The market for animation filmmaking has expanded during the pandemic and at least one HK funding agency is throwing its weight behind such endeavors, writes Mathew Scott.
Tommy Ng’s Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum-awarded directorial venture Another World is about a little girl’s adventures in the company of a ghost. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
While COVID-19 caused filmmaking activity to come to a standstill across much of the world, Hong Kong filmmaker Tommy Ng Kai-chung’s work routine remained largely unaffected. Animators such as Ng are used to working tucked away and mostly alone, or with small teams. Also, they’re used to adapting to the ever-changing needs of the market.
“The outbreak of the virus changed the market a lot,” explains Ng. “The restriction on gatherings has made live-action film hard to do. But, in consequence, the industry is more interested in cooperating with animators. The pipeline used to create animation is so flexible that we can finish the product at home.
“At the moment my team is working on a music video for a US record company, so I would say that if anything the animation industry has expanded due to the COVID-19 outbreaks. I hope that this has a long-term effect and lets animation merge more into the mainstream.”
A number of Hong Kong’s creative initiatives have also adapted to the changing times, taking their programs online to ensure that a constant stream of content continues to feed both the entertainment industry, and its audience.
The Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) is a case in point.
Animation filmmaker Tommy Ng hopes his film Another World will give food for thought to not just kids but mature people as well. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Online awards
Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival, the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) — which usually coincides with the festival — was moved online and still able to support and stage HAF.
In the past this film project market has helped the likes of director Teddy Chen Tak-sum’s award-winning blockbuster Bodyguards and Assassins and South Korean Oscar-winner Bong Joon-ho’s thriller Mother get off the ground.
By design, HAF connects people behind potential film productions with financiers, producers, bankers, distributors and buyers. The online version — which ran from Aug 26 to 28 — meant face-to-face meetings were shelved this year but otherwise the program pretty much continued the same way as its past 18 editions.
Avid Liongoren’s project, Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah vs the Amazonistas of Planet X, which recieved a HAF award this year, is about a gender-swapping superhero in search of love. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Avid Liongoren’s project, Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah vs the Amazonistas of Planet X, which recieved a HAF award this year, is about a gender-swapping superhero in search of love. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Ng’s Another World was one of two animated productions accepted into a HAF program that this year took in 32 projects overall. The film began as a 14-minute animated short that won awards from Japan’s DigiCon6 Asia and New York’s CineCina festivals. Taken from the work of Japanese author Saijo Naka, Another World is the story of a ghost helping a little girl to correct a terrible wrong.
“We hope that we can create an animation that’s not only for kids,” says Ng. “The message that we want to bring out is for adults who have faced dilemma in their lives and experienced certain bad situations. We hope they feel calm and relieved after watching our movie and forgive themselves and others.”
Ng says the restrictions on social mobility this year have meant fewer distractions for his Five Point Creations team — and a firmer commitment to a project he hopes will reach a wide international audience with support from HAF.
Among the two animation films picked up for support by Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum this year is Another World, directed by Tommy Ng and produced by Polly Yeung. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
“HAF is the perfect platform for filmmakers like us to directly face the international market,” he says. “It is the best way for us to connect to the film industry from other countries. We will know better about their markets in order to improve our stories and marketing strategies.”
Another World was one of two productions to receive HK$100,000 (US$12,900) from this year’s HAF Fiction Awards, presented by Create Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Film Development Fund, and HAF.
HAF director Jacob Wong said presenting this year’s event had been an “unprecedented challenge” but it was “vital that we continue to support and encourage filmmakers to tell their stories if we hope to understand the world we live in.”
Philippine animator Avid Liongoren’s film Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah vs the Amazonistas of Planet X is being backed by Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Philippines calling
Philippine animator Avid Liongoren had his manga-inspired Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah vs the Amazonistas of Planet X involved in the HAF program after it picked up an award at South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantasy Film Festival.
Like Ng, Liongoren too spent the past six months mostly in front of his computer — and mostly alone.
“I’ve had to wash clothes by hand and learn how to cook,” says Liongoren. “But that also has made me more disciplined with work. We are lucky because we have been able to adapt. I disassembled my studio, brought the computers home and we’ve all been working from home. That put a good system in place.”
Artwork by animation artist Bonnie Pang who illustrates children’s books besides creating a popular cartoon series, IT Guy & ART Girl. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Even as work on Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah vs the Amazonistas of Planet X — about a gender-swapping superhero in search of love — continued in full swing, Liongoren’s Rocketsheep Studio produced a film — a cat-dog love tale called You Animal. It is ready for release via what he will only reveal is a “major platform.”
“It has been great being accepted at HAF because animation is so hard to produce, especially in my country,” says Liongoren. “We are more known for labor than creation. But my small studio is trying to create. HAF is a good platform for co-production. I know it’s a good market. Getting into HAF gave me confidence.”
Hong Kong animation artist and children’s book illustrator Bonnie Pang says Hong Kong Arts Centre’s ongoing master classes for comics creators help artists connect with the industry. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Back to class
Like HAF, the Hong Kong Arts Centre and Comix Home Base-led “FEVER — Comics Master Class” has been able to chart its way around the pandemic, and is currently taking 15 artists on a three-month exploration inside the world of comics.
The hope is that by the end of the program tutorials from the likes of artists and filmmakers such as MakSiu-fung (Infidelity) and Derek Kwok (Gallants) will help these artists have their comic creations published.
“What makes this unique is the connections to HKAC and the industry,” says local illustrator Bonnie Pang. “I have seen students from past master classes grow into professional and popular comic artists.”
Hong Kong animation artist Bonnie Pang says her work was not affected much by the pandemic, except there were fewer opportunities in the commercial field. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Pang’s work in the past has included illustrations for children’s books, public art projects and her own comics, including the cartoon series IT Guy & ART Girl, which reflects aspects of her own life with her boyfriend.
As has been the case with Ng and Liongoren, it’s fair to say Pang too has been able to adapt to recent restrictions easier than some — due to the very nature of her work.
“Luckily my work is not affected much so far. Most of my jobs can be done without meeting the client, I just need to send the digital files,” says Pang. “The negatives usually involve local opportunities and events — commercial clients such as malls tend of cut back advertising spending, and many art events have been cancelled or postponed. I don’t know how long this will last, and hope things can return to normal soon.”
