Stuart Forrest, CEO of South African prodco Triggerfish, discusses working with Disney+ and Netflix and why the studio is in the right place at the right time as Africa’s animation industry booms.
Stuart Forrest
South Africa-based animation studio Triggerfish has come a long way since its formation 25 years ago.
During its first decade, the company mostly serviced content for iconic children’s series Sesame Street, since when it has provided animation services to multiple Christmas specials for the UK’s BBC One, including Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler adaptations The Snail & the Whale and Zog, both produced by UK-based Magic Light Pictures.
Since 2009, Triggerfish has also produced its own original IP, which has helped gain recognition for a booming animation scene in Africa. The studio is currently producing three Africa-focused TV series: Mama K’s Team 4 for Netflix; Kiya for Entertainment One, Disney Junior and Disney+; and anthology series Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire for Disney+.
The prodco’s third animated feature film, Seal Team, also made a splash on Netflix last month, where it joined the streamer’s global top 10 films list and was the ninth most-watched film on the platform in 27 countries.
Disney+ anthology series Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire
“There’s been a shift in terms of what constitutes a valuable property,” Triggerfish’s CEO Stuart Forrest says. “We’re definitely seeing a lot more interest in stories that are authentically told from more exotic places, or places that are less represented in the entertainment industry. Africa is composed of 54 countries with different cultures and different stories that haven’t been told.
“Animation lends itself really well to telling more fantasy-type stories and at the moment we’re working with different creators across multiple African countries including Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa to find the best storytellers and help them produce their stories.”
Forrest credits the influx of global streaming platforms, combined with socio-political movements around the world, for helping raise the profile of African content, noting that Triggerfish is selling pretty much everything it produces.
“We are finding partners, mostly Disney+ and Netflix, and we’re developing with some of the other major studios too,” he says. “Since 2015/16, we’ve been through a reckoning in terms of understanding with things like the MeToo movement, the Black Lives Matter movement and awareness of gender parity and systemic injustices, and all that has come to a head.
Animated series Mama K’s Team 4 for Netflix
“People are taking seriously the idea that we need to connect with cultures outside of our own silos and that we need to break that fevered nationalism. The world is looking for more diversity in media content, which, with the streaming services, has created this perfect storm of opportunity for young creators on the continent of Africa and in any emerging market.”
The global streamers, with their ambitions to attract local audiences, may have helped put certain regional content on the map, but is there a danger when working with smaller producers that big brands like Disney and Netflix would exert too much control?
“To be honest, we’ve been amazed at the freedom they [the streamers] have given,” Forrest says. “I think they are very aware of perceptions as well and they’ve hired people that represent the continent who have a heart for authenticity in storytelling. There’s a very big sensitivity around not being dictated to and being given space to bring across the best of the directors we’re working with.
“They are global companies with global objectives and that aligns with our objective, which is also to be global and to bring Africa to the world. Our teams haven’t felt the writing has been forced into a certain style or anything like that. There is always going to be criticism of big companies, but my feeling is that they’re as sensitive as they can be about it.”
Netflix feature film Seal Team drew a big audience
Triggerfish, which recently opened a second studio in Ireland, has a big year ahead of it in 2022, as it continues to work on the 12 films and three series it currently has in production, while developing another 10 or 20 new projects.
“We’re looking to consolidate some of the growth we’ve had in the past few years. We’ve just hired some key new people and will work to build more formal processes as we consolidate everything we’ve learnt into the new remote working environment and having two offices now across the world,” Forrest says.
“We’re in the right place at the right time for bringing African stories to the world; a world which is appreciating what it can learn from different cultures that don’t have the same background as the more traditional Western cultures. It’s an exciting time for us.”
