About the Guyana Animation Network (GAN)

The Guyana Animation Network (GAN) began with the formation of an informal Board of Directors on May 31st, 2016 led by Founder and President, Ms. Jubilanté Cutting. This was quickly followed by its official launch on July 2nd, 2016, which facilitated a number of artists, animators, designers, story writers and researchers to display their work. The launch of the Network was simultaneously the dawning of a new era in the Animation community in Guyana, in which it called for a wide range of organizations to support the Animation, ICTs and Creative Industries. The Network currently has 70 registered members, most of whom are between the ages of 15 – 35. The membership possess a wide array of skills, not limited to 2D or 3D Animation, but other skills which service the Animation Industry such as graphic artists, voice overs, story writers, researchers and artists.

About Founder
Ms. Cutting, after participating in the CARICOM Girls in ICT Day held in the CARICOM Secretariat in April 2014 was selected to participate in the “Animating the Caribbean” workshop funded by CARICOM in partnership with the US AID and Animae Caribe. This workshop, led by facilitator Ms. Camille Selvon Abrahams, explored the basics of animation in theory and practicals and its relevance to the Caribbean and the building of new industries. With that experience, Jubilanté became tremendously interested in making an impact in the Animation Industry in Guyana, especially for youth. She was convinced that once the industry became properly established it would affect not only Guyana but other member states in CARICOM manifoldly. This belief was further fueled by her attendance to the Animae Caribe Film and New Media Festival held in Trinidad and Tobago in October 2014 where she was amazed to experience the large number of youth who were integrally involved in the growth of the Trinidadian Animation sector. Upon returning to Guyana, Jubilanté engaged in a number of youth-led, youth-oriented, governmental and corporate activities to raise awareness about the Caribbean and International Animation Industries and the opportunities available within them. Most notably, an animation workshop platform for youth through the ‘Just Youth It’ Conference hosted by Come Alive Network Inc. through an Animation workshop in 2015.

For more information contact us on:
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/animateguyana
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/guyana.animationnetwork/
Email: guyana.animationnetwork@gmail.com
Contact Number: +5926266736 ; +5926547157

Network’s Mandate/Mission

GAN currently represents 70 registered members and seeks to connect its members to opportunities in the Animation Industry. The network is committed to serving as a platform for its members to develop their latent creative capacities by exposing them to training and supporting their creative ideas and innovations. GAN is hopeful that through regional and international collaborations it can help to improve the quality and market value of work done locally.

Work and projects done by Network

GAN has undertaken a number of activities primarily to raise awareness on the opportunities and careers available in Animation:
– Training and networking visit to the Totness Creations Festival in Suriname
– Courtesy calls to major government ministers and officials including the First Lady of Guyana, Her Excellency Mrs. Sandra Granger; Minister within the Ministry of Education, Ms. Nicholette Henry, Minister of Public Telecommunications , Mrs. Catherine Hughes
– Official meetings with CARICOM Secretariat, its Deputy Secretary General Ms. Manorma Soeknandan, Assistant Secretary General of Human and Economic Affairs, Mr. Joseph Cox, Heads of the Culture, Information Technology and Human Resource Departments.
– Project focusing on establishing a collaborative bond between the Suriname Animation Network and the Guyana Animation Network, for example, an animation demo.

What the GAN is bringing to Animae Caribe Festival 2016

Bootcamp ideas
1) TITLE: CAPTAIN MIMAS
An animated series set in Guyana and various Caribbean Countries. The series focuses on the adventures of a young Alien and his family who came from a dying distant planet (Mimas) to live in the Caribbean because of its warm temperature. As new residents of the Caribbean they try to fit into its Culture while going through day to day predicaments and each time progressively learning what it
means to be a West Indian.

Subplot: A nosy man always tries to expose their Alien Identities to the world but his plans are always foiled by coincidence.
Humorous Elements: The aliens always have unusual ways of using creolese words or practicing Caribbean Culture.
2) Title: AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
3) Working Title: OLD HIGUE
SAN + GAN will present a collaborative demo on a mythical creature known as the old higue. The old higue appears in a ball of fire at night and lives on the edge of the villages during the day. According to village folklore the old higue is reborn every 2 centuries during the birth of a newborn during the full moon. Anita ( main character) is told by a village elder that she was the newborn to be the next host of the old higue. The story unfolds as John (boyfriend/husband) desperately seeks a way to save her from her dreadful fate.
Meetings
To meet with the regional representatives of animation networks to discuss having a Caribbean Animation Network.