Following two decades of demographic-oriented and niche-targeted content, shows that appeal to the entire family have been trending for the past few years. Buyers—and particularly SVODs (Subscription Video on Demand)—are increasingly going after co-viewing audiences to grow their subscriber base. Disney+ put a stake in the ground when it launched in late 2019, declaring that all content on its platform would be appropriate for any member of a household.
With the help of a robust back-catalogue of content, this strategy appears to be proving successful—the streamer pulled in more than 53 million new subscribers in the first six months (by comparison, HBO Max and Apple TV+ respectively attracted 37,3 million subscribers and 33 million subscribers in that same initial
six-month timeframe). Disney+’s growth was certainly catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced families to stay at home; where many gravitated towards content they could watch together.
Many of the most popular TV shows are family-friendly, which supports a trend in which parents watch “classics” from their youth and share them with their kids. TV shows don’t really ever go o_ the air, even when they’re cancelled which is why producers and
broadcasters that are on the hunt for a hit should be thinking long term—rather tan focusing on how many viewers tune in for a premiere. By assuring a broader audience appeal, you improve your chances of producing a hit that will go sustain many years to come.
Many of the most viewed shows also have lengthy episodes, which contradicts the current trend of shorter seasons. In conclusion, TV and streaming have become another way to spend time with family, as opposed to binge-watching shows alone. The current global environment has fostered the idea of children and parents sharing their screen-time and enjoying shows, together.
I’m glad to say both my parents are alive and we have a good relationship. When I was six, my mom had an aneurysm rupture. I was faced with having to say goodbye to her since the part of her brain that needed surgery had only a 10% chance of not having permanent damage, and there was a good chance that she could die. This had a huge impact on me. At the same time, my father was an alcoholic most of his life. I’m extremely glad to say that the operation went perfectly fine and my dad stopped drinking over 10 years ago, but these two events were the inspiration to ask myself: “What would’ve happened if my mom had died in that operation and my dad never stopped drinking?” This created a story based on a character with a grudge who is in search of true forgiveness, where he could understand his father so well he felt there was nothing to forgive anymore.
How long did it take you to finish your short?
[The drawing] with the two fruit guys [below] was a drawing I made in 2015. You can see the anatomy is pretty awful. I didn’t pick up a pencil until I was 19, and I’m currently 26. I went through my whole college education convincing myself that, since I was studying for a 3D animation degree, I didn’t need to learn how to draw. It was just a coping or defense mechanism to avoid admitting that I was terrible at drawing. I was afraid of the amount of time and hard work it would take to get better at it.
And then in 2017 I got to the end of my college education and I was faced with a choice of what should I do for my graduation short film. But to me this was a bigger question: “What am I truly passionate about?”
The answer was frame by frame 2D animation! Like the thousands of hours of it that I’ve watched my whole life this was my one true passion. The only reason that I wasn’t doing it, was because I was terrified of trying to learn how to draw, and failing. But I took a chance and decided to bite the bullet and dedicate the best part of three years to getting better at this craft. It was a pretty painful process but I never looked back. [The drawing in Memories for Sale] is the result. And I can tell you without a doubt, right now working in 2D animation, and seeing the audience’s reaction to my short, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life!
So my message to anyone who wants to get into 2D or 3D or stop motion or whatever is your calling… get to it! Yes, it’s going to be hard. Yes, you’re going to fail sometimes, many times! But after failing you’ll realize something magical: nothing happens when you fail, you just learn and you get better. And once you’ve acquired knowledge or a skill then no one can take it away from you. It’s a wonderful feeling, and now, I am addicted to it so I want to keep pushing hard cause I still have lots to learn!
Source: Kidscreen Magazine
Date: January 28-2021
Effects on Costa Rica exports.
The talent and creativity that makes “Ticos” unique, a constant strive towards excellence, the ongoing search for high-quality and an added value of more than 500 companies are essential components of Costa Rica’s digital animation, audiovisual production, cinema and radio offer.
According to the recent study “Profile of digital animation in Costa Rica”, carried out by the Export Promotion Agency of Costa Rica
(PROCOMER), the digital animation sector has a strong orientation towards the export of its services. 42% of Costa Rican companies sell abroad and 40% of their total income comes from exports alone. The United States, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom stand out as the main markets for their productions, a list that is complemented by 18 more countries.
The sector is also composed by companies with experience in co-production of digital animation projects with partners in Ireland,
Denmark, Czech Republic, Uruguay and Colombia; as well as world-class content distributors such as Disney, Cartoon Network, Discovery, and Dreamworks TV.
We keep gaining international experience in leading markets around the world, strengthening the development of the Costa Rican animation sector.