the visual look to the music and sound design. For this series, B-Water Animation Studios again turned to Blender and the result was a product with its own personality that has just been released on the Gala film platform.
The studio is currently finishing the film Kayara, a 3D animation, entirely made in Blender, very close to realism, with the US distributor CMG as the client.
“CMG has been delighted with the product, as it has exceeded expectations, after being one of the productions that was halted because of the pandemic”, says García.
At the same time, B-Water Animation Studios has a series in the pipeline for the Europa Park amusement park in Germany, together with the German TV channel Kika, which is expected to be a very successful production in terms of visual development and content. For Europa Park, this is one of its first forays into converting a section of the park into an animated series, which has led B-Water Animation Studios to work “with great care” to develop a product in accordance with the client’s standards.
“In addition”, says García, “we are very excited because we are once again producing in traditional 2D, one of the techniques we had not had the opportunity to work with in Tenerife, but we enjoy it and we have a good track record to back us up”.
Another innovative venture of B-Water Animation Studios is a fiction film in real image mixed with hyper-realistic animation. “This project will require us to carry out in-depth research into the most advanced and innovative techniques available at the moment in order to meet the client’s expectations within the budget”.
With the feature film Golu, “B-Water Animation Studios aims to make a high-quality production with a budget of 25 million euros, where we will have 16 million euros available to achieve integration, visual effects and quality animation, relying on new technologies, committing to different ways of doing things and employing creativity not only to generate visually attractive elements, but results that surprise”, she points out.
Challenges and strengths
Despite spectacular growth, Tenerife’s animation companies are facing new challenges.
According to Darío Sánchez, “the current state of animation in Tenerife is good. But, out of the corner of our eye, we are looking at the situation that has arisen in the Basque Country with regard to tax incentives, which has begun to have a minimal impact in the Canary Islands”.
To have a greater impact, the tax incentives should allow for “faster and more timely repayments, which respond to the expectations generated by the client. Competition with other countries, and even with other regions, is increasing. It is important not to lose focus”, says Angélica García.
However, she is optimistic about the future, confident in the sector’s strength, and expecting prolonged and sustained growth.
“The growth of the industry in the islands can stem from co-production and the creation of our own content or from joining forces with renowned foreign companies, knowing that we already offer premium quality”, says Blanca Vivas Pickman.
“In the Canary Islands, there is talent for animation production, and if we continue to work well, in the medium term, it will be possible to attract more projects, of higher quality and visibility, to the point of producing series and IPs that are born in the islands”, says Raúl Carbó.
