Đoàn Trần Anh Tuấn was awarded the first prize for best professional animated cartoon filmmaker at a contest launched by the Korean Cultural Centre in Hà Nội.

He was awarded the second prize at the contest last year.

Tuấn is co-founder and CEO of Colory Animation Studio in HCM City. He has been named in the ’30 under 30’ list of outstanding figures from various fields by Forbes Viet Nam Magazine in 2016.

Culture Vulture interviewed Tuấn on the awards and his work at the Colory Animation Studio.

Why did you take part in the animated cartoon making contest again?

Colory participated in this contest again because we had just completed a short film which was better than the previous one.

I did not aim for any award. I just wanted to get a chance to meet and introduce my studio to Korean friends.

Could you talk about your award-winning cartoon?

Colory’s entry at this contest was our latest short film titled Cuộc Phiêu Lưu Của Trứng, Chanh Và Ớt (The Adventure of Egg, Lime and Chilli). In this film, I wanted to simplify the character’s design and make the character as simple as we could.

Let the story reveal the characteristics, not the design. I focused on making a fast-paced short film with a cute and funny story.

And one more thing which worked was the businesslike approach. I guess this was the most important point which convinced the jurors.

With this setup, Colory can easily create an animated series with many episodes. The way we build the characters, the world will save a lot on production cost without compromising on the quality.

With no dialogues and no language barrier, it would be easy to air this series in any country.

Last year, you won the second prize and visited the Chuncheon Anitown Festival in South Korea. Did you enjoy the trip? And what do you expect this time?

Yes, I enjoyed the trip. I read a lot about the animation industry in South Korea before the visit. I was so inspired when I visited the Animation Museum. From humble beginnings (compared to what we Vietnamese people have had in the past), they worked hard every single day to turn animation into a really big industry in Korea now.

It was not about the technology. The most important thing I learned from the trip is how attitude resulted in change for an industry.

Can you tell us about your Colory Animation Studio?

Colory is a start-up company. My friends and I founded Colory in 2011 when we were studying at college. Through the years, we made animated series and short films, which were screened on Youtube and Việt Nam Television’s Channel 3. Currently, we are working hard on a project that will bring Colory to the next level -- an animated feature film. This is a risky project but we are so excited to work on it. Best wishes for us.

There are many young people engaging in animated cartoon making. Is there potential for the animated cartoon industry to develop in Việt Nam?

I see huge potential in this field. First, our labour cost is quite low compared with other countries, and therefore, companies from South Korea, Japan, France, China, etc, come to Việt Nam to build a team here. This creates more jobs and develops the skills of our people. The awareness of this field is increased and more young people choose animation as a career.

Second, our cinema market is big enough now. The success of Vietnamese movies, such as Hoa Vàng Trên Cỏ Xanh (Yellow Flowers on Green Grass) and Em Là Bà Nội Của Anh (Sweet 20), shows that the Vietnamese people are now willing to spend money to watch a good movie. It is not difficult to find a Vietnamese film that touches US$3-5 million at the box office.

The more the cinema market grows, the more hope there is for the animation industry. — VNS