Abel Kouamé, also known by his stage name Kan Souffle, has been an animation film producer and director since 2005 and is the founder of the Afrikatoon studio based in Abidjan.
Can you tell us about your activities?
The studio began operating in 2005. We mainly produce animated films. We have already produced five feature films, but we also produce series, mainly for television, and short programs for digital platforms in particular.
The latest feature film we produced is called "Ekoua." In our feature films, we usually retell the stories of historical figures. However, for this latest film, we took a different approach: the story takes place in 2088 in a world where cybercriminals, known as "Brouteurs," have taken over. The heroine of the story will try to put an end to this system. This latest feature film was produced and presented at several international festivals. We recently participated in the Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles and won several awards for this project. We are currently working on the film's release, which was initially scheduled for May but has been postponed due to the health crisis.
We were also supposed to participate in the Annecy Festival, which this year was to highlight African animation.
In which countries are you based?
Our studio is based in Côte d'Ivoire, but we have decided to open a subsidiary in the city of Annecy. We started our activities there with a small team of three people, but our ambition is to build a team of 20. We are also looking for opportunities to develop representation in other countries, depending on other projects we may have, but also on opportunities. Commercial representation, but also teams dedicated to the co-production of animated series, feature films, and R&D.
What does animation represent today in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa?
Today, animated films are very well received by the public. African families appreciate our productions, our feature films, our television programs, and also the content we broadcast digitally, particularly via our YouTube channel. We get 200,000 to 300,000 views per day. We are the most-followed animation studio on YouTube, with nearly 900,000 subscribers. This demonstrates the public's enthusiasm for the content we produce. Africa is a young continent and our audience is aged between 13 and 45: we are at the heart of the sub-Saharan target market. These indicators show that animated films are appreciated.
There are not many animation studios in the French-speaking part of the continent, but initiatives are multiplying in countries from Burkina Faso to Senegal and Cameroon. We need to promote these initiatives and this work through events such as festivals and other events organized around animation. That is why we launched the Abidjan Animation Film Festival. The third edition will be held next May. We will see if this is possible given the health crisis.
What are the main obstacles to the sector's development?
The main difficulties we encounter in our work concern resources. It is difficult to find employees who have had initial training. Then there are the difficulties concerning outlets: African productions are very poorly valued, so it is difficult to sell a production at a fair price. Then there is financing. We financed our first feature film with our own funds generated by the production of institutional films. Also, TV channels are becoming increasingly interested in this type of program. They buy our projects or choose to co-produce them.
What are your prospects for development?
Our prospects for development concern the quality and geographical expansion of our activities. We need to improve quality and work towards international expansion. We also want to work on becoming more visible and more present on digital platforms.