The characters in a cartoon do things impossible to achieve in the real world, like swallowing a whole cake in one bite, surviving deadly falls or defeating indestructible monsters. Think now of a small developing nation dreaming of giving its youth a better chance in life by entering a world class industry dominated by the biggest powers on earth.
Would it need cartoon super-powers to achieve that? KingstOOn laid the foundations for that enterprise, bringing together lots of talented youths, political leaders who showed their will to act fast on this, and some of the biggest players in the global animation industry.
The storyboard and script for that success story is under construction, but a first solid step in the right direction was taken last week at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.
The KingstOOn Fest brought together international and Jamaican industry leaders, financial institutions, universities, businesses, government officials, animation professionals and amateurs, students, and young dreamers with the aim of showcasing Jamaica’s growing crop of local animators and visual artists.
More than 900 participants attended the two-day festival, where they had the chance to learn from each other, but also from some industry leaders such as Bento Box and Toon Boom, a software company that works with Disney and other major studios.
“Animation is a worldwide industry, that generates billions of dollars every year. Many of the countries who used to be the outsourcing companies for the large studios - India, the Philippines, Korea – can show us the way for Jamaica,” said Ede Ijjasz-Vásquez, World Bank Sustainable Development Director.
