South Africa-based Triggerfish Animation Studios, along with the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and The Walt Disney Company, recently announced the creation of the Triggerfish Story Lab, with the goal of helping to grow the animation industry in continental Africa.

Triggerfish will be investing as much as US$3.5 million over three years in the Story Lab, which is designed to give Africa’s top storytellers and filmmakers the chance to develop their ideas alongside Triggerfish’s global network of experts and mentors. Participants in the program will be selected not only on the creative and commercial merits of their concept, but also their track record of production. Their concepts may be developed as episodic TV or as a feature film.

The top entries (with a minimum of six) will go before Triggergfish’s panel of experts, which consists of both local and international filmmakers and storytellers, including British animator and director Peter Lord, co-founder of Aardman Animations (Chicken Run) and Hollywood screenwriter Jonathan Roberts (The Lion King), as well as development executives from both Disney and Triggerfish, among others. The selected Story Lab candidates will also participate in a two-week mentoring program with key studio and television executives at Disney’s global headquarters in Burbank, California.

“The Story Lab will be a great catalyst for African creativity on the global stage,” Triggerfish CEO Stuart Forrest said. “We look forward to opening up the Triggerfish production platform and our networks to the continent’s top creative talent.”

For each phase of the development process, Triggerfish will provide financial backing, workspace, and guidance by internal and international mentors and consultants, as well as a route to market via relationships with Hollywood agency William Morris Endeavor.

“We are excited to be supporting Triggerfish on this innovative project,” says Christine Service, senior VP and country manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa. “We believe the Story Lab provides a unique opportunity to discover this continent’s next generation of storytellers.”

Triggerfish’s films, Adventures in Zambezia (2012) and Khumba (2013), have been distributed in over 150 countries and dubbed into over 27 languages.

Applications for the Triggerfish Story Lab will be accepted from all writing and creative disciplines, not just from experienced film and TV screenwriters. Applicants to the program must be over 21 years of age and either African citizens or permanent residents, and entries must be in English. Entries close August 31, 2015. For more information, visit the Triggerfish website.
http://triggerfishstudios.com/en/index.php/story-lab/

Source: http://www.fevatv.com/animation-house-triggerfish-launches-african-story-lab-read/

http://www.kenyanpoet.com/2015/07/16/triggerfish-story-lab-calling-on-african-writers-directors-for-african-animation-concepts/

Interesting.