TeamTO Composes Animated Moments in Music Historical past in ‘Behind the Beats’

French studio TeamTO has launched one other chart topper: an animated pop music docuseries racking up views on YouTube and France Televisions. Behind the Beats (26 x 5′) follows proficient musicians with extremely totally different types working collectively, creating surprising new musical genres. Utilizing a online game design and dynamic storytelling the collection explores the origins of latest sounds, resembling “Punk + Disco = New Wave” that includes Blondie and “Rap + P-Funk = G-Funk” that includes Snoop Dogg.

Boasting 6.75 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.5-1.8M views every for the primary batch of episodes, the collection is directed by Baptiste Jaquemet and produced by TeamTO’s Corinne Kouper and 22D Music Group’s Emmanuel Deletang. Forward of MIPTV, we obtained extra particulars on this entertaining and academic glimpse into current musical historical past from Producer Corinne Kouper, TeamTO’s senior VP of manufacturing and growth.

Animation Journal: How did the present come about and when did you begin engaged on in?

Kouper: The thought got here from  the director and creator Baptiste Jaquemet, who was an enormous rock fan in his youth. He despatched us a pilot episode about how Aerosmith and Run D.M.C. made the hit “Stroll This Method” (1986). With a not possible mixture of musicians, they launched a completely new style: rap. Rap can also be influenced by one other model: funk music.

So, his imaginative and prescient was that the majority music is impressed by different types of music that got here earlier than. Baptiste’s ardour and curiosity within the seek for the origins of the household tree of music are on the coronary heart of this collection.

When he despatched us his pilot we instantly needed to create a present that would go wild and be seen everywhere in the world. We’re very glad that Google (YouTube Originals) and France TV helped make this doable.

Why do you assume animation was an important car to inform these tales?

Animation is the one approach to inform the tales of all these folks aside from seeing them merely singing their songs at a live performance. Like in a biopic, we get a way of their journey to success (they normally come from actually totally different origins, fairly often by no means predestined, usually poor, some with encouraging households and a few with discouraging households).

You may as well discover parallels between totally different artists, and present them collectively, which might by no means have been filmed. And, wow, we additionally present them signing three superb songs in every episode!

The place was the animation produced and which animation instruments had been used to create it?

As with all our initiatives, it was produced 100% in our two studios in France. We used Maya primarily and our personal animation software program. No new instruments had been created, we used our traditional pipeline.

How did you give you the distinctive, stylized look of the present’s CG animation?

The design of the present relies on Baptiste’s authentic pitch for the present that used somewhat simplistic designs. We thought this stylized video-game look was superb for this style and the demographic of the present. We simply fine-tuned it somewhat ensuring that the artists can be nicely portrayed and simply acknowledged. We journey to lots of locations within the present and have a number of very nice cinematic backgrounds, as nicely.

How intently did you’re employed with the celebrity expertise to inform their musical journey? Was securing music clearance a problem?

We produced the present with the music rights administration firm 22D, who dealt with all of the contact and negotiations with the artists and are coproducing the present with us. The clearance was an unlimited problem — one of the crucial sophisticated components of your entire present — and we merely wouldn’t have been in a position to accomplish this side with out them. It was fairly an extended course of, we needed to reassure the publishers and be very particular with them about what tales we’d inform within the present.

What do you want finest about this musical challenge?

What I like essentially the most is that just about each episode tells the story of an artist’s formative years, when they could have had a troublesome time however took benefit of an surprising encounter or a uncommon alternative, finally changing into a star acknowledged worldwide. It’s actually vital to indicate the younger technology that their life isn’t pre-determined and that success can occur for those who make an effort and imagine in your self.

Do you’ve gotten any enjoyable tales about working with these superb rock, disco, rap, and R&B superstars?

So completely happy Snoop Dogg participated within the particular recording of the music opening, which is a brand new model of “We Are Household,” the enduring music by Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards. This model options Yeti Beats in collaboration with Nile Rodgers himself and Snoop Dogg, with vocals by Sheléa.

Will there be one other season and whose tales are you dying to inform subsequent?

We’ve got so many tales to inform that we’re already on the lookout for financing for a second season. The variety of tales are infinite!

Behind the Beats is at the moment streaming on YouTube and airing on France Televisions. The collection is out there on the market worldwide (excluding France) by producer-distributor TeamTO.