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Ammon News - By Gioia Forster/ Jordan Times

AMMAN — People around the world are familiar with films like “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo”, yet it is only in recent years that the animation industry has taken off in Jordan, opening up a new career path for the creatively minded and artistically skilled.

“When I started out [in the animation industry] 13 years ago, it was very difficult because we needed skilled animators, yet people were not really exposed to the animation industry in Jordan and there was no formal training,” Peri A. Bikmerza, the head of 2D and 3D productions at Rubicon Group Holding (RGH), told The Jordan Times.

“Conditions are better today, but it is still not easy because the environment and culture are not really supportive of this kind of industry,” Bikmerza added.

RGH, founded in 1994, was one of the first animation companies in Jordan and now produces entertainment, education animation and animated games and apps from offices in Amman, Dubai, Manila and Los Angeles.

RGH trains most of its animators itself, many of whom have a background in drawing and art but little experience with animation, Bikmerza explained.

“In recent years it has become much easier, because now, universities and colleges such as the Princess Sumaya University for Technology offer courses in animation — people can now observe that it is a real business,” she said.

Young hopeful animators set about training themselves using the Internet and hours of practice, as did Mohammad Ramadan and Saif Al Atrash.

These two RGH interns won their internships through an animation competition organised by the European Union National Institutes for Culture in April 2013.

The “My Animated World” competition constituted part of the European Union’s effort to support the creative industries in Jordan and present young talents to possible employers, according to organisers.

“Winning this competition was like a dream… we are very lucky to be here [at Rubicon] and I hope to work here in the future,” Atrash told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

“For three years now I have taught myself animation through online tutorials on YouTube,” said Atrash, who studied interior design and worked as a motion graphic designer for two years.

Eighteen-year-old Ramadan said he also learned animation through Internet tutorials as well as a friend who is an animator.

Despite a recent surge in the industry, there is not much demand for animation in the Jordanian market, Bikmerza said.

“The animation industry is costly, so the local market is not really welcoming for animation,” she noted.

“So we try to work locally and parallel to that in partnership with well-known international partners to a balance.”

In 2010, RGH co-produced the animated television series Pink Panther & Pals with the American production company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

“Productions such as these open huge doors and horizons for people here — [they] allow them to have bigger aims and targets, and they realise that this can be a real career,” Bikmerza added.

Atrash and Ramadan hope to work abroad in the future, and they both agree that their biggest dream is to work on large film productions at Pixar Animation Studios, the makers of “Toy Story”, “Monsters, Inc.” and “Finding Nemo”.

“For now I want to gain as much experience as I can here at Rubicon, and I have to work very hard because they are very professional,” Atrash said.

Bikmerza said training young talents such as Atrash and Ramadan is vital for Jordan’s animation industry.

“We are always interested in building capacity in Jordan and to develop local skills to be a greater part of the professional animation industry,” she said.