‘Technological Innovations are Democratizing the Animation Industry and Making it More Inclusive’: Jinko Gotoh

Academy Award-nominated producer and consultant Jinko Gotoh, whose screen credits include Pixar’s Oscar-winning Finding Nemo (2003), Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning film Klaus (2019), Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), and Paramount Pictures’ The Little Prince (2015), is in India to participate in the 53rd International Film Festival as a jury member.

The BAFTA winner, who has spent more than 25 years in the animation industry and has been part of its many seismic changes, had begun her career as the CGI producer on Space Jam. She went on to become the director of digital production at Walt Disney Feature Animation. She was one of the major forces behind its transition to CGI animation and was instrumental in creating its now-defunct VFX studio, The Secret Lab.

Today, she serves as the vice-president for Women in Animation, co-chairs the PGA Animation and VFX Committee, and is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. She is currently working on her second collaboration with director Mark Osborne (the two had previously worked together on The Little Prince), With Kind Regards from Kindergarten based on a script by Adam Kline. The industry veteran made a pit stop at the Rolling Stone India office for a brief chat on her way to Goa to attend the film festival. Excerpts:

What is your take on Indian cinema? Have you managed to watch any recent Indian movies?

What is exciting is that each culture has a form of storytelling that is unique. I have been able to watch some of the movies that are part of the festival before my jury duty starts tomorrow. The Indian culture and storytelling are very distinct and also very compelling. Indians love to tell stories, and that is very exciting for me. They have such a variety of stories, and each is so unique. What I also appreciate is that a lot of these movies talk about social issues and are about hope and despair… it is a very emotional way of storytelling in a very different way, something I am not used to in western storytelling. It’s been very educational to watch these movies, especially to understand the importance of storytelling in your culture.

Have you had any opportunity to talk to people from the animation industry in India? Do you have any idea about the scene here?

Yes, I am aware that the industry here is very large, and one of our production partners is DNEG; it is one of the world’s leading VFX and animation companies and is owned by an Indian [Namit Malhotra] gentleman based here. We also worked with an Indian company owned by TATA. And I am very excited to be here in India.

I think the industry is expanding by the day across the globe and there is a huge demand for animated movies. I am hoping that in the recent future we will see more and more original content coming out of India.

You have worked with both Disney and Pixar and now you are part of independent projects. How do you see this change when the industry is not only about the bigger studios anymore? What makes these independent movies more interesting as projects?

I am a filmmaker and it is very interesting to see how much the animation industry has grown over the past two decades. The industry today is far more democratic and embracing independent filmmakers globally. I left the studios because I was keen on telling different kinds of stories and storytelling that represented various parts of the world.

The studio movies have their stamp, they have a particular look, movies made by a particular studio look very similar, and their style of storytelling is also alike. As an independent filmmaker, you can have a more individualistic approach and tell the story the way you want to. In the indie world, animation is a medium to tell a story and not a genre of filmmaking.

Do you see yourself collaborating with animation studios outside of the U.S. as well?

Definitely! I have worked with Spanish director Sergio Pablos in Klaus, which was Netflix’s first original animated feature. I had met him at Disney long back, but then he had gone back to Spain to develop the animation industry there. It is really exciting to see that filmmakers across the globe are today keen on making animation movies.

I would love to collaborate with Indian directors as well. I love the diversity that you have here. We have a lot of Indians in the animation industry back in the U.S. I am hoping they will come back to their roots and we will be able to collaborate on Indian projects.

Japan also has a very thriving animation industry. How is it different from its American counterpart?

Yes, very different. In Japan, there is a CG industry and there is an anime industry. The anime industry is a very old industry and the content is usually based on Manga. The anime industry is also very different in the way the business is built. The people who work in the anime industry, the artists, are very passionate about it. But it is not as wealthy and equitable an industry as the animation industry in the U.S. I hope that as we progress, it will become a wealthier industry. But right now, it is not a financially sound industry for anime artists.

Also, anime is a very insular industry. In the U.S., Anime is still regarded as a fringe industry. But the younger generation, especially in North America, is slowly getting hooked on to it. I am hoping that the industry in Japan will recognise its global potential and become more inclusive and grow as a whole.

According to a report from Mordor Intelligence, the global animation and VFX market is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate of around 11.5 per cent from 2021 to 2026. How, according to you, are AI, deep learning and virtual reality changing the game for the animation industry?

Technology is what moves our industry forward. AI and VR are changing how the audience interacts with the content. But these are still early days. It will bring about a new way of storytelling that we have not seen before. We have already started to see this in short-form content and I am hoping soon AI and VR would be used extensively in narrative formats as well.

And what about Metaverse? How do you see that impacting the industry?

That is another interesting space and even a newer form than AI and VR. And there is so much to explore there. It opens up new doors to create worlds. I think with Metaverse, the animation industry will reach newer levels in storytelling.

When you started off, CGI was new and it turned out to be a game-changer for the industry. Now again with these new innovations, the industry is going through a sea change. How do you see the evolution?

When I started off, animation was an exorbitantly expensive medium. What technology has done, apart from other things, is that it has made the process affordable and thereby democratized the industry. All you need is talent. You don’t need to be a technical person or have a lot of money. This is helping the industry to really grow. Now anyone across the globe with a talent for storytelling can use this medium. If we want to tell diverse and inclusive stories, this democratization of the tools is crucial. Otherwise, it will be for the privileged few and the animation industry in the U.S. has been about the privileged for so long. In fact, for the longest, it was very white- and male-dominated. You would hardly see women or people of color. But this democratization is enabling everyone to get involved.

How has the pandemic impacted the process, especially in virtual production? Has it helped in bringing the world closer and made global collaborations easier?

Yes, we were working on With Kind Regards from Kindergarten during the lockdown and it was all through Zoom calls. Our crew involved people from 18 different countries working on the project. Working on Zoom again democratizes the process. When you are in a room together, usually it is the loudest voice that is heard. While on Zoom, everyone is a little square and it gives you that equity. It creates opportunities for new and fresh voices to be heard. And it was something that is crucial to me. I want diverse voices for diverse storytelling.

Where do you see the animation industry headed?

I would like to see a more globalised industry. The tools and technologies have democratized the process. I want to see more people from different parts of the world telling stories rooted in their culture. Storytelling is something we all do well. Animation gives you the medium to create worlds, build characters, and tell stories. As a child I watched Lady and The Tramp and got inspired, I want children to see different stories from all around the globe and find inspiration.