Daniel Martínez Lara, Second Chomón Prize 2026 for his technical contribution to animation

The Film Academy awards the director, animator and developer of animation tools, Daniel Martínez Lara, the Segundo de Chomón 2026 Prize, which recognizes the technical contributions that contribute to the development of the film industry.

Technique and vocation come together in Daniel Martínez Lara, whose passion for transmitting everything he has learned has made him a reference in animation in Spain. Promoter of the school dedicated to animation 3D Pepe School Land, Martínez is one of the most visible Spanish collaborators within the Blender ecosystem, free and open source software used in Flow, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse y Ninja Turtlesa, among other productions. Over the years he has participated in the development of tools such as Grease Pencil, Claymation, EasyRigging o Grease Pencil VR, which have expanded the creative and technical possibilities of digital animation.

Ten years after collecting the Goya for Best Animated Short Film for Alike, will receive the Second of Chomón. “The two Academy Awards make me very excited because they are recognitions for two areas that, although they have something to do with each other, are different,” says Martinez Lara, whose professional field covers three areas: teaching through the school he created 20 years ago in Barcelona, ​​Pepe School Land; the short film direction and production (three of his works were nominated for the Goya); and the free animation tools development, available to everyone.

“I work hard to make tools that make you work less,” says this professional, who has contributed to democratizing access to technical innovation. Training, online tutorials, masterclasses, conferences... Daniel Martínez Lara teaches his students the secrets hidden in the animation industry, without neglecting dissemination as a speaker at conferences and festivals.

The wish of Daniel Martínez Lara, who will collect the award in April at the Academy headquarters, is to set up a laboratory of “practical” tools for all those who want to dedicate themselves to working in animation, a technique that is in good health in Spain, “where there are very good professionals and companies.”

In previous editions, the Segundo de Chomón prize for technical contributions has gone to the brothers Alfredo and Andrés Vallés, Juan Mariné, Emilio Ruíz del Río, the Valero family, Luis Castro, Julián Martín, Josep A. Esteve Torres, Santiago Gordo, Ricardo Navarrete, the Madrid company Next Limit Technologies, the veteran hairdresser Antoñita, Ruíz's widow, the Val del Omar Archive, the post-production company SGO, Juan José Mendy Igoa, José María Queraltó, Solid Angle, developer of Arnold, photorealistic image synthesis technology, Alfredo Díaz, 'Fredy', Sergio Pablos (SPA Studios) and Javier Valderrama and Toni Hernández (Velvet).

Segundo de Chomón (Teruel, 1871–Paris, 1929) was one of the great pioneers of fantasy and animated cinema. His numerous tricks and optical illusions appeared in European blockbusters and he explored the possibilities of stop motion. He directed short films and worked for what was the most important production company in the world at the beginning of the century: La Phaté Fréres. The genius from Teruel was for a long time in the shadow of Méliès, under whose orders he colored the films by hand, frame by frame.