The Cartoon Digital event continued on Thursday at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Luxembourg-Dommeldange with the hundred delegates examining transmedia, broadcasters going digital, converting YouTube shows into animation series and self-learning techniques to increase digital distribution.
Laurent Witz, of Zeilt Productions in Luxembourg, who won an Oscar for Best Animation Short in 2013 for Mr Hublot, presented a case study of the transmedia comedy show "Barababor". He is developing this original "transmedia property" about a crew of conquistadors who travel the seas to colonise every piece of land, down to the smallest of pebbles: across TV, Internet and mobile.
Laurent described himself as a director and producer and worked in Paris before moving to Luxembourg, then setting up his own company, revealing that Mr Hublot was his first project he developed and directed himself. He then screened a demo reel which illustrated the range of projects on which he has worked since 2007, including trailers, video games, live action and short films, altogether illustrating his work and his ideas.
He stressed the emphasis on quality; with courage he goes forward and explores new ideas. One such idea was the "Long Live New York" campaign to encourage organ donation in New York, appealing to young people. It started with a billboard campaign with a beating heart, with the launch on 30 October 2014 in cinemas and web, including social media, of a 90-second campaign which received exceptional feedback.
On transmedia projects, he said that many people are trying to bring solutions, but the business models and emotions are as important as creativity. The universe of Barababor started with a meeting in May 2014 with Fabien Weibel, with the past year being spent doing research and development of the crossmedia component. The funding came from both France and Luxembourg, with the Film Fund Luxembourg and RTL both active participants.
He talked about the characters, the Captain, the Gunner and the Lookout, with a host of other dim-witted characters, as well as other non-human ones too. The series includes a series of adventures, a map, islands and natives. The series is based on visual gags and absurdities, with the adventures showing a wacky world through the eyes of Barababor.
The magic formula? It is important to build with integration with turning points, unusual cliff-hangers.
On the transmedia aspect, there is a TV series and on the Internet, a strong social media presence, an App and Barababor game, etc. The concept is being built in CGI, in 2D-3D and is portable, with the App Series enabling interaction with the (young) audience which the TV series does not support. Other applications could be with Oculus Rift 3D glasses too. Adding interactive components via gaming quests will add another level of interaction. The virtual life aspect will be Tamagochi-like, available via mobile devices, within which there will be games to create user loyalty (€80k budget).
Another idea to possibly implement could be a multi-player online video game (€1.5m budget) for players to try to accumulate as much wealth as possible, combining strategy and adventure.
To achieve all of this, it is necessary to take various steps, all based on strong intellectual property. Then the challenge is to develop the prototype, get the funding and then develop the user base (he recounted how he attracted 15,000 fans for Mr Hublot even before it was launched). Building the "renown" is crucial to branding.
One of the challenges ahead is that the format (2 minutes) is too short for some broadcasters; he is confident that solutions will be found. Another challenge is running up against established large brands, such as the Minions.
Photo by Geoff Thompson (L-R): Laurent Witz (Zeilt Productions); Christophe Erbes (Moderator)
