Auckland-based artist agency International Rescue is now representing animators in addition to its list of photographers and illustrators. And co-director Rob Finn says the move will not only allow clients to save costs and time by working directly with animators, but it will also offer access to a wider range of animation styles because the work of the 17 existing illustrators can also be animated.
“We are different to animation companies because we are agents; we provide a fold of animators and take our commission from them, not the client,” he says. “With technology being so accessible, it’s now possible to work directly with the animator in their home studio for offline work, which means the client doesnʼt have to pay for the high overheads of a production company.”
Under this new process pre-production storyboarding and production can be achieved with the animator working from their studio with updates and approvals being finalised via email if desired. Online post-production of sound and final client approvals can be outsourced to any post-production facility according to budget. And all production is overseen by experienced producers/agents, similar to the service on offer for photography and illustration jobs.
“The pool of talent that we have access to is tenfold to anything currently on offer… We are now in a position to completely tailor according to the brief,” says Finn. “Our illustrators often work with animation companies, collaborating on special briefs that require unique visual styles. Being multi-disciplinary, weʼre not solely reliant on animators due to our sheer number of diverse illustrators, which means we have the ability to offer more left of centre, avant-garde and incredibly varied art, as well as covering all the basics.”
International Rescueʼs original fold of photographers and illustrators has now increased to 30 artists, and it can cover many facets of 2D animation for commercials, TV series, web and online, applications, video clips, title sequences and films. 3D and stop frame is in the pipeline.
Among the new animators are Karl Wills, who has worked closely with Yukfoo, Mukpuddy, the trio of master crafters behind many of New Zealandʼs children TV series, Kieran Rynhart, who animates video clips in a home-grown illustrative style as shown in the Fly My Pretties tour animation, Mofresh, who have been behind the scenes of New Zealandʼs most prominent musicians having animated video clips for the likes of Kora, Isaac Aesili, GND, Recloose and The Black Seeds, and Mardo El-Noor, a photorealistic animator with a Parisian, Arabesque-style who recently had his film ʻRock Paper Scissorsʼ playing as part of NZ Film Festival.
“We aim to inspire connection and collaboration, so having animators on board adds to that goal. These guys are some of the best animators in Australasia and are certainly world class. Theyʼre keen and passionate to collaborate in the commercial realm on projects that are fresh, innovative and exciting. So naturally, weʼre looking forward to clients realising their talent too.”
