Quirino Lab proposes a new strategic space for the training of animation producers in Latin America

The first edition of Quirino Lab lays the foundations for the creation of a space for training and reflection for executive animation producers from all over Latin America.

This advanced training program, which concluded on November 22 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, brought together seventeen professionals from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain and Mexico. Over four days, the activity combined specialized professional development and a strategic look at the industry with the double purpose of enhancing individual trajectories and promoting a qualitative leap in the region's animated production.

Quirino Lab is an initiative of Quirino, together with the Cabildo of Tenerife through Turismo de Tenerife and the Tenerife Film Commission, which has the collaboration of the TEA (Tenerife Espacio de las Artes). With the creation of this laboratory, Quirino takes a new step in the construction of an ecosystem for Ibero-American animation. The initiative also became a forum for reflection thanks to the incorporation into the Futures Laboratory program, a project promoted by Quirino in collaboration with the Ortega-Marañón Foundation. Launched during the last edition of the Quirino Awards, this proposal seeks to promote the collective construction of a future framework for animation in the Ibero-American region.

The Quirino Lab program was structured around five thematic axes led by a team of ten mentors and specialists with extensive experience in the international industry. Throughout several sessions, the main market trends, management methodologies, financing strategies, intellectual property development and emerging technologies, among other topics, were explored. The agenda was complemented with spaces for debate and professional exchange.

La animación de Tenerife tuvo una presencia destacada en la edición inaugural de Quirino Lab gracias a la participación de representantes de cinco empresas del sector. El programa incluyó, además, encuentros de networking con compañías locales y una presentación detallada del ecosistema audiovisual de Canarias, así como de los incentivos fiscales a la producción audiovisual disponibles en el archipiélago.

Representatives from 3Doubles Producciones, Crazy Meerkat, La Mola, Sultana Films, Tinglado Film, Red Animation and Tomavision Studio (Spain) participated in the first Quirino Lab cohort; Mono Animation, Oz Produtora, Studio Z Design e Animação and Subversiva Estudio (Brazil); IntiFX and Matte CG (Ecuador); Mr. Machin and ¡Viva Calavera! (Mexico); and Doinmedia (Colombia).

All selected people had to have a solid professional career and experience in the production of animated audiovisual content, in addition to maintaining an active commitment to innovation and the development of the industry in their respective countries.

Thinking about the future of Ibero-American animation

Futures Laboratory It functioned as a transversal activity of the program, integrating the different work sessions and synthesizing the main conclusions of the meeting. This group dynamic, coordinated by the cultural director of the Ortega-Marañón Foundation Federico Buyolo, focused on the role of executive producers in animation.

This activity was developed in two sessions that applied collaborative prospective analysis methodologies to anticipate possible future scenarios, in the medium and long term, in Ibero-American animation. The first focused on a PESTLE analysis to identify the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors that affect the evolution of the sector. The second, called Wheel of Futures, used visual techniques to project and structure different future scenarios for Ibero-American animation.

The conclusions, proposals and perspectives shared during Quirino Lab constitute a fundamental input for the strategic guide that Quirino is developing in order to devise a roadmap for the development of the sector.

The collective prospective exercise made it possible to identify three fundamental strategic vectors for the future of animation Ibero-American: the construction of a story that positions the sector simultaneously as an economic engine before society and as a generator of cultural identity before political power; the urgency to achieve recognition as an independent industry and the need to demonstrate the real value of animation with concrete evidence, taking advantage of data such as its high economic return among the creative industries. The participants also highlighted that the author's brand will be the main differentiating asset of the sector in the face of technological disruption.

Training focuses, experts and conclusions

The Quirino Lab program was structured around five thematic focuses. In the module New Market Trends and Targets, Sofia Hoffmann (Rosaparks and NGO MEP Women in Advertising Barcelona) and Gabriela Gardini (Morning Coffee) offered an updated view of the animation market. The session explored how cultural intelligence has become the strategic key for contemporary audiovisual production, where traditional marketing and format models have become obsolete. A profound change of outlook was proposed: going from seeking simple attention to forging a deep emotional and cultural connection, understanding audiences not as passive recipients but as active communities that co-create and expand narrative universes. Through the analysis of emerging formats—from hybrid transmedia to Chinese microdramas—the need to navigate deep cultural currents was raised to generate content that not only competes for visibility, but also constructs meaning and is integrated into the identity of its audiences, also addressing the financing challenges that these new production models demand.

In Development of IPs and links with other sectors, Zofia Ścisłowskaa (Laniakea Pictures) focused on current trends linked to the creation, protection and expansion of intellectual properties. He presented at Quirino Lab the keys to transmedia development of intellectual properties, using as a case study Cloudy & Stormy, a Kawaii brand that rose from YouTube to become a commercial phenomenon.

The session explored the paradigm shift towards 360° IP ecosystems, where diversification in consumer products, games and publications is consolidated as an economic engine, emphasizing the importance of creating early emotional anchors with the audience and overcoming the traditional resistance of producers towards more modular business models that transcend conventional audiovisual financing.

Paloma Aragon (Ackermann Labs) was in charge of the focus Advanced Organizational Methodologies and Team Management, in which new forms of organization and leadership in business environments were analyzed, and reflection was given on project management, collaborative and interdisciplinary models, and the optimization of workflows.

In the module Financial Development and Investment, the lawyer specialized in Audiovisual Law (Welaw Consulting) Francisco Menendez presented a comprehensive vision of the main financing strategies for the animation sector, with emphasis on the public-private mix and on the preparation of companies and IPs to attract investment.

Finally, in the thematic focus AI, Technologies and Emerging Trends, Alby Ojeda, Alfonso Fulgencio y José Luis Farias analizaron las principales aplicaciones de la inteligencia artificial y otras tecnologías innovadoras en todas las fases de la producción audiovisual. La sesión incluyó ejemplos prácticos —como el uso de realidad virtual para prototipado, herramientas open source, producción virtual, motores en tiempo real y digital puppets— y abordó además aspectos clave para acceder a financiación en I+D+i.

Además de estos focos, Quirino Lab incluyó un estudio de caso del juego Blasphemous (The Game Kitchen), uno de los títulos españoles más reconocidos y con mayor proyección internacional