Le studio d’animation Sun Creature recherche 60 artistes à Bordeaux
Two years after its establishment in 700 m2 at the digital city of Bègles, the Franco-Danish animation studio specializing in 2D Sun Creature is continuing its development. While its first feature film, the animated documentary Flee, has been in theaters since August 31 and the series of 40 episodes in 40 languages Ivandoe, entirely made in Bègles, will be broadcast from November, the Bordeaux studio is working on two new projects. The first is a feature film with Netflix, whose name has not been revealed. The second is a series adapted from the Splinter Cell video game alongside Ubisoft. Sun Creature is looking for around sixty profiles in 2023, animators and 2D decorators, but also compositing artists for the post-production phase.
“Between Ivandoe and Splinter Cell, we are not on the same techniques, so we are not looking for the same profiles. When an artist works on a project, he is not necessarily hired on another”explains to La Tribune Charlotte de la Gournerie, co-founder and producer in charge of the Bègles office, which already employs a hundred people.
Obstacles to hiring
But Charlotte de la Gournerie does not hide that recruitment is complicated.
“There are juniors but few seniors and very few animation studios in Bordeaux. There is therefore not the dynamism here that there can be in other regions where the artists move from one production to another. Hence the importance of not being far from Angoulême and being flexible about teleworking. Professionals have moved to come to Bordeaux and work on our projects, but half of our workforce is teleworking. You should also know that artists have difficulty finding accommodation in Bordeaux, because of their intermittent status. This is another brake”, develops Charlotte de la Gournerie.
The difficulties are not unique to Sun Creature in Bordeaux, however, and for good reason.
“French talent is in demand. France is the world’s third largest supplier of animation after the United States and Japan. There is therefore a strong demand for animation in France and Europe from international production. There is in particular a craze for platforms for adult animation and we are part of it. The 40 French schools are therefore not enough”, recognizes Charlotte de la Gournerie.
At its level, Sun Creature is growing in the size of projects and is increasing in manufacturing volumes. “Our first feature film is out and we are in development on new feature films. Our first series is coming out and we’re doing more series.” explains Charlotte de la Gournerie.
A strategic choice
The choice to settle in Bordeaux, on the other hand, was perfectly assumed, and two years later, confirmed. “We are close to the train station and an international airport and the establishment in France allows us to have access to the essential international tax credit for our projects”, says Charlotte de la Gournerie. The studio can also benefit from aid from the National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC) and the Cultural Agency of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region (Alca). Aid that is not anecdotal when an animated film costs on average six to seven million euros.
Sun Creature was created in Copenhagen, in 2013, solely by people from animation schools. Charlotte de la Gournerie moved to Denmark in 2014 and became a studio partner in 2015.