Mar 7, 2024

Next Lab Selects Three New Technology Animation Projects for Invitation to Pitch and Financing at MIFA

Spain's Next Lab has announced the 2024 winners of its Generation Pitching & Incubation program for VR, AR, XR, and animation projects.

This year, 20 projects were selected to participate in a series of lectures, meetings, presentations, workshops, and networking events held in Madrid. Each project was evaluated by a jury of industry experts, who selected their three favorites.

In the video below, a sampling of this year's projects can be seen.

The three projects selected by this year's Next Lab jury are:

Catwalk, Lidia Luna, Omayra González Pérez and Toni Mortero

Martina e Gaurá, Paula de Abreu

The Cutting of the Forest, Vernante Amarilla Pallotti and Daniele Zen

The three selected projects will each receive €8,000 ($8,700) in development funds, three months of mentoring by experts in the fields related to the work, and a grant of €2,000 ($3,000) to develop the work. The three selected projects will each receive €8, 000 ($8,700) in development funding, three months of mentoring by experts in the field related to their work, and the opportunity to pitch their work at the MIFA marketplace in Annecy in June.

The jury also awarded a special prize to the Spanish series project Welcome to Fucking Rainbowland by Noonyo Benito and Nacho Subiratz.

Next Lab was first held in 2021 as a launchpad and incubator for projects that best utilize new and emerging technologies in the creative field. Since its inception, 70 projects from 30 countries have participated.

According to Jose Luis Farias, director of Next Lab,

Next Lab has taken a new step forward in changing the way animation is perceived by making technology work for creativity. It is not only our work, but also the work of the community that has emerged over the past four years to collaborate, participate, and push us forward.