Website triggerfishstudios.com Founded 1996 | Headquarters Cape Town, South Africa | |
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Industry CGI animationMotion pictures Key people Stuart Forrest (CEO)Anthony Silverston (writer & director)James Middleton COO & Producer)Jean-Michel Koenig (CFO)Mike Buckland (animation producer) | ||
Triggerfish animation studios searches for africa s best storytellers
Triggerfish Animation Studios, or simply Triggerfish, is a computer-animated film studio based in Cape Town, South Africa. The studio is best known for its animated feature films Adventures in Zambezia (2012), Khumba (2013), and a television special, titled Stick Man (for Magic Light Pictures, 2015). In 2016, Stick Man was awarded the Cristal for best TV production at the Annecy International Animation Festival.
Contents
Triggerfish animation studios logo
History
Triggerfish was established in 1996 by Jacquie Trowell and Emma Kaye in Cape Town, South Africa. As a stop-frame animation studio, it produced multiple commercials for South African ad agencies. From 1998 through 2008, Triggerfish produced animation for Sesame Workshop for the South African version of Sesame Street, Takalani Sesame, as well as the US domestic and international versions of the pre-school kids' program.
Stuart Forrest joined as a junior animator in 2002 to work on Takalani Sesame for seasons two and three. In 2004, Forrest and James Middleton became partners in Triggerfish and in 2005 became the sole partners when the original founders left the company. In 2007 Anthony Silverston joined as creative director, and Mike Buckland joined as head of production. At the same time, the company moved away from stop-frame animation and relaunched as a computer animation studio.
In 2008, Triggerfish created a 30-minute short entitled The Rise and Fall of Tony the Frog. The short was produced by Ambient Animation in Cape Town for Isaac Entertainment.
Feature Films
From 2006, the team began to shift focus to motion pictures by writing their first script Adventures in Zambezia, with US-based rights company Wonderful Works. The script went into production in 2009 and was released in 2012. In 2010, the studio started production on Khumba which started its worldwide release in Q3 2013. Triggerfish are now working in their third feature provisionally called Here Be Monsters, which is slated for release in 2016. The studio is planning a fourth film, entitled Seal Team.
Story Lab
In mid-2015, Triggerfish announced the Triggerfish Story Lab, a program that aims to develop African writers and directors. The initiative has financial backing from the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa, and has the support of the Walt Disney Company.
Filmography
Adventures in Zambezia
Khumba
Prior to its release, Khumba screened in competition at Annecy International Animation Festival 2013 and was in the Official Selection of Durban International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival 2013.
Upcoming projects
In March 2013, Triggerfish announced that they will produce a third feature film called Here Be Monsters that tells the story of a girl and a sea monster with magical powers, set for release in 2016. A fourth film, Seal Team, is a story that pits Cape Fur Seals against Great White sharks.