Animatix Studios, a division of the Information Technology solutions company BrainStreet Group and the first commercial animation production facility in Guyana, held a product demonstration exercise for special invitees at the company’s Albert street headquarters on May 13.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds headed the list of invitees to the demonstration which included Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana David Devine and Chief Executive Officer of the international animation software company Toon Boom Anima-tion Inc Joan Vogelsang.
Apart from viewing the studio’s latest cartoon production guests at the demonstration exercise were given an overview of other current initiatives in its pipeline.
Animatix Studios has its origins in a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the BrainStreet Group and Toon Boom Animation Inc of Canada in 2011 for the development of an offshore facility to provide animation and related production services.
The services provided under the MOU include story board production, character and props design, background and layout design, sound design, post-production licensing and distribution.
Toon Boom is a world-leading supplier of animation, storytelling and production management technology. The company carries several leading storyboarding, animation and production tracking products, including Toon Boom Harmony (Client-Server), Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, Toon Boom Manager solutions for film, television, web, games, mobile devices, e-Learning and training mechanisms.
Toon Boom also offers consulting and training services designed to enhance animation production efficiency and quality. Animatix Studios is responsible for the development of the animation component of BrainStreet’s overall operations. The company has invested in the creation of a 15-seat animation studio and has acquired enterprise level animation production software from Toon Boom Animation Inc.
Toon Boom has also been providing Animatix with various forms of technical support including studio design, software installation and configuration. The local company has also benefited from advanced training in cartoon animation production.
Animatix is intended to be a separate BrainStreet business channel offering offshore cartoon animation production services to movie production studios in Canada, United States and Europe.
To this end, in December 2011, BrainStreet commenced an 18-month training and capacity building programme aimed at creating the capacity to provide those services.
The company has indicated that it is also prepared to offer those services to local clients. BrainStreet CEO Lance Hinds says the new facility also has the capacity to become a major contributor to the local economy. During the product demonstration exercise, Vogelsang opined that the Caribbean is well positioned to join the global animation industry. She said that Toon Boom was committed to working closely with Animatix to help elevate the facility to a level that enables it to meet the high animation industry standards.
Animatix will also benefit from introductions to North American and European studios by Toon Boom during forthcoming industry events.
