Prominent Chilean TV producer Maria Elena Wood, a producer on “News of a Kidnapping,” “Dignity” and “Mary & Mike,” is teaming with multi-prized TV toon series director Bernardita Ojeda, helmer of two-time Intl. Emmy nominee “Petit,” to make 2D “Lucila,” both Wood and Ojeda’s first animated feature.
“I am amazed at [animation’s] narrative possibilities,” Wood enthused to Variety.
In a Chilean power package, Patricio Pereira, EP on “Dignity” and “Mary & Mike,” and Alvaro Ceppi, director of “Zumbástico Fantástico” and 2Paper Port,” have also boarded “Lucila” as exec producers.
Written by Argentine live action director Fernando Salem (“How Most Things Work”) and Chilean author Álvaro Bisama (“Mala Lengua,” “Ruido”), “Lucila” is set to make its market debut at this year’s Animation! Pitching Sessions. Part of Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur, backed by the Cannes Film Festival and Marché du Film and Argentina’s INCAA film-TV agency and organized with the Annecy Film Festival, Animation! runs Nov. 27-Dec. 1.
From an original idea by Wood, “Lucila” is set up at María Wood Productions and is co-produced by Pájaro, Ojeda’s longterm label, launched in 2007.
To be animated in dainty 2D tones drawing on inspiration from traditional illustrations in children’s books, “Lucila” turns on a ghost girl, wandering through a small village in the desert, who embarks on a journey through mysterious territories, accompanied by a short-sighted hunter and an orphaned baby deer, determined to find her identity.
Only by accepting herself and discovering the talents that make her unique will she be able to embody her destiny: To become the great poet Gabriela Mistral, the synopsis reads.
Born in 1889 in Chile, Mistral, a school teacher in her youth, and lifetime ardent advocate of education, is best known for winning a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950 for her poetry, written from a very young age in plain, near natural speech, often showing an empathy for children, as well as focusing on solitude and frustrations.
In 2011, Wood directed a doc feature, entitled “Locas Mujeres,” on Mistral’s late life relationship with American Doris Dana.
“This film has been a long time dream for me, motivated by the desire to continue the adventure initiated with the documentary ‘Locas Mujeres,’ that brought many people closer to Gabriela Mistral.
“It is a Maria Wood Producciones project and we are inviting Pajaro as a co-producer, Bernardita Ojeda as director and Alvaro Ceppi as executive producer due to their talent and experience,” she added.
“I was captivated by the opportunity to tell the story of a woman as powerful and fragile as Gabriela Mistral. I was drawn to the idea of visualizing the sharp and profound words of Gabriela Mistral. I was captivated by the idea of narrating how Gabriela was a child who suffered deeply, and how her salvation was poetry,” said Ojeda.
The writers have just finished writing the script. The next step, said Wood, is to find an international co-producer.
Ceppi’s “Zumbástico Fantástico” was the first Chilean series to be premiered on Cartoon Network; his comedic fantasy adventure series “Puerto Papel,” an emblematic and innovative Latin American co-production, aired worldwide.
Salem has created or written popular animated TV series such as “La Asombrosa Excursión de Zamba,” and has scored five Emmy Kids Awards nominations.
