South African animation studio Triggerfish, has announced it is spending around R42 million into tapping into the best undiscovered African animators and storytellers.

Cape Town-based Triggerfish is behind two successful South African international animation exports Adventures in Zambezia and Khumba, and has worked with Hollywood stars like Samuel L Jackson.

Now, with the support of the Walt Disney company and the Department of Trade and Industry, the company has launched a plan to get more hit animations produced locally.

The money will be invested in a project called the Story Lab, where “selected storytellers will potentially have their concepts developed into episodic TV content or an animated feature film for the global market,” Triggerfish says on its website.

Participants will be selected based on creativity, commercial viability of concepts and their previous work. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a key part of induction into the Story Lab will be the opportunity to undergo several weeks mentorship with Triggerfish’s US network of contacts.

The DTI’s involvement shouldn’t come as a surprise – although it has been a long time coming. Two years ago it announced that it has plans to support the animation industry and wanted to see South Africa develop outsourcing abilities to rival that of South Korea.