Local animation studio Triggerfish has landed some big names to join the voice cast of 3D animated feature Zambezia, including Abigail Breslin, Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy and Samuel L. Jackson.
The announcement was made on Monday during the Toronto Film Festival by Cape Town based Triggerfish Animation Studios, the feature’s production house, and international sales company Cinema Management Group, and was welcomed by the Cape Film Commission.
The story is set in Africa on the edge of the Zambezi waterfalls in a bird sanctuary led by the wise and battle-tested Fish Eagle Sekhuru (voiced by Nimoy). The film follows a young flying daredevil falcon who leaves to join the Hurricane defence flyers. Additional voice talent includes Richard E. Grant, Jennifer Lewis and Jeremy Suarez.
Directed by Wayne Thornley from a screenplay by Andrew Cook, Anthony Silverston and Raffaella Delle Donne, Zambezia’s executive producers include Greg Becker and Claire Becker of Wonderful Works, Mace Neufeld and Edward Noeltner of CMG.
Cinema Management Group has sold the film to distributors in more than 25 markets including Bloomage in South Korea, Praessens in Switzerland, Film House in Israel, Blancica in Venezuela and Pictureworks in India. It’s also repping Triggerfish’s second 3D animated feature, Khumba, the story of a zebra born with only half its stripes.
Speaking on behalf of the local film industry Cape Film Commission CEO Denis Lillie states, “this is fantastic news for the Cape Town animation industry. Triggerfish have added to the argument that Cape Town has become a world class film making centre and that our industry is now competing with other world film cities.’
In agreement, City of Cape Town’s Councillor and Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing Grant Pascoe adds: “the City is extremely pleased that one of our local animation studios has been chosen to undertake the production of this feature. This illustrates Cape Town’s readiness to become a preferred centre for the production of animated films. For this reason we continue to actively encourage support for film as a key sector within our creative industries. ”
