Voronezh Animation Studio (formerly known as Wizart Animation) is a Russian animation film, short film and television studio based in
Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...
. The studio specializes in the production of
animated feature films
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
, television shows and their distribution and promotion in the domestic and international markets. The studio was formed in 2007 from a company specializing in software development, multimedia and software localization. Originally founded under the name InlayFilm, it rebranded as Wizart Animation in 2012. In August 2022, the company changed its name to Voronezh Animation Studio.
The company's main art technique is
CGI animation
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images m ...
that is used for their flagship series, ''The Snow Queen.'' The films from the series gave the studio the entrance into the film industry that has been recently noted by the animation industry. Its most recent project was the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
animated film ''
Secret Magic Control Agency'', released on 25 March 2021.
History
Early history
The studio was founded in 2007 in Voronezh, Russia by a group of artists from the computer game and information technology industry. Their experience allowed them to launch a new type of computer animation studio that involve animators from different cities of Russia. In 2011, Wizart Animation created a new business department to promote and sell animation content in Russian and international markets. Their vision was a production facility to produce world-class family animated feature films and animated series, as well as international sales and a marketing department. Until 2012, the studio operated under the name InlayFilm with the main production site of the studio located in Voronezh, and some divisions located in Moscow. On 6 February 2012, InlayFilm rebranded into Wizart Animation.
The newly independent Wizart Animation studio was led by Vladimir Nikolaev (
ru) as general producer and Yuri Moskvin as CEO. Vladimir Nikolaev introduced the company's films to events such as the 17th Open Russian Comedy Movie Festival held in
Tula Oblast
Tula Oblast (russian: Ту́льская о́бласть, ''Tulskaya oblast'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically in the European Russia region of the country and is part of the Central Federal District, covering ...
.
Yuri Moskvin incorporated his 1999 PC game company
Russobit-M
Russobit-M is defunct distributor of PC games in Russia and the CIS. It served an important role in PC game distribution in the Post-Soviet states. In 2003 it partnered with GFI to release game software and DVDs throughout Russia.
Russobit-M was ...
over to InlayFilm for a joint re-profiling. The venture created an infusion of game knowledge that ultimately changed the trajectory of the studio into an animation house. Moskvin was the main producer for the studio's first franchise ''The Snow Queen''. Moskvin also took part in signing a 2018 media alliance for Wizart at the
Eastern Economic Forum
Eastern Economic Forum (russian: Восточный экономический форум or ВЭФ) is an international forum held each year in Vladivostok, Russia, for the purpose of encouraging foreign investment in the Russian Far East.
It ...
in
Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...
. Key people for Wizart Animation include Diana Yurinova, head of international distribution. Yurinova was instrumental in selling the studio's films to international high competition markets such as those in China.
Olga Sinelshchikova, was the Business Development Director for Wizart Animation. Sinelshchikova is also the Vice President executive of
Russian World Studios
Russian World Studios was founded in 1984 by Yuri Sapronov and Andrei Smirnov, and is one of the largest film and television production companies in the Russian market. As of 1992, the company had produced or serviced over 400 film and television ...
. For Wizart Animation, Sinelshchikova was vital as the business manager at the 2011 AFM ''The Snow Queen'' distributions''.'' Anna Pokorskaya, as the international distribution manager negotiated deals for the sequels to ''The Snow Queen'' series. They presented the films in international sale markets such as the film festivals of
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...
and
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...
.
At the Animation Summit, Wizart Animation revealed animation in Russia is developing in the right direction. A few accomplishments were presented. Distribution-wise, its film have been distributed to South Korea, Brazil, Turkey, Middle East and Czech Republic for a total of 140 different countries around the world. Its films are selected in more than forty internationally acclaimed festivals.
Debut
The animators noted the fairy tale genre with its magical world and adventures was ideal for animated film adaptations. They explored the concept of adapting
Hans Christian Andersen's ''
The Snow Queen
"The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...
''. Wizart Animation's first project ''
The Snow Queen
"The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...
'', a 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film co-produced with
Bazelevs
Bazelevs is a US-based production company founded by Hollywood director and producer Timur Bekmambetov. The company has been producing films such as ''Night Watch'', '' Day Watch'', ''Wanted'', ''The Darkest Hour'', '' Abraham Lincoln: Vampire ...
and InlayFilm was ready for release in 2012.
Wizart Animation planned for the film ever since 2007.
The film had a relatively easy domestic release on 31 December 2012. However international release was complicated due to the Russian animation industry in initial stages of development since the 1990s.
Wizart Animation explored the concept of presenting ''The Snow Queen'' for the upcoming AFM (
American Film Market). They believed the film has all the right materials for an international release.
The studio's initial concept of domestic and international package came to fruition when the film received positive feedback from buyers from over twenty countries at the AFM. The movie also found appeal from distributors at the 67th Cannes International Film Festival in France. Key people who made the realization of the project possible was the Business Development Director Olga Sinelshchikova as well as director
Timur Bekmambetov
Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov (, ; ; born June 25, 1961) is a Russian-Kazakhstan, Kazakh film Film director, director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, and tech entrepreneur. He is best known for the fantasy epic ''Night Watch (2004 fi ...
. They were helpful in developing the animation company based on a new novel concept during that time period that is based on international avenue of development.
The film became the winner of the Moscow Youth Film Festival "Reflection" in the category "Best Animated Film."
Critics such as
Annecy review noted the film was a successful venture despite its budget being 5% of a Disney budget. The also noted it was a more faithful adaptation of Andersen's fairy tale than the other modern-day adaptations.
On 29 January 2013, a few weeks after the release,
Voronezh State University
Voronezh State University is one of the main universities in Central Russia, located in the city of Voronezh. The university was established in 1918 by professors evacuated from the University of Tartu in Estonia. The university has 18 faculties ...
partnered with Wizart Animation to open an animation department at the university. The partnership was intended to be a training base for future employees to the animation studio.
Film producer Sergey Selyanov, visited the studio during 2013. At a conference at City Hall with Governor
Alexey Gordeev, Selyanov remarked Voronezh is developing domestic animation and within a very short time Wizart Animation was able to become a reputable high-tech film industry company comparable to its peers in
St.Petersburg. At the top ten highest-grossing production centers and film companies in Russia in the first half of 2013, Wizart Animation came in tenth place. ''
Kommersant
''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...
'' believed ''The Snow Queen'' film was part of a creative industry movement that inaugurated a new era in Russian animation.
Sequels
In 2014, Wizart Animation's first film followed up with the sequel, ''
The Snow Queen 2: The Snow King''. The
Bazelevs Company
Bazelevs is a US-based production company founded by Hollywood director and producer Timur Bekmambetov. The company has been producing films such as ''Night Watch'', '' Day Watch'', ''Wanted'', ''The Darkest Hour'', '' Abraham Lincoln: Vampire ...
produced the sequel and the film was well received both domestically and internationally. The sequel officially made the studio's first animated series be seen in over 130 countries with a total international box office of $30 million.
The studio's first original film, ''
Sheep and Wolves
''Sheep and Wolves'' (russian: Волки и овцы: бе-е-е-зумное превращение, lit=Wolves and Sheep: Cra-a-a-zy Transformation, translit=Volki i ovtsy. Be-e-e-zumnoe prevrashchenie) is a 2016 Russian computer-animated fant ...
'', was released in Russian theaters on 28 April 2016. Directed by Andrey Galat and Maxim Volkov, it was one of the most anticipated movies in 2016. The movie later released internationally. Critics have noted the adventure fantasy film's comedic references to other films.
In 2016, Wizart Animation revamped its marketing team coinciding with it main goals of promoting its brand through advertising within international and domestic markets.
Wizart Animation continued on its record to produce sequels to ''The Snow Queen'' series. In 2016, ''
The Snow Queen 3: Fire and Ice'' was released. The trequel became a breakthrough event. At the time of its release the film became the highest-grossing Russian film in foreign box office.
The film strengthened the commercial ties between Russia and China, as a trilateral agreement was signed at the Russian Export Center to promote Russian animation abroad. Wizart Animation is one of the foremost clients of REC. The development institute's objective is to support and channel the export of Russian audio-visual products to domestic and international markets.
''The Snow Queen'' series was one of the cinematic output that represented the Russian creative industry by the end of the 2010 decade.
During this decade the animation industry was one of the major creative arms of the Russian film industry.
It was one of the fastest growing sectors of Russian economy and was being recognized as part of the international creative industries.
Wizart Animation revived a Soviet classic by presenting a short film, ''
Kitten from Lizyukov Street 2'' in 2018. The feature is a tribute to the original Soviet Union film of the same name and has been recognized with international awards. The fourth accompaniment to the franchise ''
The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands'' was released on 1 January 2019. For the first time in Russian animation history, a film was co-directed by a Hollywood animator, Robert Lence. The film was received in North America through cable TV and global digital platforms in December 2020.
Wizart Animation has become noted for renewing a 19th-century fairy tale ''The Snow Queen'' in animated format. Film critics see the studio as one of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
's highest potential animation studios.
Today ''The Snow Queen'' animated tetralogy has managed to be released to over hundred fifty countries and has been translated into thirty languages.
On 24 January 2019, the sequel to ''Sheep and Wolves'' released titled ''
Sheep and Wolves: Pig Deal''. Financial analysis has approximated an overall $100 million worldwide gross that include the generation of secondary revenues from the two franchises ''The Snow Queen'' and ''Sheep and Wolves'' before the budget.
The brands ''The Snow Queen'' and ''Sheep and Wolves'' have set new records for the animation studio. Areas once inaccessible to Russian film industry are now opening such as the French territories. Wizart Animation has been placed in the ''TOP 25 Animation Companies to Watch'' catalog compiled by ''
Animation Magazine
''Animation Magazine'' is an American print magazine and website covering the animation industry and education, as well as visual effects. The print magazine is published 10 times a year in the United States.
History and profile
''Animation Maga ...
''. Producer Yuri Moskvin noted the average production budget for independent animated films in the world is about $20 million, above $80 million in North America and $5–6 million for Wizart Animation productions.
The animation studio decided to adapt the classic 1812 fairy tale ''
Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hansel ...
'' to the theater screens. The animated fairy tale retelling ''
Secret Magic Control Agency'' was released on 18 March 2021 in Russia.
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
acquired global rights to the film and released it as the first Russian animation Netflix Original on 25 March 2021. The film set a number of streaming records. It became the first Russian project to top global viewership charts of an international VOD platform; the most watched film in Netflix for consecutive two days in the beginning of April 2021 and second in
Nielsen streaming rankings for the week of March 29-April 4, 2021.
Upcoming films
Currently in production are animated TV series:
''Yoko'' and ''
The Tales of Wonder Keepers''.
Animation feature films in the 2020s that are in production include ''The Warrior Princess'', that draw upon the fairy tale genre. The film is set for release in 2022. The protagonist is framed as an exuberant heroine warrior who defies the social hierarchy. The story is based on a traditional fairy tale that will be narrated based on a global language.
The fifth film to ''The Snow Queen'' franchise titled ''The Snow Queen & the Princess'' has been in pre-production since 2019. The film is considered a continuation of ''The Mirrorlands''. With the support of
Cinema Foundation of Russia
Russian Cinema Fund Analytics, known as Cinema Fund (Фонд Кино; Officially Federal Fund for Economic and social support of the Russian Cinematography, Федеральный фонд социальной и экономической по ...
, Wizart Animation will use proprietary software and introduce a new character Ila. The film has an anticipated release date in 2023.
Wizart Animation School
A meeting was held between the
Voronezh State University
Voronezh State University is one of the main universities in Central Russia, located in the city of Voronezh. The university was established in 1918 by professors evacuated from the University of Tartu in Estonia. The university has 18 faculties ...
(VSU) administration with representatives of the Wizart Animation studio as early as December 2012 when ''The Snow Queen'' was ready to debut in Russia. General producer Vladimir Nikolaev noted the studio was short of talent. The studio sought help from the university. With the support of Voronezh region and the governor Alexey Gordeev, the first stepping stone to the "Wizart Animation School" was established.
The collaboration would ensure that a once thriving animation industry during the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
is now revived in the modern era through independent training of animation specialists.
The school is led by animation director Alexander Dorogov.
Wizart Animation School was Russia's first privately sponsored state university course in computer graphics and animation.
Feature films
Traditions
Wizart Animation's main objective is to develop, produce and distribute high-quality adventure, comedy, family animated media that combine innovative technologies of
stereoscopy,
CGI animation
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images m ...
with
traditional animation
Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation.
Proc ...
. Their stories' main audience is the children and even adults that have family-friendly content.
Vladimir Nikolaev, general producer at Wizart Animation explains the animation studio always tried to make its features accepted into global animation community, “From the very beginning, our goal has been to create commercial animation features that a viewer of any country will find interesting.”
The stories they develop narrate positive themes such as believing in miracles and family. The company's portfolio contains animation projects at various stages of production. Wizart Animation offered insight into the concept of Russian film distribution in international markets that was a relatively new trend in the Russian film industry in the early 2010s. The studio noted since their startup days they went abroad marketing their game merchandise.
During animation development of ''The Snow Queen'' as well as ''Sheep and Wolves'', it is noted the studio has over 14-17 departments with two hundred employees from areas such as 2D and 3D animators, lighting engineers, cameramen, sound engineers with the standard classic use of boards, paper, pencils, still forming the basis for much of their work. Usually a film takes about two years to make with the drawings created in picture form first. Then the drawings are rendered in 3D.
Wizart Animation continues the tradition of Voronezh city animation, ever since the city's animation debut in 1988 when director
Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Kotyonochkin (also known as Kotenochkin) (Russian: Вячеслав Михайлович Котёночкин) (June 20, 1927 – November 20, 2000) was a Soviet and Russian animation director, animator and artist. He was n ...
released the cartoon ''
The Kitten from Lizyukov Street''. Aleksey Tsitsilin, one of the leading directors in Voronezh noted employment in the city has its own advantages such as more adequate prices in the labor market and a general level of ease and simplicity. The team at the studio is a cordial community-based collaboration.
Furthermore, the studio with the support of the Film Foundation has fostered a creative ecosystem for the animators whom they believe are talented.
Wizart Animation innovated their software by creating a cloud system for fourth part of ''The Snow Queen'' series.
In 2019, Wizart unveiled a unique animation technology - an operating special effects system built for facial and skeleton setup. The official application of the first version of the system was used for the 2021 film ''Secret Magic Control Agency''. The film also marked the first three-dimensional animated film shot in Russia in which the 3D lighting was carried out in the studio's own 3D editor.
Awards and acclaim
The studio's works have been recognized by the
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...
(1 nomination),
Asia Pacific Screen Awards
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia. In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting and preserving the different cultures th ...
(2 nominations),
Golden Eagle Award (1 nomination),
Golden Unicorn Award (1 nomination, 2 wins),
Nika Award
The Nika Award (sometimes styled NIKA Award) is the main annual national film award in Russia, presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, and seen as the national equivalent of the Oscars.
History
The award was established i ...
(1 nomination),
Gijón International Film Festival
The Gijón International Film Festival ( ast, Festival Internacional de Cine de Xixón or ''FICXixón'') is an annual film festival held in Gijón, a city in northwest Spain.
History
The festival's origins date back to 1963. In the beginning ...
(1 nomination),
Suzdalfest (2 nominations, 3 wins),
Prague Independent Film Festival
Prague Independent Film Festival (PIFF) is an international film festival held annually in August in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. The festival focuses on independent cinema. Festival founder and director is Diana Ringo.
History 2016
...
(2 wins).
Filmography
Released films
Upcoming films
Short films
Television series
In development
Television pilots
References
External links
*
{{Animation industry in Russia, state=collapsed
Russian animation studios
Companies based in Voronezh
2007 establishments in Russia
Mass media companies
Animation studios