Lo is an experienced anime producer and began independent anime creation in 1977. His works won the first prize at the Hong Kong Independent Short Film Festival for four consecutive times and he was promoted as panel member. In the next year, he joined the Radio Television Hong Kong to work as cartoon producer until 1993. Over recent years, he spent efforts on promotion of the anime industry in Hong Kong and planning of anime exhibitions. Recently, he worked as the curator of the 50 Years of Hong Kong and Taiwanese Animation. He currently worked as Secretary General of the Hong Kong Animation and Culture Association.
Launched in 2016, the Subsidy Programme for the Production of Original Animation Short Films is the very first subsidy programme fully backed by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao. Selected film projects supported by the programme have recently completed their productions.
The main purpose of the subsidy programme is to enable professional talents of the animation industry in Macao to express their creativity to the fullest with an adequate amount of government funding. The programme aims to spark more explorations on original productions and animation technologies and thus drives the animation industry in Macao forwards. It encourages the pursuit of creativity instead of being limited by artistic value or commercial value.
By mid-2017, the programme had received twenty more applications, which were evaluated through an initial screening process and interviews by a panel consisted of experts from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. At last, 12 productions successfully made it into the second round of assessment. All of the productions that entered the second-round assessment could receive funding for completing the storyboard. Although the amount of the funding is not large, it still helps out production teams a lot as preparation work also costs a lot of efforts. The scripts of the 12 productions were all completed after several months of work, five of which were later selected to receive the full funding from the programme. The funding for each project was up to MOP240,000.
It took more than a half year for the production teams to finish making the animations. All of the productions are short films with a length of five to eight minutes. That’s why the production process wasn’t too long. During the production process, the programme invited several professional animation producers to share their take on the productions and provide advice for the teams, ensuring that each production would achieve its best quality before the screening.
At the year-end last year, five original animations that represent the new generation of the animation industry in Macao were finally completed. They are Lei Pui Weng’s The Lighthouse, Ku Pou Cheng’s Starry Sky, Pun Lap Fung’s Father’s Lunch, Lou Ka Choi’s Pundusina and Cheong Chi Pan’s DINZONG. The five productions differ in themes, aesthetics, and animation techniques, showing the diverse expressions in the animation industry. Even I was amazed by them though I am very used to watching animations from Hong Kong.
Among all the animations, I like The Lighthouse the best as the animation illustrates a touching memory in a simple manner and with a very consistent aesthetic and storyline. The animation has also made it into the animation category of 24th ifva Awards organised by Hong Kong Arts Centre. Starry Sky, on the other hand, is an abstract and poetic animation with colours very similar to picture books. The animation tells the story of a boy and a goldfish who later developed a very magical friendship.
The story of Father’s Lunch sets in the small neighbourhoods of Macao, featuring moments of a naughty boy and a little girl. The animation adopts a more traditional style to showcase Macao. Pundusina is already a popular manga series online that has characters with great personality and amazing punchlines. The animation version also sets itself apart from the crowd with a very friendly style and makes the audience constantly come back and watch them over and over again. DINZONG is the only CG animation selected by the subsidy programme and the only sci-fi production as well. The animation has very interesting story settings and its producer has a very unique style in making CG animations, which will give the audience a refreshing experience.
Overall, the subsidy programme has been a great success in terms of the quality of the final products as well as the various forms of support that the projects had received. However, there is always the next step, which is to make use of these animations’ value. For example, these animations should reach a grander audience not just in Macao but also the audience in other regions. The producers’ talent and hard work will bring these great productions out of Macao and reach the audience in other cities.
In early February, the five productions will be screening for the first time at the Cinematheque‧Passion. All the directors of the animations will attend the screening and share more opinions with the audience. It would be an amazing opportunity for animation fans to know more about these quality animations!
