Co-producing Annecy Cristal winner “The Violinist,” Medellín-based animation studio Bombillo Amarillo opens a studio in the Basque Country's Bilbao
Bombillo Amarillo, the Colombian co-producer of “The Violinist,” winner of Annecy’s top Cristal for best animated feature film, is launching an animation beachhead in Spain.
BA Estudios, an animation studio, will be up and running from the week of July 13, based out of Bilbao, capital of Bizkaia, part of Spain’s Basque Country and home to a vibrant local film industry.
Founded in 2010, and a 2D and 3D animation services company, on “The Violinist” Bombillo Amarillo contributed a total nine minutes of animation, covering layouts, backgrounds, animation and part of post-production and effects.
Based in Medellín, it has also supplied animation on Netflix neo-medieval Polish adventure comedy series “Kayko y Kokosh,” backgrounds on Prime Video’s “The Boys” and characters and rigs on Cartoon Network’s “Los Colorado” and the entirety of animation in Netflix soccer bio “James.”
BA Estudios will be looking to both produce animation titles and work as a service company,” CEO Daniel Vélez told Variety.
Bombillo Amarillo’s arrival in Bilbao comes as animation orders from both global streaming services and the U.S. have plunged, as kids consume ever more animation on YouTube.
In such a context, “the caliber of production is key. For decades now Europe has made supremely high artistic productions, in terms of storylines and visuals. We’ve seen its signifiant creative capacity in Spain with the [Oscar-nominated] ‘Robot Dreams’ and ‘The Violinist,’” Vélez said. “We want to learn from Europe’s creative capacity and also see an opportunity to join the best of both worlds,” he added.
As streamer, U.S. and broadcaster animation markets contract for all but the biggest breakout titles, companies in Europe are looking to replace traditional financing by tax incentives sourced via international co-production. Colombia has arguably the best tax breaks in Latin America. Bizkaia offers tax credits of up to 60% of investment, 70% if a title is shot in Basque.
“BA Estudios will increase our market reach. It’s very different working from Europe with Europe than if you’re working entirely from Latin America. Our Spanish base will help a lot in our co-productions as a studio,” Vélez told Variety.
Colombia can also bring further investment to the table, he added, noting that Bombillo Amarillo tapped risk capital to invest in “The Violinist.”
The news of international expansion comes as this week’s 2026 Bogota Audiovisual Market will showcase seven Colombian animation titles, ranging from intimate 2D (“The Man Who Wanted to Be Better”) to near documentary (“A Piece of Peace”) social issue (“From the Border Within,” “Transparents,”) to pre-school series (“Papoupi”) and stylish psychological horror from a director who has shown an anime influence (“Noa”). Recognising Colombia’s animation caliber. France’s Annecy Festival named it on June 26 as its 2027 Country of Honor.
The top Annecy prize is a “dream come true. But above all it is a demonstration that Colombia can compete at the highest of standards in the world. We have the capacity to tell great stories at an international level,” said Vélez.
In its favor, Colombia’s animation industry can count of a broad gamut of institutional support. Vélez cites film board Proimagenes, Antioquia province state welfare program Comfama, El Pauer, the Medellín Chamber of Commerce, the Colombia Film Commission, Colombia’s Telecommunications and Technology Ministry and Ministry of Cuture, promotion entity ProColombia and the Medellín Town Hall.
“The stars are aligning,” said Vélez. “The question about Colombian animation is not whether we have enough quality to respond to market demand but whether if we have enough qualified professionals.”
Bombillo Amarillo won the 2025 Analdex Colombia Exports Prize in its audiovisual category.