During a masterclass last weekend at the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG), Mexican Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro announced plans for the creation of a one-of-a-kind international animation center in Guadalajara that would focus on stop-motion.
Guadalajara is already a major production center for stop-motion animation in Mexico, and del Toro’s investment in the city will further grow its reputation for the art form. It has previously been announced that del Toro will produce a stop-motion feature in that city, to be directed by Karla Castañeda.
According to reports by a leading Mexican newspaper El Universal, the center will be known officially as Centro de Animación Industrial (Center of Industrial Animation), but will colloquially go by Taller del Chucho (The Dog’s Workshop). Del Toro’s new initiative aims to push forward the already burgeoning animation industry in his native Mexico and serve as a launching pad for young talents pursuing a career in the tactile technique of stop-motion.