The annual initiative seeks to discover new talent and boost advanced animation production from a technical and narrative perspective; entries accepted from individuals and groups – the deadline is December 13.
Next Lab Generation, an initiative to discover new talents and boost the most advanced animation production from a technical and narrative perspective, is now accepting project submissions for its fourth edition workshop.
Animation projects experimenting with VR, XR, AR tools, real-time rendering engines for prototyping and animation production, and fiction productions with high animation or VFX content are eligible. Individuals or teams can submit proposals but must already have some visual development. 20 selected projects get free access to the workshop.
This year’s edition will include open-source tools Blender and its real-time render engine (EEVEE), with Quill and Blender Eevee being the primary tools used in the workshop. No prior experience with the tools is necessary as participants receive training during the workshop.
The deadline for submission is December 13, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. (Mexico time); registration for the workshop is free.
The Community of Madrid sponsors the program through the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports. It receives funding from the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) as part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan promoted by the European Union.
Submissions must include two high-quality images and a dossier of the project, with a brief bio of the workshop applicant, their role in the project, and why they want to participate.
A committee of industry professionals will evaluate the applications and select a group of 20 projects to receive guidance on their production, applying R+D+I, extensive market knowledge, and the latest technology.
The workshop will follow the same structure as in previous editions, with an online phase from January 8 to February 25 and a second in-person phase that will take place in Madrid from February 26 to March 2. 10 selected projects that have completed all the online workshop assignments and evaluated based on their pitch and audiovisual piece will proceed to the second phase.
Participants can create a teaser for their project using VR tools and real-time rendering engines and present it through a public pitch during the Next Lab Generation 2024, held in Madrid on March 1 - 2, 2024. A jury of industry professionals will pick three entries for presentation at Annecy MIFA 2024 in the Next Lab Generation Conference. Each winning project will receive 8,000 euros gross to support their development, three months of mentoring, a travel grant, and registration for one project representative to attend Annecy 2024 Festival.
Several selected projects that participated in the Next Lab Generation were represented at the last edition of Annecy. The film Cuidadoras (Caregivers), one of the finalists of Next Lab Generation 2023, attended as a selection in the Mifa Pitches Short Films. The project, led by Ecuadorian Daniela Cuenca, received the Ciclic - Shortway award. In addition, Fabiola Rosso’s Nerea (Dominican Republic, Spain), another project from the last edition, attended the Annecy Festival as a selection for the “Stories for Women,” a program sponsored by the Walt Disney Company, with additional support from Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Titan Tofu by María Luquero and Lumen by Enric Sant, two Spanish projects from Next Lab Generation’s first and second editions, respectively, also participated in the past Annecy Festival seeking funding in the MIFA Pitches. The latter, winner of the 2022 workshop edition, was submitted to the MIFA Pitches Digital Experiences category, where it won the Stereopsia Booster award.
Additional information and registration are available here.
Watch: “Así Fue Next Lab Generation 2023” to see highlights from last year’s edition.
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
