Traditional Financing Be Damned: Jorge Gutiérrez Courts Partners By Releasing The Full 40-Minute ‘El Guapo Vs. The Narco Vampires’ Animatic Online

Traditional financing and distribution models be damned. The Book of Life, El Tigre, and Maya and the Three creator Jorge Gutiérrez has bucked industry convention to find collaborators for his 40-minute work-in-progress pilot for El Guapo vs. the Narco Vampires, posting the full animatic on YouTube, with the first three minutes already fully animated.

“The hope and dream is that if enough people around the world like what they see, we can find a studio partner to help finance and distribute this epic 9-episode (30-minute episodes) adult animated limited series,” Gutierrez wrote in the pilot’s YouTube description. “This is my first-ever foray into the indie adult animation world, so it’s a big, bold experiment for me.”

Conventional wisdom suggests that giving away this much of a project so early is a risky move. But these are unconventional times, and the gatekeepers that once championed ambitious original work now seem largely focused on sequels, prequels, and remakes. In that context, conventional wisdom no longer feels particularly relevant.

Over the past few years, the independent online animation space has seen a notable shift, with established creators choosing to gamble on themselves rather than remain in a volatile studio system that routinely rejects original ideas. Owl House creator Dana Terrace released the fantastic pilot for Knights of Guinevere earlier this year. Animaniacs showrunner Gabe Swarr launched his own indie game studio. Now, Gutiérrez is developing multiple independent projects while continuing to pitch broader, more audience-friendly concepts to studios and streamers.

El Guapo vs. the Narco Vampires marks Gutiérrez’s first adult-oriented project, though he is also developing other mature works that could reach the market sooner, depending on financing. Speaking with us previously, the creator described El Guapo as “unhinged” and creatively uncompromising.

The series follows El Guapo, a charismatic but deeply flawed luchador in Tijuana who betrays his virtuous brother José during a championship match after striking a deal with a powerful narco-vampire cartel. This decision leads to José’s brutal death and Guapo’s own violent murder. Cast into Hell, Guapo is granted a chance at redemption and sent back to the living world broken, guilt-ridden, and determined to protect José’s family from afar.

As he attempts to live quietly and atone through honest work, Guapo is inevitably pulled back into the orbit of the narco vampires. Forced to confront his cowardice, complicity, and lingering demons, he stands at the edge of a brutal moral reckoning, setting the stage for a bloody, supernatural struggle for redemption, family, and his shattered soul.

Gutiérrez handled all character designs for the project, supported by background art from Roman Laney and storyboard panel designs by Gus Cosio and Eddie Triguerros, all longtime collaborators from his earlier work. Ánima Estudios animated the pilot’s first three minutes.

Below, we’re sharing more exclusive BTS.