SPEAKER_00 0:00

Global change is on the move, and South is where it's all happening. This is a global southing, a must-listen podcast putting the spotlight on powerful stories, bold innovations, and untold leadership from the global south, all reshaping our shared future.

unknown 0:24

Ms.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Marwa Jamil, we are very delighted to have you with us in the Global Southing podcast. Hi, Najda. It's my pleasure. So starting with the promising scenario here of animational production in the global south, it's growing for sure. Thinking of Africa, for example, in 2022, according to the World Bank, the animational production was estimated for 25 million US dollars. But at the end of the day, this amount contributes only to 0.5%, not even 1% of the global production of animation. So my first question to you, what holds us back from the larger scale animational production in the global south?

SPEAKER_01 1:07

I think animation as an industry in Arab region and even in Africa, it's considered as new to the market. So I think we need more awareness regarding the importance of animation and the importance to have it and to integrate it into media. And also we need awareness regarding supporting and funding these kind of media style.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

But even with the growing production of animation in the global south, they are lost somehow, you know, when it comes to the global pipeline. Yes. What do you think the main challenges or barriers here?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Animation consists of different processes and different stages. And what I strongly believe is that when the story itself is strong, authentic, and it represents us in Arab region and in Africa, I think this is what can make any uh animation project um reach the globe and uh becomes authentic. And I think I think this I think this uh this type uh this stage is what is holding us.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

But thinking of the cultural component here, I mean there are many local stories, unique local stories, original local stories that could be brought to the global stage from um the global south, you know, uh regardless if it's animation, if it's um movies, if it's you know podcasts, people are always keen to listen for something new, to watch new stories. So, and I think the global south has uh has a unique content here. So, to what extent do you find the local stories we are bringing in animation are very unique?

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Um I think it's still most of the stories uh which are um appeared in the media um doesn't talk uh a lot about us. It just talks about small parts. Uh I strongly believe we have um many stories no one heard about. Even in uh, for example, um in GCC, like you are from uh UAE and I'm from Bahrain. Uh I strongly believe uh UAE and Bahrain has um uh have uh different stories that uh no one uh know about uh still. So I think the key is uh to find a good story and to uh to to work and to build and to develop on the dramatic plot. And then we can uh use animation in order to uh invest, like uh as you know, uh the cost of animation is high. So when you um when you invest uh large amount of money, you should invest it in a good story uh that uh will make your project reach uh reach the globe and become international um animation, not just local animation.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Building on what you just said, that the original stories that we have so far and the uh animation production constitutes a very small amount here for the overall production. So are we still copying the western uh animation production or what's coming from Hollywood? What do you think? Uh I believe um, unfortunately, yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Um many projects, many animation projects, when you watch it, you feel like it has the spirit of the western uh let's say the western touch, uh, which is which is a nice touch, but I believe that we should stick to uh to our authentic styles and we should create one. Um using um western touch and our uh animation projects will uh will not um will not enable us to reach the globe. Think about uh Ghibli, Ghibli Studio. Uh Ghibli Studio Um when they when they produce animation projects, they don't only focus on story, they focus uh on everything from scratch. Even when they build the character design. So uh when you compare one of the character designs uh produced by Ghibli Studio and one of the character designs uh produced by uh, for example, uh Disney, um you can just by by seeing the the characters, you can uh definitely identify which uh which one is Ghibli and which one is uh is uh Disney. And I believe um we should have something like this. Uh, in order to be uh different and to produce uh unique uh production, we should have our own.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

But for us to have our own production, we should have our own ecosystem as well. Thinking of the challenges, the barriers that we are facing in the global south when it comes to animation and production. Um, for example, the limited access to training, capacity building, technology, software, uh, and the rest of the key capacity building uh skills that we need for the animation and production. So, what are the key challenges that you face? You do produce animation in your company. So, what are the key uh challenges that you face uh in your company as well?

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Uh I think um one of the challenges um is to um uh, as you said regarding the training, um, especially when it comes to the art style, think about animation. Animation is not just producing um uh any movie or any episode. Uh it allows you to produce an artistic piece. So, in order to have artistic piece, you should have a well-trained artist who can um make your uh ideas um come through on um uh either on screen or uh even uh while drawing it. Uh so I strongly believe that we need more training when it comes to these kind of things. And uh also the artist or the animator uh should have um uh knowledge. They should read more about uh, for example, if we want to produce authentic uh styles uh related to our culture, we should first of all read about our culture and to uh to know how things are uh should be drawing in a proper way to represent what, for example, if uh the animation talk is talking about um uh let's say uh 20 uh 20 years back or 10 years back, we should uh mimic the uh environment design um based on that uh period of time. So I think uh one of the challenges is uh the art, the uh the art training and then the animation training, because um of course we we are producing animation, but animation is not uh the key, the main key. Um you should focus first, as I said, on the story. So the plot that the dramatic plot should be should be written and should be created uh in order to uh to let uh people um and especially targeted audience. Uh my targeted audience is kids, so it's a bit challenge. You should create a dramatic plot which uh will uh enable them and encourage them to be engaged. Uh and also uh you should focus on um on art. Um, so I think the training mainly.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

But here, don't you think that we will be facing the struggle between having good equality animation and affordability as well? So, how can we balance this or at least manage this?

SPEAKER_01 9:10

This is a difficult question. Um when you talk about balancing between the uh affordability and equality, uh it's not about it's not just about uh affordability and equality. Actually, you should uh balance between uh the customer need as well. Some of uh the customers when they come, uh they know exactly what they want. So uh to give you like a brief about animation, there are different styles of animation. And each uh style um costs different price. For example, if you if you are producing 2D, it's different than 3D, it's different than stop motion, it's different than mixed animation because some of the projects you can uh use 2D uh and you can mix it with stop motion, which is uh very very um challenging, very challenging, but very beautiful as well. Uh so um I think it's a it's a formula at the end of the day. First of all, number one, you should uh satisfy your customer, and number two, you you should um um you should find ways and techniques in order to uh to cut costs or to just um uh make the costs affordable. Um and also it depends on the time itself. Uh for example, uh we charge per uh per minute and sometimes per less than minutes. It depends it depends on um it depends on the uh details that you want in your project. So um you should um you should focus on all of these uh elements here.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Yes. Yeah. Speaking of your client, uh Marua, you work with the government as well. I mean, you are doing animation for um governmental you know projects. Do you see any collaboration uh between government and the creative sector? In the recent years, yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Um uh but I can say um there are uh limited people who uh who know about animation. For example, um sometimes when when I talk to a client or when I talk to um um any uh any person from uh specific uh organizations, uh some of the uh people think that uh animation is done like this. I wish. But um it's a long process. Uh thank God to AI now, uh it cut it is cutting costs and it is cutting time. Uh but at the end of the day, uh you want to produce something authentic. For example, if you go to just chat Chat GPT or um I don't know, perplexity, and you you just uh ask the uh the AI to create um animation for you, they will create animation for you. But the point is uh it's stolen. Yeah, yeah, it's stolen from other uh other uh people. So um uh we don't work this way, we work in a professional way. So we we create things uh from scratch, we might use it for only like for example, uh brainstorming uh or uh editing based on our work. Uh so um I believe um most of the people they don't uh get the amount of work and the amount of energy that we put in in order to produce. And also uh when you produce animation um and you are an animation director, basically you are um responsible for a whole team. Team of artists, team of animators, and the person who is doing the character design is different than the person who is doing the uh the environmental uh design. Scenarios, the scenarios, the views, yeah, the music. And sometimes even you uh need to build a library, an audio library from scratch. For example, even the the sound of the knock, of the door knock, you need to uh record it. Um so um it's a whole process. Uh we cannot uh do it in uh in only minutes. But uh these kind of uh processes, uh the length of the length of it, uh different uh it is different between uh project to project. For example, if I'm uh producing uh only uh shorts for TikTok or YouTube, it's different than um producing uh YouTube episodes, for example. So yeah, uh I think uh many people they don't know uh what is happening behind the scenes. They just uh see, for example, a few seconds or a few minutes uh and um just um animation or uh picture which is moving, but they don't know how we create it actually.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

For us to increase the awareness of what you just said, what's happening behind the scene, do you think that we need to do more when it comes to the formal education, especially for the new generation? Starting with the school, even.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah, yeah. I believe um even in Bahrain two years uh ago, um uh uh I believe two universities uh started uh a bachelor's degree in film and animation. So uh I think uh the market is changing now and the awareness is raising. Um also um I think we should promote more for animation. For example, many customers um they might have the question, why should I produce um animation when I can just uh produce an advertisement, a regular one. Um I think animation um it doesn't talk about the story itself, it represents the art. It tells more than a story. It tells a lot about uh our culture and our society and our region. We have many things to represent and to showcase in animation. Um so um I believe we should promote for animation more.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

But thinking here, even if we are going to spend more in terms of human resources, money, uh capacity building, software, knowledge, yeah, technology and animation, still we are, I mean, um having animation as existing and emerging production or a sector uh among a very competitive environment. I mean, thinking of animation itself and Netflix, for example, as one platform. Yeah. Do you find it really competitive? I mean, to exist in such a world where people would rather prefer to watch a movie on Netflix or on Shahid in the Arab world, uh, Hollywood, rather than going for animation just to um sort of like uh um understand the art behind the animation?

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Uh the good point is um is that Netflix is approaching uh animators from different uh countries in order to produce uh content, um like animation content, whether it's a movie or series. Uh I think the world is changing, and um when we talk about Netflix or uh any other platform, international platform, uh these kind of platforms care about the story, not the medium that you're using. And uh and uh I think they appreciate art because at the end of the day, you are not just uh producing uh episode or film, you are telling more stories in one um in one production. So I believe uh yeah, there's there is a potential and there's opportunity, and many people uh are getting uh benefit from it now.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

So, this is in terms of the producers of animation, as you say, Netflix is reaching out, um, animators. What about the international buyers, especially buyers from the global south? Once the production is over, it's going, I mean, um, everywhere, do we have enough buyers, especially from the global south?

SPEAKER_01 17:11

It depends on the type of animation that you are producing. For example, um when it comes to, for example, documentaries, documentary films, um different uh international organizations um want to uh produce something unique and uh new styles. So um uh I've seen a lot of uh documentaries which combines uh reality uh to animation. For example, they use it for uh graphs, they use it sometimes to um to illustrate what uh they cannot uh actually uh take a photo of. Um so I believe uh it depends uh on the type of animation that uh you are producing. For example, you can produce uh kids' content and you can produce movies and you can produce production uh such as uh documentaries. And also um I think uh some of the organizations now are producing uh explanational videos uh for other organizations. So, for example, if you have a factory and you need to um to explain certain process uh and how the machine is working, you can just um mimic that in an animation uh of uh one to two minutes and uh to guide uh the audience on how to use that um uh that machine or how that machine is working. So it depends on the type of producing and the type of production that you're produced.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

What about the storytelling here from the global south? I mean, can we produce more of like rooted uh storytelling from the global south, but having more of a global you know influence and the global spread of these animations?

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um once you are focusing on um uh having um let's say uh universal story, yes, which has um morals that everyone uh agrees on, uh I think you can you can easily market for it. For example, uh if you are watching Disney movies, yeah, um uh although uh they are talking about uh a story which uh which are not happening, for example, in Arab region or in GCC, but at the end of the story, you you just feel that we are all connected because this is the truth. Yes. So uh if you are going to teach a kid um how um how to be a good a good kid or how um how to behave, or uh if you are going to teach uh them um about values such as honesty or friendship or um uh these kind of things, I believe um um it's a universal language at the end of the day. So yeah, we can um using this approach um we can reach the globe.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Interesting. What about uh the shift? I mean, in the world that we are witnessing right now, the move from short to reals, even. Yeah, I mean the the the speed of the social media and how we are getting very used to having very quick, short, you know, uh videos rather than two minutes any animation um production. So do you find it very challenging with people be patient and especially as you said, kids, be patient to watch, let's say two minutes rather than having or getting used to the the reels on Instagram for like less than 10 seconds, you know? Yes, yeah, how challenging it is.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Um I do think it's challenging, to be honest with you, because uh when you when you are comparing producing 10 minutes video of animation to uh producing reels or uh shorts um using YouTube or TikTok or Instagram, um I think this kind of uh media approach uh is the life of animator, believe me, because at the end of the day, uh you just want to um um to leave um uh to leave uh a good a good message at the end of the day and to uh to just make the audience, whether a kid or even adult, to remember your content. So it's not it's not uh about your um production length or duration, uh it's about the the effect and the uh the influence that you are giving to the society. And uh I think this approach uh also enables the animator and even studios to focus uh on more than one uh one project uh per year. So, for example, if you if you uh uh if you have six months and you want to produce um um uh let's say uh two to three uh projects of animation using this style which This length, I think it's possible. Uh, the point is just about how to uh how to manage the time uh to tell the thing that you want to tell. This is the only thing, yeah. Yeah, so I think um uh animation becomes easier now, easier than before.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

What about the cultural depth here?

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

Do you find animators are taking care of this element, or are they, I mean, much controlled by the um, let's say the idea of having very nice art?

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Um actually I believe uh this job is not the animator job, it's the artist's job. Uh, because at the end of the day, we all work together. So uh, and also the storyteller uh or the writer. So when a story when the story uh is deep and when the art, even the background, even if you have only, for example, one reel, which consists of uh one character, but you have a background, and you are uh you are using uh the background uh artistically uh in a wise way uh and you are putting the the elements. Uh I think um uh yes, you can um you can deliver a good uh and uh deep uh messages.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

Do we have enough creative freedom in animation or not yet? What do you think? Uh are you still controlled? I mean, because you are reached out by clients who are who have certain messages, you know, to to promote uh to the audience, whether it's something public or certain project for let's say a school or so. So you are somehow controlled by what they need exactly, their needs because you have to serve your clients at the end of the day. Yes. So do you find yourself sometimes struggling to push for more of uh a creative freedom for you as an animator? I think it depends on the client, personality.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Yes, if you are tough with them or not. Yeah, sometimes um I and I um uh like agree with them uh at the end of the day. Uh when uh when your client is in you and uh he or she doesn't know about you and about your work, uh absolutely during this the first meeting, um they will they there there will be some hesitation, even if you're from your side, because you don't know if uh he if he will uh uh agree to your ideas or to what extent uh they will agree. Um but uh once they see the uh the let's say the the initial storyboard and you are just uh building on the story itself and uh you are building the communication between between you and the uh customer, I think they start trusting you and your work. But at the end of the day, yes, as you said, uh absolutely there will be uh limitation. Uh for example, if um the limitation of uh educational uh projects is different than the uh the limitation of entertainment uh um um content. And also um um I like sometimes limitations, let's be honest. Um it's a responsibility producing something to a kid or to a teenager or even to an adult. It's a responsibility. At the end of the day, you you don't want to build something and uh at the end of uh and at the end of the day you destroy something else. So um I do I will not say most of it is uh limitation.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

I will say it's a responsibility. I see. Speaking of limitations, we can also think of collaborations here that would emerge out of limitations. Um around 2% only for the uh global funding for animation goes for Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. So we are, I mean, facing a very limited funding here. So, how do you think we in the global south can maybe collaborate more to manage this and maybe produce more with a very limited access to fund?

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Um I can say thanks to uh internet now. Um, as you know, um animation production is expensive. And uh not only expensive when it comes to money, it's expensive to when it comes to time. Um sometimes the deadlines are very tight. And sometimes the deadlines are uh related to specific uh topics. For example, in 2021, we were producing uh animation for the government uh regarding COVID. So we needed we needed to finish that um uh project before the pandemic ends, at the end of the day. So we we were we were just running, we were running uh to in order to uh to finish. Maybe hoping for the pandemic to end. Yeah, in that scenario. No, no, yeah, yeah. But we want to finish at the end of the day. So um uh I mean using the internet you can approach um international animators, not just local. And uh I think this is beneficial because you will be um uh exposed to different skills, different people. Um so um I think it's not a limited um, but maybe the animators should promote more for uh their work so uh the producers in our region can see their work and they they can easily collaborate with them.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

What about the co-production here? Would it be a solution?

SPEAKER_01 27:37

It is a solution, um but uh but it I think it depends on the project itself. Um, I mean when you have a tight time, uh yes, uh I I would prefer producing in in my country and uh having uh fully access to to the animator and to the to the team. I can meet them at any time uh rather than uh contacting someone from outside. Because um when you are contacting or working with someone from uh uh for example, let's say uh outside GCC, you are struggling with the time. Yes. For example, uh when you have uh when when is time difference, yes, and time difference and uh maybe the culture, the understanding, even yeah, even even uh even the holidays. Yeah, sometimes you don't have holidays and they have holiday. So uh yeah, and sometimes even when it comes to the legal part, because at the end at the end of the day you want to protect yourself as well. So uh depending on the uh country of that, uh of the animator, um uh it contributes to the whole thing as well. So um I can't say there's um uh one way which is right. Um it depends on um on the circumstances and on the animation project itself.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Parua, if you would propose a reform here and the animation production within the global south, what would it be? Um a minor reform. Given that it's an emerging you know uh production line in the global south.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

I think I would uh focus more on um the culture and the language. Okay. I think uh we all have beautiful languages, and sometimes even the even in conferences or in uh in in uh public events, when you uh talk about when you talk to someone uh in a different uh language and you you see their their accent and their language, it's very beautiful. And um uh I don't know if you if you notice this or uh or not, our kids uh because they they are watching YouTube most of the time, uh even if he's from UAE or Bahrain, he starts uh talking like Saudi Arabia. Yes. So he tends to say or marra or awa. Uh I think it's very interesting, and uh we should we should apply this more in our animation to get uh our kids involved, and um I think this improves even their language, their language skills. Yeah, so why not?

SPEAKER_00 30:15

It's very beautiful. So we spoke about kids here. What about the youth engagement? You know, I mean the youth uh for the future they will be the largest consumers and the largest producers as well of animation production. How promising do you find it for the youth to be engaged now, right now, given that the animation production is emerging in the global south? I think they are already engaged.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Because uh when we were kids, we were we were watching uh animation. And even if you notice that um in the cinema, when uh when we have any uh animation movie that uh we tend to uh to watch um or we used to watch uh when when we were kids, uh we have this passion uh to to re-watch it again, even if we if we know this the the story itself at the end of the day, what uh what will happen? For example, uh Centrella or uh Paca Hantas, for example. Um although we know the story, but we have this kind of attachment. Yeah we do. Yeah, so uh I think we are already engaged, uh uh, but now um as I said, for example, um uh when it comes to documentaries, some of the documentary content um I believe is a bit boring if you are if you are not using different mediums. So um animation now is playing a um I mean a vital role there in um in documentaries and even in movies. Um uh even if uh there is um uh cinematic um festival or film festival, uh we have um uh good amount or good number of uh animation movies which uh which are showcased. And uh many people uh like to watch it. And it depends on the story. Uh if the story is targeting kids, the kids will watch it. But if the story is uh social and it is targeting uh audience, adults, uh of course they will they will watch it.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

What about the stereotyping here, given that animation plays a very vital role, as you just said, can animation challenge at least the stereotypes in the global south, in the Middle East where you come from? Can we promote more of a positive identity here of the global south within, I mean, the animation sector? Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:44

Um think about animation as imagination, as a magic word. Uh sometimes there there are some scenes that we cannot produce um as a human, we cannot act on it. But when we are using animation, uh we can um we can represent our emotions. Yes. And we can represent our story, and we can represent uh uh the people, the places.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

So um I think it's a good tool. Okay, what about women here? You are a lady producing animation. I think that we are still, as women, we are still imbalanced in the animation production, especially in the global south. So, what's what's your perspective on this?

SPEAKER_01 33:28

Um I think that the things are changing now. Uh or or they are starting to change. Yes. Um I believe uh now, for example, in Bahrain we have uh many uh ladies uh who are working as directors, and um I think women are good uh when it comes to telling a story. Uh I mean it's um uh it's our uh instinct to to tell a story and to explain things and to work on details. To be honest with you, uh I always like to work with uh female animators because sometimes when you are uh reviewing and re-reviewing and re-reviewing for fifth and sixth time. Women are more patient and even uh with the scenes, uh if you are re-watching it again and again, sometimes you you just forget things, and when you put it together during the editing, and you're you just realize that okay, we should remove that or we should remove this. But I think ladies are um very focused on details and and they don't get bored of it.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Another aspect of the animation production is the intellectual property and the legal frameworks that are regulating the animation production. What challenges um we are facing? Because we are still under you know developed when it comes to this aspect of the animation sector in the global south. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 35:02

Uh I think um we are still having a limited uh number of uh research papers which are uh when it comes to the academic part, which are produced in order to um to evaluate the uh the influence of animation on kids. Um this is my uh let's say my main concern. Uh it's been uh four years now. Um I'm trying to uh produce a research paper in order to uh assess and to evaluate the effect of what we are doing. Um I think we we should have a collaboration between uh content creators and media organizations, um, along with uh the academic organizations uh in order to uh to create our own uh uh studies and research paper assessing uh the the um the influence or the effect of uh uh the content that we are producing on our kids. Um at the end of the day, if you have um uh let's say a project or uh series or content and you are not uh studying it and analyzing uh the effect of it on the audience, um of course you will you will entertain them, of course you will create uh good content, but you don't know uh if it has uh a side effect on um on the audience or not. Yes. It's it's maybe it's a bit weird that uh I'm a content creator, but I'm talking I'm I'm uh saying this. Uh but I've studied uh a masters in uh uh in media and uh I've read about um the effect of um different uh different platforms, not only animation when it comes to animation, different different uh platforms or content um on people, whether it's good or bad. When I say uh effect or influence, I'm not talking um or I'm not saying that uh it must be bad. It must it's uh it might be good, but we don't know to which extent it's good. So we focus more on the good part, or to what uh to what extent it's uh it needs to be improved or to uh to have a twist. Um I think assessment. So we will summarize this assessment.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

So what about you as a content creator, as an animator, are you protected, especially when it comes to right management, to when it comes to um content theft as well? So are you protected?

SPEAKER_01 37:40

Um of course you uh there are uh there are challenges when it comes to this part, but at the end of the day, you should um um you should protect yourself legally because you are uh you are just producing media which will be uh spreaded uh in the internet. So you should have uh let's say legal protection, especially when when it comes to the copywriting. So yeah, um any studio or any animator should uh should take care of this point.

SPEAKER_00 38:19

Interesting. Uh we just touched upon uh the issue of funding, which is a very key discussion to have it here during this episode. Yeah, I mean, um funders in the in the global south, uh thinking of, for example, uh Africa or the Arab region, they get less than 5% of the you know fund development um according to Creative Africa Report 2023. So, what new models we need for us to attract more funders um to shift their attention at least to the animational production?

SPEAKER_01 38:50

As I said uh before, uh we need awareness. We need awareness of uh what are the possibilities that uh animation can create and uh what are the uh the messages that we can uh deliver using this medium. Um so I think uh when uh when the funding uh communities or the funding uh organizations know about the the importance of uh of animation and uh um the possibilities that we can uh reach using animation, um I think uh we can reach places. And also uh some of the companies, some of the companies and even some of uh countries, uh they are promoting some uh media events where you can showcase your skills. For example, you can just uh yes, you can just create um uh or deliver uh an elevator pitch to uh to the to the funders and uh even to investors uh in order to convince them or to showcase your work and uh to show to show them uh the importance of uh of animation. So I think we need to increase these kinds of events as well.

SPEAKER_00 40:05

The last uh perspective that I would like to touch upon is the future of animation, especially in the global south. Yes, despite all challenges, we have still it is growing, it is promising. Yeah, um the the awareness is increasing in the in the global south. So, how do you view the the future of animation sector in the global south?

SPEAKER_01 40:25

I think the future is very promising, to be honest. And um using um uh uh AI uh applications such as uh nowadays chatbots, for example, uh or metaverse, um it all depends on uh part of what we are doing in animation, whether uh in character design, for example, or uh when it cre uh when it comes to creating environment or when it comes to movement or creating even avatars. Uh so I think the the traditional way of seeing animation as uh producting uh as sorry, producing only uh animation series uh now is changing. For example, the graduate who will who will study Bachelor of Animation and Film, I think they have different um resources. They will have different resources, resources of uh skills and of knowledge to create more than what we are creating now. More just than just uh animation series or animation video. Uh so um uh I I think the the future is very, very promising.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Hopefully, hopefully. Thank you so much, Miss Mara, for being with us and maybe for simplifying some of the complicated technicalities in animation. It was also very informing for me to understand how things are going. Yeah, thank you so much, Najla, and uh thank you for interviewing me.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

Uh you've been listening to Global Southern Podcast.