A JAPANESE animated series for kids called “Dino Girl Gauko" will debut on streaming services giant Netflix in the last quarter of 2019.
This will be the first co-production of Netflix and Manila-based animation studio Synergy88 Entertainment Media, Inc. together with Singapore's August Media Holdings, and Ascencion Co.
Ma. Geraldine Yumul, Synergy88 business manager, said this collaboration with Netflix shows that Philippine animation studios have the capability to corner a bigger share of the US$200-billion global animation market.
“Let’s see how big the market is out there. We just need to keep searching (for projects),” Yumul said in a press conference shortly before the opening of the 3rd Sugbo Entertainment Expo, an annual event organized by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) to support the local animation and game development sectors.
Yumul said the series will have 13 episodes, which Netflix greenlit in May 2019.
“Dino Girl Gauko" is from creator and showrunner Akira Shigino, who has served as a director on popular Japanese animated TV series, such as Crayon Shin-chan, Line Town, Osomatsu-kun, and Yatterman (remake).
This new series is set in Japan and features a girl with a strange gift. When Naoko Watanabe gets angry, she turns into Gauko, the fire-breathing dinosaur girl.
Synergy88 is behind the first Filipino anime series “Barangay 143”, which debuted on GMA network in October 2018.
This anime series, which is also co-produced by August Media Holdings, is about Korean basketball star Bren Park who goes to live with his former nanny in the fictional neighborhood of Barangay 143 in Tondo, Manila.
Synergy88 also took part in the production of “George of the Jungle” of DreamWorks, “Tilda Appleseed”, “Tish Tash”, “Journey of Long.” and “Seagul Street”.
Synergy88’s digital arts unit also took part in the production of “Gears of War 4” franchise and award-winning “CD Projekt Red’s Witcher 3: The Blood and Wine”. It is the first Microsoft-accredited co-development partner in the Philippines. (Marites Villamor-Ilano/SunStar Philippines)