Paperboat Animation Studios, the Toronto headquartered animation studio recently acquired by Singapore based global media content and technology company Vistas Media Capital, today unveiled its debut animation slate consisting of the three diverse projects for the global market. The slate was revealed at a special event in Cannes by Paperboat Animation Studios co-founder and chief creative director Soumitra Ranade alongside Vistas Media co-founder and group CEO Abhayanand Singh.
The slate is anchored by Kabuliwala: Man from Kabul – a 3D animated feature based on the classic short story by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Soumitra Ranade adapted the story for Paperboat and will direct the feature.
Kabuliwala tells the story a beautiful bond between Mini, a six-year-old girl from Kolkata and an immigrant hawker from Kabul. The heart-warming film reaffirms that the true essence of peoples’ existence is shared humanity.
The project was awarded the Script Development Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, Brisbane and was selected for the MPA-APSA-Busan International Film Festival Project Pitch. The film is being shepherded by veteran Hollywood producer and financier Benjamin Waisbren (executive producer of 300, 22 Jump Street, The Equalizer) who recently joined Vistas to lead the company’s new North America division. 100% of the production work on Kabuliwala is being done by Paperboat Animation Studios.
An animated project geared toward adults is Itch, a web series produced by Golden Ratio Films, the content production label within Vistas Media Capital, with animation production being done through Paperboat. Ranade wrote and will direct the series, which will be 2D and 3D animation formats.
Itch is set against the cityscape of London. The ten-part series follows the lives of ten individuals as they traverse through their challenging urban circumstances. The stories deal with traffic jams and breakdown in relationships. They deal with work pressures and housing loans, with loneliness and the social media. They deal with dark desire and violence. Itch reflects what a megacity does to an individual while performing an autopsy on the human condition in ultra-urban spaces.
The third project, Tattva 118, is a hybrid multi-platform metaverse-centered franchise being developed and made into an animated feature film, TV series and game for all age groups, featuring both 2D and 3D animation.
Anthropomorphizing 118 elements from the periodic table, Tattva 118 is a unified vision for entertainment, education and environment. Beginning with the release of NFTs, it is one of its kind product that uses blockchain technology to offer movies, metaverse and magic.
The Principle Designer of Tattva 118 is Paperboat co-founder Aashish Mall. Paperboat is producing all of the content and handling all the animation work.
Singh said, “Paperboat is a best-in-class animation studio with the most skilled and imaginative storytellers I’ve been around. This initial slate of projects puts their arsenal of talent on display and offers something for everyone around the world. Soumitra, Aashish and Mayank have a bold vision and this is reflected in the diverse projects being brought to life. The tremendous response we’ve seen in the marketplace already is incredibly encouraging and speaks to the global demand for quality animated content, which we are dedicated to delivering. It’s a special moment being able to reveal our inaugural slate in Cannes as the world celebrates storytelling on the biggest stage.”
Ranade said, “Paperboat has always been at the forefront of these ever-evolving times, incubating new technologies with cutting-edge artistic pursuits. It gives us immense joy to start work on such pathbreaking projects. Abhayanand, Piyush and Saurabh from Vistas Media Capital are the perfect partners for us to embark on this exciting journey, and what better place to do that than Cannes, which through the years has chronicled the history of the moving image!”