In a recent interview held by Rossella Arena for EAJ, Marianna Forti, Maria Elena Piano, and Emanuele Carboni, founders of Animago Studio, shared insights into their experience in the animation industry.
You founded Animago in 2013. Could you briefly tell us about the history of the studio and the results you have achieved so far?
Sure! We started working together during our animation school years. Initially, we interned at Studio 4 on projects like Corto Maltese and Cocco Bill. After graduating, we worked as in-betweeners and clean-up artists – this was the traditional path at that time – and later as animators, character and prop designers, and storyboard artists, still in Studio 4.
In the early 2000s, the Italian animation industry needed generalists, so… we rode that wave.
When Studio 4 closed in 2006, we continued collaborating and sought new clients, like Achtoons, Graphilm, and Cometa Film. We contributed to various series, including Ferrero’s snacks series, Achtoons’ Matì and Dadà, and Enzo D’Alò’s Pinocchio.
Eventually, in 2013, we officially founded Animago as an associated studio for animation services. Since then, we’ve taken on many projects and clients, even big ones from abroad, like Spa Animation for the Oscar-nominated Klaus (clean-up + ink & paint), or Tonic DNA for Disney’s Disenchanted (clean-up and tones). However, we also enjoy working on smaller projects, especially if holding valued content, like Bozzetto’s Robby the Dolphin, a medium-length film for Bergamo Children’s Hospital, or Florence’s Mus.E shorts, which celebrate the city’s history and art. Although we came from different regions, Florence is where we met and found a home to fulfill our dreams.
How do your collaborations with other studios work in general?
Being an associated studio allows us to be very flexible in terms of projects. We can work as a studio with our network of strong collaborators, developing the whole pipeline – as in Smallthing‘s Simon The Sorcerer FMV, or Mus.E’s shorts. We may also handle parts of projects like for Klaus and Disenchanted; or work individually as supervisors or specialized department artists. For example, Emanuele worked for Funko as an illustrator and as Tones Lead for Final Frontier; Elena worked for DogHead as a color artist; and Marianna served as a supervisor for rigging, layout and clean up at Maga and DogHead. Additionally, we engage in educational roles, such as animation teachers in schools, trainers for studios and individual professionals looking to improve their skills in various aspects of the digital pipeline.
We keep riding the tide!
Tell us about your creative projects, what ideas are you currently developing?
We have two series in development: Woomba how is it made? and Eurk!. The former is educational, while the latter focuses on pure comedy. Both projects received very positive feedback at Annecy’s Mifa, prompting us to explore production options. During breaks, we are working on a short titled Big Bad Wolf, written and directed by a trio of our former students – now proudly colleagues and collaborators: Elisabetta Demetra Baffigo, Federica Rotoloni and Giada Tomassi. We are particularly excited about this concept, but no spoilers for now; you can catch a glimpse in our reel and our website.
Thanks to all the EAJ team for this opportunity and for talking about all the animation facets on this side of the world, we all need it!
