Quirino Lab is launched in Tenerife in the Canary Islands
Quirino, the organizer of the vibrant Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards in May, has launched an inaugural Quirino Lab, a four-day four-day training program that kicked off on November 19 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the Canary Island of Tenerife, aimed at marking a milestone in building a growing animation ecosystem in Latin America, Spain and Portugal, encouraging co-production, collaboration and raising skills levels.
Running from 19 to 22 November, the Quirino Lab is an initiative of Quirino, together with the Council of Tenerife, channeled through Tenerife Tourism and the Tenerife Film Commission, and represents a further step forward for Tenerife’s commitment to developing an animation industry. It is estimated that animation generated a turnover of €19 million ($21.9 million) in 2024, 32% of the total audiovisual turnover for the island. The aim of the partners is to “consolidate the island of Tenerife as a reference in the sector,” said Dimple Melwani, head of Turismo de Tenerife, at the Quirino Lab on Wednesday.
The participating executive producers
The first Quirino Lab has recruited 17 executive animation producers from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain and Mexico. These include executives from Tenerife companies such as 3Doubles Producciones, behind ‘Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow’ and ‘SuperKlaus’, and Tinglado Films, whose climate change triptych ‘Black Butterflies’ by David Baute was selected for Annecy’s Contrechamp in 2024, the biggest sidebar at the world’s largest animation event, embraced by both Hollywood and international animation hubs.
Other participants include the Mexican arm of Sultana Films, a producer of Isabel Herguera’s “Sultana’s Dream,” which won Contrechamp last year.
Of the more distant participants, Mono Productions from Brazil supported Globo “Pipas”, a Ventana Sur animation! winner. It also co-produced the 2020 toon series “Las Aventuras de Pilar” with Nat Geo Kids and Disney Jr. Latinoamérica.
2D animation studio Mr Machin, based in Guadalajara, Mexico, produced the 2025 series “Charamuscas” for TV4 Guanajuato; Brazilian Oz Productora was behind seasons 1 and 2 of the educational series “Mytihah – O Livro dos Heroes”, made for TV. Brazil.
The program
The seminar “combines intensive professional development with a strategic vision of the sector, with the dual objectives of boosting individual careers and promoting a qualitative leap in animated production in the region,” Quirino said on Thursday.
The program revolves around five issues that highlight current concerns in the international animation industry: new market trends and objectives, including the redefinition of different target groups, and the exploration of innovative business models and distribution strategies; Advanced organizational methodologies and team management, integrating workflow and the adoption of new project management tools.
Francisco Menéndez, a respected Spanish lawyer from Welaw Consulting, will delve deeper into ‘financial development and investments’, such as the development of business plans and pitch decks, co-production strategies, hybrid monetization models and blockchain.
IP development and links with other sectors will be led by Zofia Ścisłowska, at Poland’s Laniakea Pictures. During her session, she connects with other sectors of the industry, such as video games, developing story worlds and building an audience and fan base.
One of Quirino Lab’s most popular sessions might have been AI, Emerging Technologies, and Trends, which explored the use of artificial intelligence in pre-production, production, and post-production, its application in task automation, data analytics, insight generation, and audience identification, among other topics. Alby Ojeda (Wells Agency), Alfonso Fulgencio (Next Lab) and José Luis Farias (Quirino Awards) led the module on Wednesday.
The Quirino Lab also features a case study of the Quirino Lab program, including a case study of The Game Kitchen’s game “Blasphemous,” a battle game that reached 1 million players in 2021.
In addition, Futures Lab, an initiative developed by Quirino in collaboration with the Ortega-Marañón Foundation, will seek to jointly build a new pact for the future of Ibero-American animation.
A networking breakfast, held in partnership with the Tenerife Film Commission, will showcase the powerful tax incentives the island offers.
“We are proud that the Quirino ecosystem, which has been connecting Ibero-America with Tenerife since 2018, is making progress in favor of such a relevant industry that not only generates employment, income and economic dynamism, but also stimulates innovation and creativity,” said Melwani.
