|
|
ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.6 - SEPTEMBER 2000
Jewish RabbitsTsvika Oren Speaks with 3 Prominent Israeli Animators
Noam Meshulam
According to Meshulam it was a calculated risk. Financially, he knew, he would at best break even, most likely ending up in the red. Still, pulling it off against all odds would be extremely valuable for the studio's reputation. In addition, working internationally has been every Israeli studio's dream. These reasons justified the tremendous effort -- wild drives up narrow mountainous roads on stormy nights included! "It proved to be an important step toward our getting into the international animation market," reflects Noam Meshulam. "An arduous process which takes years of marketing your studio, initiating projects, constantly supplying proof of your creativity and recent achievements at important markets such as MIP... Thus, inch by inch, you get in and become recognized, so that when you have a good project to offer you can gain access to the right people".
Noam Meshulam studied animation at Gobelins in Paris, under the late Pierre Ayma. After graduating in 1985 he opened a small studio in his father's house in old Jaffa; a beautiful structure which was built in the 19th century and designed to serve as the Italian embassy to the Ottoman Empire. Careful interior changes were made to adapt it to the needs of the major animation studio it now houses. With a core staff of 15 and dozens of experienced artists joining in when there is need, Pitchi Poy Studio is, at long last, treading on solid ground. The studio is now busy with Israel's 13-minute episode of the international Animated Tales of the World series, entitled "King Solomon." Recently they completed the 26-minute TV special Children of Chelm, a Canada-Israel co-production likely to be developed into a series.
Pitchi Poy's many projects include the developing of two pilots. One is a co-production with TelAd TV and the other is Dumplings in Space, an international series, which is scheduled to start production in September. And, naturally, commercials. "Commercials are the main source of income for an animation house here," says Meshulam. "The budget per second is usually $1,000 to $2,000. When animation and backgrounds are limited it can drop down to $500. A studio can manage with such budgets. The problem is one can't count on a regular flow of commercials. That's what makes series work so important. It's a studio's bread and butter." Hanan Kaminski
Nowadays Kaminski can allow himself this light-hearted attitude toward the hardships of making animated commercials in Israel. He enjoys the unique position of being a successful international feature animation director. Living in Tel Aviv, he travels to work on commercial flights. His two features, The Real Sclemiel (1995) and Pettson & Findus (1999), were made in Hungary, Sweden, Belgium, Canada, Estonia and Bulgaria. Recently added to his flight route is the U.K., where he is working with legendary TVC, London-based producer John Coates (Yellow Submarine) on The Fantastic Flying Journey series. Hanan Albert Kaminski was born and raised in Belgium, where he joined a socialist Zionist youth movement and moved to a kibbutz in Israel when he turned 18. Graduating Bezalel Academy of Art & Design with a degree from the graphic design department in 1977, he then went to work for IBA national TV. He then received his post-graduate in animation at the Royal Academy, Amsterdam, in 1980. Opening a studio in Jerusalem, he employed up to 10 artists doing commercials, Sesame Street segments, TV spots, etc. Later, after moving the studio to Tel Aviv, he pioneered the trend of kids straight to video in Israel by producing musical variety shows by mixing animation and live-action. Over one million copies of these shows have been sold to date. "In 1985 I started developing a script based on Bashevis-Zinger's stories of Chelm, the town of fools," recounts Kaminski. "In '93 I closed down the studio, put a few drawings I did for Chelm in a big cardboard file and went to do the rounds in Europe, in search of partners and backing for a Chelm feature. What happened next was quite a Cinderella story. In contrast to the sceptic, at times mean, response the project got in Israel, Europe seemed to be eagerly awaiting my arrival. With generous budgets and enthusiastic professionals we got into production and ended up building a studio in Budapest, employing 100 to 300 artists in a Germany-France-Hungary production. Completing the 77 minute feature in '95, the studio was already busy with another feature and a lot of commissioned work." In '96 Kaminski was invited to co-direct, with veteran director-illustrator Yossi Abolafya, the new animation unit at Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem. Teaching in Israel while working internationally gives Kaminski a special observation post over Israeli animation: "Israel is overflowing with talent. Many creative people are keen on getting into animation. Quite many innovative young artists are testing Internet and computer possibilities. The main obstacle they all face is that of immature -- animation wise -- clients and commissioning editors. With more knowledgable ones who understand the medium there is no telling how far Iaraeli animation artists will get." This explains Kaminski's plans to do his next feature, now in development, in Israel.
|
||||||||||
1 | 2  |
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.