When it started, there was already a path made in Portugal in the world of animation, but which, until today, "it's too small". Is there no Portuguese talent to invest in this area? Is it the national public that is not interested in this type of work? João Carrilho believes that the big problem lies in «the lack of investment», but that didn't stop him from wanting to start tracing a path in the country and in the region where he was born.
He is 34 years old, lived abroad for four years and, in 2022, created the fly mustache, a company headquartered in Faro, which works with multicultural artists with experience in award-winning animated series and films distributed worldwide by networks such as the BBC and Cartoon Network.
Comparing Portugal with the rest of the world in terms of animation places us in a much lower place, the same happens when comparing the Algarve with the rest of the country, but even that did not make João believe that it is not possible to succeed here.
It started alone. He had never had a company before, but today, in his studio incubated at CRIA (Division of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer of the University of Algarve), he works with four other young people who, like him, decided to follow this area, some even were already awarded.
In his opinion, there are many young people in Portugal (and in the Algarve) with the ability to develop good projects.
«The idea of creating this studio was also to use this talent factory that we have here at the University of Algarve, which is one of the only animation courses that exists in Portugal», says João Carrilho to Sul Informação, questioning the fact that, even in these courses, “a lot is aimed at cinema” and little at “more commercial things”.
Not undervaluing the importance that cinema has, João believes that, when training people to enter the job market, one should «think about the industry».
Despite also working with experienced professionals on projects outside his studio, João Carrilho believes that it is important to “seek talent” and give opportunity “to these young people who are just starting out”.
«It is sad to see many people with potential leaving this school and not having opportunities. Young people who have to study even more or are simply forced to change areas », she says.
João's path in this world began in Secondary School, when he studied Arts at Tomás Cabreira School, in Faro.
«When I finished I didn't really know what I wanted to do and I had two options: go to Lisbon, for Fine Arts, or for Visual Arts and Multimedia, in Évora», he says.
The second option turned out to be his destiny – and if in Secondary Education he was «an average student», at University he began to be «very interested in everything that involved art and multimedia».
Animation arose during the course, when stumbled in a video contest and decided to participate.
«The story is funny because there were no more vacancies for the workshop, but the teacher let me take part and learn the basic technique of 2D. I started by making a film, very amateurish, but that was the seed to continue later. In the third year of the course, there was a subject that was just animation and I told my parents that I wanted to take only that subject».
The idea was not well accepted, but João, «a bit on the sly», decided to skip the remaining classes and dedicate himself 100% to the film he had to make for the animation course.
Based on news from Alentejo, it was born “Adolfo, the chicken boy”, the one that was the passport to later enter the RTP Academy.
«The project went very well, but I failed the year and what happened was that, later, when I was doing the subjects I had missed, the RTP Academy appeared. I applied with the proposal to make a series of “Adolfo, o povo hen”», he tells our newspaper.
The proposal ended up being approved and João went to Porto for nine months to make Adolfo «a kind of short film» which ended up being shown at festivals and during the pandemic, at E-escola.
The beginning of a path to enter the job market seemed to have been mapped out, but then “a journey through the desert came”.
«I thought “now I've made a short film, they're going to call me for things”. But not. Anything. Zero. I came back, I finished my course in Évora, and at the same time I continued to do design work, like food labels and things like that, which had nothing to do with what I wanted».
He was close to giving up, but sending his portfolio to a studio in Ireland once again “lit up” his way.
«I was selected. I remember calling my mum and saying 'I think I'll go to Belfast'. That's when I started working seriously on animation series, with a team of 30 people or more. An industry that does not exist in Portugal», he says.
From Belfast he went to Stuttgart, and then to Dublin. He has worked on series for the BBC, Netflix, among others. On a professional level, he felt fulfilled, but the desire to return was constant.
«When I worked in Ireland and Germany, where there were also more Portuguese people, we often thought it would be cool to open a studio in Portugal, to stop being emigrants, but the idea was very platonic. With the pandemic, I returned to Portugal, but I continued to work abroad and I was often asked to make a team. That's when the idea of making a studio came true », he says.
Fortunately, experience and curriculum have opened doors for him and work is what he has not been short of, but the clients are mostly foreigners.
«The budgets of national clients are too low to support the studio and that is why, perhaps, there is no industry and, often, there is no such animation culture in Portugal. Those who hire often do not have this perception of the work it takes, how expensive it is, and the time it takes to do».
The Algarve businessman does not deny that the nomination of João Gonzalez for the animation Oscars (the first Portuguese director to achieve this level) is «very good and gives visibility», but says that «it is still too early to understand what the influence will be» .
«It may give notoriety, but to what extent will this give more funds? Or more credibility for our projects?», he asks, noting that the commercial industry will continue to be in the background and the lack of funding will continue to be a reality.
«The studios' strategies come from funding from the ICA [Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual], and what the ICA can give is very low compared to France, Ireland, Germany, or Spain. It's hard when there's no money. And what I don't understand is how the Government fails to see the potential that animation has, especially with the videogame industry, now with the streamers and with everything, the amount of animation content that exists, people's interest in seeing animation, whether for adults or for children... this area is growing and there are many incentives out there for this industry, but our Government is closed eyes", he comments.
Regarding the Algarve and the «potential of the region» in the world of animation, João says that he has been working on approaching entities to increase funding and raise awareness of the importance of the area, but «it is more difficult to break a prejudice than an atom and The prejudice in the Algarve is that we only know how to take holidays, but that's not true», he stresses.
In your interview with Sul Informação, João says that, even so, «a change is already noticeable», namely with cultural entities that have emerged, such as Associação de Músicos or Loulé Criativo, and that, he himself, has been trying to make a path in that direction.
«I can't come here and say “look, I make animations”, I have to show what it is, make it known. What is missing in the Algarve is connection. How is it possible, sometimes, to have independent films about animation at the Cineclube de Faro, and no University of Algarve students will see the film? That is, there are institutions, there are film clubs, but there is no connection. They seem to be going in opposite directions, and we really want to make that connection», reveals João Carrilho.
«The good thing is that there is always openness», he reinforces. Soon, there may even be news of work with the Chamber of Faro.
As for the future, João says he wants to «see the studio grow» and with it also make the young people he works with grow.
«Working for the minimum is not for me. People, sometimes, seem to be content with little, and what I feel, in animation, is this. But I think we have to raise the bar to then compete with those from abroad», he concludes.
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