Netflix’s new series Arcane isn’t just good by the iffy standards of video-game adaptations — it’s something of a masterpiece in its own right. Audiences and pros have reacted accordingly: the League of Legends spin-off shot to the top of the streamer’s ranking of most-watched English-language shows in November, and has received nine nominations at the Annies (more than any other series this year).
This outcome has put Fortiche, the 12-year-old Paris-based studio that produced the animation, clearly on the map. The company employed around 15 people seven years ago and has seen its workforce balloon to approximately 300 during work on Arcane, according to Alexis Wanneroy, a lead animator on the show.
In a recent video podcast (watch below), Wanneroy discusses the production, as well as Fortiche’s pipeline and recent growth (he heads up a new Fortiche studio in the French city of Montpellier). As a 14-year veteran of Dreamworks, the animator compares his experience of Hollywood with Fortiche’s approach.