Meet....the PA (to Director, Wayne Thornley)

One thing that’s always stood out for me in all of my adventures is that if you want to learn new things, it’s very much your own responsibility.

Before she became involved in the film industry Edelgard travelled the world trying her hand at everything from au-pairing to office management and graphic design. Although she has always been an avid fan of animation films, Zambezia is the first animation feature she has worked on and says: “Zambezia is without a doubt the best project I’ve been involved with since becoming a fulltime freelancer in the industry.” Edelgard is particularly inspired by the writings of Paulo Coelho as well as her eclectic musical taste which includes Björk, Tom Waits, James Morrison and Mika. The animation character she most identifies with is Mumble from Happy Feet because she has often considered herself a bit of a loner and outsider. “Like Mumble, I also lacked knowing my ‘heartsong’ from an early age, but later I came to understand that uniqueness isn’t an affliction but rather a forte`”. Pin It

Zambezia rehearsals

Rehearsals for Zambezia took place last week, with dialogue coach Fiona Ramsay helping to bring a cohesive sound to the cast and to ensure that the African accents are clear enough to the international market.

Among the South African cast signing up are a host of well-known local celebs – actors, comedians and singers including Lali Dangazele, David Dennis, Lee Duru, Keeno Lee-Hector, Zolani Mahola, Nik Rabinowitz, Brent Palmer, Leeanda Reddy and Royston Stoffels. Recording takes place over the next two weeks.

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Richard E. Grant signs on for Zambezia

Well-reknowned British actor Richard E. Grant has confirmed that he will provide a voice for Zambezia. He will play the role of Cecil, a Marabou who schemes of taking control of the bird city.

Grant is no stranger to animation, having lent his voice talent to Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties, and the upcoming Jackboots on Whitehall alongside Ewan McGregor and Rosamund Pike.

Rising to fame with his film debut Withnail and I, Grant has since gone on to star in a number of films (including Oscar-winners Gosford Park and Age of Innocence). More recently Richard wrote and directed his biographical story Wah-Wah.

Zambezia is in production in South Africa and is due for release early 2011. Pin It

Back in the studio! Happy 2010 from the Triggerfish Team

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Meet....the line producer, Vanessa Sinden

“I don’t think you can plan or even study to get into Production. If you have the skills, passion and drive for the behind the scenes stuff, I think you just fall into it.”

In her previous life (before she was bit by the film bug, that is) Vanessa studied and worked in Marketing. Her passion for working in film began when she landed a few acting roles in commercials. Being on set opened her eyes to the workings behind the scenes and she instantly knew that this would be her “next big thing”. Vanessa started at the bottom but quickly worked her way up into Production on both commercials and features. Together with Wayne Thornley and Reyer Meihuizen, Vanessa started The Crucial Project with a vision to produce quality, family-orientated films. The Crucial Project’s animated short of a CG series, Hyde’s Angel was presented to sales agents and distributors at Annecy in 2006.

Vanessa has always loved animation and, as a child, can remember starting many a day with a bowl of coco pops while watching Grootbek. Some of her favourite animations include Surf's Up, Kung Fu Panda and Coraline. The animation character she most identifies with? “Sometimes I feel a bit like Wall-e, feeling like life is mostly lots of hard work and faithfulness, but then there is that sweet moment, or season, when everything pales in comparison.” Pin It

Does my beak look big in this?

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Looking back on 2009

In the lastest issue of The Callsheet, Triggerfish reviews another year in the animation industry. Read the full article here. Pin It

All I want for Xmas is....

We had a giftXchange day at the studio and as you can see from the photos, some got luckier than others!





The way it worked was that we each had to get a present for R50 and then put it in the pile. Everyone drew a random number and number 1 took a present first, 2 second etc. But the twist was that number 2 could take 1's present in exchange, and number 46 could choose from any of the other numbers below. So the later numbers had the best choice.



After much swopping most people got what they wanted but it was definitely the SpongeBob Squarepants Satchel and Southern Comfort that were the big hits!

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Like father, like son

The casting process for Zambezia is in full swing. Last week Wayne(Director) and Anthony (Head of Story) were in Johannesburg to meet with the Casting Director, Christa Schamberger and to audition potential voice actors.

Coincidentally, Christa was also hired by Anthony’s father Michael Hammon (an award winning cinematographer and film-maker who now lives in Germany) on one of his early films, "Wheels and Deals". Pin It

Team-building can be a minefield

"He was running with his friend from town to town before he was captured. His friend was faster and knew a shortcut through the fields he could take. He said he would come and rescue him and ran a few lengths ahead,like a wild rabbit across the grass,he turned his head, looked back once, and his body was scattered across the field. Dare to try and escape the Triggerfish minefield at 13h30 today or die trying!"

This ominous note that appeared on everyone's desks Friday morning turned out to be a great team-building exercise that Cathy organised for the Triggerfish crew. The activity was designed to build trust between team members, and to show how communication affects the way we work - energizing our computer-eyed animators in the fresh country air didn't hurt either!


Everyone had to pair up and one person from each pair was blindfolded. The unblindfolded person was the captured prisoner and had to guide their escaped partner (blindfolded) through a minefield of "landmines" using verbal instructions only.


Needless to say it was pandemonium with 15 teams battling it out shouting instructions & using code while the escaped prisoners walked ‘blindly’ towards them to the finish line. The winners were Simon & Quentin, largely due to Simon’s booming voice - unfortunately we don’t have a recording so photos will have to suffice.

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Meet.....the senior animator, Kane Croudace

“I don’t like sacred cows because humour is important to me”.

Kane had to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree followed by a year-long course in digital media before he discovered that he could actually earn a living as an animator. He studied at The Animation School back in the day when it was still the Universal Computer Arts Academy and has been with Triggerfish for the past 2 and half years. A self-proclaimed “Jack-of-all-trades”, he is currently head of layout on our first animated feature but would like to eventually also branch out into story.

As a kid, his favourite animation character was Donald Duck because he always suspected that when you couldn't understand him he was actually swearing and getting away with it. Kane finds his inspiration in music – especially if it’s funny - and enjoys listening to Frank Zappa and Flight of the Conchords. Pin It

Meet the intern...Langelihle Ntombela (21)

“Great stories inspire me....so do beautiful, striking images.”

Before joining the studio as an intern, Langa studied at The Animation School. As a kid, he was a big fan of Japanese Anime and his passion for drawing sparked his interest in animation in his early teens. Since he got “sucked in” as he puts it, Langa hasn’t looked back. He is still deciding what his area of specialization should be but is leaning towards character animation. One of his favourite characters is Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh) because he is a bit of an outsider. Pin It