Atlantyca eyes Covid’s impact on live-action

Berry Bees for Italy’s Rai and Nine Network in Australia

Italian animation studio Atlantyca Entertainment is considering how the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in Italy could affect its planned move into live-action programming.

Caterina Vacchi, Atlantyca’s head of production and distribution, told C21 the prodco will focus on an as-yet untitled live-action show following the recent completion of its latest animated show, Berry Bees, for Italy’s Rai and Nine Network in Australia.

Vacchi did, however, express concern over how the country’s lockdown resulting from the coronavirus crisis will affect filming of the new show, which has been in the writing phase since January.

Italy was the first European country to be seriously affected by the virus, which hit the northern city of Milan before spreading elsewhere. Atlantyca’s studio is based in Milan and has been locked down since February.

With its employees working from home, Atlantyca was able to finish production on the second half of Berry Bees in time for its March deadline, while continuing the writing for its live-action series, as well as for a new animated show.

“We had already started, back in January, to work on some developments for both live-action and animation,” Vacchi said.

“The development so far has not been a problem because the writing part is doable from home, so we can look forward even if the lockdown is still in place.

“Of course, we are a bit concerned about the live-action project because the shooting and the sets are a huge problem at the moment. Everything is locked down and we don’t know when the actors can be back on the sets and when we can be back to shoot. But our plan was to shoot next spring, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that everything is solved in one year.”

On the distribution side of the business, Vacchi noted that Atlantyca is experiencing increased demand for its animation, as broadcasters acquire them to fill gaps in their schedules caused by cancelled live-action shows.

“We are talking with broadcasters all around the world to sell our series,” the exec said. “It seems that there is more demand at the moment for animation because live-action is hit by set and shooting problems. So we are pushing on the distribution side as well as developing new projects that we will, hopefully, be able to move forward with in the next month.”

In particular, Vacchi said rising demand is coming from broadcasters and platforms in Asia, Northern Europe and Canada.

“We are seeing requests from Asia, where they are trying to fill the gaps [left by] live-action with animation, and from Northern European countries – such as the Scandinavian territories – and from Canada on the North American side. They are asking for content to fills the gap that they are experiencing,” she said.

Vacchi did warn, however, that the company will take a hit in the second half of the year due to the cancellation of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which normally takes place in June. If Mipcom in Cannes is also cancelled in October that will deal a further blow to potential coproduction deals.

“We had big plans for Annecy, which is now not going to happen,” the exec said. “We have a strong selling point at Annecy, but it’s also a market in which you can talk with coproducers and set up new collaborations, so I do feel that Annecy will leave a big gap for us. On the distribution side, the cancellation of Annecy will have an impact on our sales in the second half of the year.

“I don’t want to think about Mipcom and if it will be cancelled, because Mipcom is huge. It is really difficult to find a new partner for coproductions without markets. Of course, we have a lot of partners with whom we have had relationships in the past, but for our live-action project we have some meetings in mind with different people we wouldn’t be meeting until Mipcom.”