French animation studio: Akama

...The best things in life are 3D

French animation studio Akama has gone from strength to strength since forming almost seven years ago, having created 3D spots for the likes of Spontex, Kit Kat and Wilkinson Sword. Its directors are now set to pen their first-ever feature film. When it comes to animation, France is certainly not a nation lacking in the talent department. Each year, schools such as Supinfocom and Gobelins turn out a new batch of fresh-faced, gifted graduates. French animated feature films such as Les Triplettes de Belleville and Persepolis have received Oscar nods in recent years, while short film Logorama even bagged an Academy Award in 2010. And every June, the animation community descends on Annecy to celebrate the industry. In fact, in a token nugget of general knowledge, the first-ever projected animation was created by a Frenchman, Charles Émile Reynaud, who showcased his film back in 1892 at the Musée Grévin in Paris.

But enough of the history lesson. French animation has come a long way since Reynaud’s debut, and one studio that has made a name for itself on the French scene over the last few years is Akama. Since forming almost seven years ago and signing to Wanda in 2006, the Parisian studio has been on an upwards trajectory.

Brilliant characterisation

Akama first collaborated with Wanda on Wilfrid Brimo’s animated AIDES spot Sugar Baby Love and has since taken its own place in the director’s chair and built a portfolio of impeccable 3D animation spots, each defined by brilliant characterisation and technical accomplishment. From the comical confusion of a hedgehog in an early Spontex spot – where the amorous creature tries to make love to a prickly sponge – to the overworked employee who experiences the ultimate break in the studio’s short film for Kit Kat, Akama has a knack for bringing every character to life. But it’s probably the Wilkinson Sword Fight for Kisses campaign for which Akama is most known. Featuring an envious baby who gets down to some hardcore training in order to win back the attention of his mother from his father, the film picked up awards at Cannes, Epica and Eurobest among others.

The brains behind the studio are directing duo Alexandre Ada and Cédric Jeanne. Both art school graduates, the pair were each drawn separately to the world of animation, and specifically 3D. “I was doing photography,” says Ada, “and I started to play with the images on the computer because it was easier to create special effects. Then I got bored with static images and, little by little, I started doing graphic animation and moving typography, things like that. Then I started to teach myself 3D and that was it.”

With Jeanne following a similar route, it was in Monaco that the pair met for the first time, at 3D event Imagina. Introduced by a friend, Jeanne had picked up a prize for a short he’d created at school, and it wasn’t until the last day of the show that Ada realised he was an animator too. With a similar passion for 3D, the pair began to work together.

Endless possibilities

“What we both liked about 3D,” says Ada, “is that you could create something and move around it. I spent many years doing 2D animation and it’s really hard to bring something to life spatially, but with 3D everything is possible. The only limits you have are your mind and that’s really cool.” “Playing with the images and experimenting and seeing how you can render them is very exciting,” agrees Jeanne.

Fittingly enough, Akama has just returned to Imagina, this time to pick up the grand prize for its recent Raving Rabbids film, a side-splitting spot based on the Ubisoft videogame, commissioned by the game creators themselves. The pair have also helmed a 25-part mini-series featuring the rabbids’ failed and hilarious attempts to reach the moon.

But the directors’ skill is not limited to 3D work. More recent spots for Lacoste and Audi present a completely different style and combine live action with animation – an avenue the duo are eager to follow to develop their directing repertoire. “We like challenges,” continues Jeanne, “so we are always looking for the next one, and to see how we can expand next.” Ada adds: “Exploring new styles is a really important thing for us. In this kind of job, it is easy to get pigeonholed, but there is so much to explore. So it has been a conscious decision to really show everyone we are versatile. People will ask you to do things if they have seen you do and if you prove yourself.”

In fact, this attitude is even reflected in the name of the studio. With Ada an aficionado in Japanese martial art aikido, they based the studio’s title on the skirt-like trousers, hakama, which only the top-tier aikidokas are allowed to wear, and the meaning is symbolic of what Akama wants to achieve. And Ada and Jeanne might have just gone and set themselves the biggest challenge yet – penning the script for their first-ever feature film. If their reel is anything to go by, Pixar and Dreamworks better watch out.