The studio’s free Ecole Cartoucherie Animation Solidaire partners with Frog Box and Titrafilm on a new course to create a more diversified pool of dubbing actors - addressing underrepresentation in the sector - to meet current and anticipated demands.
In response to underrepresentation and lack of diversity in foreign language dubbing, Ecole Cartoucherie Animation Solidaire (ÉCAS), Frog Box production studio, and post-production house Titrafilm have teamed up to create a new course in dubbing to train professional actors for animation. TeamTO launched ÉCAS in 2018; the free animation school trains 3D character animators and storyboard artists (in partnership with House of Cool). The program was revealed in TeamTO’s press announcement at Annecy 2022.
"Over the past few years, there has been a general awareness and desire among producers, major platforms, and traditional broadcasters to integrate a greater representation of society," commented Guillaume Hellouin, president of ÉCAS and TeamTO. "Strong initiatives have been put into place to encourage more diversity in creative and technical teams. And while animation studios have been featuring ever more diverse characters in their stories, the industry is becoming increasingly aware of the low representation of cultural and social communities among voice actors."
Titrafilm animation post-production director Rodolphe Ploquin added, "Diversity is a fact; inclusion is a choice. We are confident that combined efforts will help us build a model of sustainable diversity and inclusion in the animation industry. We are also at the beginning of a narrative revolution that will allow beautiful and new stories to come from all walks of life, to be inspired and created by people of all backgrounds, and to be shared with the whole world. These advances will hopefully allow us to support this change across the industry."
"Bettering ourselves means offering people from underrepresented communities and social backgrounds more opportunities to be heard and, if necessary, to try and address the shortage of talent and skills through training programs," concluded Frog Box managing director Stanislas Renaudeau d'Arc.
The objective of the dubbing course is to recruit, cast, train, and group new dubbing actors providing an expanded pool of talent for the French and European markets. Ultimately the program aims to create a more diversified repertoire of dubbing actors to meet current and anticipated demands for diversity and representation.
Source: TeamTO
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
