ANIMATION SHORTS FEATURE FILM NEWS GAMES NEWS Investment in animated How deep pockets The global finance shorts meeting demand have abetted Disney's landscape is propping to feed zooming digital dominance of Hollywood up esports and gaming screen time Page 28 In full edition only businesses In full edition only MediaTainment (Abridged) Finance Issue 31 For decision-makers and strategists who value creativity and www.mediatainmentfinance.com appreciate the value creativity brings to business

THE ASCENDANCY OF AFRICAN ARTISTRY Contemporary African art in the frame for investors' and collectors’ cash Experts hail the region's ferociously hot talent Pages 16-27

COPYRIGHT NEWS FASHION NEWS ARCHITECTURE NEWS Rights organisations report a boom La Perla's impressive Big cash for big structures in media and entertainment royalties IPO signals perceived sees cutting-edge BIG collected in 2018 to the tune of growth in luxury remain the behemoth of €9.65bn In full edition only lingerie-design sector architecture In full edition In full edition only Editor’s Note Contents

NEWS or one of our most adventurous and visually rich issues yet, we visited art 3 Film p 9 Books/Print p galleries in Africa to understand the 4 Television p 10 Ads & Marketing p fuss investors are making about the continent’sF contemporary artists. 5 Music/Audio p 11 Fashion/Luxury p We talked to gallerists on the ground and 6 Out-Of-Home p 12 Architecture/Design p international auction houses, like Sotheby’s, and discovered a treasure trove of eye-catching and 7 Sports p 13 Photography/Art p distinctive modern African fine art, sculptures, 8 Games p 14 Copyright p murals, woodwork, installations and more. We then examined why Europe’s former African colonies want international museums to return the region’s purloined cultural heritage, including irreplaceable tribal artworks. NEWS NEWS Additionally, a recent invitation to speak FILM TELEVISION in South Korea about digital animation shorts inspired our in-depth report on the format normally associated with only children’s Disney's Banijay/ entertainment. Investors, from Hollywood studios to cutting- Dynamo ViacomCBS edge independents, are building portfolios of mesmerising short-form animated fun for all age groups. Meanwhile, this edition continues our overall mission – to be jam-packed with news on the latest major investment deals in international In full edition only In full edition only media, entertainment and creativity. As this is our last issue for 2019, Happy h h Holidays and wishing you all nothing but the Best in 2020.

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MediaTainmentFinance Special REPORT

Spotlight on African Art's Ascendancy

From Omar Victor Diop's Project Diaspora

WHY COLLECTORS CRAVE FOR AFRICAN CREATIVITY- PAGES 17-27

Images in this report: Courtesy of Gallery 1957; Artists Alliance Gallery; Bonhams; Sotheby's; Goodman Gallery; jaykaymediapix

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P 4 feature

The Ascendancy of African Art

Afrocentric

Image - from Artists aesthetics Alliance Gallery

n 2017, the long-lost iconic portrait hailed as University announced “Africa’s Mona Lisa” was rediscovered in a it was returning apartment. One of three depictions the Benin Bronze of Princess Adetutu Ademiluyi painted in the Cockerel to Nigeria, 1970s, the Tutu (pictured, right) portrait by its country of origin. Nigerian artist Odinigwe Benedict Enwonwu The bronze statue was grabbed headlines for fetching a record- illegally seized during breaking £1.2m (US$1.6m) at a 2018 London auction, four colonial times in the timesI the £300,000 (US$399,749) estimated price. late 19th century and Nowhere near the multimillions exchanging hands for later donated to the your Andy Warhols or Lucian Freuds, but enough to show university’s Jesus why contemporary African art is hot among collectors in College. the 21st century. The College’s As Victoria Cooke, Director at the privately owned apparently bold move Gallery 1957 based in , capital of the West African is seen as correcting state , told MediaTainment Finance (MTF), African one of several wrongs art is no longer only the preserve of stuffy museums. committed during an “There is definitely a boom in this part of the world. era when the European Artists are getting much more recognition. That is not looting of the colonies’ to say it wasn’t here before. We live in a different world cultural works is where people travel more, people discover more. The acknowledged as Internet allows you to communicate your art and allows having been rampant. people to see that.” The significant price paid for the Tutu painting and This year, some two years after the recovery of the Cambridge’s restitution of the bronze statue both point to lost Tutu royal painting, the UK’s prestigious Cambridge international investors’ growing interest in, and the still

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P5 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy evolving value of, such previously marginalised art. Sidelined no more “Interest has been strongly felt for a number of years For decades, most people have associated Sub-Saharan and Sotheby’s own entry into the field in 2016 was very African art with the centuries-old artefacts on display much in response to the thriving market, which had been at major strait-laced museums and art institutes in expanding for over a decade,” states Hannah O’Leary, developed countries, especially those in Europe and North (pictured, below) Head of Modern and Contemporary America. African Art at the international auction house Sotheby’s. The gaze of private collectors is, however, turning towards some of the most eye-catching visuals and cutting-edge works currently on the market, says London-based Giles Peppiatt (pictured, below), Director of Modern & Contemporary African Art at Bonhams, the international auction house that hosted the Tutu sale. In addition to fine art and classic paintings, works created by artists from the Sub-Saharan region are highly varied. They include multimedia installations, photography, performance art, woodwork and sculptures. Some specialise in body art, graffiti and murals. Others bring an element of sci-fi, new tech and cyberpunk into the Afrofuturism format. Then there are the political and social statements seen in Afrogallonism, collages made from recycled materials, like the gallon-sized yellow plastic containers used for carrying water where there is a shortage. Traditionally, aspiring artists have had to rely on street sales combined with other trades to make a living. Today, “Over that period, I saw first-hand an exponential many still do. However, more are discovering the financial increase in market demand from collectors across the and professional benefits of having their works placed in African diaspora, as well as international art collectors curated galleries by expert dealers. and influencers who were embracing art from Africa as They are equally proficient at using social media to exciting, innovative and relevant.” reach global audiences long before their participation at She continues: “I am extremely proud to have sold international exhibitions and art fairs reinforces their some of the most expensive African artworks of all time, reputations. including setting the current world records for some of my “This is not a blip or a fad. We started selling African art favourite artists like Gerard Sekoto, Irma Stern, Njideka about 15 years ago. Back then, it was tough going. There is Akunyili Crosby and Yinka Shonibare. Works from artists no doubt that it is one of the fastest growing areas in the across the African diaspora are climbing to astonishing art market,” Peppiatt declares. “Having started, it is great heights on a truly global platform.” to have our faith confirmed. So, we took the view that it In some ways, the ascendancy of African art is also was worth having standalone sales.” evident in the impact it is already having on modern-day Bonhams now operates two Modern & Contemporary popular culture. African Art sales a year: in London and in New York. The British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor sued US singing next New York edition is scheduled for May 2020. stars Kendrick Lamar and SZA for allegedly using her work in the music video for All the Stars, a song on the soundtrack of Black Panther, the 2018 Marvel superhero movie from that netted a record-breaking US$1bn-plus in box office receipts. The dispute was settled out of court in December 2018. Nigerian body painter Laolu Senbanjo collaborated with singing superstar Beyoncé on her 2016 Grammy Award- winning music-video album Lemonade. Kenyan commercial photographer and visual artist Osborne Macharia, on the other hand, has contributed to the artwork in several major advertising campaigns, the US TV series Queen Sugar by Oprah Winfrey’s TV empire OWN and the Black Panther movie.

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P6 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy

South Africa’s Goodman Gallery, originally launched with sites in Johannesburg and Cape Town, expanded into London this October. Owner Liza Essers (pictured, right) explains why: “Opening a space in London has been my vision since I became owner and director in 2008 because I feel it is important for artists’ voices that have been sidelined in art history to be brought to the fore and to receive international exposure in a substantial and sustained way.” Other international champions of African art include the African & Oceanic Art unit at Christie’s auction house, as well as Galerie Templon in Brussels and -based gallery MAGNIN-A.

Spotlighting the artists The highly revered Enwonwu, who died in 1994, was within Africa and beyond.” already famous for his 1957 sculpture of England’s young O’Leary adds that Sotheby’s holds the world record Queen Elizabeth II and a work displayed at the United prices for South Africans like William Kentridge, Marlene Nations. A new generation of collectors is seeking him out, Dumas, Nicholas Hlobo and Gavin Jantjes, thanks to high thanks to the new broader interest in African art. international demand. International galleries cannot get enough of South She also notes: “Nigerian artists are making waves Africans like urban-black-art specialist Gerard Sekoto throughout the art world. Toyin Ojih Odutola is a hot and the prolific Irma Stern, as well as the awards-laden topic at the moment, having achieved a new artist record Nigerian Njideka Akunyili Crosby, who is based in the US, in March when Selective Histories achieved £250,000 and Yinka Shonibare, who was born in London and grew (US$333,124) in her evening-auction debut, which was up in Nigeria. broken again when Compound Leaf achieved £471,000 Shonibare has been honoured for his contribution to (US$627,607).” the arts with a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s Bush Babies hit the US$3.4 Order of the British Empire) from the UK government. million sale mark in May 2018, and Yinka Shonibare’s Red Joana Choumali, from Côte d’Ivoire, is the first African Lantern Kid brought in US$325,000 during December artist to win the coveted Prix Pictet, the social issues- 2018, more than double its original estimate. themed international photography competition. The Vin Noir oil on canvas by the late Senegalese artist Other Africans notching up international acclaim and Papa Ibra Tall sold for US$170,000 at a Bonhams auction in awards include Ghanaians Ibrahim Mahama, Godfried New York this year, a world record for a work by him. Donkor, Zohra Opoku, Ablade Glover, Kate Badoe, Serge Attukwei Clottey, Eva Campbell and Tafa Fiadzigbe. Who are the collectors? Nigerian sound and installation artist Emeka Ogboh Dedicated buyers of modern-day African art have been was a finalist in the Guggenheim Museum’s 2018 Hugo around for decades. They like to see original concepts that Boss Prize. are authentic and show the artist to be technically adept. South African Mary Sibande won the 2017 Smithsonian Many more want to put them on public display for the Award for African Art. And her compatriot, the gender pleasure and education of people in Africa and visitors activist Zanele Muholi, has been made a Chevalier de to the continent. One such benefactor is Ghana-based l’Ordre des Arts et de Lettres by the French government. Lebanese magnate Marwan Zakhem. He opened the Gallery 1957 (named after the year Financial recognition Ghana became the first African state to gain independence Among the artists highlighted by gallerists for their from colonial rule) inside the luxury hotel Kempinski increasing worth is El Anatsui, the Ghanaian-born, Hotel Gold Coast City in the capital Accra in 2016. Nigeria-based artist renowned for using recycled He is part of a growing number of gallery owners who consumer waste to raise environmental awareness via want to emphasise that there is more to African art today large-scale artworks. His creations easily fetch US$1m or than tribal images stereotypically featured as esoteric more each. afterthoughts at major international museums. Of Anatsui, O’Leary states: “He has an established Gallery 1957’s Victoria Cooke notes: “We have a group collector base and an international reputation and must of collectors here at the moment who have travelled be considered one of the greatest artists living today, both internationally to come and visit us. There are museums

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P7 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy all around the world finally focusing on African art and the Pavilion came from different generations, from history of African art.” photographer Felicia Abban (who is in her eighties), John Western artists have become mainstream household Akomfrah and El Anatsui to the up-and-coming Ibrahim names and consumer brands as the commercialisation of Mahama and Selasi Awusi Sosu. their works generates healthy revenues for the creators as In all, there were eight African countries, out of 57 in well as the collectors supporting them. total, with national pavilions at the event. Now, a new generation of equally compelling The three-day African Art in Venice Forum hosted African artists has emerged with equally powerful and during the Biennale’s opening week offered back-to- commercially attractive post-colonial stories to sell. back conference debates and sessions examining how “We are experiencing to raise the profile of an exciting surge in contemporary and modern engagement and investment art originating from and from international "In 2018, 70%-plus of lots in our inspired by the continent. collectors in contemporary sale were bought by collectors There are more stellar African art. The quality examples of African art of this engagement, beyond the African continent; in starring in international understanding African and shows. Liza Essers, of diasporic artists as part of 2019, 70% of buyers were from Goodman Gallery, cites a global discourse, is key to the African continent" South African Haroon ensuring that contemporary Gunn-Salie’s presence at African art can shift from Sotheby's Hannah O'Leary the New Museum Triennial the margins to the centre of and Frieze Sculpture in the canon,” the Goodman 2018. Gallery’s Essers declares. The Goodman has also Sotheby’s O’Leary is been a major supporter heartened to see the commitment of both African and of Johannesburg-born William Kentridge, who had a international collectors to the movement. major survey exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel in “Our Modern and Contemporary African Art auctions Switzerland until October 2019. In 2018, he premiered his typically see bidding from over 200 collectors and biggest performance piece to date, The Head & The Load, institutions from over 30 countries across six continents. at the Turbine Hall inside London’s Tate Modern, then at In October 2018, over 70% of lots in our sale were bought the Park Avenue Armory in New York. by collectors beyond the African continent,” she says. “Candice Breitz’s moving piece on the refugee crisis, “In April 2019’s sale of Modern and Contemporary Love Story, co-represented South Africa at the 57th African Art in London, 70% of buyers were from the Venice Biennale and comes to Tate Liverpool in 2020,” African continent.” Essers adds. This year saw French-born multi-genre artist Tabita International exhibitions Rezaire and her African-themed digital media at the UK’s African art is getting explosive receptions at the Serpentine and Whitechapel galleries, while South African international exhibitions and art fairs where collectors go Mikhael Subotzky is exhibiting his award-winning Ponte to discover potential investments. City project at the San Francisco MOMA in 2020. In December, African artists dominated the Art Basel Meanwhile, from 27 September to 31 December, you art fair on Miami Beach, one of the prominent global could catch Akomfrah’s installation called Mimesis: showcases. The Financial Times newspaper noted the African Soldier, which is dedicated to the thousands of great attention paid to emerging stars like Ghanaian colonised Africans who fought in the First World War, at Amoako Boafo, who is also the first artist-in-residence at the New Art Exchange in the UK city of Nottingham. Miami’s new 100,000 sq ft Rubell Museum. Victoria Cooke at Ghana’s Gallery 1957 says the gallery Another Ghanaian Godfried Donkor, Cameroon-born has participated in numerous international fairs, including Pascale Marthine Tayou, Botswana native Meleko Mokgosi, the Miami edition of Untitled Art Fair and Art Dubai. Senegal’s Omar Ba, plus Cote d'Ivoire-based Joana Choumali were feted at the Miami Art Basel. Dedicated African-art affairs Ghana and Madagascar became the talk of the art world The 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London is when they made their debut at the 58th edition of the among the growing number of multi-territory events Venice Biennale, arguably the world’s biggest and most devoted to only African artists. prominent art fair, in 2019. Launched in 2013, it is expanding with additional sites The participating artists at the Biennale’s Ghana in New York and Marrakech.

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P8 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy

On its website, it says the 2019 edition of the 1:54 The Savoy-Sarr report welcomed 44 international galleries, showcased the works of 140 multidisciplinary established and emerging artists, recommends the rapid and entertained 18,000-plus visitors during its five days. It also gave Mary Sibande her first solo show in Britain. repatriation of artworks The New York edition exhibited the works of more and other objects in than 70 artists represented by galleries from Belgium, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Kenya, French museums that Martinique, Morocco, Nigeria, Portugal, Senegal, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US. were purloined from the Among the high-profile art institutions that sent former colonies. representatives to the Marrakech edition were Britain’s Royal Academy of Arts, US-based Smithsonian Institution, France’s Centre Pompidou, Cape Town-based Zeitz Also known as the Savoy-Sarr report, it was written by Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, as well as Fondation French academic Bénédicte Savoy and Senegalese scholar Louis Vuitton (part of fashion powerhouse LVMH). Felwine Sarr, and published in November 2018 to address On the continent itself, the opportunities for local art the possible restitution of colonial art. fairs to promote the region’s own art communities are Savoy and Sarr recommend the rapid repatriation of taking root. Regional fairs and events of note include the artworks and other objects in French museums that were Investec Cape Town Art Fair in South Africa. purloined from the former colonies. The high-spirited Chale Wote festival in Ghana is a Seen as the harbinger of possibly one of the biggest prime example of the local artists channelling their inner overhauls within the European museum market if entrepreneurialism to launch their own shows and raise implemented, the Savoy-Sarr report’s proposal is also awareness among local consumers and international seen as another step towards bolstering the African art tourists. business. Meanwhile, ART X Lagos in Nigeria’s cultural capital Firstly, their return would introduce the centuries- has grown into one of West Africa’s top-flight art fairs for old objects to generations of young Africans who have international galleries despite launching only in 2016. never had a chance to see significant elements of their Some artists are more hands-on about how they want cultural heritage. The pool of potential collectors will their career and legacy to evolve. automatically widen, boosting possible sales value. And Yinka Shonibare has launched the Yinka Shonibare news of such a radical move to send the items back to their Foundation in the UK with ambitions to open its Guest native lands has raised greater international awareness of Artists Space (G.A.S) Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria in their existence. 2021, a non-profit venture designed to develop cultural Already, France has arranged for 26 art objects to be exchanges and international collaborations. returned to the West African state of Benin. The German Nana Oforiatta Ayim has set up a similar initiative called Historical Museum has pledged to return a 15th-century the ANO Institute of Contemporary Arts in Accra. Also monument to its original location, Namibia. Germany is in Ghana, Ibrahim Mahama is thinking on the same lines reportedly opening a central office to help coordinate the for his Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art, while the reclamation of other African cultural and heritage items. indefatigable Ablade Glover mentors aspiring practising The British Museum and Victoria & Albert in the UK, as artists at his sprawling Artists Alliance Gallery. well as the Humboldt Forum in Germany, are among the establishments faced with similar challenges. The logistics required for the restitution are not going Anti-colonialism maelstrom to be easy. About 95% of Africa’s cultural heritage is A major appeal of modern African art are the narratives currently in the possession of the world’s major museums, centred on post-colonial developments on the continent. according to a recent New York Times article. And the highly contentious role of colonialism and the In France alone, there are an estimated 90,000-plus anger generated from its support for the slave trade has African effects on display or in storage at museums, the ignited debates about who the custodians of its traditional majority of which are said to be at the Musée du Quai art should be. Branly. President Emmanuel Macron of France, a country Industry observers also expect any arrangements whose former Sub-Saharan outposts include Senegal, with African countries to end up being a complex web of Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Togo, Cameroon and the Central contentious compromises. African Republic, recently commissioned the study called Several returns could be in the form of loans as the Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New negotiating governments involved try to establish which Relational Ethics. artefacts are loots and which are legitimate acquisitions. MediaTainment Finance 31 S P9 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy

Additionally, detractors claim African institutions coverage of exhibitions is sorely limited. do not have the expertise required to store, display and He hopes ventures like the Artists Alliance and other safeguard these rare art gems, should they be given back local galleries will offer promising talent a stepping stone to their countries. of some kind, an infrastructure that did not exist at all But those criticisms have been debunked by when he started in the 1950s. connoisseurs who highlight the many African museums that have the necessary know-how needed for protecting their respective countries’ legacies and cultures. They include the National Museum of Tanzania, the National Museum of Mali, the Nigerian National Museum, plus the relatively new Dakar-based Museum of Black Civilisations and South Africa’s Zeitz MOCAA. Indeed, ’s Northwestern University has explored and benefited from such on-the-ground expertise for its travelling exhibition Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture and Exchange Across Medieval Saharan Africa. The show, which kicked off during early 2019, is described as a “first-of-its-kind” exhibition to illustrate the vital role West Africa played in holding up the medieval period’s global economy via the gold trade routes. And it was organised with the full collaboration of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and “Before, there was absolutely nothing,” he declares, Monuments and Lagos Museum, as well as other art and recalls the days when he hosted his own exhibitions organisations in Mali and Morocco. “It was crucial that at hotels if he wanted to reach collectors. “By the time Africans’ perspectives helped shape the show,” curator the exhibition had ended, the money I earned paid for the Kathleen Bickford Berzock said in a Northwestern rental. Exhibition space was very expensive.” magazine article. One strategy for making Artists Alliance financially Covering more than six centuries of history and viable today has been to capitalise on the popularity of the featuring 250-plus art objects, including rare manuscripts, old to introduce fans to the new. sculptures plus other ornaments, the exhibition was held Most foreign tourists come to his gallery expecting to at the university’s Block Museum of Art. see only traditional African works. But that presumption Its tour continues at the Aga Khan Museum in opens up other opportunities. “We’ve got to bring them Toronto, ending at the National Museum of African Art in for what they are looking for. But we also want to in the Washington DC-based Smithsonian Institution carry them from what they know to the unknown in throughout 2020. contemporary African art.” For other revenues needed to sustain the gallery, Career prospects “we do everything”, he quips. In addition to buying and While international interest in African art, old and new, selling art, there is the retail outlet for selling merchandise is on the rise, the career path for emerging professional and gifts to tourists, as well as consulting for collectors, practising artists continues to be strewn with obstacles. museums and even assessing the potential value of works But those hurdles are not insurmountable ones, states left by recently deceased artists. Ghana-based Ablade Glover (pictured, above right), one The much-decorated Glover, who used some of his of Africa’s foremost practising artists. pension funds to build the gallery, has been exhibited A retired university professor who is also an worldwide, including spaces at the World Bank in entrepreneur, Glover (who was born in 1934) founded the Washington DC and UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris. Accra-based Artists Alliance Gallery in 1993 to promote Artists Alliance welcomes all types of artists, from the works of aspiring and established Ghanaian artists graduates to the experienced but unknown, to be initially and, now, other West African artists too. considered for exhibition. The gallery’s commission Situated on one of Accra’s popular beaches, the Artists ranges from 35% to 40% of the sale price, but Glover says Alliance Gallery is a sprawling but airy edifice that houses he ensures each artist gets their due by the end of the both traditional and contemporary African art. month, if the sale took place by the 5th. Speaking to MTF, Glover reminds us that a career in art “Sometimes we go out and select talent from the has never been smooth-sailing. He points out there are no streets; the talent out there is spectacular. We want to government subsidies for new Ghanaian artists and media encourage all young practising artists.”

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P10 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy

Why invest 60% of the region’s population are under in African 25 years of age

creativity? tech hubs located in cities and metropolitan areas like Recently, the International Monetary Fund estimated Lagos, Cape Town, Accra and Nairobi. The rapid growth that six of the world’s fastest growing 10 economies are of mobile-phone and smartphone penetration will see the in Africa. Moreover, the continent is home to the world’s number of Sub-Saharan mobile subscribers grow to 623 largest youth population, according to the United Nations, million by 2025 from 456 million in 2018, according to the global mobile-networks operators' trade body GSMA. The number of mobile Internet users in the region will soar to 483 million from 239 million during the same period. And smartphones’ share of the total mobile connection will leap to 66% from 39%. We’re seeing the melding of fast-growing new tech, new media and a new middle class in one of the world’s most economically and socially deprived regions. This has inspired a new generation of creators to aspire for the attention of a global audience and has triggered international awareness for Africa’s media, entertainment and creative (MEC) sectors, including music, movies, fashion, sports, gaming, architecture and, now, the fine art business. Experts believe this with 60% of the region’s people under 25 years of age. scenario should expose African artworks, modern and The multinational Africa Future Summit set up to classical, not only to elite collectors in developed foreign bring together investors, entrepreneurs and technologists markets but also to new generations of young tech-savvy promotes the innovation developed at the numerous consumers in Africa itself.

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P11 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy GALLERY

Omar Victor Diop Omar Victor Diop

El Anatsui William Kentridge

Tabita Rezaire Mikhael Subotzky

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P12 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy GALLERY

Yinka Shonibare Yinka Shonibare

Papa Ibra Tall Nnenna Okore

Mary Sibande

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P13 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy GALLERY

IMAGES - COURTESY OF ARTISTS ALLIANCE GALLERY, GHANA MediaTainment Finance 31 S P14 feature SPECIAL REPORT: African Art's Ascendancy GALLERY

Gideon Appah Yaw Owusu

Serge Attukwei Clottey Godfried Donkor

Chidi Kwubiri Modupeola Fadugba Serge Attukwei Clottey

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P15 feature

MediaTainmentFinance Creative Commentaries

Spotlight on Digital Animation Shorts The personalisation of content on digital-media devices offers viewers access to a greater variety of videos, including premium short-form animated series and films that are receiving much attention and investments from major media operations. MTF takes a long-term look at the demand for shorts in the global animation space

LOVE, DEATH & ROBOTS HAIR LOVE BILBY Netflix's anthology of animated Sony Pictures Animation- DreamWorks Animation's sci-fi shorts backed film by Michael Cherry award-winning CGI story feature Creative Commentaries: Digital Animation Shorts

more screen time to fill up with media, entertainment and creativity. The number of mobile devices, Animation Shorts from existing smartphones to future driverless , is increasing. In other words, as mass audiences grow, so will the demand for personalised Reach for New entertainment and the need for personalised content production. For personalisation to be possible, content creators need to offer Digital Heights consumers more options, and these choices include digital short-form animation. From the Alpha Generation to Generation Z, from Millennials to Thanks to the growing cable, satellite and on-demand Kidults with young families, from streaming-tech platforms reaching people’s homes Pre-School kids to adults, today’s consumers like short-form content globally, there is more screen time to fill up with content. on the go, anytime, anywhere and, The number of mobile devices, from existing smartphones increasingly, anyhow. They could be waiting for a bus to future driverless cars, is increasing. That means the or in an airport lounge or be on a long train journey: the time lag need demand for personalised entertainment will expand. The not be tedious if they have access intensifying investment in digital short-form animation to snack-sized one to 10-minute entertainment and media to keep acknowledges that trend. them amused and informed. That demand looks set to spur more co-founder of Quibi (short for Quick mong the shows competition within the animation- Bites), during an on-stage interview on Quibi, the new business space. streaming platform at this year’s Cannes Lions Festival of featuring mobile- International Creativity in the South first short-form of France. Revenue from animation premium content Katzenberg (right in picture In 2018, the global media and and scheduled to launch in April below) joined CEO Meg Whitman and entertainment business was worth a A Procter & Gamble Co.'s Chief Brand 2020, is an adult-animation series massive US$2.1 trillion, according to called Your Daily Horoscope. Officer Marc Pritchard to unveil professional-services multinational Co-produced by US digital- Quibi's monetisation plans. PwC. It is forecast to grow at a entertainment firm ATTN: and healthy 4%-plus annual rate Electric Avenue, the production to US$2.6 trillion by 2023. company belonging to Hollywood Over the past two decades, actor Will Arnett, Your Daily animation has similarly Horoscope is an astrology-themed been undergoing a cultural hand-drawn animated series in revolution. Quibi’s news-and-lifestyle segment. Revenue from animation It is an example of the platform’s (including feature films, TV goal to bring together digital- series, video gaming, such media technology and compelling as esports, plus the visual storytelling to the business of effects used in motion- entertainment and communication. pictures entertainment) “From Day One, the vision and Thanks to the growing number of was valued at a hefty US$259 ambition has been to bring together digital terrestrial, cable, satellite and billion globally and is expected to the best of Silicon Valley and streaming-tech platforms reaching grow to US$270 billion by 2020, Hollywood,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, people’s homes worldwide, we have ResearchAndMarkets.com states.

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P17 feature Creative Commentaries: Digital Animation Shorts

outside English-speaking US and UK have been importers of animation. That is changing. Other major investors in animation shorts with an international market in mind include Japan’s Cyber Agent. In China, you will find NASDAQ stock exchange- listed Bilibili, Baidu-owned iQiyi (also NASDAQ-listed), Tencent Holdings (on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) and NetEase (NASDAQ) focusing on animation. India, on the other hand, is home to Mumbai- based digital animation studio YoBoHo (a subsidiary of Canada’s BBTV), broadcaster Discovery Kids and Reliance Animation, among The labour-intensive and In November, the animation others expensive nature of producing arm of Nickelodeon, the US- animation, from meticulously headquartered international Independents’ dedication hand-drawn illustration, computer- kids-TV network belonging to In addition to the multinationals, generated images (CGI) to immersive ViacomCBS, announced plans to there are plenty of independent Virtual Reality and Augmented produce animation feature films and media ventures that have decided to Reality, has meant individual short TV series for streaming-TV giant place animation shorts high on their films have traditionally been the Netflix. Nickelodeon also introduced production agenda. standard format (compared to the its Intergalactic Shorts Program in They include NASDAQ Nordic- conventional two to four-hour live- the US this year to encourage more quoted Rovio Entertainment, the action movies). storytellers to work in animation. Finnish media-and-entertainment To this day, TV animation series In June, Warner Bros. Animation group famous for its Angry Birds come in six to 11-minute episodic unveiled Looney Tunes Cartoons mobile-games app. In the UK, you formats. But the age of streaming (pictured, above), starting with 1,000 will find Hopster, Wonky Star, CAKE platforms has seen a greater presence minutes of one to six-minute series. Entertainment’s Popcorn Digital, of one-off and serialised animation They feature 21st-century versions of Blue Zoo Animation Studio and shorts as a business in its own right stalwart cartoon characters like Bugs Passion Animation Studio. for our multi-device times. And Bunny and Daffy Duck, who were in In Chile, there is Marmota investment in it is growing. the original Looney Tunes that ended Studio; PushStart is in Brazil; and in the early 2000s. Japan has Toei Animation and Global investors Sony Pictures Animation has DandeLion Animation Studio. DreamWorks Animation, now received industry and consumer France, the land where the bande a subsidiary of US broadcast- plaudits for Hair Love, Michael A. dessinée is considered an art form, and-pay-TV conglomerate Cherry's short about an African- is home to specialists like Bobbypills Comcast Corporation, launched American single Dad learning to (a Blackpills-Bobby Prod joint its DreamWorks Shorts division in manage his young daughter’s natural venture aimed at adults) and Xilam 2017 with animated shorts in mind. hair (image, page 22). Animation. The most recent release, Marooned, Netflix’s Love, Death + Robots premiered in June. series is a haven for some of the Streaming galore Comcast’s rival The Walt Disney edgiest adult animation to be found The output from these creators will Company operates a similar initiative today. In terms of reaching adult- be needing distribution opportunities called Disney Short Circuit via the cartoon fans, it is vying with Adult on the plethora of new or recently Walt Disney Animation Studios. Its Swim, the night-time programming launched Hollywood streaming other subsidiary, Animation, block on Cartoon Network, the services like Quibi, Disney+, Apple offers ambitious short-form children’s TV network belonging to TV+, NBCUniversal’s Peacock, animators similar opportunities at its AT&T’s WarnerMedia. WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, and CBS Pixar SparkShorts unit. Traditionally, most countries AllAccess. There are also openings

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animation shorts, as standalone films or series, is still being established. Well-known production/distribution companies like US-based Genius Brands see animation shorts as an extension of long-form shows already successful on linear platforms. “Genius Brands is launching a series of short videos, which are anywhere between one to seven minutes, designed for digital distribution around two of our flagship pre-school series, Rainbow Rangers (pictured, left) and Llama Llama,” states Jon Ollwerther, Vice President, Business Development at Genius Brands International (pictured, below). on established streaming players like Among all these tech-driven “We will be offering a mix of new Netflix, which has 158 million paying ventures, Quibi and rival Ficto never-before-seen content, as well subscribers worldwide; Amazon (currently in Beta mode) are the ones as edited footage from the series but Prime Video, which is free to more targeting smartphone users with packaged in a new and unique way, than 100 million Amazon Prime shows shot in the vertical portrait- such as the Top Ten Animal Moments e-commerce subscribers; and Hulu. format (instead of traditional for Rainbow Rangers.” Regionwide there is the privately landscape formats). owned iFlix serving audiences in Both want to be the port of call Asia, the Middle East and North for shows produced in formats that Africa. Although internationally traditional TV animation has been available, Showmax, a subsidiary of excellent at: the seven to 10-minute South Africa’s MultiChoice Group, is episode series. This time, however, concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. you will be able to watch them on In the UK, BritBox (an ITV plc and the move on your mobile device, the BBC Studios joint venture) launched TV in your pocket. And audience on 7 November, thereby joining Sky’s measurement will be data-driven, Now TV. The Nordic Entertainment not based on panel samples of old. Group (NENT) offers Viaplay and After raising US$1bn with plans Viafree in Scandinavia. for another US$500m in the pipeline, French pay-TV giant Canal+ Group the monthly subscription-funded is hiking its investment in Europe’s Quibi has already sold US$150m of streaming business with its US$1.1bn advertising space for the Millennial He also admits that sometimes you takeover of M7, the Luxembourg- and Gen Z-targeted viewers who need to risk entering a totally new based rival serving viewers in the might prefer to watch for free. arena to see how that might influence Benelux and Central European Considering co-founder Jeffrey the work you are creating now. regions. Katzenberg was also responsible for “Our strategy for the short-form TVNOW in Germany is part of RTL several animation box-office hits, content that we plan to roll out in the Deutschland, a subsidiary of Europe’s first as Chairman at Walt Disney coming months and years is designed biggest broadcaster RTL Group. Studios and later as co-founder/ to support our full-length animated In Russia, ivi.ru is one of the CEO at Dreamworks Animation, we series, functioning as another streaming market’s leaders, while should expect some groundbreaking extension of the brand so that kids China offers its 1.3 billion-plus animated shows to be commissioned and parents can interact with the population options that include iQiyi, at Quibi. series on TV, on video-on-demand Alibaba Group Holding’s Youku, (VOD), on digital, and with consumer DouYu TV (which has launched on Expert voices products,” he adds. NASDAQ and is partly owned by In the international TV and digital- “That said, these digital-first Tencent Holdings) and Huya. media landscapes, the position of shorts may give us new insight into

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P19 feature Creative Commentaries: Digital Animation Shorts

you produce for linear broadcast, however, you create with the hope they will be met with success.” Xilam recently agreed to buy 50.1% of Creative Cube, a digital animation studio which has provided 3D content for French TV shows, brands, amusement parks and feature films. The acquisition is part of Xilam’s mission to broaden its portfolio with more CGI productions. “We also plan to develop a slate of animated shows targeting adult audiences and have tasked our in- house creative team to develop intellectual properties for this booming market.” UK-based start-up Wonky Star, inventor of the award-winning the brand and what resonates with Courcier also argues that digital- international digital platform Night kids so, of course, we’ll take that content production cannot be Zookeeper, has turned into an insight and incorporate it into future isolated from how it is distributed. animation producer as well. stories.” And this is borne in mind when Available worldwide, the Night Euronext Paris stock exchange- creating shows for 6 to 9-year- Zookeeper is a social enterprise listed Xilam, one of Europe’s leading olds on advertising-funded VOD originally built to encourage literacy 2D-animation production houses and platforms, like YouTube, where Xilam and writing among kids. It works distributors, develops or acquires reaches 15 million subscribers and with schools in several countries to technology that gives its kids has reported more than 15 billion inspire pupils to create their own animation that extra edge in terms of views in total. original fictional worlds and stories innovative entertainment. “In the digital space, production about magical animals that live in the In October, it announced plans and distribution are two inseparable Night Zookeeper’s world. to produce Oggy Oggy (pictured, friends and we need to constantly This resource has seen children above), a pre-school CGI spin-off adapt the former in order to meet the improve their literacy skills and based on one of its biggest global expectations of the latter,” he offers. embrace creativity hits, Oggy and the Cockroaches, for while having fun Netflix. It would be the first-ever in school. This is original French-language animation especially the case commissioned by Netflix, and the when some of their first CGI TV show for Xilam. With a creations have reported US$22m budget, Oggy Oggy ended up in the will comprise 156 seven-minute Night Zookeeper episodes over two seasons. books written by “There is a possibility of digital co-founder Josh animation being a format in its own Davidson and right and also a promotional tool published by Oxford for long-form features. It is just two University Press’s different ways of producing content,” Children’s Books. Charles Courcier (pictured, right), Now, Davidson Xilam’s Head of Digital Production, and his Night says. “Online audiences are looking Zookeeper team have developed for authentic, bespoke content and “The key to every digital TV animation and they are inviting I believe if you produce a successful production is to have the ability children across the UK to contribute digital series and there is genuine and flexibility to adjust the content and collaborate by envisioning demand for longer form, you’ll find a production schedule according to their own characters, background way to adapt it regardless.” audience needs and feedback. When designs and storylines. A series

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P20 feature Creative Commentaries: Digital Animation Shorts was commissioned this year by Sky Kids, part of the European media conglomerate Sky owned by US TV giant Comcast. “Storytelling in animation isn't necessarily better than storytelling in any other medium, but it does have some distinct advantages, enabling worlds and characters that don't exist in the world around us to be brought to life,” Davidson observes. “Part of the magic of animation is the craft that has gone into it. It is like seeing any work of art or an incredible act of create the series as motivation for We Are Social, there are about 4.4 human endeavour. I believe children writing and drawing practice and billion Internet users worldwide. The instinctively feel this craft when they encouraging children to produce GSM Association, the international watch a piece of animation, just as their best work,” Davidson (pictured, trade body for mobile networks, adults do. I hope our project is very above) adds. says there are almost 9 billion mobile educational for kids in this regard and “We also created a series of videos connections globally, more than the will inspire the next generation of using animation and a presenter world’s population. The market for animators and creators.” to teach children about our world smart TVs internationally is forecast The platform, which is seeking and the project. One other use of to generate US$293.5bn by 2025. a Series A round of funding, wants animated shorts has been a video Moreover, social media is to work with co-production series teaching children about how providing reliable distribution partners to deliver more animation to tell stories, which we created for platforms for aspiring animation- educational entertainment, as it Class Dojo, a classroom management short professionals. Facebook Watch did with London-based Emmy and tool used by 90% of US elementary claims 140 million daily users; BAFTA award-winning studio Karrot schools.” Instagram (a Facebook subsidiary) Animation for the Sky Kids series. reports about 500 million daily active “We use animation in Night users. Google-owned YouTube boasts Zookeeper (pictured, below) to Accessing digital animation more than 1 billion hours of videos inspire and engage children but While traditional hand-drawn and really we use the opportunity to co- stop-motion animation continue to watched daily. There are also other be in demand, the major video-sharing players like emerging digital- Dailymotion and Vimeo. only scenarios, In China, a key streaming and such as the social-media market in terms of hyper-real and reach, the new addictive video- photorealistic sharing platform TikTok reports 500 imagery seen million monthly active users globally; in video games, Bilibili has more than 100 million mean animation monthly active users; Weibo (similar creators need to Twitter) records 465 million to think digital monthly active users; there are 600 too about their million free registered users on the commercial Baidu-owned iQiyi; and Tencent’s prospects. WeChat dominates with its 1.1 billion According to daily active users.

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P21 feature Creative Commentaries: Digital Animation Shorts

And those fees are for single-seat don’t need to have training in licences that limits the number of traditional storyboarding or have THE ART OF people authorised to use it. fine-art drawing skills. Those more Unity is used specifically to make traditional art skills can definitely ANIMATION games but can also be applied to be helpful for today’s visual-effects independent-film productions. artists but training in them is not a BUDGETING BUDGETING Additionally, third-party renderers prerequisite. Also, the experience Creating animated content is like Redshift (now owned by MAXON of digital animators grows as they costly in terms of time and funding, Computer, CD4’s developer) and become more well-versed in the very but devotees always find a solution, as Octane Render (by OTOY) are add- same fine-art composition and style Washington DC-based independent on software used by the 3D apps to techniques taught at art schools.” filmmaker Rollie Hudson, points out. make impressive photo-realistic While access to animation tools Hudson (pictured, below right) animations and images. is more democratic than ever is a fan of Swedish VFX artist and “Anyone with access to a before, Hudson also advises users 3D animator Erik Wernquist and computer can become an animator,” to think through their objective his now cult-status film short Hudson declares. “Overall, the before committing to animation as a Wanderers (pictured, above). “That profession or commercial business. film inspires me because of its visual “For the production of a magnificence,” Hudson says. “It 10-minute short, filmmakers are shows depictions of actual places faced with the question of what do in our own solar system, which is they want to say and how to make particularly exciting for me. There’s a it. If they create complex scenes, it sense of wonder in a work like this.” will take more resources and skills He also agreed to carry out some including hardware, software and research into the potential cost of people who know how to use these animation software packages in the applications at a level that achieves market for MediaTainment Finance. professional results.” He says high-end full 3D software packages like Cinema 4D Studio number of people doing animations These Digital Animation Shorts articles (C4D), LightWave 3D, Maya, Blender, of some kind around the world are based on a keynote presentation given by Houdini and Autodesk 3DS Max has increased tremendously Juliana Koranteng, founder of JayKay Media can be used to make films, TV, because of the digital revolution Inc (publisher of MediaTainment Finance commercials or games. in which computers become both and its sister publication TechMutiny), at Maya and Houdini can cost more less expensive and more powerful the South Korean state-supported Seoul than US$8,000. The C4D package can simultaneously.” Promotion Plan conference for Asian also set you back about US$4,000. He continues: “Digital animators producers in July 2019.

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P22 MTF Diary

Las Vegas: CES Marrakech: 1-54 Marrakech Austin, Texas: SXSW (South By 7-10 January 2020 20-23 February 2020 SouthWest) S Various venues S La Mamounia 13-22 March 2020 Organised by: The Consumer Organised by: Art Africa Ltd S Austin Convention Center Technology Association About: Part of the most innovative Organised by: SXSW, LLC About: Over the course of 50 years the art-fair series showcasing artistic About: The popular annual celebration “Consumer Electronics Show” has talent in both Africa and the diaspora of creativity in international film, evolved into a must-attend hub on all j https://www.1-54.com/ music and interactive media things futuristic in consumer tech marrakech/ j https://www.sxsw.com/ j https://www.ces.tech/ : MWC (Mobile World Cannes: MIPTV San Francisco: UNTITLED, Art Congress) 30 March-2 April 2020 17-19 January 2020 24-27 February 2020 S Palais des Festivals S Pier 35 S Fira Barcelona Gran Via Organised by: Reed Midem Organised by: Art Fairs Unlimited Organised by: GSMA About: The international hotspot for About: A leading art fair dedicated to About: The world’s biggest trade TV content makers, creators, sellers contemporary and modern art, event addressing the future of mobile and marketers gets a radical revamp photography and sculptures tech and media j https://www.miptv.com/ j https://untitledartfairs.com/san- j https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/ francisco Katowice: Intel Extreme Masters Toronto: Canadian Music Week Miami: NATPE Miami (IEM) 19-23 May 2020 21-23 January 2020 28 February-1 March 2020 S Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel S Fontainebleau Miami Beach S Spodek Arena Organised by: The Canadian Organised by: NATPE Organised by: ESL Gaming GmbH Association for the Advancement of About: Conferences, commerce, About: Arguably the most established Music & the Arts screening, awards and networking of the esports tournament-and- About: The influential conference- to promote US TV content to the entertainment events and-festival centred on the growing international community j https://www.intelextrememasters. Canadian music sector j https://www.natpe.com/ com/season-14/katowice/ j https://cmw.net/

Cannes: Esports BAR London: ILMC Cannes: Midem 11-13 February 2020 3-6 March 2020 2-5 June 2020 S Palais des Festivals S Royal Garden Hotel S Palais des Festivals Organised by: Reed MIDEM Organised by: The International Live Organised by: Reed MIDEM About: The premier hub for brand Music Conference About: The place to be to catch up owners, investors, games publishers About: One of the largest with creative, commercial and tech in the heated esports business international gatherings developments in the international j https://cannes.the-esports-bar. of decision-makers in the concert music business com/ and live-music sectors j https://www.midem.com/ j https://www.ilmc.com/ Cape Town: Cape Town Art Fair Cannes: Cannes Lions International 14-16 February 2020 London: MME 4.5 (gaming + esports) Festival of Creativity S Cape Town International 4 March 2020 20-26 June 2020 Convention Centre S TBD S Palais des Festivals Organised by: Fiera Milano Organised by: 2Pears Organised by: Ascential Events Exhibitions Africa About: What role will esports and About: In the rapidly changing global About: This art fair has grown into one competitive video-gaming play advertising sector, this is where the ad of the most admired in Africa in the future of music, media and agencies, marketers and ad-tech folk j https://www. entertainment? come to network and learn investeccapetownartfair.co.za/ j www.mme4pt5.com j https://www.canneslions.com/

MediaTainment Finance 31 S P23 news About MediaTainment Finance

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