Jorge R. Gutiérrez is exactly what one might expect from the creator of the Golden Globe-nominated animated feature film The Book of Life and director of the Netflix Animation series Maya and the Three: someone with a great sense of humor, accessible, witty. What else can I say? He frequently visits his mother.
He is a graphic artist, animator, producer, scriptwriter and even does some voices for his characters. However, his favorite part is working together with other artists and “sharing their artistic vision and how they see Mexico from the outside,” he said in an interview with TFV.
Gutiérrez will be the main speaker and patron of the Annecy Festival MIFA Campus Master Class. “They told me that I will be a kind of mentor for the students,” he said. “I like the name ‘patron’, it’s like being ‘Mr. Big Cheese’ in the Campus.” He is honored to have this assignment which was previously hosted by Masaaki Yuasa, Guillermo del Toro, Richard Williams, Nora Twomey and Marguerite Abouet; but, says Gutierrez, “my class will be more fun.” And possibly the most popular one, too. A week before the Master Class, the demand to participate was so great that the festival decided to broadcast it live on YouTube, and it will remain on the platform.
In addition to his Master Class, Jorge Gutiérrez will be on a jury in the virtual reality section and he is the author of the Annecy Festival poster. True to its aesthetic, the poster is full of anthropological references and popular Mexican characters. Vibrant colors catch your eye at first glance; the hundreds of details could leave you contemplating it for hours.
The animator, a graduate of CalArts, continues to be amazed at his own success. He has achieved the Holy Grail of film directors, earning a good living doing what he is passionate about. “Many times, somebody has proposed a project that I really like and I think, ‘and they’re going to pay me!’ — but of course I don’t say it out loud.” Gutierrez confesses to be -even if the audiences already suspected it-“feminist to the bone, women move the world, look out for solutions. But in the classic tales they wait to be rescued or fell asleep! That does not happen! Women fight for what they want.”
During his student days, he had photos of Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, and Alejandro González Iñárritu in his dorm. “They were my example: if they did it, I could do it, too”. But his inspiration in life is Mexican painter and illustrator Gabriel Covarrubias. “He published drawings in Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, but he also painted. He was a friend of Diego Rivera, he was involved in what was happening in society and was a creator. That’s what an artist is all about.”
Gutiérrez has some advice for young animators. “No one can control the amount of talent one has inside, but one can decide how to use one’s time. If you are taking part in a project, concentrate on it and give more than what is asked of you, so you can be the best”. Jorge Gutiérrez also has something to say to producers: “Take a chance. Don’t forget that at the time they were made, Star Wars and Toy Story were risky projects. Bet on the new: it’s the only way to not keep repeating the same movie over and over again.” Sound advice from an animator, and useful in all genres.