Inside Studio 2Veinte and Their Series "Ricochet Splendid"

The launch of 2Veinte

Cartoon Fantasy : Can you start by introducing yourselves and telling us how the studio was founded?

⭕ Pilar Megna: I’m Line producer.

🟡 Agustín Valcarenghi: I’m the Head of production and executive director.

🟦 Pablo Gostanian: I'm a Creative director.

🟦 Pablo: It’s been 17 years since we founded 2Veinte. We started as a motion graphics studio, but over time, as we animated more and more, one thing led to another, and about 10 years ago we began doing frame-by-frame animation.

🟡 Agustín: We’re both graphic designers. We began as graphic and motion designers — doing branding, 3D, 2D, motion graphics. Then, around ten years ago, we specialized in cel animation. We’re really proud of the work we’ve done. In the early 2000s, most studios did everything — 3D, 2D, branding — but over the years studios started to specialize.

CF : So at that time, you started specializing in animation, focusing on commercial animation at first?

🟡 Agustín: That was when graphic design was transitioning to motion graphics. Everyone was searching for the right “path,” if you will. We weren’t the very first motion graphics studio in Argentina, but we were definitely part of the early “web” wave.

🟦 Pablo: Maybe the second wave.

CF : So the first wave would be the early 2000s, and you started around 2010?

🟡 Agustín: Yeah, 2008 exactly.

🟦 Pablo: We were still in university then. We worked at several motion graphics studios that were just getting started — we found it amazing and eventually started our own. After working at maybe three different studios, everything started to evolve — 3D, 2D, branding. We chose to focus on animation because we love cartoons, narrative, storytelling, and creating something visually beautiful. We combined those elements, and that’s why clients, big brands, like Nike, call us — because of our aesthetic, particular style, and quality animation.

CF : At first, didn’t you feel a bit limited by the short format of commercials, and wish you could expand your universe and develop its lore?

🟡 Agustín: When we started, we focused on commercial projects and branding for channels, but we always did experimental work and personal passion projects on the side. If you do some research, you’ll find lots of viral videos on Vimeo. We used those as opportunities to tell stories.

CF : In a previous interview with Catsuka, you said every non-commercial project was a chance to try new techniques. The plan was to do commercial works for income and non-commercial projects for art and experimentation. Now, do you feel ready to start bigger projects combining both?

🟡 Agustín: Yeah, absolutely. I think of one particular event in our history a… game-changing?

🟦 Pablo:  milestone?

🟡 Agustín: Exactly. We were once called by Disney USA for a very small project — it’s not even on our website — but it was the first time a big company reached out. After that, calls came frequently. That was a huge door opening for us, allowing us to enter a market that had been closed, because it was hard to get into the market — especially for graphic designers, who also had to learn to animate. So that was more than 10 years ago, it was really the early years for us and well since that moment we could start playing with big brands and do nicer projects. Since then, we’ve worked on over 70 projects for Disney. Most aren’t on our website because we prefer not to showcase everything.

CF : What kind of projects are those generally? Commercial? Outsourced series?

🟦 Pablo: A wide range — from short promos to IDs, branding, and more.

⭕ Pilar: Out-of-home content too — screens on the street, in subways.

CF : Like loop animations?

🟦 Pablo: Exactly. For example, we did a campaign for DuckTales — a short teaser.

🟡 Agustín: We also did the entire branding for Disney XD, which is still in use.

🟡 Agustín: That really helped. Now we mostly work directly with clients and other animation companies. I think we’ve worked with almost every animation company in the US and UK. These two countries tend to outsource a lot, which is not very common elsewhere.

CF : Considering American wages are some of the highest in the world, I can easily imagine why outsourcing makes sense for them.

🟦 Pablo: Yeah, producing in the US is quite expensive.

🟡 Agustín: It’s cultural, too. They’re always looking worldwide for the best quality and budget, regardless of location. That works in our favor.

CF : Your journey reminds me of other studios, like La Cachette in France. They also started with commercials, hit a milestone, then got hired for bigger projects.

🟦 Pablo: Genndy’s [Tartakovsky] ?

CF : Yes, for Primal and an anthology series Star Wars Visions. You did something for Love, Death & Robots (LDR), right?

🟦 Pablo: Actually, it’s quite different. First, they worked on Primal  — one of my favorite shows. I wish we had that kind of luck. To get those contracts, you need the right contacts. That’s our goal. For LDR, we only animated about a minute of an action scene. I wish we could have done more, but they called us specifically for that scene.

🟡 Agustín: Yeah, it was great that we got to choose which scene to animate. They knew we wanted an action-packed one.

🟦 Pablo: It was awesome. I hope we get more opportunities like that. But we’re also here to make our own shows. Besides Ricochet Splendid, we’re pitching two more shows — three total — plus a short called ARA. We’re determined to make that happen.

CF : You said you started in motion graphics, but what about your studies? You didn’t go to an animation school, so are you self-taught

🟡 Agustín: When we partnered, Pablo focused on the artistic side and learned animation, while I handled production.

🟦 Pablo: Yeah, funny thing is when we started, there was no animation career or school. Everyone was mostly self-taught — graphic design, static print. I began animating in After Effects, mainly motion graphics. Once we integrated characters and storytelling, we learned more.

🟡 Agustín: It’s crazy because Argentina’s public universities are prestigious, but they don’t have a dedicated animation program. Most of our employees studied general animation — not specialized in 2D, 3D, or frame-by-frame.

🟦 Pablo: Maybe ten years ago, but now there are several public ones like La FUC and private schools too.

⭕ Pilar: But it’s not a full career, more like two years of study.

🟦 Pablo: And it’s not as strong as schools like Gobelins in France. Here, graduates get instant jobs, but in Argentina, you start from the bottom and learn in studios. Since COVID, it’s been hard to teach new professions — young people don’t want to go to studios to learn; they prefer working from home. That’s a big issue and a whole new topic, I prefer if we avoid this rabbit hole.

CF : What is the current state of the animation industry in Argentina? Is it difficult to fund animated shows, especially teen/adult-oriented ones?

⭕ Pilar: Argentina has no animation funds available and it hasn’t for a really long time to my knowledge. We really depend on international markets such as Annecy to connect with people and show the creative and technical potential the region has.

Studio's visual signature

CF : Pablo, you’re the director but also the creative director, right?

🟦 Pablo: Yes, creative director too. The art is done by Diego Polieri. For Ricochet Splendid, we had a clear reference: the style of Dead Leaves and FLCL, which we love so much. I mentioned in an interview that I saw this silly show called Ping Pong Club from ’91 — kind of perverted, basic jokes, really funny. We wanted to mix those vibes.

CF : Something close to Panty & Stocking maybe?

🟦 Pablo: Yeah, kind of. It was boobs, panties, a group of guys having fun, basic jokes. We wanted to make a fake intro for a fake show — that’s how we came up with the Ricochet Splendid opening. The process was fun; I did the boardmatic with references, drawings, character profiles. What we have now is funny, even if the show Ping Pong Club isn’t funny to some people. That’s why I didn’t show it in the Annecy pitch. I find it funny — like FLCL comedy. 90s comedy influenced me a lot. We don’t see many squad comedy shows nowadays.

CF : I like this kind of show personally! Do you know Bobbypills?

🟦 Pablo: Yeah, of course!

CF : I was thinking you’re like the Argentinian Bobbypills.

🟦 Pablo: I wish! (laughs) We actually talked to them a couple of years ago, asking if we had more ideas in that vibe. We said no. They work really low budget, and honestly, we don’t want our show to be low budget. We want a “normal” budget — not too high or low, but “classic”. Then we’ll see what we can do. We don’t want crazy sakuga action all the time, maybe once an episode, plus lots of jokes and good character chemistry.

CF : I said Bobbypills because they rely heavily on “limited animation,” pulling tricks to compensate. You don’t want to overuse those tricks

🟦 Pablo: Have you seen the scene we showed during the pitch? It represents the look we want for the rest of the show — relying on dialogue and acting more than constant movement. Maybe a little more than Bobbypills, but not too much. Then we’ll have crazy animation scenes like in the pilot. The boardmatic is quite long; we have to shorten it for budget. The intro shows what we want to achieve.

CF : Yeah, I found that scene during the pitch well-balanced — there is just enough movement to convey emotion, while the rest is carried mainly by the acting.

🟦 Pablo: Thanks! Making people laugh is really difficult. Drama is easier, but jokes are hard because humor isn’t universal.

🟡 Agustín: Exactly. Action or drama is more universal, but humor is very specific to individuals.

CF : And it varies by country and culture. We hear about “British humor,” “French humor,” so what about Argentinian humor?

🟦 Pablo: I’ll tell you — Argentinian humor is disastrous! (laughs)

🟡 Agustín: No, I wouldn’t say that!

🟦 Pablo: (laughs) I’m joking. It’s niche; you have to know a lot about the people and culture to get it.

CF : Speaking of culture, are there cultural references in the show European audiences might have missed? Your past work shows lots of pop art, flat colors — like classic French sci-fi and reminds of Ugo Bienvenu’s work.

🟦 Pablo: Diego was the art director and initially drew the characters with a pale, dark, depressing palette. I repainted everything from scratch and created the color script you see. Humbly, a lot of people get inspired by that palette. We wanted something pop and a retro-vibe — something fun to watch, aesthetically pleasing. 

CF : And about cel animation — when you say “cel,” obviously you’re not using actual celluloid, right?

🟦 Pablo: Yeah, it means frame-by-frame, traditional hand-drawn style. We misuse the term “cel.” We do digital frame-by-frame. We wish we could do paper and cel, but it’s too expensive and complex. Still, it gives that unique look I love. I went to Japan to a cel shop — a basement with a guy and lots of boxes — and bought maybe a hundred cels! (laughs)

CF : Were you at the opening ceremony? We got a sneak peek of the last Shinya Ohira movie he made for Star Wars Visions: Black — 15 minutes of pure cinematic hand-drawn animation. It was incredible.

🟦 Pablo: I feel like nobody likes it but I love it. Star Wars fans say these are standalone stories, really weird. And I’m like : “I love that so much.”

CF : Yeah, this anthology seems aimed more at animation lovers than Star Wars fans.

🟦 Pablo: Japanese directors are the best.

CF : Do you use a Japanese pipeline yourself, like keyframes, inbetweens, second keyframes?

🟦 Pablo: We have our own pipeline. It’s a bit messy but it works. Rough animation, tie-downs, backgrounds — once the rough animation is done, we correct, tie down, and clean up. It’s really simple, nothing fancy. We do have charts, but digital ones — not like the Japanese method.

CF : And do you use a tracking system like Kitsu or Excel?

⭕ Pilar: Excel, yes. Old school. Simple.

We have our own system to track projects, mostly using G-suite. Decks to check styleframes, sheets to track who’s working on what shot and how far along in the animation process that shot is, etc… Nothing fancy, but we really make it work. We’ve been able to track 5 min animations like this with no issues so I’d say it’s a pretty solid system. Anyways, I think overall one key element in our process is communication. Letting everyone know where to find stuff and being in constant talks with each team member to make sure everyone knows what they should be doing and  what's expected of them.

🟦 Pablo: If we produce a long format, we should switch to something more “professional”, even if I don’t like that word.

⭕ Pilar: We did use Kitsu on some projects. You can leave notes, approve things… it’s super intuitive!

CF : It feels really ergonomic, like it’s great to look at it!

⭕ Pilar: Yeah, it has great colors! (laughs)

🟦 Pablo: Recently, we did a short for Elvis Presley. I think it’ll come out in July. It’s three and a half minutes long, really cool. It’s inspired by Ugo Bienvenu — we love him! We showed that reference to the client, and they loved it. We did the short in his style, and it’s awesome. It’s kind of like a 40s comic inspiration.

CF : Have you read his book Preference System?

🟦 Pablo: I bought the one with the pregnant robot.

CF : Yeah, that one!

🟦 Pablo: I bought it a couple years ago. I love his style — really a big fan. We worked together on The Strokes’ video. I know he’s a superstar, but I just love him.

CF : We didn’t talk about your other non commercial project, a short movie called ARA. I wanted to speak about it because it shares with Ricochet Splendid these “dreamy hallucinated psychedelic sequences”. I was wondering where this comes from. It reminds me of Moebius but above all, Masaaki Yuasa, who had a great influence on a lot of animation filmmakers, especially with his Mind Game.

🟦 Pablo: ARA is a project that has an influence on occidental animation rather than japanese anime. There isn’t a specific influence but a combination. 

We aimed to make a drama and a personal journey of a broken man that encounters a psychedelic world. We wanted to make a “serious” piece and so defy our abilities.

⭕ Pilar: ARA is a project that really evolved and changed since it was first conceived but this psychedelic sequence remained untouched. 

Part of Ara’s character background makes these scenes really make sense. He has a very tough and rough exterior and part of this "journey" is what makes him be in contact with other sides of him that he wasn’t really aware of and, above all, his feelings.

Aside from being something we can leverage storywise, we love incorporating psychedelic sequences in our projects. They are great opportunities to really explore new animation techniques and for creative free rein.

CF : In your presentation at the Annecy MIFA pitch, you said you were looking for co-producers and above all a distributor, I believe? So far, you kept developing the project in your spare time, so you really need a dedicated budget to take it to the next level! (finger crossed)

⭕ Pilar: Yes, what we are mainly looking for are co-producers that will help us fund season 1 production. We truly believe we have a unique project, with a distinctive and interesting visual style. Having additional funding will really help us focus our attention on scripting and planning the best way to face the actual animation production. Our goal is to make The Ricochet Splendid animated series reach new markets and viewers all around the world.

🧡 Our sincere thanks to Pilar Megna, Agustín Valcarenghi, and Pablo Gostanian for taking the time to speak with us and share their passion. We wish them continued success in their animated journey and look forward to discovering their future projects!