Guillaume Hellouin: Last News

Jamie Lang French indie animation powerhouse TeamTO, which announced insolvency in September, has accepted an acquisition bid from Milan-based Riva Studios, which is subject to approval from the Tribunal Commerce de Paris. A hearing was planned for today but has been postponed until Nov.

Riva Studios Buys Troubled French Studio TeamTO

Ben Croll While France’s overall animation sector employed 7,790 staffers last year, local grandees hope to see those figures swell to 15,000 by 2030, and have thus made doubling the workforce the third key pillar of the wider Great Image Factory initiative. With nearly all the major animation studios and VFX houses developing outreach programs, partnering with existing schools, or offering mentorships, one studio is going to set up a brand new institution. Well, almost brand new. In 2018, TeamTO launched ECAS (Ecole Cartoucherie Animation Solidaire), a Valence-based, no-tuition animation school meant to give underprivileged youths 3D training and to offer them a leg-up into the industry. Running four years, and boasting a 98% success rate, the program would open for a nine-month term and then go dark again, with subsequent sessions sometimes in doubt.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a bid to further expand job opportunities in the animation industry, France’s first free animation school ÉCAS (Ecole Cartoucherie Animation Solidaire) has partnered with French animation producer Frog Box and post-production service provider Titrafilm to create a new course that will train professional actors in the art of dubbing animation projects.News was announced Thursday at the MIFA market at this week’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival where the issues of inclusion, diversity and labor shortages in the sector were discussed in some forums at the festival, particularly at the Women in Animation summit.Founded in 2018 by TeamTO in response to the under-representation and lack of diversity in the animation sector, ÉCAS has trained a new generation of underprivileged talent in 3D character animation and storyboarding (in partnership with Canada’s House of Cool) for the past four years. Said Guillaume Hellouin, president of ÉCAS and TeamTO: “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.